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THE 

REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH: 

EXBIBITIVO TBfe MOST 

DISTINGUISHED CHARACTERS, 

IITERARY, MILrTAET, AND POLITICAL, 
la the Recent Annald of tbe 

FRENCH REPUBLIC. 

THE CREATEB PARt 

FROM TH£ 0RIGI17AL IKFORMATIOH 
OP 

A GENTLEMAN RESIDENT AT PARIS. 

FOURTH EDITION. 

IN THREE VOLUMES. 



VOL. n. 



LONDON:, 

Printed for 



JOHN MURRAY, FLHET-STREBT, JOHN HARDING^ 

ST. jameb's-street. 

AlTD SOLD BT ALL BOOKSBIXERSt 

s 1806. 



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lT,.5l«uU.>rn 




TukluhtJ fy JlcJffatptKjVX 



A TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



VOL. Ih 

General Pichegru Co^ith a Portrait) - 1 

Substance of Dr. Gilbert ^lanes' conversa- 

tions with General Pichegru 1 54 

THE BUONAPARTE FAMILY. 

Carlo Buonaparte (the Father of the Empe- 
ror) -1 ---- .--- 165 

Letitia Raniolini (the Mother) -.- 169 

Joseph Buonaparte (the elder Brother) .... 178 

Napoleone Buonaparte (the Emperor) 190 

Madame Na'oleone Buonaparte (the Em- 

. press) -.. . 351 

EuGENius D£ Beauharnois (fcer Son) ... 380 

Fanny de Beauharnois (her Daughter) 382 

LuciEN Buonaparte (the Emperor's second 

Brother) - 385 

Louis Buonaparte (the Emperor's third Bro- 
ther) - 399 

Jerome Buonaparte (the Emperor's fourth 

Brother) 407 

Madame Bacchiochi (the £mperor*s eldest 

Sister) .x— 415 

The Princess Santa Cruce (the Emperor's 

second Sister) ».. 418 



IT _ COXTENTS* 

Madame Mvbat (the Emperor's tlird Sis- 
ter).. 421 

The Princes Borghese, cudevant Madame 
Lb Clerg (the Emperor's youngest Sister) 42i 



TH£ 



REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 



GENERAL PICHEGRU. 

That offspring of rebellion, the French Re- 
public, was from its cradle, and is still, surrounded 
by murderers and plunderers, and governed by 
men Whose policy it is to dare every thing, and 
whose religion consists in respefting nothing, 
either sacred, eminent, or illustrious ', who,, in 
the name of liberty, plot the slavery of the world i 
and in holding out equality, meditate their own 
aggrandizement and the wretchedness and ruin 
of the universe : their fraternity is destru Aion^ 
their alliance infamy, and their favours proscrip-i^ 
tion or death. Every ipan who is not an ac- 
complice, is regarded as an enemy, and punished 
as a traitor or a rcbcL With them, guilt Js' 
TOL. II. B merit. 



2 PICHEGRU. 

meritj and merit guilt ; and it is as dangerous 
to be innocent) as it is a recommendation to 
power and advancement to be criminal or cor- 
rupt. 

G^encral Pichegru is a revolutionary phenome- 
non : he has passed through the blood and mire 
of the Revolution, without contracting, a soil, . 
and has obtained renown, and deserved the esteem 
of the good and the loyal, although he has 
obeyed the orders of regicides, and fought the 
battles of republican tyrants — ^more dangerous, 
as well as more numerous, than all other despotic 
rulers. 

Under moral governments, where the law pu- 
nishes the' vicious, and justice recompenses and 
promotes the deserving, it is a duty, it is the in- 
terest of all, to be virtuous and loyal. Under re- 
publican France, on the contrary, poverty and 
contempt, imprisonment, exile, and the scaffold, 
await loyalty ; while riches, honours, dislinftion, 
and a throne, are the pleasing prospeftives for 
the accomplices of a rebellion, encouraged and 
sanctioned by success, approved or applauded by ' 
JVepchmen, and respefted by foreigners. In this 
age of egotism, intrigue, and ambition, only to 
hesitate in the choice, is goodness j but to choose 
tfic former and decline the latter, is a greatness 

seldom 



MCHEGRU. 3 

deidom met ^vith, and therefore so much the 
more praiseworthy. The particulars of General 
Pichegru's public and military life will prove that 
such an eminent charaAer exists* 

Pichegru, late a general of the French Repub- 
lic, was born in 176li at Arbois, in the province 
of Franche Comte. He began his studies at the 
college at Arbois, and continued and improved 
them in the same town, at the convent of the 
monks of the order called Minims. Shewing a 
great aptness, and a decided taste for the abstruse 
sciences, these monks persuaded him to teach 
philosophy and mathematics in a college of their 
order at Brienne. 

Innovators, and declaimers against Christianity 
and its religious institutions, have forgotten that 
Europe is indebted to the so-much-blamed and 
ridiculed solitary and devout inhabitants of mo- * 
nasteries, for the presen'ation of the sciences 
during the barbarous centuries of the middle 
ages 5 for the cultivation of them in the succeed- 
ing ones, and for the rapid advances that they 
have made within the last three centuries. Eras- 
. mus, Bacon, and Mallebranche, were friars ; and 
Comeille, Descartes, Racine, and Voltaire, were 
educated by friars, as well as Richelieu, Maza- 
rine, Turenne^ Conde, and Eugene: Pichegnif 
B 2 Moreau^ 



^ PICHEGRU; 

Moreauj B^i^b^r^ Desaiic, and Buonaparte^ tli^- 
iijfP, best republican generalsj among the thou- 
8^ ojth^s who have figured since the Revolo^ 
tion, had friars fyx thpr instrufto^s. What those 
guides an4 teachers of ypixth have effeSkedi Fe 
^ knpw; b|it (ioie alone can shew what Irauee; 
h^s gs^inedj by^cfaangii^ christian coUeget iiitOi 
ijBpHblican pr jtanecs *, apd : creating atheist*, 
ical. pbilosoidiers^ the successors of christian* 
I^iests. 

Pichcgru,. in teaching the sciences to tethers, 
completed his own studies and information. As- 
np man, nor any class of mcn,.are without their 
ibibles, to augment the number of their own or- ; 
dfr with subjeAs of genius and virtue, was the 
c^nstam endeavour of the fathers of the Minim 
order. Pichegru was. strongly entreated by them 
tQ begin his noviciate, and become one of their j 
cgmmunity ; but, having a natural inclination ; 
for a military life, he enlisted, in 177S, in the . 
fij^st regiment of artillery. His officers soon ob- , 
served the unusual knowledge and valuable dis- 
positions of their recruit, and within ,six; months 
he was made a serjeant. In 1780, he was, with 

a divi- 

• J^rytanees areihe republican public schools in France, so called 
aftejr tbc anf lent Grecian Prytiuieev. 




*. A.OOTTE Crown Prixce o 



PICHEGRU. $ 

m division of the regiment to which he bdonged^ 
embarked for America ; and during the last three 
years of that; war/ he had an cfppoftmiity of fto* 
£ting from his va$t learnings by praAising what 
he knew firom thec^y^ His disposition to study> 
to improvement, and to labour, pfocvred him 
many opportunities of observing with advantage 
every thing connected with a maritime iprar, and 
of greatly enlarging his o<smi ideu fay oseAil com-* 
parisons. 

^ 1789, Picfaegni had the po«t of adjutant in 
his regiment, and was on tlie eve of ^being ]pro^ 
moted-to the rank of an officer: indeed, Piche* 
gru had, several^yeais before this period, been ho* 
noured with the confidence of his colonel^ and 
entrusted with all the particular transactions and 
. managem^ent of this regiment, both military and 
economical, and may therefore be said to haive 
been its real chief; his reputation was then so well 
known and established, that the royalists wished 
him to emigrate, and the democrats promoted 
him, as an encouragement to serve the cause o£ 
the Revolution. 

Pichegru believed, with many others^ that the 

post of honour was the post of danger ; and that 

the post of danger, for all loyal men, was where 

loyaltgr was proscribed, and probity and virtue 

B S butchered 



e PICHEGRU. 

butchered or sent to the scaffold : and that these 
were his sentiments in 1789, the whole tenor of 
his life has proved. 

When other revolutionary generals, as a Jour<^ 
dan, a Hoche, a Vandamme, a Lcibeau, and an 
Anselme* by intrigues or bloody deeds, ascended 
to therank of generals in one leap, from coqa* 
mon soldiers, Pichegru^s modesty caused him to 
be pronaoted only by , degrees and seniority j and 
if change had not shewn the value of his ta« 
lents, and necessity andi danger urged usurped 
power to employ them, he would probably have 
remained among the nameless thousands who 
have fought or died for a cause that they 
detested. 

iPichegru soon had occasion to prove that he 
deserved the reputation which he enjoyed. In 
the latter part of the year 1790, the command 
was offered to him of a battalion of national 
guards, among whom several former command- 
ers had tried in vain to introduce order and sub* 
ordination. He accepted the offer, and in a 
short time established an exa<St discipline, solely 
by that firmness and vigour, as calm as uninter- 
rupted, which have in such an eminent manner 
distinguished him during all his commands. This 
success caused him to be employed under the 

ministry 



PICHEGRU. 7 

ministry of Narbonhe, in the autumn and winter 
of 179 19 to organize, or assist other command- 
ers in organizing, regularity and tafHcs among 
the national volunteers of no less than six de- 
partments*. 

In 1792, after the Brissotine faAion had forced 
the virtuous Louis. XVL to declare war against 
Austria, Pichegru was attached to the Staff of the 
Army of the Rhine, under Custine; and he con- 
" tinned to serve in the same army during the spring 
and summer of 1793, when Biron, Beauharnois, 
and other generals, were its commanders^ al« 
though he had already been advanced, first to the 
rank of general of brigade, and afterwards to that 
of a general of division. 

In the autumn, or Oftobcr the ISth, 1793, 
General Wurmser forced the lines of Weissem- 
burgh. Some time' before this, Valenciennes, 
Conde, and Duquesnoy, had surrendered to the 
English and Austrians, and were taken possesion 
of in the name of the Emperor of Germany; the 
promise of the Prince of Cobourg to Dumourier, 
to settle a King of France upon his throne, having 
l>een laid aside. This impolitic conduA deter- 
B 4 mined 

♦ Diaionnaire Biogniphique ; and^RecueU d'Anccdotet, Brunt- 
wick, 1799, page 36, torn. i. 



B PICHEGRU. 

miaed all true and loyal Frenchmen rather to join 
and serve under the colours of the Revolution, 
than to suffer their country to be invaded, con- 
quered, and divided, by foreigners. Pichegru, 
therefore, accepted the command of the Army of 
the Rhine; regarding it as a duty, even at the 
risk of his own life, and, what was more, contrary 
to his known principles, to assist the regicides, 
but to preserve, if posiiblc, his country from fo- 
reign dominion. 

The Arm^rof the Rhine had, for the last nine 
flftpnths, experiengc4 rcpieatcd ducats j and one . 

recently, by General Wurmser, at the taking of 
the lines of Weissemburgh, which scattered and 
nearly annihilated it, during its retreat, or rather 
flight, to Zornn. 

It has witli justice been remarked, thit Gene- 
ral Dumouricr was the first French commander 
who,during the revolutionary war, taught Frencli- 
men How to fight •, but Pichegru certainly was the 
first general who instrudled his countrymen how 
(o become viAorious. In Alsace, as well as in 
Flanders, Pichegru found the territory of hi$ 
country invaded, its iarmies disheartened and ai* 
most dispersed ; and in neither country did he re- 
sign the command before he had fixed victory in 
his camp. 

From 



FICHE6RU. 9 

From the first day of his command over the Ar« 
my of the Rhine, Pichegru occupied himself, not 
only to stop the farther progress of the enemy, 
bnt to restore among his own troops a long4ost 
discipline, as being absolutely necessary and in* 
dispensable, before he could aft ei&er on the o& 
£ensiTe or defensive } but scarcely had he suc- 
ceeded in this difficult task, and digested a phut 
of operations to ddiver Alsace, and to pave the 
way for future viftory, before the commissaries of 
the National Convention, seduced ^by General 
Hoche's declamations an^ boastings, put Piche- 
gru under thte orders of the latter. Hoche joined 
him with the Army of the Moselle; and he was 
forced to execute, as Second under Hoche, his owtt 
projefts, and see him appropriate to himsdf die 
whole glory of their success. 

The modesty and prudence which have alwayt 
charaAerized General Pichegru, induced him M 
be siknt under this mjury ; and the only revenge 
that he took was worthy of him ; he was ibifirM 
wboj on the 8th and 9th of Decemberj 1799^ 
entered and forced the Hnes tfHaguenmt* 

He carried the redoubts of these lines by the 

bayonet, and the Austrians were even driven from 

the town with great slaughter. He had infused 

a new spirit into the troops \ and it was dct^» 

9 5 mined^ 



10 PICHEGRU. 

mined* both On the part of the leader and the 
soldiery, either to conquer or perish. The heights 
of Reif hoffen, Jandershofferi, and Wrotte, deem- 
ed more impregnable than those of Jemappe, 
were therefore, on the 26th of the same month, 
stormed in succession. At length, after a series 
of battles hitherto unexampled in modern warfare, 
the republican army regained possession of Weis- 
iiembyrgh, thp siege of Landau was raised. Fort 
Louis, evacuated, and Keiserslautern, Germers- 
hsHOi and Spkes, submitted to the French under 
Pichegrn,j/r , 

^ Sp$^.'Wjks. the sudden. change e&fted by the 
confidtnce^which his great talents and courage 
iMSpire^y.and such was, .in consequenc^e, become 
tbci spirit of ^thusiasm witl^ which the French 
soldiers on this frontier were actuated, that Ge» 
oeral Wurmser, who had but lately attempted to 
obtain. StrasbuiCgh by a secret negotiation, and 
Landau by force, was now obliged to retreat 
across the Rhine j while the Duke of Brunswick, 
astoixished at the zeal and activity of the enemy, 
and uncertain of the ultimate intentions of Pi- 
chegrfi,and Hoche, who now.sustaiaed the glory 
of their country, made a hasty retreat to cover 
Mentz, and soon withdrew from the command 
ia disgust. 

^ During 



PICHEGRU. 11 

During the short but brilliant period of three . 
months,that Pichegru had commanded the Army 
of the Rhine, neither his services nor his vidlories 
coiild preserve him from the then proscribing im- 
putation and reproach of not being a sans-cu- 
lottes general, or an anarchical jacobin, because 
his language was always, like his sentiments, that 
of a gentleman; and- he had never carried a red , 
cap, nor once frequented any jacobin dub^ It 
was not his merit, therefore, but the urgent ne- 
cessity which Robespierre 8 Committee of Public 
Safety felt for his military talents, that preserved 
his life, and caused him, on the 5th of Febru^y, 
1794', to be appointed commander in chief of 
the Army of the North. 

Before he left Strasburgh, and resigned his 
former command, the conventional commissaries 
sent for him, and told him, " that all the former 
disasters of France originated from its ^nerals 
not being trye sans-culottes ; they therefore ad- 
vised him to change, for the future, his revolu- 
tionary opinions, and become a mountaineer * and 
a republican, that he might owe his prosperity 
B 6 hereafter 



♦ The Mountaineers of the National Convention wpr» Kobe- 
spierre, Marat, Danton, Barrere, Fouche, Carrierc, and oilers, 
the most blood-thirsty of the regicides. 



IS FtCHE&BU. 

hereafter to his own patriot&nif atstd not, «s late- 
\j^ to the patriotism of his army ; . to deserve Tic- 
tory as a jacobin, and not to swindle k as an 
aristocrat.'' To this fraternal admonition Pidie*' 
gru repiiedj ^^ that he did not believe either the 
Siakeof York, the Prince of Cobourg, or the 
Duke of Brunswick, were sans-culbttes, or their 
soldiers jacobins :. that they had, iiowever, been 
ofter vidorious; and if the love of his country, 
«nd his wishes for the liberty and welfare of his 
countrymen, constituted true patriotism, he was 
the best patriot in France ; as itiuch s^ve the 
fanatics of a club, as the fadHons in a national 
iisscmMy *.'*'— This anecdote evinces both the 
temper and qualities of the republican rulers of 
those times, and the respedable chara&et of a 
republican general, who, when it was dangerous 
only to be suspedbd of virtuous principles, had 
fortitude enough to acknowledge virtue as his 
only guide. 

General Pichegru received with' his new com<- 
mand no instrudlions for his proceedings, but an-, 
imperative and ridiculous ordor ** to conquer ;'' 
and in his conferences with the ministers at Paris, 
he was vagyelj/ direAed to attack the Allies in 

the 

« RccucU d'An€€dotM» «rt. Pkhc|rtt» vage |6. 



die ocstse^nd, i|i die mean timei trnhmm^htir 
flanks'*. 

Of his p ned ^ ct s so CT io this hazafdoos €(m»- 
tnauid) within ten montht one liad been oudam- 
edf> and deserted; ime killed on the field of boW 
tie:!:, wad two were guillotined^. The officers 
of this army were ignorsmt, undisciplined, witb> 
out education, ^iU, oi^ ardour; and the soMiers 
were worse than the officers; frequenters of dubsy 
denouncers and informers against their command- 
€rB, whom,from principles of equality, they faatedt 
and froip experience mistrusted ; but how much 
depends upon the choice of a superior chief, must 
be evident^ when, with such an army, we see 
(hat Pichegru in six montlis retook what had 
occupied the enemy, even assisted by treason> 
upwards of twelve months in conquering ; and in 
three months mose he added Holland to the other 
conquests of France* 

During the years 1?9S and 1794, the reign of 
terror, enforcing obedience to the conventional 
degrees, caused an a^vity, and produced re- 
sources, which are totally incompatible with a 

regard 

* David's Memoirs oo Pichegni!! Caunpalgns, 

f 'Dumourier. 

t Dampienre. 

S Cu8tiQ« and Bouchard. 



24 PICHEGBU. 

regard for the lives and property (^indlvidaak in 
civilized nations. ' The existence of no individual 
was certain for an hour^ and the possessions of all 
persons appertained to the naticm at large. The 
Agrarian law was not proclaimed^ but the absurd 
speculations of J. J. Rousseau were forced into 
praAice i and it may truly be said, that in France 
** the earth belonged to nobody, but its produc- 
tioQs to everybody*," 

The general who was not victorious was pu- 
nished as a traitor; an army defeated, was an ar- 
my suspected and proscribed; and many of those 
who had escaped the sword, the cannon, and the 
bayonets of the enemy, were doomed to suffcr-in 
republican bastiles, or perish by the revolutionary 
guillotine. 

The decree for the levy en masse had already 
placed all the youtlis of the most populous na- 
tion in Europe at the disposal of a government 
which boasted of having one million two hun- 
dred thousand men in arms. The war with the 
maritime powers having interdicted the impj^rta- 
tion of gunpowder and military stores, these 
were now supplied by the talents of the che- 
mists. 



* ]. J. Rousseau, in his disceurfe on the inequality of the con* 
ditloQS of mankindi addressed ^o the A€«dcmy at Dijon. 



HCHEGRU. IS 

mistSy and tKe industry of the artisans of 
France. Paris alone, from its three hundred 
forges, and fifteen founderies, furnished eleyen 
thousand five hundred and twenty stand of ann% 
and one thousand one hundred pieces of brats 
cannon, every month^. The insurgent cities 
were ordered to transmit a certain portion of 
saltpetre, by way of fine} the feudal castles of 
the murdered, exiled, or imprisoned nobility^ 
still supposed to frown on the liberty, or ra* 
ther anarchy, of the Republic, as well as the 
forest that had sheltered the brave and loyal me9 
of La Vendee, also provided their quota of a^ 
ingredient so necessary in the modern art of 
war. Nor were the commercial signs of wealthy 
at all times indispensable for carrying on mili^ 
tary operations, wanting. In addition to the aV 
most inexhaustible fund arising from assignat% 
the credit of which was supported by the maxir 
mum and the guillotine, the virtuous piety of their 
ancestors presented them with other resource^ 
which were at this period called into adUon; for 
the estates of the clergy, and the sacred trea- 
sures and vases of the Christian religion, were 
fxiely resorted to; and even the consecrated bells 

were 

* Thi Resonof Barrere^ Frinuire, an. xi« 



16 PIOHEGBU. 

ipcre xndted, to furnish cannon for armies 
amounting to 780,000 fighting men*. That 
nothing might be wanting to gire efficacy to 
Aese immense preparations, the archires of the 
war department were searched for the schemes 
isnd memorials presented to the Duke dc Sully, 
to the Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarine, and 
other great ministers, and drawn up during the 
reigns of Henry IV. Louis XIII. and Louis 
ZIV.j a chosen body, consisting of the ablest 
military men in France, forpfied plans for the 
campaign, and often laid down instruftions &r 
the generals, under the inspedion of Camot, a 
worthy member of th^ cruel Committee of Pub» 
tic Safety, who pretended to be one of the best 
^ngineiers and ablest statesmen of the age, al- 
i^hough he had never conduced a siege, com- 
«nanded a battalion, or carried on or negotiated 
a single treaty^ but in the different situations in 
which rebellion and crime had placed him, he pro- 
fited by the information of those who groaned 
undor his regicide tyranny, and arrogated to him- 
self 



• According to Camot'^ statement, irnblished by the NatMoal 
Convention in Nivose, an. x'l. the Army of the North consisted 
of 120,000 men; the Armies of the Rhine and the Moselle, 
giSo,o6o ; the Army of the Alps, 60,000 ; of the Eastern Pyrenees^ 
80,000 i the Army of the South, 60,000; «f the West, 8o,ooo. . 



PICHE6BU n 

u\£ xhc Slices of plans diametricdHy opfiotite to 
those of lus o.wn inyention*. 

This W4S the case with a planibr a campaign 
^ent'to Pichegru a short time after his arriyal at 
the head^quarters of the Army of the Nordu 
According to Csumot's orden, the war comoiit^ 
tee at PaKis, aad the conventional depaties» iiw 
mt^ that Pichcgni should attack the cenlire .of 
the enemir ia the. fbrot of Mormaile^ akhoogh 



* la thi Diaioimaira Biognvhi^QCt a Woik from an aUe hioli 
!! ftrnt J, pqs 173 J th« ioQowiiw sMU coifiCCTing Ctn»t I 

On ni I'auroit trop fiiirt remar^tier I'impodeur ■▼«c laqnctYe €• 
Ctniot» i ^ttt qoftlftta gtM out Mcordl um Mfiitadmi mUioiiiet 
on at laic crop pourmoit vuio(u*U m 4onoo januii un WuiUon, 
et qu'tl .ae montra que det talant d'adminittrattur ou de cuniliite« 
a*¥oiiltt enlcTer I Jotirdan U gloire de la batailla de ^kuriit, ct 
kan croire auHi f «'// f fa// i*muitmr in fnjit ^invMiom 4i M 
i^ttt FUmdre^ fv^f* *om Rd^pport dti tre yfjuUmiaire^ 4m. J. j 111 
a'eit pu ctoonaot que cc conipiritcor» I ▼!!€• autsi etroitet qva lan- 
gtt'masffet, et dont rien iie •'aaroit egalar la vanit^, ait cru fouroir 
iur oubliar S*4ntHtment avtc /rf aw/ il Mpmtmt its pUm 9wr Uftrm 
it Marmaltf puiaqu 'U imaf inera biea pouvoir faira oiiblier auMi 
que ta maiM, qui ota tracer dcfuta les mots ie vertu et i*b9mnemr^ 
0voit tfgmi i9M* ce* srrtU fttl dtvtuteremt ut patrit, Emmtmipttf'^ 
«Mrf/4irF/4r^j^«,dontHeavioit la gloire, aioai que celle de toM 
le^ generauK, il a, daat f ea Expidts iet Frajifois, omii ou attribue a 
dca officiera en lotia ordre, Ita yi^irea de ce general avec maiivaii 
fin toat-^fatt maUadroita. 

The Report«f Bay eul to the Council of Fke Hundred, concerning 
the conapiracy of the iSth Fru^dor, an* v« coafirau tha aborea aad 
qghibiiaCaiaQCinhiatruacoViuis. . 



18 WCHEGRU. 

this^genctal rq)resented both the danger and ab* 
surdit7 of so doing, which the several defeats al- 
ready experienced by the French, on this point, 
seemed to. confirm: thus, when, after repeated 
losses, at the risk of his life, Pichegru entirely 
changed this &voarite plan of the infatuated 
Carnot into his own projeft of invading West 
FIanders> the regicide Carnot, in his Report t0 
the I>fadonal Convention, of the £rs( Vende-^ 
mitiire, year iii« had the impudence to take to 
himself all the honour of Pichegru's vifto- 
ries*. 

Soon' after Pichegru had assumed his new 
command, from the beginning of March> he 
formed a great number of encampments, to ac- 
custom the many recruits of his army to military 
movements. After a fortnight passed in this 
manner, he collefted a great number of troops 
round Cambray and Guise, for the purpose of 
executing Carnot's orders, by driving the Allies 
from the forest of Mormale,and forming the siege 
of Quesnoy. He began on the 29th of the same 
month, by attacking the Austrian posts at Ca- 
teau, Beauvais, and Solesme, which he carried; 
but| although his attack was both well formed 

and 

• Sft the Ittt note*' 



PICHEGRlJ. 19 

and skilfully dire£ked» the Imperialists, raUjtfi^ 
obliged him, after being repulsed on his whde 
line, to retreat, with the loss of six hvndred mes 
killed and wounded. 

Notwithstanding almost dailf engagements^ 
the opening of one of the most funous and mo» 
mentous campaignSf either among the ancients 
or moderns (and which placed Pichegru aboTe 
Baonaparte and all other repuUiow generals^ at 
t&uch for his taints as lor his Tirtues)^ had not 
yet taken places at length» oa the 16th of Apri^ 
the combined armies, consisting of Austrianst 
British, .Dutch, Hanoverians, and Hessians^ 
amounting to 187,000 men, assembled on th« 
heights above Cateau, and were reviewed by the 
Emperor of Germany, who had lately assumed 
the command in person. In pursuance of the 
plan previously agreed upon, they advanced dur* 
ing the succeeding day in eight columns, three 
of which were intended as corps of observation. 
The £rst, composed of Austrian and Dutch 
troops, under the command of Prince Christian 
of Hesse Darmstadt, took possession of the viW 
lage of Catillon, where they obtained four piece* 
of cannon, and, having crossed the Sambre, im^ 
mediately occupied a position between that river 
and the little Helpcj so as to invest Landreci^ 

on 



to ttCHSGRU. 

ffirthat side. Tl|e second, led by Lieutenant- 
general Alvintxi, took post in the forest Nou* 
«ion. The third, headed bf the Emperor and 
the Prince of Cobourg, after forcing the eno* 
msft entrenchoients, adiranced to the heights 
called the Grand and Petit Blocus. The fourth 
•od fifth columns woe formed from the armf 
wider the Duke of York, that of which his 
RofalHighnesatook Ihe^lireQion being intended 
10 attack the village of Vaus. Major-general 
Abercromby commeneed the assault with the 
vtn, supported by the two grenadier compauiee 
erf* the first Mgiment of guards^ under the com* 
Inand of Colonel Stanhope* and stomled and tools 
At star redoubt) while three battalions of Aus* 
trim grenadiers, commanded by Major Petrasch, 
attacked the wood, and made themselves^ masters 
of the works which the j^rench had construAed 
for its defence. 

• Sir William* Erskine was equally successful 
with the other column; for, finding the enemy 
posted at Premont,the brigade of British infantry, 
with four squadrons of light dragoons, was de- 
iached under Lieutenant-g€»eral Harcourt to turn 
their position; while he himself attacked it in 
front with three battalions of the regiment of 
K^^nitz, supported b;^^ a well-direfted fire of 

British 



HCHBORU: tt* 

Brkidi aad Anstriati aitiHeryt under the ordem 
of ' Jlieutenaot^eoloiiel Congreve ; and not <Hdf 
obtained poAeasion of die^redoobtl, bvt ot tweE 
pieces of camion aad a padr bf colours. 

The success of this extensive and complicated 
attack (in consequence of whidi-<he Freneh utt«> 
der General Pichegru lost tl^bty pieeea of artil* 
leryj nine of which were taken bf the cobunn 
under the immediate command of his Royal' 
Highness the Duke (X York) .being now com-" 
plete^ it was immediately determined to hey Acgt: 
to Laudrecies* The diredion of this importtot 
afiair was entrusted to the Hereditary Prince of 
Orange; while His Imperial Majesty, with the. 
grand army, estimated- at 60>000 men, covered* 
the operations on the side of Guise, and the^ 
troops under the Duke of York, amounting to 
near 30,000, were employed in a similar serviov 
towa^ Cambray. A body of Austrians andl. 
Hessians, to the number of 12,000, under Gene- 
ral Wurmb, were at the same time stationed near- 
Douay and Bouchain; Count Kaunitz with 
15,000 defended the passage of the Sambre; and 
General Qairfayt, with 40,000 more, protefted* 
Flanders, froifa Tournay to the sea. Such were* 
the strength and position of the Allies, even 
iHthout- the assistance of the Prussians (who 

made 



n PICHEGRtJ. 

fliade no movement in their favour), that til ge- 
nerals of the old school imagined success to be 
inevitable: and appearances, for a time, seemed 
to confirm their conjeAuresj for on the 21st of 
tihe same month, the Hereditary Prince of Orange 
made a general attack upon, and carried, all the 
posts still occupied by the enemy in front of 
Landrecies: he also took their entrenched camp 
by storm, and obtained possession of a strong 
redoubt within six hundred yards of the body of 
the place. 

To raise the siege of Landrecies, Pichegru 
ordered an attack on the' advanced posts of the 
Prince of Cobourg, at Blocus and Nouvion; at 
the former the French were repulsed; but Nou- 
vion was carried, and General Alvintzi obliged to 
retreat : some success on the part of General - 
Wurmb, however, rendered this an event of small 
importance. 

Apprehensive that he could riot succeed in 
raising the siege of Landrecies, and yet not 
daring to infringe the orders of the Committee 
of Public Safety, to persevere in attacking the 
centre of the allies, Pichegru collected, in Cesar's 
Camp, a force of thirty thousand men under 
Souham, and twenty thousand under MoreaUj 
^ for the purpose of making a detached invasion of 

West ' 



PICHfiGRa M 

West Flanden. General Otto being tent on 
the 23d to recaonoitre them^ an engagemoit 
epsued, in which the French were driven into 
Cambray with loss; and the next day were ro- 
pulsed with great slaughter, in an attack on the 
heights of Cateai:^ where the Duke of York waa 
posted^ o^ ^bis occasion Lieutenayat-general Ch»« 
puy^'with three hundred and thirty officers and 
privates, were taken prisoners, and thirty*five 
pieces of cannon fell ii^to the hands, of the Eng- 
lish. . But these defeats were not of sufficient 
consequence to preventPichcgru fr(wn persevering 
in his original: enterprise* 

While the subordinate generals wax employed^ 
in this incursion, Pichegru,on the 26th, advanced 
in five columns, drove in all the outposts and' 
piquets of the besieging army, attacking along 
the whole frontier, from Treves to the sea; but 
in the progress of this day he did not succeed; on 
the contrary, he was forced to retreat, and was 
pursued to the very gates of Cambray, with loss 
both of men and artillery. 

Pichegru, however, returned to the charge on 
the 29tb, assailing an almost impregnable post, 
defended by General Clairfayt at Moucron, and, 
by his success, retrieved the disaster of the for-^ 
mer confliAs, besides animating his troops with 

the 



U WCHEti*tJ. 

fte eoftfidWce reidkbg &om a 6tst viftofyi ^Ad 
ttOtwitfastaHKlhig th6 dt(6^ of a bod^ of 30,000 
fl^n of his aiPmy/Wl^ had stdaeked the Dtke of 
York at-Tournaf ((m -which ^ occasion they lost 
tiiirteen pieces of eanhoiii and above fbtii^ him-* 
4»tAtAien kdc^n plrisoher9)i h^ in a 'shbrt time 
after ohtinncxipioss^^ion of W6^wick, Cdattriyi 
amd Menin, the last of which h^ld out feur daysi 
when, Bndiiigno probability of saci<cour, the gar«i 
rison, consisting chiefly of emigrants, forced their 
way through the enemy with great bravery, but 
^th great lo6s« 

Landrecies had now surrendered; and Piche^^ 
pm^ convinced of the impradicability of darnot's 
plan, reconmiended by the Committee of Ptib*^ 
lie Safety, desisted from further attacks on the 
centre of the AUies. He would not even at-*^ 
temjpt the recovery of Landrecies; but, leaving 
small garrisons in the central fortresses, to pre- 
vent surprize, projefied a combined movement 
with the army of the Ardennes, and, taking Beau- 
mont, made some incursions between the Sambre 
and the Meuse, 

The Army of the Allies, in consequence^ of 
the offensive operations of Fichegru, who, whe- 
ther vanquished or -viAorious, proved incessant 
in his attacksi being thus broken into many se- 
parate 



MCHEGRU- M 

psCrate masses, and destitute of unity in its 6pera- 
ttons, was evidently liable to be overcoijae.' 

Numerous skirmishes took place during the 
early part of May; and on the 10th an attack 
was made on the Duke of York, near Tournay, 
in which the French were defeated, and three 
thousand killed. General Clairfayt, who, since 
his defeat at Moucron, had occupied a strong po« 
sition, so as to cover Ghent, Bruges, and Ostend, 
at the same time attempted to drive the French 
from Courtray ; but are inforcement was judicir 
ously thrown into the town by Pichegru ; and in 
an engagement which took place the ensuing 
day. General Clairfayt was driven back into his 
ori^nal position at Thielt. This last action did" 
the greatest honour to the gallant, but unlucky - 
Austrian general, and Pichegru decided the fate 
o( the day'solely by the celerity and unity of his 
attacks. 

During this conflift, while Pichegru was pur-, 
suing his viftorious career in the West, General 
Jourdan, already celebrated for his vi£torie$ at 
Hoondschoote and Maubeuge, had the command 
of the Army of the Ardennes $ and with this 
army, and the right wing of the Army of the 
North, he crossed the Sambre, forced General 
Kaunitz to retreat, and took possession of Fqn- 

voi-.li. , c taine 



/ 
St REVOLUTIONAEY flUTARCIf . ' 

hjineTEvequc/anclBtiick; wkich, iiaweirar, lie 
was obHged tO'tdinqauk, on the ai^earance of 
» Austrian force, with the losf of near 5000 men 
and three pieces of cannon. 

The Armies of the North and Ardennes, again 
partiillf united) were at this time nnder the t5^ 
fanny of the constitational deputies St. Jnst and 
Le B^> who stimulated the troops to e^rtion by 
perpetual threats of execution in case of failure ; 
threats which, from them^ could never be con- 
sidered idle or nugatory ; because, as they often 
:rep>eated, *• the permanency of the guillotine war 
tie 6irdert>f '^the Jny."* After the last defeat of 
Jonrdaai, Pichegra went to assist him to re-orga- 
niae the Army of the Ardennes, and to instrudt 
him how to aft with moit method even in acce- 
tefoting his operations* He, however, not only 
feimd this army terrified by the cruelties of the 
two pro-consuls; but, when he had formed plans 
for passing the Sambre, and besieging Charleroi, 
they were frustrated by the precipitation, violence, 
^d ignorance of those men, who controlled him, 
akd itiperseded his authority. 
'< 1\) ^Jtftel' the French from Flandci-s became a 
prtec^l^'Ob|i^ of the Allies; and Pichegru, in 
his turn, Aid every thing in his power both to ^ 
mftintaitt and extend his conquest in this pro* 
' vincc. 



PICHEGRU. . Vt 

vincc. To allure General Clairfeyt from M$ ad- 
vantageous position near ThieltjPichegru ordered 
General Moreau to hem in and blockade Yyprc^ 
in the beginning of June. In his attack to rt* 
liere this fcity, General Clairfeyt met with no- 
thing but defeats, particularly on thc*lSth of 
June, near Hoogl^de, whidi caused the fall of 
Yypres, and by it chiefly decided the fate of 
West Flanders. The Allies were, however, de- 
termined to make another attempt; for this pur-^ 
pose, after many skirmishes, in which Lannoy, 
Tur^oing, Roubaix, Mouveaux, and all the great 
posts in the road from Lille to Courtray, were 
taken by the Duke of York on the. 16th; and 
the next day, a general attack was made under 
the eye of the Emperor himself; but it was ren- 
dered unsuccessful by the delay of two columns, 
which ought to have forced the passage of La 
Marque, but whose tardiness, from fatigue, left 
open the conimunication between Lille and 
Courtray, and deranged the whole plan of ope- 
rations ; though^ in detached points, the Allies 
gained some advantages. In several reports and 
narratives of the French, His Royal Highness 
the Duke of York is much praised for his vigor- 
ous attacks and able manoeuvres on that day, 
when-, leading on seven battalions, of British, 
c2 five 



M REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

five of Austri^ins^ and t^o of Hessians, with six 
squadrons of light dragoons and four of hussars, 
he forced the French, after the stoutest resist- 
ance, to evacuate Lannoy and Roubaix, and af- 
terwards advanced against Mouveaux*. Gene- 
ral . Abercromby attacked at the same time, with 
four battalions of Guards, seconded by the se- 
venth and fifteenth light dragoons, under Lien- 
tenant-colonel Churchill; and the enemy was 
compelled to retire, with the loss of three pieces 
of cannon. 

Early in the ensuing morning, the republi- 
cans,' under Pichegru, attacked, in great force, 
the post at Turcoing. Two battalions of Aus-^ 
trians, detached by the Duke of York to make a 
diversion, failed in returning to him, and thua 
left an opening on his right. The French, pour- 
ing in torrents of troops on every side, had com- 
pletely surrounded the British battalions ; but 
these, with the greatest bravery, although with 
much difficulty and loss, cut their way through, 
and made an honourable retreat. General Piche^ 
gru had received positive orders from the Com- 
mittee of Public Safety, to direA the chief attack 
against the British tra>jps \ the Royal British 

Com- 

* Coup*d*<Eil sur k Campagpe dc FUndret, «u I'afl. u. par ua 
Republicjun, page 9. ' 



PICHEGRU. 79 

Commander was therefore assailed on all sides 
by such a superior number of republicans, that, 
his troops were forced to give way, and he found 
it impossible either to join the Brigade of the 
Guards, or that commanded by Major*general 
Fox ; but " iy tht greatest intrepidity and pre*- 
sence <f rmnd^^ he was at length enaUed to es- 
cape to a body of Austrians, commanded by 
Genetal Otto, accompanied only by a few dra^^ 
goons fA the sixteenth regiment ^ while Major- 
general Abercromby, with some difficulty, made 
good his retreat to Templeuve, and Major-gene^ 
ral Fox fortunately succeeded in gaining die viU 
lagc of Leers*. 

During this battle, which lasted the whole day, 
Pichegru ordered Moreau, although with inferior 
forces, to occupy General Clairfayt, wfaicfa, by 
his able manoeuvres, he effeAed. . According to 
the French account, they took this day fifteen 
hundred prisoners, and sixty pieces of cannon ; 
but it is on the other hand asserted, that they left 
on the field four thousand slaip, while the Allies 
lost only three thousand. 

In their estimates of the successes of this day^ 

the opposing armies widely differed t the Dake 

c5 of 

• See Coup-d'oeil sur U Catnpagne de Pltadrcii page iTu. PnuM 
60m an enemy is justicet but no ftatcery* 



«0 REVOLUXlONAJiy RLUTARCH. 

€)£ Yotki itt his puUic ofder»» 4cciw?ed thm heJbtd 
Kt4;fe to regrets tscocpttlie lo$s 4dfw man/ i>r»v^ 
l!jW»-. Pij:l*^i'u, bclievusig. thfl Allies t» b^ desr 
tkpt'e .of • artillery, maid^ on the g3d a gewjcr^l 
»95$iilt ofl their lines yfith a hii»dfed t^ouawid 
aa^njintending to force the passage pf tlie Scheldti 
and invest Toiirinay. The assault begwi at five 
i>'tl(|ck ia .<be jmoming,. aowl thj^ French, coflf- 
linually bringing ^p fresh troops, co^tintwad it 
the vhole <by : 9b3»|: tfan^. «r'<k>ck H) tfac aftei^ 
lipc»fi ^' right wing of the AJOy^^^ beulg'greallj 
^tsguedy bc^qn to give gixmnd $ yrheo: the Dttke 
of York dfitachod aevat Aostriaa battalions^ and 
the second brigade of British infantryr^ under 
Major-general Fox, to their support. The spi- 
rit and peraeTeeax^ce of the EnglisE soldiers de- 
<id^d tbr fite of the day v they stortn^d the 
"vilkge of Font-aichin^rushed vdch fixed bayoiteta 
into the heart of the French army, and threw 
^b<9nr. into- such confusion^ that they, could ne- 
.ter be raHtod>notwifhsraTuling all Pichegru's en- 
«lea70ur5i who continiied for fourteen hours in 
the midst of the fire, leading on or rallying hia 
^tr(K>pi9. .This general had, during the battle, three 
'iwM(isfea;ktlled under hini, and two aides-de-camp 
'.Aot by his side. 
. The Alfies lay on their arms that night, ex-*' 

peftinf 



pe&u2g a r^eneotedalUclDiQtheaoriikigs butihr 
French retreated tq Lilk, Pkh^gru hsiv'mg m^ 
the most jiU<ikiou6 arrangements t9 prevo^yt hi^ 
army from being turned or assailed by the auqi^ 
rous Austrian cavalry. Sucii n battle has ^eldMi 
been, fought : the repubUcans were in aftioa> mr - 
ikr Wl m^essai^t &re of cannaxi and miisketry, «^ 
wards of twelve hours; besides a retreat of four 
hours, constamly ^ithm tbfi, retch of cannon 
^lot : twelve tbousaod ^ their men w€xe kft 
dead on the field, and five husub^d taken ptiso»* 
crs. The loss of the AUio w^ cvtinaud it ifaitr 
tfaonsazid. 

The spirited coaduA of the British ttroc^^ 
though biu a "very small tuusober, on aU these 
0ccssiofis» Hindered them an once the admisarifin 
of the Allies and the terror of the Fr9ich» Th«r 
heroic valour, howe^^ner) irhiclk oaffiA to hive 
gained them resped, only kitidlod the fbry of 
the republican government; and the infrmoBs 
Convent ion. was base enough to concur in a 
proposition made by the ferodous Cofnmittee of 
Public Safety, decreeing, on the 26th of May^ 
that in future no quarttr should be given to BrU 
iisb or Hanoverian troops* This savage edi£t 
was recommended to the army by an address 
c 4 the 



32 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the produAIon of Barrere, one of Buonaparte's 
favourites and counsellors 5 in which, aftt^r false- 
ly accusing the British government of all the 
crimes perpetrated by Frendi rebels, or regicides, 
against their own country and countrymen, he 
declared, " that not one of the slaves of George 
ought to return to the traitorous territory of 
England*.^ 

When Pichegru received this abominable de* 
cree, and the no less abomltiable address, he con- 
voked all the generals of his army about him, 
and in the presence of his staff told them, << thai 
he believed them all to be brave tnetiy and therefore 
no assassins : but if he nvas mistaken in his opinion ^ 
he would that instant throw up his command^ 
though he knew tbtd certain death would be the 
tms$qui»cei^ but they unanimously agreed with 
their chief, and promised to instil the same sen- 
timents into the troops of their respective corps; 
adding, that if the conventional deputies acconv* 
panying the army insisted upon the enforceihent 
of this law of blood, they would to a man resign* 
As Robespierre had spies tstx^ where, it was 

not 

* This decree was of the 26th May, and the address of the igfh 
May, 1794. As\moiiuments of French republican ferocity, they 
are never to be for|;otten. 



PICHEGRU. 33 

not long before he obtained information of what 
he called the aristocratical' and mutinous con-* 
duft of Pichegru and his oflSicers; and Kchegru's, 
Moreau's, and 592 other names of military cha- 
rafters in the Army of the North, were, after 
Robespierre's death, found upon his list for the 
guillotine, as a job (corvee) in mass after the 
campaign should be over. It requires more real 
courage to brave the scaffold than the mouths of 
cannons*. 

It is necessary to observe, however, that om 
republican general was cruel and cowardly enough 
to execute this mandate of the regicides. When, 
in July 1794*, some Hanoverians were made 
prisoners in maritime Flanders, General Van 
Damme, to stimulate his troops by his exam* 
pie, put one to death with his own hands^, as 
he had a few months before done to some unfor- 
tunate emigrants at- Futnessf. This General 
Van Damme is now among Buonaparte's first 
fiends and favourites, and his governor at Lillej , 
in Flanders, after being, in 1794, imprisoned by 
the order of General Pichegru. for his crimes in 
the Low Countries, and in 1800 degraded by 
G 5 General 

* Lc Coup-d**il dc la Campagne de Flandres, page i6. 
'f See the last.mentioned pamphlet, page 17; and the History of 
tlie Campaign af G eneral Pichegru, by David, page 56; ' ^* 



?4 . REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. . 

General Moreau for fais plunder wd iFexatkiis ia 
Suabia*. 

, Tke:Con4u£k of the Duke of York wpon this" 
occasion wa&at once dignified and bnoiane^ be- 
coming^ the son of a king, and a commander in 
tbs c^se of honour, virtue, and lo7alt7. In-* 
stead of issuing orders for inamediate retaliation^ 
and thus producing- all the horrors of mutual as* 
-sassination, His Royal Highness, in an address 
to his arriiy, dated Jnne 7, 1794, nobly requested 
^ the troops to suspend their indignation, and re-- 
pniinded theni, " that merey to the vanquished is 
the brightest gem in a soldier*^ chaf after :'* while 
the repoMican rulers were the butchers of their 
fellpw^citizens, the En^ish Prince, afted as a 
generous soldier, .whose profession was disgraced 
by such an attempt to abolish the laws of war and 
humanity^ and as a guardian of the subjefts of 
his august father, who were thus invidiously 
singled out as people to whom alone the ordi- 
nsLTj regulations of civilized states ought not to 
}^ extended. 

In 



•^-In August 1800, Generai Mortao degraded Van Damme a» 
aa accomplice of the. Commissary General Pommier, condemned 
to be shot by the sentence of a court-martial, for plunder and exior- 
<toa in Suabia. Van Damme contioned Uurinf ihe whole camE«Cft 
iAiherearorihcumy* 



TICHEGRIT. 8$ 

In the mean rime the French aitnf , pressed 
by the republican tyrant's St. Just and Le Bai^ 
had oo the 20th of May repassed the ^ambrei re* 
captured Fontaine TEveque) and Binch, and par^* 
tially invested Charlerai ; but they were agakji 
routed by General Count Kaunit2,wfth the loss 
of five thousand men kiltedi wounded and pri» 
soners, and fifty pieces of cannon. The loss was^ 
however, compensated on the other side, where 
a portion of the Army of Ae Moselle, was placed 
under Jourdan, and received the name of the Ar- 
my of the Sambre and the Meuse. This force, 
consisting of forty thousand men, invaded tht 
duchy of Luxemburg, took possession of Arlon, 
and obliged General BeauUen to fall back on 
Marche, in order to cover Nemur. The Duke . 
<rf York'^s position at Toumay was thus rendered, 
for several days, very precarious, as a great por- 
tion of the allied army was obliged to fall back 
'f# cover Brussels and Ghent, and the Prince of 
Cobourg marched the principal part of his army 
to then- relief. 

Sc. Just and Le Bas, ignorant of tables, and 
jCrudi like most upstarts in power, wer6» con- 
trary to the representations of Pichegru, still per- 
severing tb sacrifice the lives of the soldiers fon 
^attainment- of a proposed pointy and agaia 
G G comr 



3^ REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

compelled the troops to cross the Sambre on the 
3d of June, and commence the blockade of 
Charleroi ; but being attacked by the combined 
jurmy under the Hereditary Prince of Orange^ 
and by a judicious sally of the garrison, they 
wegre compelled once more to fall back to their 
ibrmex; position, after a great loss both of men 
and artillery. 

Notwithstanding their jeiterated; miscarriages 
in that quarter, the dnemy soon after re-crossed 
the Sambre, and assumed a position near Gx>s- 
selies, for the purpose of covering the siege of 
Charleroi, before which they had already begun 
to open trenches} but the same general who.had 
defeated them a few days before, arrived again> 
and obliged them, on the 6th of June, to retreat 
with the loss of near six thousand men, twenty- 
two pieces of cannon, thixt]^five ammunition 
waggons, a considerate number of horses, and 
a great quantity of baggage. But General Joiun* 
dan, having received numerous reinforcements 
from the Army of the Moselle, crossed the Sam- 
bre a fourth time, stormed the Austrian camp at 
Betignies, and prepared again to besiege a city 
which had so long repelled his attacks. 

The right wing of the Army of the North, so 
ofteuj by the infatuation of St. Just and Le Ba^, 

defeated 



PICHEGRU. , sy 

defes^ed brfore C%arkroI» had now joined the 
Army ef the Sambre and the Meuae ; and Piche« 
gru, who commanded them> confident ia supo- 
~ rior foFceS) determine(| at all events to succeed. 
The Prince of Cobourg on this occasion aban-, 
donedTournay, leaving the defence of theScheldt 
to the Duke of Yoi^, and withdrawing all his 
posts before Valenciennes, Quesnoy, and the 
other .French'^towns in his possession, to ful- 
fil the more important task of succouring West 
Flanders* For^ this purpose he spent two days 
ki-preparatio% and then made, on the 27th of 
Jijuie, a general attack on the advanced post of 
Jourdan's army. Chafleroi had the preceding 
day been forced to surrender at discretion. The 
Prince of Cobourg, assisted by the Prince of 
Orange and General Beaulieu, not being ao- 
quadnted with this event, after the attack on 
the advanced post, marched with the combined 
army, divided into five columns, and made pre- 
parations to relieve the place. Having attacked 
the enemy's entrenchinents, in the diredion of 
L^mbrisart, Espinies,^ and Gosselies, he objiiged 
a few detached bodies to retreat, though prcu 
teAed by several very strong redoubts; but such 
was the opposition experienced on this occasion 
by the AUieS| that it w«s evening before the left 

wing 



m REVOLUTIONART PLUTARCH. 

wing had zrmtd at the principal heights, wkkb 
^^erc fortified by an extensive range of field- 
vorks, lined with an immense quantity of heavy 
artillery. Although a variety qf unforeseen oh* 
ftades had hitherto interposed, an attempt was 
vow made to force this strong position with the 
iayonet; while Jourdan, on the other -hand>^ 
liaving obtained the assistance of the besieging 
army in con9e<}iience of the fall of Charleroi, de- 
termined^ according U the advice and plan of 
Pichegru*y to decide the fate of Flaiiders in a 
pitched battle. He acc<H^ingly advanced with 
a numerous army, and made soch a disposition, 
as to enable the greater part of his forces to con- 
tend with the left wing of the Allies only. Ne- 
Tertheless, such was the impetuous valour of the 
assailants against four times superior forces, 
'Strengthened and prote^ed by the nature of 
their position, and by every thing which the 
modern art of war could invent, that they re- 
peatedly penetrated the French lines, and formed 
several times under the fire of their cannon"; but 
towards seven o'clock in the evening, the advan- 
tage obtained by Jourdan became conspicuous; 
.for> having drawn his troops out of tbeir en- 

treftch- 

« See Lc Coup-d'eeUi page a4. 



PICHJSGRU. I» 

trenchmentsj aadi made three di$tiii£k c}»rgai> 
vpon the ^n&pci% after in a&kn which coosp 
oieaced at daWA of day^and did nol eotirelj coi>» 
chide until near sun^set^ yi&orjy irhichhad been 
hovering fay turns over each of the rival armiet^ 
declared finally in Bivoor of the republicans^ The 
combined troops, taking advantage of the night> 
immedtaiely fell haickj, first on Marbois, and neitt 
on Nivelk> with an intent, if possible, to cover 
Namur. 

Thus ended the battle of Fkurus, vdiich ob- 
liged the Allies to forego all hopes of retaining 
possession of Flanders^ as their force, which 
consisted originally of a hundred and eighty 
thousand men; was reduced to seventy thousand;* 
while that of the republicans was increased tx> 
more than three hundred thousand. Neither 
the loss of the combined powers during this bat- 
tie, nor that of the French, has been precisely 
ascertained. The effcfts, however, were prodi- ' 
gious ; for the Allies now retreated in all quar- 
ters j and Bruges, Toumay, Mons, Oudenarde, 
Brussels, and even Namur, were left without 
proteftion* 

That the French, however, during the first 
three months of this severe campaign, had lost 
more men even than the combined powers, or, 

rather 



40 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

rather sacrificed a greater nrnnber of their coun^ 
trjrmen to the absurd and cruel obstinacy of the 
■national deputies, may be concluded from a 
French author, who states, ^* that the officers 
and soldiers kHled and wounded in one point, in 
the attempts to pass the Sambre, and to blockade 
or besiege Charleroi, amounted, according to the 
French armyestimatef and registers, te> 44,604^ j 
«f whom, the same author says, SQ,000 at least 
might have been spared, if St. Just and Le Bas 
had not a£ted contrary to the proposals and plans 
of General Pichegru*.**^ 

About the same period, or on the 26th of June, 
that virtuous patriot and able general, the Earl 
of Moira^ arriving at Ostend, with sevea thousand . 
men^ found Yypres and Thorout, on one side, 
and Bruges; on the other, in possession of the 
, French; and, despairing of rendering effeAual 
assistance in any other quarter, on the 28th he 
pressed forward to join the Duke of York, who, 
with the body of the English and Allies under 
his command, had participated, of course, in the 
disasters of the campaign;, taking his route 
through Bruges, which at his approach the 
Frenchrevacuated, tp Malle. General Van Damme 

was 

* See the last-mentioned pamphlet, page 26. 



PICHEGRU. 41 

vtsiS in the neighbourhood with twenty thousand 
men, and would have fallen upon the English 
f6rce,,but for the skilful marches and evolutions 
of the Earl of Moira, and the ingenious deception 
of that highly-valuable officer Major-general 
Doyle, the British Quarter-master-general, who 
made the burgomaster of Bruges believe that the 
English army consisted of fifteen thousand men> 
and that as many more would arrive tlte same 
evening; intelligence of which was conveyed to 
the French general, and prevented his attacking 
the English troops*. 

It was on this occasion that General Piche- 
gnXf who had sent Van Damme' purposely to in- 
tercept and capture the Earl of Moira's army 
(the small number of which was known to him 
before it left Ostend), wrote to Van Damme's 
proteAors, the conventional deputies, and accused 
him of incapacity, concluding with saying, that 
he was as igkiorant as barbarous. This letter 
Ixad been expedited to Robespierre,and was found 
among his papers, marked, .*' to be fomvardtd 
in time to the public accuser at the revdlutionarf 
tribunal^ as a proof of Pichegru*s aristocracy^ 
This admirable patriot of the modern reptib- 

lican 



« REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

tcgn school. Van Dainme, bad, before the Revo- 
lution^ been condemned to the gallows, and had 
afterwards both mqrdercd and pliiadered en masse* 
"JTp charge such a worthy citizen of the French 
conimonwealth with incflpadty and barbarity^ was 
^ unpardonable crime with his accomplices, the 
terrorists and jacobins, and, liy their code of laws 
and revolutionary ju&tice, deserved nothing les« 
^han. the guillotine *. 

. After .several parches and counter-xnarches 
between, the l&t and 8th of July, the .Earl'of 
Moira at last, having overcome numprous diffi* 
cukie», by naeans of a rapid movernent, eom- 
pleted the objefit of the expedition, ajad cffeded 
bisiun^^bn vritii His R-oyal Highness the Duke of 
iTojrk^ Oxuring his ,Xiardi^)i]p's fatiguing gurcb^» 
the Erejwh took possession ^f Olstend, and njawh* 
ed towards Ghent; the Prince of. Cobourg.wa$ 
again, after a noble resistance* defeated by;i 
vastly superior eneniy at Mons andSo^es ; the 
French gained possession of Mons,^ the JDukc 
of York> always pursued by Pichegru, was obliged 
to retreat. from Revaix to Grammont, and/Sub^ 
ie<juently to Asche, Maliiies, and Kontie^ while 

the 



• Coap-d'oeilt page 42, and Courtois* Report to the NatioQai 
Co0Y«ntioD, page 6» 



WCHfiGRU. 4» 

the French rendered theaisdres masters of 
Ghent, Oudcnarde, and Tcmmay. The Frenck 
Army of tHe Sambre and theMeuse under Jour* 
dan> being joined by that of the North under Pi- 
cbegru, they both pressed their ad'vantages on 
cv«7 side I aod after a series of engagements 
9Sui skirmishes, possessed themselves of Brussels 
•n the 9th of July, who'e the conTcntional de- 
potie$> the repcesoitatives of the Great Nation, 
$at itt dsneadfiil stale, issuing orders of blood and 
phuiiiec* » > 

The rcpubliean. ansies halted in positions ap* 
poifited by Fichegm, and reached from Liege to 
Antverpt while the Anstrians defended the 
hndcs. ^ the Mense frotn Rnrcmonde to ifm^ 
stricht : the troops jo£ £ngland and UoUand^ faar» 
ing redured beyond Breda, were encamped at 
Ostervist, asd a corps was posted at Lodboipvnji 
to keep open the communication between the 
armies. Maliaes, Lottvaine, Judoigne, Namur^ 
Antwerp, Tongerst Liege, St. Amanda Mass* 
chkoaer, Cateau, and other -places, bad alreaii^ 
been evacuated j and Conde, Valjenciennes, Qiks« 
poy, and Landrecies, abandoned to their own 
Jtrcngdi, were invested by the republicans, wiK> 
were fortified by the additional terror of a sa^ 
^r decree of the regicide con«ention,JiDitbadi- 

ding 



44 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

ding them to give Jjuartcr to any of the gar- 
risons, unless they surrendered on the first sum- 
mons. 

During the last four months, while Pichcgru^^ 
in gathering so many laurels for himself, had 
done such great and effeftual services to bh 
country, he had not only to contend with the 
ignorance, cupidity, and jealousy of the deputies 
accompanying his army ; bat with tht envy, ma* 
levolence, and cruelty of Camot, Robespierret^ 
smd the other members of the Comtnitteeof Pub- 
lie Safety. — After his viftory of the 18th of May, 
at Turcoixig, he intended, by a bold but wise 
combination, to pass the Scheldt near Oudenarde, 
and to cut o£F General Clairfayt from all commu- 
Bication with the English army, to fight the 
Austrians singly, and afterwards to fall upon the 
rear of the troops opposing JounSzn ; but the 
Committee of Public .Safety sent him other orders 
for his operations, which, absurd as they were, he 
was obliged to obey ; and thousands of lives were 
sacrificed, which might have been spared, and the 
same end obtained. 

Although Pichegru had only influence and 
command in the combined and general plans of 
the motions and transactions of the Army of the 
Sambre and the Meuse, he was neverthetess pe^- 

garded 



PICHEQRU. :^ 41 

garded as^ the commander in chief over all the 
republican troops and armies on this frontier. 
His powersj his successes, his talents, and his 
glorjr, alike offended the republican pro-consuls ^ 
and they were mean enough to let him often per* 
ceive it, particularly at Brussels, where they did 
every thing to counteraf): or change all his pro- 
jfAs, and to impede his future progress. With 
that virtuous severity which charadlerizes him, 
Pichegru contented himself with telling them, 
that he observed aristocracy bad only changed 
hands m France ; hut that the aristocracy of revo^ 
lutionary u^starts^ or political hypocritesy^ ivas^ 
more dangerous atid disgraceful than that of kings 
or patricians. In revenge for this just and point- 
ed remark, the regicides, to lessen the extent of 
hismithority, forced him to separate the Ai:mies 
of the North, and of the Sombre and the Meuse, 
which but lately, and with so much pains, had 
formed a junftion. 

"iThough Pichegru was disgusted with the be- 
haviour and principles of these deputies, and of 
^ the members of the Committee of Public Safety, 
his constant and only study and labour were to 
serve his country, and to silence or calm the 
vile passions of its vile tyrants by new vifto- 

ries. 



W REVOLUTIOMAlrtr PLUTARCH. 

ties. He therefore, after the capture of Ant* 
vcrp, formed a plan, which, by cutting off aH 
connexion between the English and Austrian ar* 
mics, would have brought him nearer to the last, 
and ensured the successes of the Army of the 
Sambre and the Meusc, as well as favoured the 
movements of the republican troops on the Rhine; 
but the jealousy of his superiors, and of General 
Jourdan, prevented the execution of this well- 
contrived plan. 

From these scenes of carnage, in which the 
hoi'rors of death are diminished by the ** pride, 
pomp, and circumstance of glorious war," our 
attention is called to contemplate transaftions no 
less sanguinary, though infinitely more dreadful; 
exhibited in that internal government of France, 
which had appointed Pichegru to the command, 
and continaally held the axe of the guillotine 
suspended over his head. Terror, avowed as a 
System, stalked through the land, dealing on 
every side the blow of fate, and extinguishing 
love, mutual confidence, honour anJ pity. The 
various devices for proving treason, or treason- 
able inclinations, gave vigour to a host of spies, 
informers, and persecutors, some of whom were 
in the pay of government ; some hoped to conci- 
liate 



HCHEGRU. *r 

Bate favoiir*; and others thOHght, hj denotinciiig 
their nearest relatives or most intimate friends, ta 
airoid those persecutions, of which the next mo- 
ment might make themselves the viftims. No 
inan could consider himself sure of an hou/s life, 
yet no man was permitted to prepare himself for 
death ; and he who dared to express or inculcate 
a hope of a better existence beyond the grave, in- 
curred imminent danger of being sacrificed as an 
incorrigible fanatic. 

As no motive of safety, nor any.prospcft of 
advantage, stimulated the conventional rulers 
of France to so profuse a waste of human life. 
It could be nothing but their own blood-thirsty 
charafters, and their total disregard for all moral 

- . an4 

' * Miot, one of the jacobin ministers in Tuscany duringj tho 
first six months of the French Republic, was suspe^ed of having 
received bribes, without sharing them with his tvortby employers, 
and therefore was sent a prisoner to th* Luxemburg at Paris ; wheret 
to obtain favour, he became an informer against his fellqw.prU 
soners, and a spy of Chaumette, Robespierre, Barrere, and Fou« 
quicr Tinville ; and, according to the author of** Memfiiret sur let 
Prisons de Paris^ en an, ii. et iii. page 44," Miot's denunciation! 
irougit Zlb innocent persons to the scaffold. He was in disgrace 
under, the Directory ; but in 1799 Buonaparte made bhncne o/bh 
tribunes ^ and be }s still a confidential friend of bis Consular Ma* 
jestjff wbo bas promised him an embassy, '■^Lei Nouvenes SiU 
Main» Brumaire ix. No. 12. 



49 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

and religious prmciples^ that produced so many 
norrors and such monstrous deeds $ but with 
the usual revolutionary cant of republican ty- 
rants, while daily inundating the scaffold with 
the Wood of hundreds of thdr victims, and pro- 
scribing by a single decree 250,000 famUies*, 
they spoke of their humanity, generosity, and 
justice, as often as of their liberty, equality, and 
fraternity. 

On the 31st of January, 1794, Robespierre 
made a report to the Natipnal Convention, on 
the nature and operations of the revolutionary 
government ; in which he contrived, with singu- 
lar art and sagacity, to impress general notions 
of virtue, mildness^ ^nd benevolence ; while, by 

decrying 

* On the x7th of September, 1793, Merlin de Douai caused the 
Contention to decree, " that all jpersons of the former privileged 
orders, and their relations, should be arrested at suspeHed; and 
within four weeks 250,000 families were imprisoned| in all parts 
of France, with intent to expose them to the same massacres a^ 
the prisoners at Paris had experienced on the zd of September, 
1 792. Merlin was then, and is yet, called Mer/in-suspe3s-^Mer/inm 
fotgnce. He is the same person who was made one of the direc- 
tors after the revolut'ion of the 4th of September, 1797, and is at 
l>resentBuonaparte^s favourite, and attorney -general to his tribunal 
of revision. He was before the Revolution a pettifogging attorney, 
without character or property \ but during the Revolution he has 
hought t/sn millions of national estates.— See Diahnnaire Biom 
grafbique^ pag. 18 et 19^ and Prudbomme^ art. Merlin. 



PICfHEGRU. 49 

decrying the two extremes of coldness and ultra- 
revolutionary vigour, he subjefted every man to 
a rigorous inquisition, which might declare him 
the enemy of the Republic ; and to persons of that 
description the revolutionary government owed 
fio prote5lion but death^* 

Such were the avowed principles of the repub- 
lican government, or, what fs the samcj of thfc 
National Convention, which had usurped a]l 
powers \ and each of its members, while he be* 
longed to the viftorious fadlion, was a privileged 
and protefted despot. That all parts of France, 
and every class of Frenchmen, might groan un» 
der the same oppression, feel the same cruelties, 
and witness the same imnioralityf , conventions^ , 
deputies were sent as pro-consuls, with unlimited 
authority, to all the departments, as well as to 
the diflferent armiea. 

St, Just, who in 1792 was a student at law, . 

and 

• See Prydhomme, vol. v. page 326. 

+ The deputy Subrany wai tic r^prettntative .§J the ftopit 9X 
Pau i wb«re> /« apfr^acb iJbe it^fe •/nature^ he stripped himself 
one night, and forced all public fun^ionarlej, with their wives 
«nd daughters, to accompany him to the play-house naked i where 
he with his party not only continued in that indecent state during 
the play, but from his box he declared all persons who did not 
foll<HBr his eiample, encmicJ lo equality,— Z-« Annaltt du Ttrm 
roritmti page 70, 

VOL. JX, O 



50 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

and the attorney Le Bas, nirere^ as has been men* 
tioned, ^the two conventional commissaries who 
bad accompanied and inspeAed the operations o£ 
the army under Pichegru j who unnecessarily had 
caused the butchery of so many thousand in- 
nocent persons^ and who had denounced him to 
Robespierre as an aristocrat^ because he oppos- 
ed their sanguinary measures^ and did not dis- 
honour his vidories by inhumanity. Theses 
and other representatives of the French people 
with the armies, were followed in their missions 
by a horde of commissaries, clerks, and secreta- 
ries, their relations and friends, whose principal 
occupation was to enrich themselves at the ex- 
pence of their' countrymen when in France i and 
by plunders, requisitions, and extortions, when 
in an enemy's country. The pillage to which 
they addifted themselves was unrestrained by 
principle or shame j and while 'the representa- 
tives robbed in mass, their^ followers, by their re^ 
puhlican aftivity, let nothing escape t^eir cupi- 
dity; and the victories of Pichegru ruined Bel- 
gium for a long time, because he had no autho- 
rity to control the civil administration of his 
army*. According to David^s history of Pichc- 

gru's 

* Ine^tle, ou UCupldil^desadmiaislrations^cf vivres, firent 

Baltrt 



HCHEGRU. ^1 

gr«*s campaign, ** lace, and articles of a Hie na^ 
turef wjere pot in requkition at Brussels and ta 
Brabant, «nder pretence of providing yJr th$ 
^nvants of the troops ♦; and in an aft of accusation- 
against Joubert, one of the principal commis- 
saries of the Army of the North, signed by five 
thousand Be^ians, he is accused of having put 
in requisition plate^ jewels^ and diamonds for the 
juse of the army hospitals t. 

A short 

•aitre tint de dilBcalt{s» ^u*!! i^elera det dticustioni ixut viyefl« 
Toutea vouloient s'approvisiooner a ^ruxeUei ; mail your mkuz 
^ire, touttx $e jahuMUnt^ et ckaeuH voutoU infoir tepatttrage i$ 
plui gras poor s*e.ugraUser plut promptemeHU 

Ptch«gru vit de saog-ifoid, et ie pet if esse det pro^§fUit/s e^ /et dh* 
jputet vetiUetiset det adrnmistrationi. Pour tout concitier* il ae* 
•coitb (out ce ^'OB demanda pour I'Armee da Sambre «c Mauta } 
tnait il oe put convenir da rien sur Us mourameoi det troupet* 
parceque, quoique general en cbef de cet deux arm€es, /e* pen* 
nfoirt lUimitest eurent I'ambition de iaire agir l*Arm€e da Sambte 
ctMeute auivant leurs Mtt,^David*t C^mpagnesdm QenerMl 
Piebegru^ page 60 et ^<. 
« See the last-mentioned work, page 46, English trantlatbtt* 
f See Let Denunciations del Beiges, prtnted^t Paris in lh« year 
4, and presented to thn Council of Five Hundred in April 1797. 
These particulars are mentionedt page 4 %9d fage 9. They say that 
the inhabitants of Belgium ** have pmfdm^rg io France^ in Arced 
/oanSf cofitriSutions, exierjhne^ andpkmderf in twenty montbe^ 
than to their former tovereigtu in the ttuo preceding centuries, •• \u 
4he Di€tionnaire Biographique, pge %l i. torn. ii. it is laid, " C* 
iut sur- tout sous le commissariti de Joubert, ont ecrit ^ux memet 
Jit Betgeu qu'il n'y eut plus de bomci P^ur la vol* et Set 



ti REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

A short time after Pichegru had made his en- 
trance into Brussels, St. Just and Le Bas had 
perished with Robespierre, and some of his and 
their accomplices ; but neither Pichegru, nor the 
inhabitants of those countries which his army 
liad conquered, gained any thing by this revo- 
lution, because the republican tyranny only 
changed hands, and other deputies as greedy and 
cruel as St. Just and Le Bas took their {^ace^, 
and continued their exadlions, insulting Pichc- 
gru*s abilities by their ignorance, and his pa^ 
triotism by their crimes. 

From these brief remarks, it will be easily ' 
seen what goodness of. heart, what firmness of 
charafter, and what patience it required in Pi- 
'chegru (who could not but be conscious of his 
'own worth) not to throw up his command, and 
■refuse to serve any longer his ungrateful coun^ 
try and its barbarous and corrupted* governoi»s. 
He was then the only republican general in 
whose talents, not only the government and the 
army, but the whole nation phced their cohft- 

dencc 

exaOiont; U les'san£ilonnoi( ious par son' exempU. Cet cf« 
Intttc concussionairc achcva'd'opprimcr le pcuple. ^ Ecrasgg «de 
tBVf cotes par ctt insolens vampires, nous n'eumes bientot plus la 
|ibtrte de nous pouvoir devaot les admlnistrateurs. Joubert ]<» 
^f IM et sisbstitiM ifaut'rttf ious tomplfcef di' utbrlgaHdiit Sie» 

*ic. 



PICHEGRU. pS 

dencc and hope 5 and it is very probable that his 
resignation under the then existing circumstances 
would have disbanded the armies latel^r organized 
by him, entirely changed the face of affairs, and 
Brabant and Holland might ,yet have been free. 

On the other hand, had Pichegru possessed 
the unprincipled ambition of a Buonaparte, he 
might, with the applause not only of France 
but of Europe, have assumed a temporary sov6«- 
reignty over the French commonwealth ; be- 
cause at this very time the abominable ferocity 
of the republican rulers had extended its terror 
to all nations ; and any meritorio.us and mode- 
rate man would have h^en hailed and rc$pe<^i^ 
as the saviour of the liberty and civilization of 
the world. Pichegru's patriotism and modesty 
on this occasion have caused as many su^rings 
to mankind since, as the virtue, and lU-appUed 
and ill-placed humanity of Louis XVL had pro- 
duced some years before*. 

• That true patriot, the loyal, aVl«, an4 4i^tifttw«bed wnlfT* 
Mr. Bowies, m^es,on the misapplication o^ thU humanje priApipje 
by the virtuous and unfortunate Louis ^KVI* some remarks, 99 scuts 
. at judicious, as liberal as just, and they ought to be printed and 
reprinted in all works wherein the horrors of rebellion are e^* 
posed, obedience inculcated in subje£ti, vigilance and firmness 
iasM^ted to sov^reig^ns and their ministers.— *' La mort d*un 



54 REVOLUTIONARY PlX'TARCir. 

In the mean time the armies, but little influ- 
enced by the conyulsions that had taken place in 

.the 



^uvtrttement est toujours vn sulci Jr.'* All friends, favourites, 
cottfuellort, or ministers of hwful princes, should adopt this 
f hrasc of -Voltaire at their motto. 

In his ** Thoughts on the late Central EleCViQn," p?ge 73# Mr. 
Bowles says : ** Strange as it may seem, mischiefs which involve 
^e ftiin of tutes, aiui the destru^ion of social order, may origin 
nste io honourable and uniablt feelings; vrhich proJuce the 
most disastrous effects, because they are not under the guidance 
of judgment, because they are not accompanied with comprehen« 
«he views of the nature of society. The preservation of order and 
lecurityDnposea an indispensable duty on all who exercise autho- 
rity, to resist, aa dangerous weaknesses, those compassionate feel* 
iflgt which, if indulged, would Kreen offenders from punishmenft 
mcouraga the commiasion of crimes by the prospedl of impunity* 
er suffer resistance to ripen into rebellion by negledling to repress 
the first beginnings of turbulence and commotion. While they re- 
fliember, that it it their boundcn duty to temper justice with mercy» 
they should not forget, that ill-judged lenity to the guilty is cruelty 
to the innocent. The ambition of Louis XIV. the bigotry of 
Charles IX. and the tyranny of Louis XI. were not a thousandth 
part so severe a scourge to France as the misplaced lenity and ami- 
nble weakness of Loais XV J. No usurper, ofancient or modern 
' timet, ever waded through siich seu of blood to a throne as have 
ieluged that unfortunate country, in consequence of the apparently 
-humane resolution of the last-mentioned Prince, that no S)ooJ 
tbonldbe shed in hit cante. There cannot, indeed, be a greater 
and a more mischievous erfor» than this unfortunate Prince fell 
• ihto, in supposing) that when the amhority of a Sovereign is at. 
sailed, it is hit cause exclusively, or even principally, which is at 
issue. The authority^hich he has received from that Power hy 

\ whi«h 



•PICHEGRU. d$ 

the capital, were put in motion, and resumed 
.the operations of the campaign. Accordingly^ 
while Pichcgru prepared, with one body of 
troops, to attack Holland, another assembled ia 
the neighbourhood of Brussels, under Jourdan, 
and proceeded in pursuit of 'Clairfayt, who had 
succeeded the Prince of Coboorg as commander 
' in chief, and was the only general of the com* 
bined powers who now kept the field ; for the 
Duke of York by this time, before vastly supe- 
rior forces, had withdrawn into Dutch Brabant, 
after a long, ineficAual, but glorious struggle ; 
and the Hereditary Prince of Orange was obliged 

to 

which " King! reigo, ind Princet decree justice,*' is betjtowed not 
§or his own take, hut that of his people. It is a sacred trust reposed 
in him for the benefit and security of his snbjeds. He is the guar* 
dian of the persons and property of those who are placed under hit 
care. The laws are weapons put into his hands for their defence. 
And if to indulge the generous emotions of his heart, if to escape 
those pangs which every human mind cannot but feel in inftlAtoc 
punishment upon criminals, he suffers those laws to lose their 
tfftCts, and to be no longer " a terror to evil doers"— if he " bear 
the sword in Tain," ht will be responsihie t» the great King of 
Kings, whose minister he is, for all the sufferings which his ill* 
judged and destructive humanity may bring upon the people com« 
nritted lb his chargcand, indeed, for every outrage' upon the per* 
•pn or property of any of them, which this sacrifice of justice te 
mercy may invite ; nay, for the very giiilt of 4>ffenders, who may 
he drawn into the commission of crimes by those hopes of impunity 
vhich a roliaace pa hit lenicjr shall have encouraged them to.fona» 

. o4 



3d. HEVOLUTIONARy PLUTARCH. 

to cross the Dylc, to prevent his small arniy froai 
being surrounded. 

Pichegru wished to advance, and undertake 
the siege of Breda, and the troops desired it as 
well as himself} but the Army of the Sambrc and 
the Meuse had not yet been able' to drive the 
Austrians to the other side of the river Meuse ^ 
consequently, if he had marched to besiege this 
city, his right wing would have been uncovered. 
Besides, the admkiistrators of provisions, &c* 
for the Army of the North, had afted with so lit* 
tie intelligence and unanimity, that the incerti- 
tude of subsistence for the troq>s gave more un.«r 
easiness to General Pichegru's mind, and per- 
plexed him more, than the direftion over the 
movements of the army. This part of the adr 
ministration was condufted with so much negli* 
gence and ignorance, that ever since Pichegru's 
departure from Ghent, he continued to get bread 
from Lille, which was often wanted, and oftener 
arrived half rotten and not eatable. He wanted 
forage, and means to transport and convey it ) 
-and when he complained to the members of the 
administration, they answered, " that they were 
ifidependet^ of all military authority;'^ and if he 
addressed himself to the representatives of the 
people, they ssi^d, ^* hii conquests were too ra^ 

pidi 



HCHEGKH. ._ S9 

0id : they tbtrtfore vf anted more tiauy U previde 
with order and regularity^ s that is to stjr^ 
they had not time enough to pillage and exbaatt 
the resources qf one country, before his ^nApK 
rious artny was marching into pother. 

So circumstanced! it was too hazardous forPi* 
chegru yet to penetrate into the vast heaths of 
Dutch Brabant, and these coiisidctations deter* 
mined him to let his army encamp for etghteea 
days in its position near Antwerp : after mucl| 
trouble, Pichegr^ at last succeeded) during this 
interval, in getting magazines established a| 
Ghent, Malines, and ntwerp. This measmre 
diminished some of the obstacles, but it did no| 
cause them entirely to cease \ for these maga* 
zines were so^ ill suppliedt that in ca$e his annjp 
had met with a defeat, it would immediately 
have been reduced to penury, and a want of the 
first necessaries for its subsistence. The caay<i 
missaries had not even waggons enough to trans* 
port the bread for the troops ; and the horses^ 
destined to this use were so ill fed and badlj^ 
taken care of, that during each convoy thirty OO 
$>rty perished oh the road f. .1 

♦ Lc Coup.d*oeil, page %%, 

t^ Lfti.Campagncs dc Pichegni, pageys^et 72* 

D5 ^ 



M ; REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

Notwhhstaadtng M these difficulties, Piche-* 
jgm was determined to try the conquest of Hoi- 
iand, and to reaUze what Louis XIV. had at- 
tended in vain. Alarm and consternation now 
spread among all those Dutchmen who really 
felt a patriotic zeal to rescue their country from 
the hcmrors of French domination. TheStadt- 
holder h^ already appealed to the United States 
in an energetic address; disclosing the just ap- 
prdieniions which he entertained; invoking them 
to imitate the strenuous valour of their ances- 
tors in resisting the Spaniards ; shewing the mi- 
•eraUe consequences which must result from 
permitting themselves to be deluded by the arts 
tf deceit, seduftiouj and corruption, which could 
^S6ne render their situation desperatCi and give 
the desired advantages to the enemy; and exhort- 
ing all classes to cooperate in securing to them- 
selves liberty, independence, and permanent hap- 
piness. Unfortunately for Holland, and Europe, 
this, and other patriotic appeals of the worthy 
chief magistrate of the Batavians, had little 
cffeA, and the people, in an evil hour, conti- 
nued to shew a general disposition to court the 
fraternity of France ; a fraternity which oflfered 
gratification to many base and malignant pas- , 
sions, and for which the people had been assi- 
duously 



PICHEGmU. 5f 

daoutXy prepared by French emissaries and 
agents* 

After a suspension of operations for neaitf 
t w:o months, during which interval the four froa» 
tier garrisons had been subdued^ Pichegm re-aa» 
sfuned the ofiensive : the Army of the North quil* 
ted the environs of Antwerp on the 80th of Av^ 
gust, marched that day to Westmak^ and the 
next day as fiir a» Mol j but such was* the bad 
administration of the commissariat^ that he could 
not for some days advance farther^ for want of 
bread for his army. 

Besides this obstacle, Jourdan informed Gene* 
ral Fichegru, that the passage of the river Oust 
with the Army of the Sambre and the Meuse oU 
feted invincMe difficulties* This march on the 
liower Meuse became therefore of no utifiQTjL and 
the project was given up- 

Pichegm then intended to approach neamr te^ 
the English army, andi| without removing too far 
from Antwerp, to defeat it on the first occasion^ 
knowing it to be greatly reduced by recent losses*. 

The Duke of York, after having been com^ 
peHed to^ retreat before the superior strength of 
the French, marched to the plains of Bcedm,^ es» 
taUishing his^ headquarters, at Oosterhout on 
the ith of August) and taking so strong a pofii«: 
B»6 ttdfl^ 



^ REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

tio&i that he felt secure from an asftault till the 
Dutch should have had time to put the garrison 
in a ^ate of defence : he erected redoubts in the 
front of his camp> and had the satisfaAion to see 
the tovn put in a formidable condition, and a- 
Urge -tnSt of the surrounding country* inun- 
4iated. 

On the 34ith of August, -Pichegru took his po- 
ikion near Turnhout } and on the 28th, in the 
toeighbourfaaQd of Hoogstraten, behind the little 
river Merk, he drove in the British outposts, 
with an intent to turn the left of the army, and 
cut off the retreat to Bois4e-duc } but the Bri- 
tish commander, with great judgment and ge- 
neralship, effisAed a timely retreat, and encamp- 
od.on a large plain seven miles beyond Bois-le- . 
due, establishing his head-quarters at the village 
of Udden, and relinquishing the defence of Breda 
to its garrison. 

In this interval Sluys had surrendered, after 
enduring a vigorous siege, in which the French 
were also subjected to great inconveniences, and 
a-destmdive mortality, both from the nature of 
their situaticm, from the height of the tide, and 
from*the exhalation of the inundations, which, 
besides, made the approaches to the city exceed-^ 
IB^ difficult. The besieging army, .exhauste4 

. . by 



PICHEGRU. 4» 

by fatigue and illness, could not immediately be 
employed ^ and as the battering artillery was not 

arrived, Pfchegru, in sending orders to Jourdan 
to pass the river Meuse with the Army of tl^c 
Sambre and the Meuse, and to attack the left 
wing of the Austrians, prosecuted his original 
plan of pursuing the Duke of York, and leaving 
Breda till he should have made some impression 
on Holland : there was yet another reason for 
this conduA; if tjbe Austrian Army had defeated 
the Army of the Sambre and the Meuse, and Pi- 

. chegru had been occupied with the siege of Brc- 
dZi his retreat with the Army of the North would 
have been impossible, if the Duke of York had 
received reinforcements to give him the superio* 

. rity of numbers, which he, from the reports of 
his spies, had every reason to believe would be 
the &se*. Fichegru, however, made a judicioi^ 
feint of commencing the siege of that place, for 
the purpose of concealing the amount of hia 
force ; and on the 14th of September made a ge- 
neral attack on all the ouq>osts along the Don^ 
axel, forcing that of Boxtel, which was chiefly^ 
protefted by the troops of Hesse Darmstadt. In* 
this affair the French behaved with extraordi- 
nary 

« Coup>d'ceiI, page 66, aqi the Bott) j^fin^ 69, 



a HEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

nary valour; all the bridges over the Dommel^ m 
well as those across a neighbouring stream^ ha4 
been broken down, which retarded the afkion, 
commencing at three oVIock^ and continuing mi* 
til six in the evening, when they effeded a pas- 
sage, partly by swimming and partly by raft, and 
killed, wounded, or made prisoners, upwards of 
fifteen hundred of the Allies. 

As the loss of the Boxtel would oblige Hb 
Royal Highness to abandon the whole of hi$ line 
of defence, it was determined to send Lieutenant-^ 
general' Abcrcromby, at the head of the reserve^ 
during the ensuing nighty with orders, if possi^ 
Ue, to retake it;, but the enemy being found too* 
strong, having already received a ranforcement 
from Pichegru, the English troops returned ; and 
the commander in chief having learned by this, 
time, that numerous columns, to the amoutit of . 
80,000 men, were advancing against him, and 
not being able to muster 20,000 men himself^ it 
was deemed prudent to withdraw^ more especially 
as an attack appeared to be meditated against his. 
left, which was the most vulnerable point*. This 
portion of the allied troops accordingly retreated 

across. 



* See Le CouH^'isil, page {$, sad Loodon Gasettt Extraorito. 
muft Suiid»7» Sept. ai, 1 794^ 



WCHEORU. tt 

tcross the Meusein good order, and encamped at 
Wichen, after some loss in men, horses, and ap- 
tillery; whfle Bois*le-duc and Bergen-op zoQm> 
as well as Br«da, being no longer proteAed by a 
covering army, wQ-e obliged to depend on jheir 
own internal strength and resources, which the 
long resistance and able retreat of the British 
Printe before a vastly superior enemy, had given 
the Dutch government time both to improve and 
augment. 

The French Army of the North, on the 19th 
of the same month, took a position behind* the 
Aar, between Wechel and Bourdouk, and on the 
ensuing day proceeded to-Denter. 

Pichegru for a short time discontinued the pur- 
suit of the Duke of York's army, as well on ac«- 
count of the fatigue of the Frenchtroops, as from 
want of good maps; but the Army of the Sam- 
bre and the Meuse> agreeably to the orders of 
Pichegru, attacked and defeated the left wing of 
the Austrian army, and, after a series of well- 
contested engagements, in which the numbers of 
the republicans gave them a constant advantage, ' 
the Imperialists were compelled to cross the 
Rhine at Cologne, with the loss pf near ten 
thousand men. The last battle was peculiarly 
bloody : General Clairfayt had chosen bis posf- 

tioa 



fl REVOLUTIONARY VfJJTARCH. 

fion near Ruremonde with so much judgment 
lliat Jourdan appeared to be squandering live^ 
with unayailing profusion} and his atts^k must 
J^ave remained an everlasting monument of his 
f ashnessj had the two wings of the Austrian ar« 
iny exhibited as much cours^e and discipline as 
^e centre } but at the moment when Clairfayt 
pattered himself with the prgspeA of complete 
success^ and of destroying immense numbers of 
the enemy^ while his own troops sustained no 
injury, he was informed that his wings were 
forced i and he was obliged to make a. hastyi^ 
though orderly, retreat, to avoid being turned 
and overpowered, Jourdan was so doubtful of 
the courage of bis men in this tremendous as- 
sault, ttat he ordered cannon to be placed, to fire 
on such as might fall back. In a week after 
this battle, Jourdan gained possession of Cologne 
and Bonne. 

It cannot be denied, that the successes of the- 
French army in Holland were owing to the 
talents of General Pichegru, to its superiority 
in point of numbers over the Allies, and. to its^ 
jecret adherents in the interior of that country ^. 
because at this period, while the French were 
vidtorious in the field, their partisans in th« 
Seven Provinces became additionally alert and 

insolent^, 



PICHEGIIU. 6f 

iiisolent> and their number daily increased* Th^ 
States General authorized the Stadtholder to cu| 
the dykes and inundate the country, should the 
enemy make further advanceis; but the people 
weije thought fb oppose and reprobate the pla% 
as destruftive to their lands and properties. This 
argument, which inculcated a preference of tcn^- 
porary advantage to permanent freedom, would 
jQOt perhaps have been popular even in Holland> 
but that a large portion of the natives, uniiv 
struAed by the horrible rapine which devastated 
$^d oppres^d the iiihabitants of Brabant «nd 
FliUKkrs^j ^ok^ tQ tbe French as friends an4 

dcU- 

* This note is extra^ed from the work of David on Tichegru't 
Campaigns, pages 94 and 9s' : it relates to Brabant 'and Flandett 
•nly, but is applicable to all countries into which French repab* 
licans have penetrated, by force or fraad, either iiuring a ^^tfrr^ 
as in Switzerland and Egypt, or during a war, as in Italy and Hol- 
land. ** Ce n*etoit rien que d'avoir souffert tous les ravages qu'en- 
tratnent une guerre aussi terrible ; d'avoir vu incendier ou demoUr 
•cs maisons ; d'avoir vu detruire les plus belles esperances de colts; 
dHivoir vu prendre ses bleds en gerbes, pour faire les cabanes de not 
ioldats i il a fatlu' encore que ce malheureuz peuple ait passe par 
tousles termcs du malheur, de I'oppression, et de, la dcvastatioa* 
Ses villes ont ^t€ inondees d'une cohortc de pro-consuls plus inh«« 
mains que Phalarisyqui n'ont rien oublie de ce qui peut exaspl* 
rcries hommes; des comit^ des tribunaux revolutioaaircs oat 
^te organises ; /es ftmmes oxt ete intuititu /'■» bommetincaretrh^ n 
Uifroprhtis vio/ier, Notre codt revolutionaire i paru tro^ dout 



efe REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

deliverers, who nvould rescue theni frem tyranny 
und taxatiofiy and permit the poor, undw the 
notion of fraternity, to plander the opulent. This 
explains some easy conquests', even to the asto- 
nishpient of the viftbrs themselves j as treachery, 
corruption, and cowardice, went often hand ih 
hand. 

In order to pursue the English army to the 
other side of the Meuse, Pichegru judged it ab- 
solutely necessary to obtain possession of some 
strong place, whence his army might draw its 
subsistence : the bread for the Army of the North 
came at present from Antwerp, a distance d 

twcnty- 



four ce peu^e ]Ki»siMe ; !1 ^t^'^evu par cet hommu cnielt, tt ai/f^ 
mtnti d*utn Joult d*arretei qui ttut poriient peine deuoKTt ii9 
tort que pour un geite du un mot^ un pen de famille etoit ettuqyi i 
l^i^aj^ud^et sa famille et$ii iivree aux borreurs de lajaim el de 
la mistre ;" and page 97> he coiuinues, " Independamment de tout 
•cet mesures effrayantes, injustes etdevastatficesi une nue de requU 
Biieurs ct membres de QtiXe agenee^ appelles si improprement de 
commerce^ foudoient comme des vautours sur les villes et sur left 
campagnes, et ruinoient pour long-tems le commercant et J'agrU 
culteur. Jamais operation n'a ete faite avec un arbitraire aussi 
marque, et aussi revoltant, chaque requisiteur mettoit I'embargo 
•ur les merchandises, sur lesquelles sa cupidite avoit sp£cHl6 ; ici 
c'etoit les linom^ let dentelUs^ etc. qui etoient rep ues pour les be* 
SOtns de I'armee, la c'etoit lei ^ietnisy let tableaux^ les voitutes^ d*. 
luce, etc etc." Citizen David is a Frenchman, and a republican* 
.tnf has, thefefore^ certainly not exaggerated the^blcssiagsof Fxendk. 
frattrnity. 



PICHEGRU. &f 

f wcnty-fivc leagues, orsevenly-five miles^ through 
almost impracticable roads \ and as both horses 
and waggons wer^ wanting to have it transported^ 
it never arrived in a regular manner^ and often 
I he troops had no bread at alL 

Bois-le-duc was the most convenient plac^i 
both to ensure a favourable position for the atmy, 
«nd to establish magazines. It became> therefore^ 
of great consequence to get hold of this city, be- 
fore the passage of the Meuse was attempted^ 
though the enterprise was not only dlfficuk but 
perilous. The place was defended by several forts 
well supplied with artillery, and in good order^ 
which were thought impregnable. The inunda- 
tionsy which extend themselves to upwards of 
three hundred fathoms, or 1800 feet, from its 
ramparts, make it an island in the middle of a 
great river : and, were it even possible to make 
a bf each, all the fascines of France would not be 
sufBcient to approach it. 
^ Independently of all these difficulties, for want 
of horses, General Pichegru had yet his heavy aiw 
till^y for.a siege at a great distance; the sea- 
, son was far advanced, and by the usual rains of 
that time of the year^the inundations migl\t have 
been augmented in such a manner i& to make 
any trenches impra^cable. 

Not* 



«S REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

Notwithstanding all these obstacles, however, 
Pichegru determined to undertake the siege: the 
place was invested by the French cavalry on the 
23d of September, and the next day the infantry 
was placed. Some batteries of howitzers were 
constructed to set fire to the city, and the trenches 
were opened, but became every day more difficult, 
because the waters increased. On the 24th of 
September, the fort of Orlen was seized, being 
evacuated by the enemy •, and on the 29tl;i, the 
fort of Crevecoeur capitulated, after a bombard- 
ment of two days. This fort defended the sluices 
over the Mei^se, and waS| ther^forej of gr$;at im- 
porta^ice. 

3y incessapt raiAs, the fl9od$. ancl inu^^datipns 
round Bois-le-duc were so much increased, as to 
2nake a siege, if not impossible^ ^t least long an^ 
destruftive : the trenches were at too great a 
distance, and as it was not in the power of the 
French engineers to advance them nearer, they 
became useless j Pichegru, and all the other 
generals, were therefore doubtful of the success 
of this siege, when the commander, to their 
great surprize, terminated their suspense on the 
.11th of Oftober, by a voluntary surrender, ob- 
.taining an advantageous^ bi^t not an hqnourable. 
capitulation. 

The 



PICHEGRU. 69 

The Dutch had also abandoned the fort of St. 
Andre, situated on a small island formed bj the 
Mquse and Waal, eastward of Bommel ; but it 
was bravely retaken. from the French by Lieu- 
tenant-general Abercromby, and proved a mate- 
rial impediment to the further .operations of the 
republicans. 

On the 14thofOftober,Pichegru marched to- 
wards Grave with the army under his command; 
which place had, during the short siege of Bois- 
le-duc, been partly invested by a division under 
the orders of General Bonneau. 

General Pichegru, having now a plade of 
strength to support his motions, had on the 19th 
crossed the Lower Meuse in pursuit of the ene- 
my (regulating his movements in exaft confor- 
inity to the operations of Jourdan), and com- 
pleted the investing of Grave. This place entered 
necessarily in the French line of fortificatkiris oh 
the Meuse, because the projeft being formed .to 
capture Maestricht and Venloo, it would ha^c 
been imprudent to leatc behind a fort so near 
Bois*le-duc; bcsideS) these measures were indis- 
•p^nsablc to support the left wing of the Army of 
the Sambre and the Meuse, by the right wing of 
the Army of tht Nortlv 

The Dukeirf Yox^> who is allowed on th£»j 

as 



to REVOLUTIONARY PLUTAIICH. 

3ts well as on many other occasions, even by the 
enemy, to have condufted his retreat with great 
ability* in the face of a superior army, waited 
for the invaders in a strong position in the neigh- 
bourhood of Pufflcch, having his two wings 
supported by two rivers. On the 19th of Oc- 
tober, the French, notwithstanding this, moved 
forward in four columns, and attacked the whole 
of the advanced posts on his right, particularly 
those of Doutin and Appelthern, the former of 
which was defeated by the 37^h regiment, and 
the latter by the Prince of Rohan*s light batta- 
lion. The troops condufted themselves with 
great gallantry; but a post on the left having 
been forced. Major Hope, after distinguishing 

himself 

* Had the ton of a saiu-culotte afted with the tame ability at 
the ton of a kiniSf and encouiiicred nobly* and often vidtorioutly, 
«o many difficulties from the superior number of his foes, and 
from the treachery or cowa/dice of his friends and allies, a thou« 
tahd voices would have proclaimed his great performances ^ but 
while the friends of loyalty are silent, a French Citiien, an avowed 
enemy to England and its Prince, writes thus : *' Un.bistorien inu 
partial ne peut pas s'empecher de convenir gue dam cette ccca* 
sio«t et dant b*attc*upi*autru^ let iitpQtUUm dt iWnntmi four U 
defnuivit cmi tcujaurt SiS marquht au <9l» de la honne laSlifHf* 
Onftui dirt la memt ebou de toutet leurs reiraitet Cflle que let 
Anf^lait firent datU4ettt pccasUfi meritet da iloget j elle exigeojt 
li$ plus gratidet precavlhms, et «s peut afirmtr ^u*H js> em ettt 
mwunet de wgligiee.** See CaspagB^^^ Ccnenl Fichegni, paf . 
)e Citoyen Payid, page 114* 



?ICHEGRU. 71 

himself greatly, was obliged to retreat along the . 
dyke of the Waal, where his regiment, being 
charged fqriously by the enemy's hors^j, suflfered 
considerably ; Major-general Fox is said to have 
been at the same time nearly taken prisoner, and 
to have been aftually detained for a few minutes 
by some French hussars, while encouraging the 
troops to a strenuous opposition. On. this occa- . 
tion, too, the unfortunate emigrants in British 
pay, fighting bravely, suffered considerably. 

After this engagement, the Duke of York im- 
mediately retired behind the Waal j while Piche- 
gru with the invading army, notwithstanding the 
advanced season of the year, and the obstacles 
arising out of the nature of the country, prepared 
to besiege the neighbouring garrisons, 

Venloo was accordingly invested by General 
Laurent^ who is said, upon this occasion, to have 
had.no more than 4000 met) under his commandi 
and to have been destitute of heavy artillery. 
He, however, commenced his operations witbia 
100 fathoms of the covered way. The garri- 
son, after a vigorous sally, in which it was re* 
pulsed, intimidated by the vigour of the French, 
and the proximity of their works> on the 27th 
^f October assented to a capitulation^ and w$t# 
* permitted 



72 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

permitted to march out with the honours of war 
and ten pieces of cannon. 

Pichegru's first division of the Army of the 
North, and one of the strongest in this army, 
never once made a retrograde motion. To this 
divi^on, and to that under General Moreau> 
France is indebted for all its triumphs during the 
campaign in Flanders and in Holland. When 
the one besieged any place, the other protefted 
Its undertakings as an army of observation ; nei- 
ther the one nor the other miscarried in their en-" 
terprises ; but such are the gratitude and justice 
of a republican government, that of the two ge- 
nerals who condufted them to viftory, . the one is 
proscribed and in exile, the other ncglefted, and 
in disgrace. 

From the fatiguing course of one of the most 
afUve campaigns, and from the constant custom 
of sleeping always in his clothes, Pichegru con- 
tra£ted an inveterate cutaneous disease. He bad 
now sat down before Nimeguen with the main 
t>ody of the forces, but was obliged, by his com- 
plaint, to abandon the command to his friend 
«md pupil Moreau, and to repair to Brussels to 
^tain medical advice and assistance. He cqn« 
^uedj however^ to direft the operations both 

of 



PICHEGRU. 73 

of the Army of the North, and of the Sambre 
and Meuse, by his counsels and corresjpondence 
with Moreau and Jourdan. 

During Pichegru's absence, Greneral Elebec 
greatly facilitated the operations of the two grand 
armies, by the celerity with which he reduced 
Maestricht. This city was besieged and takeit 
by Louis XiV* in thirteen, and by Louis XV* 
in twenty-one days; General Miranda, in 'l79Sj| 
had for nine days attacked it in Vain; but it novr 
capitulated, although the trenches had been open- 
ed only eleven days: another proof of the want 
of courage and of character in the Dutch com- 
manders. 

The French, however, appeared for a while 
to be less fortunate in their attack upon Nime- . 
guen, another city which was not only defended 
by a numerous garrison, but covered by the Duke 
of York, who, from his camp at Amheim, wat 
enabled at any time to throw in supplies. 

The enemy, after forcing the British outposts 
in front of the place, immediately attacked fort 
St. Andre 5 and Lieutenant-general Abercrom^ 
hy^ and Lieutenant-colonel Clark, were slightly 
Wounded in the skirmish that ensued, as was 
also Captain Pifton in a sally from the place. 
At length the French broke ground, under the 

VOL. Ji. £ * dire^o« 



JE4 REVOLUTIONABY PLUTARCH. 

dif^£kMm of General Souhami and began> on 
tbe 5di of Nowmber, to construct dieir batte- 
ries; on which Count Walmoden marched ^ out' 
suddenly with a body of British infantry and ca^ 
wiry, consisting of the 8th, 27th» 28th, 55th, 
^3d, and 78th regihients of .foot, and the 7th 
and 15th light horse, two battalions of Dutch, 
the legion of Damas, and some Hanoverian 
horse, under Major-general De Burgh, who was 
wounded while leading on his men with great 
gallantry. On<.thi$ occasion the infantry ad* 
^WKed under a severe fire, and jumping into the 
trenches without returning a shot, charged with 
the bayonet, and by this check greatly retarded 
the enemy's- works. 

As it now appeared evident, that the place 
could not be taken until all intercourse with the 
English army was cut off, two strong batte* 
rics were construfted on the right and left of 
the lines of defence ; and these were so effectually 
served, that they at length destroyed one of the 
boats which supported the bridge of communi- 
cation. The damage sustained upon this occa* 
sion was immediately repaired by Captain Pop- 
ham, of the royal navyj but the Duke of York; 
being aware of the superiority of the enemy's 
fire, judiciously determined to jvithdraw every 

thing 



PICHEGRU, rs 

tking from the town, beyond what was hsLTclf 
necessary for its defence. AU the artillery o# 
the reserve, with the British, Hanorerian, and 
Hessian battalions, accordingly retired; bat -pi' 
quets, to the amount of twenty-five thonstod 
men, were, left under the command of Mljof^ 
general De Burgh. The Dnteh, on seeing -them*** 
selves abandoned, became dispirited, and Meters 
mined also to evacuate the place; but an unfor^ 
tunate shot having carried away the top of the 
mast of the flying bridge, it swuog round, and 
about four Hundred of the garrison were tdceil 
prisoners, on which those that remained in th^ 
fortifications opened the gates to the besiegers. 
The same regicides, whoy some months before^ 
irrftated by the bravery of Britons in Flander$| 
had decreed that no quarter should be given tof 
British soldiers, exasperated at the gallant re- 
sistance of the English army in Holland against 
superior forces, now revenged themselves, by 
publishing the most absurd reports, accusing the 
English of perfidy, and asserting that they fired 
on their allies, the Dutch, while attempting td 
escape by means of the flying bridge. This ae* 
cusation t)f perfidy against England, from men . 
who had betrayed and mi^-dered their king, and 
shot, drowned, or guillotmed 900,000 of their 
^ E 2 country- 



ytf REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

countiymen *, is not surprising; but that it should 
be copied or believed by foreigners, shews the 
progress which revoluticmary principles had everj 
where made. 

The Duke of York, desirous of avoiding an 
engagement which might have been attended 
with the most fatal effeds with regard to Hoi- , 
land, retired immediately after the surrender of 
Nimeguen, on the 8th of November; while Mo- 
reau, and the other generals, represented the state 
of the French army to be such as required repose. 
The British troops had now gone into canton- 
ments along the Waal, and on the opposite side 
of the Lech: the weather was extremely severe^ 
the troops sickly, and fatigued with the severe 
duty of maintaining z cordon of strong piquets 
ftlong the Waal, from Bommel on the right, 
where they joined the Dufch, to Pameren on the 
left, where they communicated with the Austri- 
tns. The French were more fatigued, and had 
not fewer invalids in proportion than the Allies; 
but the French government was inexorable, and, 
notwithstanding the rigour of the climate and 
the season, determined to prosecute offensive mi* 

litary 

• Set Pnidhomme TaUeau Gcacnle, tnd Didiooaiirt Biofnu 
fhjq^ut,tin.iu.vagc6o. 



PICHEGRU. 77 

litary operations during the whole winter. The 
passage df the Waal was accordingly resolved 
upon ; and General Daendels, a Dutch traitor, 
formerly an attorney, was entrusted with the en* 
terprisc. HaTing colleAed a number of boats, 
he filled them with troops, and effeAed a landing 
near the port of Ghent during a thick fog, in con* 
sequence of which he was also enabled to surprisb 
a battery. This attack, which extended to seve- 
ral posts in the line occupied by the Allies, parti- 
cularly fort St. Andre, Donvert, Pandcron, and 
the isle of Byland, did not, however, prove ulti- 
mately successful i for many of the assailants were 
killed upon this occasion by the fire of the batte- 
ries, and a multitude drowned; ih consequence of 
which, the prdjeA was at length entirely relin- 
quished. Prepairations, however, were made to 
facilitate the operations of the approaching cam^- 
paign; and the Generals Bonneau and Le Maii<b 
received orders^firom General Pichegru to invest 
Breda by means of winter cantonments* Grave 
also was surrounded in a similar manner, and aU 
the necessary dispositions were taken to ensum 
the conquest . of Holl^kd- in the course of the^ ea^- 
suing spring. 

The operations of the French had besen; now 

§«ii5pended upwards of a month, ai^d zu awftd 

^ a If aoic 



|« REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

pause had taken place in the career of vi&orj ^ 
it was even ttnc^ain> whether, on the return <^ 
fine wes^thd*, it would be safe to venture further 
.into a country which might be so easily laid un- 
der water: and the genial winters that had oc- 
xurred in Europe since 1788, forbade a hope (^ 
.that degree of congelation necessary for military 
^enterprises. 

, The season, however, soon assumed a me* 
,nacing appearance for the Dutch | for the frost 
set in toward the latter end of the year wit^ 
an unexpected degree of rigour. On thii% Ge- 
jicral Pichegru, for whom repose had no longer 
any charms, although his health was not yet en^* 
itir^lY !y-g>stah]ishgd» injmcdiatdy left Sru^dss 



j^nd proceeded to head-quarters. This general 
tj«ad, tivs year before, made a winter campaign on 
At Upper Rhine, with the greatest success; but 
'What he had effe&ed in the cold season in that 
jcountry, he might have done during the spring ; 
«while such a severe winter as that of 1795 was 
•absolutely necessary to obtain any brilliant con- 
^tt^ts in Holland* On resuming the command 
j^ the Army of the North, he found that both 

theMeuse and the Waal were already able to bear, 
^troops \ he determined therefore to take advan« 

tsige of this opportunity to complete his proje^* 

Two 



^PICHEGRU. 79 

Two brigades, under the Generals Daendeb 
and Osten, on the 27th of December received 
orders to march across the ice to the isle of Bom« 
mel ; a detachment was at the same time sent off 
against fort St. Andre; and the reduAion of 
those places, which at any other time would haiie 
been attended with great daughter, was now 
achieved almost without bloodshed, at a time when . 
the mercury in the thermometer had fallen lower 
than at any former period during the last thkty 
years. Sixteen hundred prisoners, and an im- 
mense number of cannon, rewarded the toils of 
the invading army; while the Allies, unable to 
withstand their numbers, retired to the entrench- 
ments between Gorcum andCuylenberg. A suc- 
cessful attack was made at the same time on the 
lines of Breda, Oudesbesch, and Sevenbergen; 
but what, was infinitely more important, the town 
of Grave, considered as a master-piece of fortifi- 
cation, and which had already suffered a block- 
ade of two months, being destitute of jM^ovisions 
and anmiunition, was, on the^9th of December^ 
forced to surrender. ' 

A few days after this, the weather continuing 

■favourable to his enterprise, Fichegrii determined 

to cross the Waal in the nei^bourhood of Nf- 

tneguen, with his whole ^rmy; 'this was acc6rd- 

fi* , ingly 



ao REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

ingly efie^led on the 11th of January 1*795, and 
whole battalions of infantry, squadrons of ca- 
valry, detachments of artillery, with an immense 
number of waggons, passed over this branch of 
the Hhine without the assistance of either bridges 
or boats. The whole of the troops had not, how- 
ever, reached the place of destination, when on 
the 13th a sudden thaw, by cutting off the com- 
munication, seemed to hazard the success of the 
whole expedition; but the frost the next day re- 
suming its empire, enabled the French to form a 
junAton; and Gorcum, the head-quarters of the 
Prince of Orange, was now threatened with an 
assault* 

The Duke of York having, in the mean time, 
returned to England, universally regretted, the 
command devolved upon General Walmoden^ 
who achieved every thing that was possible to 
be perfoi-med by an army destined to contend 
against an enemy superior in point of numbers, 
inured to hardships, and accustomed to viftory. 
But although Major-general David Dundas had 
succeeded in an expedition,, in the course of 
which he boldly carried Tayl, and drove a body 
of the enemy across the ice, with the loss of a 
number of men, and four pieces of cannon; yet 
it was deemed necessary, in the course of a few 

days, 



PrcHEGRir. 89 

ixySf to remove the head-quarters from Araheua 
to Amerongen. An intense frost having con* 
verted the whole of the Low Country into one 
continued sheet of ice> the Allies were obliged to 
falk back during the night upon Buren ; andl 
they soon after took refuge behind the Lech* 
They, however, at times attacked the enemy, 
and proved successful in an affair at GelderMal- 
sel, on which occasion Major-general: Lord CathM 
eart, with the ]4ith, 27th^ and 28tfa regimentir,. 
and the British hulans, distinguished himsefif 
greatly, and this too, during a period' when the 
^oops, notwithstanding the inclemency of the 
season, were frequently obliged to pass the night 
ifi the open air. 

Pichegru> having completed hiis arrangements^, 
erossed the Waal in still greater force, and at- 
tacked several points at the same time on the 
whole line of the Allies : one column passed at 
Pkmeren, and another at the village o£- Ghent, 
but were repulsed; a third crossed nearNimeguen,. 
and> in conjunction with two colum;Qs which hadt 
passed between Tiel and Dodewaert, attacked the 
British positions on that side. The Austrian^, 
had abandoned Heusden, and passed the Lech$. 
and the Hanoverian?, with General Goate's br> 
gade,, consisting of the 40tfa2. ^^th> ^d 79th pe« 
J5 5. gimcnt%; 



^a REVOLUTIONARY PLXJTARCH. 

gimeotsi were oUiged to fall back on Lent : tbe 
French had all their troops on the opposite side 
o^ the river^ and on a signal given they crossed 
in great numbers, and attacked General Coates ; 
the 40th and 79th regiments#7ere placed about 
half a mile in the rear, close to a woodj and the 
59th were left to engage, and try to draw them 
Jnto the ambuscade; but a strong c(dumn of the 
.enemy forced their way between the 59th and 
the main body : on their falling back on Lent» 
they found it in the possession of the enemy, and, 
in consequence, retired across the Lingen, where 
they jsoainjtained themselves behind the river, near 
•Elst. 

The French obtained immediate possessiion of 
Busren and Cuylcnberg, and prepared to besiege 
Gorcum, whkh, from the strength of the works^ 
9Skd the £icility of isiundation„ had been consi- 
der as the key of Holland: it was the head- 
tfusitttcs oi the Stadtholder ; but the frost render- 
ing resistance impossible, he quitted the anten»* 
tde tbrttessy and finding, from the ascendapcy of 
4m enemies, that his residence in the United 
sStaites was no longer secure, abandoned that on- 
^ratdui country, which, fbi^getful of its- great 
ofaUgatioils to himself, his family, and his an* 
^csMSf and Us. duty as An independent state, wa»^ 

Bkmgint 



PICttEGRU. iBi 

plunging with bHncEfbld tonfidence into the most 
despicaUe and hopeless bondage. The Stadthol« 
der, smd a great rmtohcr of r e sp eftable natives df 
Holland, who preceded or accompanied him, 
found a safe refuge and cheerful welcome ihEhg*, 
land, where his Serene Hi^eis intded on l&e 
20th of January, 1795. 

While the Stadtholder was thus Ibrcei to'ttf 
from a country where his ancestors, by theilr li^* 
trepidity and patriotism, had estabfiihed Ubeitjf 
and independence, a French officor, with USs^ 
patches from General Pichegru, entered Am^tefw 
dam, and repaired to the house of the burgo^ 
master. In the evening of the same day, tidm* 
bers of the nibble placed the three'^roldured cock- 
ade in their hats, and made the streets te:k>uttd 
With rebellious airs. Next morning a detach« 
isient of hussars posted themselves before thfe 
town*house, where the tree of liberty •Was plant- 
ed with a ridiculous solenihity, and the coinmand 
of the place conferred on Citizen Erayenhoff^ 
one of the disaffeAed and insurgent Butehmen i 

irhX 



« louodttftd with bfood (hrcry where, thtt itik 6f K^rtf t^tU 
fishes no where. In f ranee Ihey call ii, l*arbrt de mlshe^ tttci^ 
d'un Sonnet du gaf/ere; and, in faA, the liberty of sallei-slavet 4 
die ooir firuU thlt rt Koditcetf. 



•4 BJEVOLUnONARY PLUTARCH. 

while Dc Winter, of the same party, but a ge- 
neral in the French service, with the French light 
horse, took poMession.of the fleet frozen up in 
the TexeL 

At the tkne when Pichegru crossed the Waal» 
General Bonneau left the environs of Breda, and 
attacked Gertruydenberg : the British troops, 
finding themselves unable to maintain their posl- 
tion.in the province of Utrecht, retreated towards 
Westphalia^ after sustaining a severe attack all 
along their line, from Amheim to Amorcngen ^ 
^d this province entered into a separate capitu- 
lation for itself> receiving the French with pros- 
trate submission and eager welcome j while the 
retreating army of the British was treated with 
savage cruelty> the sick and wounded were in- 
sulted, plundered, and even murdered, by these 
worthless and ungrateful Allies, in whose cause 
they had shed their blood and lost their health. 
The intense coldness of the winter increased the 
miseries of the retreating army, and ]»*oduced 
scenes of distress which cannot be reflected on 
withput horror atid anguish. 

On the very same day that the Stadtholdcr 
bnded in £ngland> Pichegru, ^e conqueror of 
HoQand, surrounded by the deputies of the 
St^tes^ repaired to Amsterdam, the chief city of 



ncHEcaiT. M 

tke tmiottywWehe was received with tnmports 
of joy. Thejnodesty of Pichegt^^on this and all 
other occasioBs, when crowned by vi&orf and ob« 
taining applause^ was a reproachful contrast to 
the insolence and pretensions of the Fr»ich re» 
presentatives, and their associates the Dutch par 
tiiots I and it required all Piche^ru's firmness of 
charaAer to prevent those scenes of phuaider^'ven* 
geanccj bloodshed and proscription, taking place 
in Hdland> which had so lately dishonoured 
France* 

After the French had obtained possession of 
Amsterdam, Pichegru ordered Bonneau's divisioa 
to pass the lake Biesboch, and it occupied Dor« 
drecht, Rotterdam, the Hague, Brille, and Heir 
voetsluys; while General Macdonald entered 
Naerden. The province. of Zealand having also 
capituhted, the light troops, c(msisting chiefly of 
horse and artillery, had marched into North Hot 
land, and added to the wonders, of Pichegru's 
campaign the unprecedented circumstance of 
taking a fleet* 

OverysseU Groningen, and Friezland, were 
still? in the possession of the British army ; but, 
diminished as they were in numbfers, hostile^ as 
were the: Dutch towards them, and immensely 
superior in force as w^e the. French, their situar 

tioa 



M REVOLUTIONABY PLUTARCH. 

tioh could not be longer tetmUe ; nor waslt either 
politic or desirablci uilder $uch circttmstanccs^ 
to retail ground in such a country. A thaW 
liai^ng commenced^ the depth of w^ter ren-» 
ilered the passs^ by the usual route iinprac* 
ticuble. 

According to Pichegru^s orders, theFrenth un- 
der MTacdonald having taken a position between 
Cainpen, Zwoll, and Deventer, while Moreau 
€N:cupied Zutcher, General Abercrombj became 
apprehensive that, in case of an attack, his retreat 
lirotild be cut off; he therefore withdrew his troops 
fSrom the advanced posts, and marched to Ben^ 
theimi by way of ^uchede and' Velthuysen j and 
the British head-quarters were moved first to Os-^ 
naburgh, and afterwards to Diepholt2 ; the re*^ 
Jpublicans being every where received by the de- 
cree of the new government of the United States 
as friends. At last the British forces marched ta 
Bremen, and thence to'Bemcrleehe, where they 
embarked for England, after surmounting toiU 
and difficultiesr seldom equalled, with a* yalowj, 
j^erseverance, and dtscipUne, which were never 
surpassed* 

Thus ended the campaign in Holknd^ during 
which Pichegru, aided by the rigours of an acc»» 
dental frosty achieved congests which one of the 

greatest 



PICHEORU. Kf 

greatest French monarchs had been vnaUe to ef- 
£cSt I. forthe Lech had proved an unsunnountaUe 
barrier to Louis XIV. in 1672^ amidst his career 
of glory } while Fichegruj with an army betong^ 
ing to a country degraded by rebellion^ without z 
chief, destitute of a govemiixent» and devoid of 
finances, after crossing both that river and the 
Yssel, carried his conqui^ring arms to the borders 
of the Ems. 

General Pichegru, by this brilliant campaign^ 
has convinced military men that the former sys-» 
tern ,of taftics, which began by making si^^et^ 
and squandering away by that means the bravest 
troops, was not the best. A place well, fortified 
is, impregnable as long a$ it is defended by a brave 
army $ but no fortress can hold out any length of 
time, when the troops who should protect it ate 
defeated. Had the Combined Powers, in 1793) 
adopted and followed the same ta£ticswhich made 
Pichegrtt viAorious in 1794, a regular govenw 
ment would probably have now existed in Francei 
Frenchmen would have been happy and tranquil^ 
and Europe free. The truth of this assertion is 
evident, from the manner in which France got 
|k»sessioB of Valenciennes, Conde, Quesnoy^ 
Luxembourg, &c. 

Skh^ni never hiA siege to any finrt or fortk 

fied 



« REVOLUTIDNARY PLUTARCH. 

fied phce which was not absolutely necessary tv^ 
proted the position of his army; and with this 
precaution he^ in nine months^ conquered ak 
greater extent of country, and forced more fon- 
tresses to surrender j than any French warriors 
who had preceded hia\ in leading Frenchmen to 
wftory, either under Henry LY, or the four 
Louises his successors.. 

Frenchmen are too ardent and too impatient 
to jperform operations well which demand a great 
deal of patience and constancy. In a battle, the 
decision of which cannot be long suspended, they 
£ght bravely when they confide in their officers.;, 
biit a long and diificult siege discourages,^ and' 
often disheartens them : the troops over whon^ 
Pichegru took the command in the spring of 
1794, were besides mostly new levies, without 
either experience, spirit, or knowledge enough, 
to undertake and endure a long siege ; they had: 
enthusiasm and courage, but no capacity ; and ia: 
employing wisely the former,, he. taught them. 
the latter. 

If Pichegru had not known, the French cha>- 
rafter better than the Committee of Public Safety, 
if he had implicitly followed its orders, and not 
adopted a new and unusual system of taftics, 
50,000 men at least would have perished before. 

Val^«?- 



PICHEGRU. 99 

Valenciennes, Conde, and Quesnoy, without caU- 
culating upon those which pfobably would have 
been destroyed by defeat 5 had he even been vic- 
torious, from the time that he must necessarily 
have! spent in besieging those places according to 
the rules of war, he would have been unable to 
extend his conquests so far as he did. The late 
King of Prussia, from the beginning of the cam* 
paign^ did Pichegru more justice than Carnot and 
Ihe other republitah tyrants of the Committee of 
Public Safety ever did : he wrote a letter to the 
Emperor, inserted in the Bdgic newspapers, in 
which he said, ** It is impossible to save your 
country from sm invasion; the Freiich have ar- 
• znies always revived by fresh and numerous re» 
cruits ; and do not deceive yourself, their generals 
have adapted a good system <f taBics^ which con* 
futes and^baffles ours *." 

Success has perfedHyjustifiedPlchegru's plans 5 
but although they had not been crowned with 
viikory, they deserved both applause and admi- 
ration, because all impartial military men must 
acknowledge then> not only tQ be good ones, 
but superior to aU yet ii^vemcd or introduced by 
former grea^t gencrab. Had Pichegru miscarried, 

howeverji 

• Coup-d'«iJ page 84, and Da?id*5 Cjtmpalgn, page^z«. 



«0 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

however, such were the ignorance and cruelty of 
; iherepuUican rulers, that his head would have 
paid for his misfprtune. Pichegru left three strong 
Ibrtresses for months behind him, without ap* 
peariilg to have been embarrassed about them, 
«nd they surrendered to France as if from 
themselves. When he crossed the Meuse, he 
left in the same manner behind him Sas de 
Grand, Hultz, and Axel, in Flanders, and Bear* . 
gen-op-«oom and Breda, in Putch Brabant, and 
these places soon followed the example of those 
in Renault. These are fafts which not qnly in» 
struck, bat convince. 

Mo sooner had Fichegni*s viAories effeAsd a 
fevobtion in Holland, than the intrigues, plun* 
der, and crimes of the representatives who ac« 
companied him, lessened or tarnished the glOky 
of his arms. Requisitions, forced loans,* military 
executions, and contributions, were within the 
first six wedks ena£led to the 2unount of twenty- , 
five m91ions sterling. The property of the i^tadt* 
holder, as Chief of the United States, as well as 
his private and family property, were confis- 
cated, and di^sed of in the name of the 
French Republic. The Dutch patriots, pro- 
|:c£ted by the French representatives, plundered 
the estates and possessions of the adherents of 

this 



PICHEGRU. tl 

this Prince, and arrested and proscribed thdr 
persons and ^ilies. The bank of Amsterdam 
was inspcfted, robbed, and sealed with the 
French republican, seal ; the public treanires of 
each city, of the hospitals, of the orphan housesn 
and of the churches, French rapacity carried 
away or emptied ^ the magazines of the state, 
and its arsenals, were sequestrated, and the 
warehouses and even the shops of individuab 
were' in perpetual requisition ; most of the shops 
of goldsmiths and jewellers ^were deared m 
twenty-four hours, and their*value paid by the 
French commissaries in assignats, which were 
of no value in Holland, and of but little in 
France: under the title of psitrietic dosatioSp 
the plate, and even the trinkets of each person 
were, under pain of imprisonment and severe 
penalty, ordered to be delivered up *• It is im* 
possible to know to what length the French re» 
publicans and the Dutch patriots would have 
carried their extortions, vengeance, and v'u^ 
lence, had the French military commander a£ted 
as the French pro-consids and civil commissaf* 
iries didt Jacobin dubs, revolucionary commit* 
tees, prisons, and the guillotine, would, »• 

doubly 

«. Le Co«p.d^aU, yigt S6. Le KeconnoisanGe Batave, priatet 
by Ahem, Auutcrdam, 179S1 9«l«^» 



02 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

doubt, then have been as much the order of the 
day in Holland as they were in France ; but Piche- 
gm, as far as lay in his power, opposed and pre- 
vented all such cruel, tyrannical, and revolu- 
tionary measures ; and all good Dutchmen owe 
it solely to his justice, moderation, htd huma- 
nity, that their country was neith^ inundated 
with blood, nor disgraced and ruined by anarchy ^ 
fuid that at a period when it was a crime among 
French republicans to be humane, moderate, and 
just, and a fashionable virtue to be barbarous, 
unfeeling, and exorbitant. 

In February 1795, the new-created States 
General c^the Batavian Republic offered General 
Pichegm an annuity of twelve thousand florins, 
which, however, notwithstanding his poverty 
and his services, he declined : he said on this 
occasion, to the members of the Dutch govern- 
meiit who waited upon him with the offer, and 
^who declared that tiey owed to him, and to' him 
shne, the restoration <f freedom $ " that the only 
reward agreeable to him, and without which he 
ivef should regret his histories, would be, that 
the terrible example of the French might serve 
as a iesson aiid warning to them and their coun- 
tlymen, and that under the name of liberty, no< 
^avery might be introduced and made perma- 

aentr 



PICHEGRU. fS. 

nent :'' and although this offer was more than 
once repeated, Pkhegru always continued in- 
flexible ; and during all the time he passed^ in 
Holland, he never accepted a single present, nor 
any thing beside.s his pay ; whilst the worthy re- 
piresentatives of the French people not only en- 
riched themselves by their rapine, but exhausted 
the Batavian Commonwealth by their extrava- 
gance ; destroyed the religious principles of its 
citizens by their writings and sedudlions, and 
perverted their moral notions by their scandalous 
and infamous examples *. 

Under revolutionary governments founded 
upon crime and wickedness, it is as unsafe to be 
virtuous and uncorruptible, as under regular and 
moral governments it is dishonourable to be 
vicious and degrading to be corrupt. When 
Pichcgru refused to share the plunder of Hol- 
. land with the representatives of the French peo- 
ple, and rejefted the annuity offered to him by 
the Batavians, he became suspeAed by the regi- 
cides, Sieyes and Rewbel, as a royalist, and by 
the Committee of Public Safety as an enemy to 
the R^ublic. As, however, neither the army 
aor the Frenchv nation at large agreed with the 

opinions 



gi EEYOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

Ofnnions either of the committee or of its worthy 
delegates^ instead of degrading, they ennobled 
him, expeAing) by promoting him above all his 
fellow-citizens, to make him envied or hated in 
a republic where the principles of equality had 
. made the most absurd as well as the most dan- 
herons progress ; but the modesty and patriotism 
of Pichegru disappointed their expeAations. 

As the Prussian ministers had dishonoured 
their monarchy by a peace with regicide France, 
and Austria had evacuated the countries on the 
Lower Rhine, Pichegru, having no more ene- 
mies to combat with the Army of the North, 
was nominated to direA the operations of the 
Armies of the Rhine and the Moselle, although 
he continued commander in chief over the Ar- 
mies of the North and of the Sambre and Meuse, 
entrusted to the guidance of Moreau and Jour- 
dan: he had therefore under his ordex^ more 
troops than any republican general before him 
ever disposed of; and, with the exception of Ge- 
neral Washington, he is the only military chief 
of a commonwealth, possessing the love and 
confidence of his soldiers, and the esteem of his 
fellow-citizens, who did not usurp the govern- 
ment of his country at the expence of the liberty 
of his countrymen* 

By 



flCHXGKU; 9ft: 

By an iimtsttkm fiom the NattOMi CoaTen- 
tioiiy Picheg^ went to Paris liefore he atsusMd 
his new appointment : since the death of Ro» 
besfHcrre^ his accomplices or slaves in that as^^ 
sembly had been divided among themsdves; 
those who had grown rich by their revolutionary 
crimes desired a more moderate government^ that^ 
they might enjoy with safety the firuit of their 
spoils: whilst others, who were as guilty, but 
who, through ignorance or prodigality, possessed 
nothing but theprospeA of invading and sharing ^ 
in their turn the property and riches of other 
people, plotted to continue the reign of anarchy 
and terror. 

On his arrival in the capital, Pichegru was 
nominated the commandant and governor ad inm 
terims and by his presence and able disposi* 
tions, defeated, on the 1st of April, 1?95, the 
projeQs of the terrorists, who intended to issuer 
new lists of proscriptions; to fill again the.pri* 
sons with viAims, and to ereft anew scaffolds for 
innocence, honour, and virtue. Camot, Bar- 
ras, and their accomplices, never forgave Piche- 
gru this avowed declaration agaifist their former 
revolutionary deeds and future patriotic plans; 
and» disunited as they have been among them- 
selvesy they always agreed in injuring as much 

as 



96 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

93 lay in their power, a citizen and .a general 
yffho was no friend to ^ice, and no tool of fac- 
tion, without ambition as well as without guilt, 
and whom they could not but regard as their 
common enemy, knowing, as they did, that at 
all ti^nes he had proved his abhorrence of con- 
ventional marauders and regicide assassins, al- 
though shielded under the great and terrible 
names of representatives of the people, of re- 
publican patriots, or jacobin sans-culottes. 

The more Pichegru became acquainted with 
the Parisian republicans, the more their princi- 
ples distressed him, and their conduA disgusted 
him, because he found them dangerous as citi- 
zens, and despicable as men ; abjeft to their su- 
periors, haughty to their equals, and fierce and 
inhuman to their inferiors, having neither cha- 
rafter, information, nor conscience i his stay at 
Paris was therefore short 5 and as soon as he had 
regulated the concerns of his armies, he set out 
for Strasburgh. 

It was very probable, that Pichegru, with the 
resources and talents that he possessed, would 
make the campaign of 1795 as brilliant as that 
of the preceding year j but this was neither the 
wish nor the interest of the jacobins, because it 
would have given him too great a popularity! 

and 



PICHEGRU, W 

end these envious foes» not hmg aide to change 
his principles^ nor daring enough to deprive him 
of the command, calumniated theformer, and by 
their intrigues neutraitzed, or rather made ine£* 
feAual the latter, and his effbru to serve his 
country. At his arrival on the Rhine, he found 
an undisci{dined army, in which political discus* 
sions occupied the time necessary for military 
exercise : there the different parties of the Na- 
tional Convention had each its adherents, who 
mutually detested, and would rather turn their 
arms against each other, than against the ene- 
mies of their country. Not a day passed but 
some citizens were killed in duels, or in private 
combats, in consequence of their political quar- 
rels; and the representatives of the people, in- 
stead of concurring with Pichegru to put an end 
to these disorganizing transaftions, which, in 
^he face of the Austrians, even endangered the 
safety of the army, rather encouraged them, by 
promoting the most violent men, and those who 
were the principal cause of these dishonourable 
disturbances. 

Jourdan, who commanded the Army of the 
Sambre and Meuse, is 4 man of no education, of 
doubtful abilities as a general, and unprincipled 
as a politician. During the American war he 

VOX4. n. F served 



98 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH, 

served as a common soldier; and from the be* 
ginning of the Revolution he made himself noted 
as one of the most violent orators of the jacobin 
club at Limogesi where he was born, and where, 
in 1792, he was by the jacobins chosen com* 
mander of a battalion of national volunteers: by 
sacrificing unnecessarily, in the manner of Buo« 
Baparte, thousands of lives, he has sometimes 
heen viAorious, but oftener defeated; and a de- 
feated army under hjm became immediately a 
disorganized and dispersed one, because he has 
no capacity to form a regular retreat, and in his 
attacks his only resource is to overpower an 
enemy by the number of his troops. To em- 
broil such a man and a known terrorist with 
Pichegru, was easily done: as even, during the 
last tampaign, Jourdan had more than once 
shewn his jealousy of Pichcgru's viftories, and 
his vexation at being obliged to aA under his 
orders. 

Pichegru had instruflions not to open the 
campaign before Jourdan could co-operate with 
him, nor before Luxemburgh, which was block- 
aded, should have surrendered. This fortress 
capitulated on the 7th of June, 1795 ; but, not- 
withstandbg Pichegru's endeavours and entrea- 
ties) either from the incapacity or malevolence 

V of 



HCHEGRUr , .91 

of Jourda&j the summer had passed over before 
the Army of the Sambre and Meuse had pot 
itself in motion. 

*On the 18th of September Jourdan crossed the 
Rhine and attacked Dusseldorff. The city was 
instantly summoned, and^ having, refused to svii 
render, was taken by assault, the Austrian* gar« 
rison having previously retired towards the-Lahn^ 
where General Clairfayt, who commanded this 
divisioh, was joined by a considerable force.- 

No sooner had Pichegru received intelligence 

of these exploits, than he also crossed the Rhind 

with the Army of the Rhine, and. the left wing 

of that of the Moselle. He advanced direftly 

against Manhelm, and obtained possession oftfaat 

important city with a degree of fecility so dis^ 

proportionate to the strength of the< place, that 

it was evident he must have been fi^voured by 

the good wishes, at least of the inhabitants, or 

hj the opinion they had of his humanity and 

generosity. On this. General Wuhnser, the 

Austrian commander on the Upper Rhine, who 

was advancing by rapid marches to its rdicfi 

•endeavoured to form a jun£tion with G^nei^ 

Claiffaytj but he was overtakoi by GoieraA 

Pichegru, and defeated by a detachmoat Of the 

army under his command. 

F 2 The 



100 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

^ The eSeSts of the intrigues of the disor-« 
ganizing terrorists at Paris were now felt by 
Pichegruy who^ immediately after his late vidlory, 
went to inspefi: and direct some new fortifica- 
ti<His ad3ed to the city of Manheim. During 
ills absence, the French, dispersing themselves 
in quest of plunder, were surprised and overcome 
by the Austrians; and in consequence of one of 
those sudden reverses so commcm in all wars, 
but more especially during the last, the fortune 
of the campaign, from being highly disastrous, 
became at length ^eminently propitious to the 
j[mperial arms. 

> Meanwhile, Jourdan, according to a plan 
previously arranged, had crossed the Mein, and 
invested Mentz,'On the right side of the Rhine; 
but^GeneraLQairfayt fell suddenly on his rear, 
captured his artillery, and obliged him to raise 
the blockade, re*cross the Mein, .and retreat to 
Dusseldorff; while his rear was constantly ha- 
rassed by the viftorious Austrians. 
' In consequence of Jourdaif s defeat, Pichcgru 
was also obliged to retreat to. the other side of 
'the Rhine, leaving a strong garrison in Man- 
heim, and hoping to reinforce the French camp 
near Mentz sufficiently to resist the Austrians ; 
but before he could arrive the attack had been 

madey 



PICHEGRU. K)I 

made, the French completely routed^ their artil- 
lery taken, and they, with difficulty, enabled to 
cffeft even a disorderly retreat. The vi^korious 
armies under Wurmser and Qairfayt, having 
formed a junAion, retook the Pahtinatet and the 
greater part of the country between the Rhine 
and the Moselle. Fichegru> some time after^ 
e£fe£ted a junction with Jonrdan; but in such 
confusion was the Army of the Sambre and 
the Meuse, that their greatest efforts could not 
prev^it the recapture of A&nheim, though they 
impeded a projeA formed by the Imperialists for 
penetrating to Luxemburgh. 

After receiving some reinforcements^ Pichegra 
and Jourdan marched^ on the 28th of Novem* 
ber, to encounter the triumphant enemy. On 
the first of December,the former carried the town 
of Kreutznach twice* by storm; but he was 
obliged at length to evacuate that place, beeause 
his colleague was repulsed soon after, in an ill* 
conduced attack upon Keyserslautern, in which 
he lost two thousand men. At last the severity 
of the season, and an unexpected armistice of 
three months, put an end to the campaign, the 
close, of which w^s riot only far different from its 
commencement,, but also from what.might have 
f3 been 



102 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

been augured from the relative forces of the con- 
lending powte. 

This was the first armistice concluded be- 
tween regicide France and Imperial Austria: the 
latter, though viAoriousi obtained not an inch 
of ground, for agreeing to a cessation of arms 
which enabled the former. to recruit its forces, 
to organize its armies and its newly-erefted di- 
reftorial government, and to prepare the" deci- 
sive campaign of 1796; whilst, in 1800, when 
Austria was forced to sue for an armistice, nonp 
was granted but at the expence of fortresses, 
and countries given up or evacuated. , Such has 
. been the difference between the Imperial and the 
republican policy during the late contest ; which 
proves that France is as much indebted to* its 
Philips as to its Alexanders for the fortunate 
issue. 

In OftobeF 1795, the Di^eftoryhad succeeded 
the Committee of Public Safety in the Executive 
Government of France : of its members, three 
were regicides and two were atheists, and of 
course the enemies of a general whose loyalty and 
religion were known and respeAed all pver France. 
The DireAor Camot, in his writings, has ac-^ 
knowledged, and even boasted of having, by 
refusing to attend toPichegru's complaints against 

JourdaA 



TICHEGRV. ' lot 

Jourdan and the disorganizing deputies and emis^ 
saries in his army, forced him to resign* : so si« 
tuated, even the talents of a JPichegru could not 
bring about impossibilities i and it <;^n therefore 
excite no surprise,^ nor merit any reproach^ if> 
£nding all his labours rewarded with mistrust^ 
ingratitude, and calumny, he threw up, in 
disgust, the command over the four French 
armies. 

When Pichegru^in 1793, was made a com-^ 
mander in chief, the military men^ as well a^ 
other citizens in France, had their persecutors^, 
jrevolutionary tribunals, and executioners. Pro«^ 
motion always depended upon the caprice of the 
pro-consuls, who often, to. settle Advantageously 
their relatives or friends, deposed ^ arrested 
officers occupying with honour and distindioa 
command and places. Discretion, moderation,. 
a decent cleanliness in dress, and a polity lan^ 
guage, were proscribed as indicating aristocracy,, 
and occasioned the loss of rank, liberty, and life, 
to a person noted for any of these agreeable qua- 
lities. The best recomoaendation to advance* 
ment was, not to do one's duty, but to make ex- 
I travagant 

• L» CoHp-d'all, page 89. DiAionnaire Biographi4ue,.toin* iii.. 
1P«« »77. 

e4 



104 REVOLUTIONAliY PLUTARCH. 

travagant and incendiary motions at the jacobin 
dubs ; to speak of nothing but treason, aristo- 
crats, and the guillotine ; and if a soldier left 
his post to declaim or denounce in a club> any 
officer punishing this infraAion of military dis* 
vcipline yras certain to be shot or broken, as an 
emissary of Pitt and Cobonrg. 

The physical existence of mHitary men was 
therefore as uncertain, and more exposed than 
that of other citizens, because they had to* fear 
both the commissioners of death (as they were 
called), composed of the same dements as the 
revolutionary tribunals, and which were attached 
to and followed the armies, and the fire an4 
swOTd of the enemy. Their political existence 
' depended uppn a nod, a word, or a calumniator^ 
^ho envied them or wanted to succeed them; and 
the pro*consuls made a game and a gain of plac- 
ing or replacing generals and officers, or, which 
was the same, of disorganizing every thing. 
. Such was the critical situation of all persons 
serving in the Army of the North, even when 
f ichegru arrived as its chief; and therefore, ex- 
cept at Hundscooten and near Maubet^e, it had 
been continually defeated. He had the good 
luck to be accomp^ied by the only irreproach- 
able deputy to the armies, Citizen Richard, who 

was 



PICHEGRU. 105 

was as just^ regular^ and severe^ as himsdfj but 
vrbOi in a short time, on that very account, was 
recalled : all the other deputies were cruelly un- 
just and shockingly ignorant. As the greatest 
number of the officers and soldiers detested the 
conduct of these men, and of th^ generals who 
submitted to be their tools or accomplices^ Piche* 
gru, by uniting justice with severity, duty with 
regularity, and reward with impartiality, in a few 
weeks obtained their esteem and confidence* 
This was the principal reason why he was so soon 
able to estaUish.a discipline which alone procured 
him viftory *. 

The modesty whidi appeared in all hisrrepotts^ 
bears a striking contrast to those! of Dun^ouricr^ 
Custine, Jourdan, Buonaparte, and Menou, as 
well as with those of the cbnventions^ deputies or 
commissaries, who often, ten leagues fr<un the 
field of battle, killed enemies in their official dis- 
patches, who continued fighting against France; 
and revived Frenchmen, who had been killed and 
buried by their enemies*. 

The political system of the memb^s of the 
<^aaunittee of Public Safety was so dreadful^ 

that 

* Lc Cou]^-d'ail|^age 90 ; and David's Meffloires, page 64, 
f5 



106 REVOLUnONABY PLUTA&CH. 

that all generals feared their fury. * Some com- 
manders thought to aToid it by exaggerating 
their success, others by leaving them ih igno- 
l*ance as to its extent. This last method agreed 
best with the modest character of Pichegru, and 
he adopted it. . He never once furnished any 
long relations concerning his viAories and pro- 
gress, but contented himself with publishing their 
great consequence, without entering into parti- 
culars. 

Dumourier, Jourdan, and Buonaparte, seldom 
obtained advantages but by throwing away the 
lives of the soldiers under their command, by 
£lling the trenches of the enemy with their killed 
>isien, and by fetiguing their adversaries by attacks 
twenty time^ repeated: such was, in a great mea- 
sure, their military science; that is to say, that 
of brave, but obstinate and unfeeling men. Pi- 
ehegru, on the contrary, knew how to manoeu- 
vre, how to deceive an enemy by his evolutions, 
marches, and counter'-marches, as well as how to 
littack him in an open field, or in a fortified 
camp. In all his different campaigns, Moreau 
has followed Pichegru's taAics and method in 
conducing his army. 

Fichegru, Moreau, and Buonaparte, are ac- 
counted, both in France and mEurope^ the three 

best 



PICREGBV: Mir 

best republican generals, because tfiey possess, in 
an: eminent degree, besides the con^mon talents^ 
absolutely necessary for a warrior^ one of those 
qualities which proclaims genius, and constitutes^ 
a great captain: Buonaparte has that audacity o£ 
sentiment, that promptitude in execution, whicb 
repairs his faults, or elevates him above them ;, 
Moreau, more wise, more humane and pni«* 
dent, has a mode of manoeuvring,^ which foresees^ 
and prepares the result with less noise and less* 
Mood ; and Pichegru, in exhibiting often the 
boldness of the one and 'the prudence of thd^ 
other, indicates a vast conception, and the valu«»^ 
able science of judging rightly of all circumstances^ 
and calculating his own resources and means, a& 
well as those of his enemy j a science which doe»>N 
not give talents, but completes' them when they- 
are found united in the same individuaL. The: 
new manner in which he carried on a wair that: 
procured him so many laurels, and his country 
such great advantages, are evident proofs of thi*; 
assertion. Having to condu<a young, brave, but 
undisciplined and impatient troops, against mea^ 
inured. to hardships, to patience and regularity ;^ 
being besides accompanied by a numerous caval- 
ry, he invented that continual war of aggression^. 
that daily> almost hourly war of posts^^the flying: 
bS artilkrj^, 



108 REVOLUnONARY PLUTARCH. 

artillery, and the war of attacks always repeated^ 
which confounded, fatigued, and rendered the 
enemy's cavalry almost useless ; he neutraiized 
the ensemble^ and the German discipline, by ex« 
citing the self-love, employing the aAivity, gra« 
tifying the eagerness, and keeping up the spirit 
of the young French soldiers, and disregarding 
^he ancient military routine^ customs of siege, and 
;u:mies of observation. 

After the death of Robespierre, all the other 
generals began more or less to follow Fichegru's 
example, and to imitate his ta<Elics \ and all the 
French armies were organized, and had been con- 
ducted, according to the plan delivered by him 
(with perhaps an indiscreet zeal of patriotism) to 
the Committee of Public Safety during his stay 
at Paris in the spring of 1795: Moreau, Buona- 
parte, Massena, and other generals, are therefore, 
in. a great measure, indebted to him for their 
success, as France is for its victories and con- 
quests*. 

After having commanded the most numerous 
armies, disposed of immense sums of money, and 
effeAed the conquest of one of the richest coun- 
tries in Europe, Pichegru returned to his family 

as 

« Recucll d'A&ec4ot«s> toaii ij« pa|e 31* 



PICHEGRU. W 

as ]>00F as he had left It; and he found k &0 richer 
than himself: virtue was the only wealth both of 
himself and of bis family. 

Many of thdse men who» during the tewcia- 
tion, ascended to public notoriety, smd became 
famous or remarkable for their talents, powerful 
' by intrigue, or dreaded for their crimes, either 
disowned or treated with cruelty their parents^ 
relatives or friends ; or enriched them by giv* 
ing them places, or procuring them opportuni- 
ties to- share in the plunder of their countrymen 
and of foreigners. The name of Robespierre's 
own sister was upon his list of proscription, as 
a fanatic, Chenier sent his brother to the scat 
fold as an aristocrat ; Danton imprisoned his 
own mother ; the jacobin Philippe, of the RiU 
de Temple^ cut off the heads of his father and 
mother, because they went to church. Barras 
caused two of his first cousins and three other 
relatives to be shot ^t Toulon, because they re* 
mained there during its occupation by the £ng« 
lish. La Reveilliere transported his brother-in- 
law and four other po<»: and troublesome mem- 
bers of his family t,o Cayenne. Dubois Oreance 
commanded the execution of one of his sons, who 
was shot as an emigrant. The Deputy Du- 
i^uesxioy caused his own father to be guillotined. 



IM REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCIT.. 

99 insulting the national representation by claim-*- 
ing htm as his son. Hebert poisoned his first- 
wife, tp be enabled to marry a nun ;, and con-» 
-fned his brother, who was a priest, in the con^ 
Tent of the Carmelites, where he was murdered 
with other prisoners in September 1792*. Such. 
Was the conduft of one class of the revolutionary 
charaftcrs. ^ Rewbel,- Merlin, Camot, Sieycs,. 
and Buonaparte have aAed differently, and in a. 
manner as if all persons related to them were 
bom with capacities to be ministers, generals, 
senators, or ambassadors, and to fill other im- 
portant ofiices ; while the French national trea- 
sury, and those of Switzerland, Italy, Germany,, 
and Holland, procured them means to live ac- 
cording to their high stations. Neidier guilt 
degraded, nor ambition or cupidity dishonoured. 
Pichegru, in his behaviour to those near and dear 
to him ; the ties of blood and cf nature were sa- 
cred to him ; but he did not drag ignorance from 
obscurity, -nor reward consanguinity at the ex- 
pence of merit ; none of his relatives had any 
place under him, or by his recommendation; 
and it was his glory to find them again as good, 
as poor, and as obscure as he had left them. On 
his coming back among^ them^ they^satw in his 

coiurse 

f- Lei A&aaks du Terrorisinei pa&e666,> 



PICHEG?RU. m 

course of life the formeir companion of their so-i^ 
ciety, the brother, the cousin^ the. friend, apd 
not the vidor nor the hero; they could not,. 
therefore, mnrmnr as if neglected, nor complaia 
as if disregarded ; the general partook of their- 
scanty meals as cheerfully, and returned their 
embraces with the same cordiality, as the adji^^^ 
tant had done; and in their company he wa9 the 
person who oftene^t forgot both what he had 
done for his country and what his , country had 
done for him, and that a small farm was the only 
fortune of the saviour of his country, the con<» 
queror of Alsace, Brabant, Flanders and HoW 
land. 

Of the friars of the Minims, who had been: 
his early instructors, the greater number had 
died in misery, or perished ^in prisons, or on the 
republican scaffolds. Five were yet alive, but 
in a siniation which made life a burthen to them- 
selves, of use to nobody, and painful to all feel- 
ing men who knew them : they were old, de- 
cayed, sick> destitute of fortune, and^ of course, 
of friends ; and, besides, proscribed as fanatics,^ 
because they had not renounced the religioa of 
their ancestors, the gospd of Christ. Pichegni . 
sold his horses and camp equipage, and distri- 
buted the amoum among them and two of his 

- poorest. 



112 REVOLUTION ARY PLUTARCH. 

poorest relations, who had courage and humanhf 
enough to harbour the houseless, and to shelter 
vrretchedness from unjust persecution. What is 
the gift of Buonaparte's kingdom of £truria> 
compared with such an aftlon ! 

When once among his friends, Pichegru de« 
•sired nothing but quiet and privacy ; but his re- 
nown was so great, and .his charaAer so much 
respeAed, that all loyal Frenchmen were indig- 
nant at knowing his penury, and the cause of 
his retirement ; and as the French press, al- 
though not free, was not quite enslaved, the 
daily prints were filled with reproaches and ac- 
cusations against the DireAory. As an honour- 
able exile, and more to get rid of a supposed 
enemy than to silence public clamour, the base 
and jealous Diredors offered Pichegru the em- 
bassy to Sweden, a country which was at that 
•time governed by a regent, who had pardoned 
most of the regicide assassins of kis great and 
•good brother, who had changed his alliance 
against revolutionary France into amicable con- 
nexions with the French regicides, and whose 
political principles, if he had any, were errone- 
ous, if not .dangerous to the cause of religion and 
monarchy* 
It was on this occasion that the Director Le 

Tourneur 



fICHEGRU. 1131 

Tourncur mentioned Pichegru, as " a man whom 
"the French nation could present either to its 
friends or its enemies :'* and that this was the 
case^ and that there is no other person who has 
figured in the French Revolution of whom this 
can be said, all Europe knows^ as well as' citizen 
LeTburneur. 

Perceiving the real motive of the oflfcr of this 
embassy, Pichegru declined its acceptance, not, 
as Barras afterw^ank chose to saj, because he 
found himself unfit to fill it with honour, bat 
because he would have nothing to do with the 
Directors, men whose characters difiered so 
widely from his own, and whom he could nei- 
ther persuade himself to esteem, nor desire td 
serve. That this was the true reason, appears 
from the confession of Carnot, one of his great- 
est and most ungenerous enemies. He says, in 
one of his writings, " During a conversation of 
two hdurs with Pichegru, this general spoke 
with a finesse d*esprity and with a dtplomatical 
information, which' surprised me, knowing him 
only by his military talents, which do not al- 
ways suppose an universal genius, highly culti- 
vated by a careful education.'* This praise is . 
neither flattering nor suspicious, when coming 
from such a man as Carnot^ and all pecsoi^ 

"who 



114 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH/ 

who have the honour to know General Piche^ 
gni, agree in describing his feelings, judgment,^ 
political information and intelligence, as being 
as liberal and extraordinary as his skill as a war-^ 
rior. 

But though he refused any employment under 
the Direftory, yet, when his fellow-citizens chose 
him, in March 1797^ one of their representatives 
in the Council of Five Hundred, for the depart- 
ment of Jura, it was his. duty to accept the ap« 
pointmentt and be followed its diAates. 

By the viftories of Buonaparte^ dmring 1796, 
and still more by his false and bombastic descrip^ 
tions . of his battles^ the Jacobinical DireStors^ 
iioped to diminish the popularity of Pichegni, 
and to make the inco^istent Frenchmen forget 
what they owed to this great general j but in 
the midst of es^temal successes, the interior of 
Frajnce, though not so violently convulsed, wa$> 
little less agita^d than at the most al^ming pe« 
iriods of the Revolution. The Directory pos*^ 
#eis$ed neither the confidence nor the respeft of 
the people ; their councils were divided by se- 
parate views, and by mutual distrust and con- 
tempt Ik while the dread of new revolutions, and 
the .immediate terror of military force, alone ap« 
Mared. to pitvent some violent explosion. The 

Pireftprs^, 



PICHBGRLT. 113 

DireAors, fully sensible of the dangers to which 
they were exposed, saw with alarm the approach 
of the period when, by the new constitution^ 
the people must meet in primary assemblies 
to choose anew a third part of their representa^ 
tives. • 

As a measure of security on this occasion^ 
the Dire£tors> by a decree, prohibited all persons 
inscribed on the list of emigrants, although ne- 
vw having emigrated, from exercising any poli- 
ticaJL rights : «nd ^ new effort to prevent the 
sovereign people from enjoying too great a sharo 
of authority, was made by the Directory, in a 
message to the Council of Five Hundred; wher/s* 
1% after speaking mysierioujfy of conspirators^ 
^hose hopes were not yet annihilated, it insinuate^ 
the projuriety of denying to all. who had relusedt. 
or. should refuse> to take the oath of hat;red to 
royalty, the right of voting, considering the people 
Qn that occasion as public fun^ionarie4m . 

As most of the citizens chosen were of the 
same moderate principles with Pichegru, tfie 
cleftions to vacant seats in the Council of Five 
Hundred were not satisfactory to government-; 
but the committees of nine> formed to decide on 
the propriety of the returns^ agreed oa the eligi* 
bility of most of the members. 

At 



J 16 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

- At the first meeting^of the ricw Council of 
Five Hundred, Piehegru was called to the ch^rt 
as its first president ; and kis name being signed 
to two resolutions^ the Council of Ancients 
liailed his nomination with expressions of respe& 
for his military talents and virtues : but his abi- 
lities were envied by one part of the Direftory^ 
and his moderation suspeAed by another : hir 
modesty was called a secret ambition ; his pni^ 
dence a concealed vanity ; his loyalty hypocrisy, 
and his popularity consfnraey ; and aft^ these 
liberal suppositions, they determined sooner or 
later to let him feel the effeA of their envy and 
hatred. 

Notwithstanding Buonaparte had about thk 
time concluded the peace of Leoben, and his 
political and revolutionary principles were 
known to correspond with those of the jacobin 
DireAors, Pichegru's popularity increased, and 
he became and was regarded as the chief hope 
of all moderate men, not only in the Council of 
Five Hundred, but in the armies, and all over 
France. The distPa{U<»i of the executive go- 
vernment was therefore at the highest pitch.: 
the new eledions, by giving seats to some men of 
greattt* abilities than had before been chosen, and 
of characters comparatively unblemidied, afford- 
ed 



HCHEGRU. liy 

«d foundation to a strong and popular. opposi« 
tion, which justly censured public proceedings 
with a freedom that upstart tyranny could ill en« 
dure, and with a force which made oppression 
writhe in angubh, and meditate bloody reyenge* 

This new opposition tended to open the eyes 
ef all Frenchmen, and to convince them that 
frauds, ignorance, imprudence, negligence, fc^ly^ 
and peculation, reigned in all the offices under 
the DireAory, and that particularly in the &* 
nances there existed neither order, foresight^ 
nor economy, that the public affairs were there- 
fore in endless confusion; and it was proved that 
they had obtained the disposal of ninety-seven 
millions of livres (about 4,300,000/.), besidei - 
at least twenfy millions received in contributionst 
under pretence that they would thus he enabled to 
makepeace : but no peace was thought of*. 

In the military committee, of which Fichegru 
was a member, it was discovered that the army 
list coritaincd^^;? thousand men to be paid^ clothed^ 
and accoutred^ more than had ever been really en^^ 
rolled i and the military hospital had charged for 
patients who had never entered their walls ^ or whg ' 

had 

* See Le Rappoc( du Citoyen Gilbert Desmorliers, le t$ Pc^« 
m\t an V. 



ftar fiEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH, 

had long been dead: aftd this, saM Dupont dc 
Ncmoiirs, who was stating the fa£ts, is only a 
tomer lifted up of the curtain which conceals these 
Enormities. Oh the thriftless expenditure he ob- 
served, that while large sums were issued for the 
opera, the conservatory of music, the riding- 
schools at Versailles, and lavished on manufac- 
tories of arms np longer wianting, and of build- 
ings of mere ornament, the Direftory had sent 
to the councils an alarming message on the state 
of the hospitals, affirming, that out of three bun* 
dred and fifty foundlings y three hundred had died for 
nvantofthe necessaries of life*. 

These arid other debates produced no good ef- 
fcft, however, .except affording infoririation con- 
cerning the economical, moral, and political con* 
duft of the virtuous rulers of a modern arid fa- 
shionable republic. 

Religion also occupied a conspicuous share in 
the deliberations of the Legislative Bodies j but 
no law founded on just, wise, or honest, prin- 
ciples, was adopted. The horrors experienced 
by catholic priests during the reign of terror, 
^cre exchanged only for a more tranquil, though 

not 

* ^ee Le Rapport du Citoyen Dupont de Nemourt, Mtsildor* 

4DV. 



WCHEGRU. tl^ 

not less systematic persecutioni uAder tte system 
of philosophy. None of the laws which imposed 
oaths and declarations on professors of all ^- 
suasions, even on those whose tenets did not at* 
iow them tp take an oath, were repealed j but, 
instead of drowning and the guillotine, the pe- 
nalties of seclusion and deportation were ap» 
plied. 

Besides these domestic occurrences, the con* 
duft of the French government towards neutral 
nations was loudly censured by Pichegru and his 
party: the injustice, rapacity, and violence which 
had irritated the people of America, and the con- 
duft of Buonaparte toward the neutral republics 
of Venice aiid Genoa, were exposed by them to 
severe animadversion. 

. . These spirited contests formed part of a system 
of hostilities, in which it became obvious that the 
government must either adhere to the constitu- 
tion, make some just sacrifices of its ambition to 
Its safety, or fall. The direftors hated each 
other, but Barras, Rewbel, and La-ReveilKere, 
were united by guilt and by fear j while Carnot 
and Barthelemy, concurring perhaps in nothing 
but a desire of peace, opposed the blood-thirsty, 
<iisorganizing> and tyrannical spirit of their col- 
leagues. The opposition of Pichegru's party in 

the 



U0 HEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the Council of Five Hundred, though generallj 
successful^ was not combined by any common 
principle^ except hatred and contempt for the 
triumvirate : honour^ ability} and popular favour 
was theirs ; but some of them were infeAed with 
the desire of shewing their rhetoric by declaim* 
ing in the tribune ^ while their adversaries, more 
expert in their conduA of revolutions, were pre* 
paring to derive the utmost advantage from the 
chief xesources, the furious jacobins and the ar- 
mies. 

Reports of counter-revolutionary projefts were 
circulated ; and on the 20th of July the official 
journal, or government gazette, then called Le 
RedoBeuTy issued a virulent inventive against the 
Council of Five Hundred, implicating them as 
conspirators; This audacious publication occa- 
sioned a message to the DireAory ; but it was an^ 
swered by an impudent and laeoaic observation^ 
that no existing law applied to the case. 

On the same day, the 20th of July, Pichegru 
made a long and able report on the necessity of 
a re-organization of the national guard, and on 
the manner of forming this organization so as 
to ensure the safety of the state, without giving 
too much trouble to the citizens of this guard, 
who ahne in France could be depended upon for asm 

Sfstance 



PICHEGRU. m 

distance to oppose the daily usurpations' of the exe* 
cutive power. Tfiis and some other vigorotis pro^- 
posals and plans of the Council of Five Hundred, 
caused the Direftory to take measures as for their 
own proteftion; they had almost entirely changed 
the ministry* and, foreseeing that an opposition, 
headed by Pichegru, WiUot, and other experi- 
enced generals, would not ea^ly be conquered, 
were preparing to violate the constitution, by 
drawing a large military force round Paris, This 
intention was not kept sufficiently secret to pre- 
vent the circulation of reports ; and surmise was 
changed to certainty, when Aubry, in the name 
of the Committee of Inspeftors of the Hall, de- 
clared that four regiments of chasseurs, with part 
of the staff of the Army of the Sambre and the 
Meuse, were marching for Ferte-aloi3, a village 
about seven leagues from Paris, ^vhile the constU 
tution limited their approach to twelve leagues. 
On the 26th of July Pichegru pronounced a most 
eloquent speech on the same subjeft, in which 
he clearly proved ** the plots of the DireElory^ 
its violation of the constitution^ and its intention 
again to, introduce the revolutionary government 
and the reign of terror; to exchange the constitu^ 
tional eodefor the anarchical and bloody tyranny of 
the jacobinsn* 

VOL.. It. G If 



122 'revolutionary PLUTARCH. 

If the discovery of their projeAs was calces 
bted to alarm the conspiring majority of the Di- 
re£lory» the feeble condudjb of many of their op- 
' ponents restored their courage. Instead of a^- 
ing as Pichegra desiredj and of proceeding with 
revolutionary vigour^ sucb as they were sure 
would be used by the DireAors, they formed 
decrees for abolishing two clubs which had been 
opened under the name of constitutional circles, 
and dispatched a message to ascertain the age of 
Barras*; they decreed, besides, a law, for esta* 
blishing on all public roads, at a certain distance 
i^om Paris, columns inscribed with articles frona 
the constitution, and an order forbidding the ad- 
irance of armies beyond them: a most ridiculous, 
feeble, and shallow attempt, id a period so crw 
ticalt. Timidity, hesitation, variety of views, 
and want oi mutual confidence, prevented the 
adoption of the on^ mode of conduA, the im" . 
feachtnent of some of the DtreBors^ which could, 

in 

♦ By the Constitution, a Director should be above forty years of 
age ; Barras wai supposed to be only thirt>-eight. 

f Ooe division of troops, ttuhrvo 1 bet r great mpeajor the lavft 
Mndfortb§ fHititution of their ro»«/r|f, before they began their 
march towards Paris, dug up the constitutional cokimn which 
Ibey were forbidden to pass , put it upon a waggon, carried it be- 
fore them, find respedfuUy followed, fuitbout passing it^ uojdithey 
ffmit «t the gates of Paris ! H 



PICHEGRU: ^ ip 

in the present state of aflfairs, tend to the advan- 
tage of opposition, and save France frpm repul>- 
lican oppression*. 

The Diredlory relied on the attachment of the 
army, and were highly gratified by the conduct 
of the jacobin Buonaparte, Divisions of thy ar- 
my under his coitimand in Italy, contrary to the 
constitution, ^ent addresses to the troops of the 
interior, most of which were distinguished for 
violence ; but particularly one £rom the division 
tinder Augereau, which rivalled ia virulence^ 
abuse, and threats, the produ^ons of, the most 
licentious days of the Revolution. The atrocity 
of these proceedings, so repugnant to the consti- 
tution, and to every principle of social order, was 
rendered complete by an address from the staff of 
Buonaparte's armyi avowing all the sentiments 
contained in the various missives already circu- 
lated, threatening death to those who should shew 
themselves royaUsts, a term which they had pre- 
viously shewn they meant to apply to all the op- 
ponents of the Direftory, and of their friends the 
regicide jacobins. 

While the Legislative Body had' such an in« 

contesribie evidence oi the criminal intentions of 

the three DireAors, a message was received from , 

t1^ ExecuUve Government, in wln<:h some fads 

' G 2 were 



124 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

were denied, others palliated, and accusations of 
conspiracy retorted in a vague and insidious 
manner upon some members of the two councils. 
This message was by both councils referred to a 
committee j and on the 20th of August, in the 
Council of Ancients, the Report was made by 
Troncon Ducoudray, who was selcfted for this 
task on account of his acknowledged modera- 
tion and talents. He gave a full detail of the 
conduft of the Direftory and the army, shew- 
ing, in many instances, their inconsistency with 
the letter and spirit of the constitution, though 
he was not hasty in imputing evil intentions. 
Thibaudeau, on the same day, in the Council 
of Five Hundred, made a report equally argu- 
mentative, though more warm, and concluded 
by recommending two laws ; one charging the 
public accuser to pros«:ute all plots, machina- 
tions, and, generally, all offences against the 
Legislative Body, the Executive Direftory, and 
each^of their /component members ; the other, 
declaring penalties against the military who should 
deliberate as a body, or sign addresses collec- 
tively. 

Before any decision could take place with . re- 
speft to these propositions, the three Direftors 
had resolved to overturn, by force^ all the impe- 
diments 



PICHEGRU. 123 

diments raised by the constitution against at))i- 
trary power. Hoche was first fixed on to carry 
the design of the DireAory into execution ; but* 
they having been obliged to disavow some of his 
proceedings^ he had retired, full of rage and dis^ 
appointment, to his army ; while ^he confidence 
intended him was transferred to Augereau, whom 
Buonaparte had sent to Paris from the Army of 
Italy*. Besides the regular troops at the disposal 
of this general, great numbers of jacobins and 
terrorists, who had served Robespierre and his 
fadtion, were in Paris, soliciting employ or pro* 
motion, and were encouraged to remain in the 
city, although motions had been made in the 
Council of Five hundred for their^removal. 

It 

* Augereau, the son 6f a fruit- woman at Paris, has served most 
•f tlie powers of Europe as a common soldier, and has been ftogged 
in Austria and Prussia for desertion. He was a fencing-master gt 
Keuchatel, in Switzerland, in 1789, where he robbed a watch- 
maker, Courvoisier, of a horse and two watches, and then inlisted 
as a soldier in the Neapolitan service, where he gave lessons as a 
fencing-master ; he again deserted, and became first a French «py, - 
and afterwards a French geueral. At Verona and Venice he 
plundered upwards of six millions of livres : he is« in private, re- 
markable for his presumption and vanity ; his Voasts deprive all 
other commanders of their merit/ and the ostentatious decorati^i 
of his person with rings and jewels, form a ridiculous contrast 
with his ignorance in conversation, and the gross vulgarity of his 
■unnerS. Recueit d* Anecdotes^ page56o» 

o3 



t:a REVOLUTIOKAIY PLUTARCH. ' 

It appears almost inconceivable^ that, with ^ 
many evidences of a conspiracy against them» 
and so many proofs of the determination of the 
triumvirate not to regardvthe restrictions of the 
constitutions Pichegru and the other le^ing men 
in opposition should ndt be bound by some com* 
mon tie, or animated by some general spirit. But 
the h& iSf that in troublesome times, courage^ 
frankness, patriotism, and talents^ are seldom 
sufficient to defeat the plots of intriguers. Pi* 
vhegru was surrounded by orators, who did not 
tiiink of any thing but making brilliant speeches 
in the tribune, rotfnding periods, and framing 
motions, without any spirit to aft with vigour, 
or judgment enough to see the absolute necessity 
t£ doing so. Notwithstanding all his endeavours 
he could not inspire the timorous with valour, 
'the idle with activity, and unite the opinion of 
twenty different societies and parties, who con- 
stituted the oppofiition of which he was regarded 
as the chiefs he was unable to subdue the cir- 
«nmspe6tion of some, the scruples of others, and 
the dread, the cowardice of most of them j or 
to prevent the crimes of the direftorial faftion 
hy being beforehand in the attack, and inflifting 
on its guilty membecs a well-deserved punish^ 
ment. 

Pichegru 



PICHEGRU. 127 

Pichegni had not been six weeky a member 
of the Council of Five Hundred, before he 
formed a just opinion of the persons who pre- 
* tended to share his sentiments, and to be led by 
]^s opinions; he therefore alvays doubted of 
success, and mighty as well as many other of hia 
, Colleagues, have escaped proscription by retire- 
ment ; but he had been the first to prbpose the 
organization of the national guards ; and al- 
though many thousands of the Parisians had ' 
made him ofiFers and promises to resist the at« 
tempts of the Dire&ory, he knew too well those 
cowardly citizens, not to foresee that, in the 
nooment of danger, ^ot one would stir or inter- 
fere) he thought it, however, his duty to re~ 
m^ on the spot, and to be the martyr <i£ hit 
loyalty, rather than to give his enemies and ca» 
lumniators reason to say that he had deserted 
men who required nothing but a chief to become 
viAorious. 

While, therefore, his and their adversaries 
were drawing round him and them the net of* 
destru^on, the sitting of the two councils, on 
the 3d of September, terminated in perfect tran- 
quillity ; and in the CounciL of Five Hundred, 
the motion on Thibaud^au's report was adjourned 
to the next day, a day in which the existing le- 
c4j gislaturc 



J29 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

gislaturc was doomed to undergo a total altera- 
tion in its constitution and members. Pichegru 
and many others of the Opposition party, made 
sensible by him of the perik which awaited them> 
had proposed bringing forward a decree of accu* 
sation against the three Directors j whikt others^ 
judging the period too far advanced for such a 
measure, proposed marching to the direAorial 
palace, arresting or putting them to death, and 
then publishing to the people of France a state- 
ment of their motives ; but these proceedings of 
vigour were over-ruled by the timid, the trea- 
cherous, and the indolent. 

In the nights of the 3d and 4th of September, 
the, conspiring DireAors threw off the mask, of 
patriotism for that of rebellion, and began ta ef-^ 
k& another revolution, by ordering two of their 
colleagues, Camot and Barthelemy, to be taken 
into custody I the first, however, secured his 
retreat, but the other was arrested by Barras 
himself. Having thus partially executed the 
first portion of their projeft, Barras, RcwbcF^ 
and La ReveiUiere*, the triumvirate, proceeded 
to other operations. A committee, called in-i^ 

speftors> 

• Barras was htSort the Revolution an irifdmous degraded nobfe- 
nan; he voted for the death ofhls king, and with the assistance 



PICHEGRU. 129 

Speflors, appointed to prevent the approach of 
troops to the place of the sitting of the Councils^ 
and to direA their initernal police, was composed 
of General Pichegru, Vaublanc, Thibaudeau, 
Emery, and Dalarae*, who were divided in 
opinion respecting the conspiracy, till General 
Ramel, commander of the Legislative Body 
guard, announced an order that he had received 
at one o'clock in the morning, to attend the 

Minister 



of Buonaparte, executed en masse thousands of his countrymen at 
Toulon and at Paris. Rewbel, formerly an attorney, another re- 
gicide, has since the Revolution plundered millions ; and, as a Di« 
reAor,eaused thoiwands to be shot or transported. La Keveiliiere 
Lcpaux, a deformed stigmatic, formerly an intriguer under the 
appellation of a man of letters, disbelieved the existence of a God, 
and passed his life in tormenting mankind and th^ consciences of 
christians, by pretending to be the pope of the theophilanthropists, 
or revolutionary philosophers. These three vile intriguers de- 
feated a general who had defeated the united forces of Austria* 
England, Prussia, Hanover, Holland, and Hessia. So little does 
it depend upon talents or virtue to be vidtorious in plots and revolu- 
tions ! 

* Of the five f nspedlort, Picliegni and Delarite were for vigo^ 
xous measures ; Vaublanc and Thibaudeau were, from cowardice, 
for temporizing proceedings; and Emery was the spy of the Direc- 
'tory, who betrayed all the discussions of his colleagues, and was 
therefore, with Thibaudeau, whose condufl was suspicious to man^, 
-excepttfti from deportation ; while Pichegru, Dclarue, and Vaublanc, 
were treated with all possible indignity and cruelty, both in the 
Temple and on their way to Cayenne. 

C5 



tSO lltVOLUTlONARY PLtTtAftCa. 

Minister at War^ and that several columns of^ 
troof^ were entering the city. He was a few* 
hours afterwards summoned, in the natme of thd 
Diredofy, to d!Io# fifteen hundred soldiers M 
pass the Pont Tournant (the entrance to the 
Thuillerie gardens from the place of Louis 
XV,); but he bravely I'efused, though assured 
that his corps of eight hundred grenadiers was 
surrounded by tHirelve thousand men, with foui* 
pieces of cannon. In this emei'gency he sent to 
Lafond^Ladebat and Simeon, the presidents of 
the* two Councils, for instfuftions, and gave no- 
tice of 'what was passing to several members. 

. I^ichegru had already ascertained that the halls 
wei*e completeljr invested, and Ramel was con- 
sulting with the Committee of Inspe£lors, wheii 
news arrived that the Pont Tournant was forced, 
the garden filled with troops, and a battery 
forming to bear on the hall of the Council of 
Ancients* The post of the Council of Five 
Hundred, defended by a brave lieutenant named 

■ Blot, alone remained, and Ramel had vainly so- 
licited leave to call out the reserve of grenadiers, 
and attempt repelling force by force } when the 
troops of the Direftory, headed by Augereau, 
rushed in, and, after a considerable struggle, se« 
cured all the Inspe£torsj and several other mem* 

bcrs 



PICHEGRUr 131 

bers of the Councils who had come to f hare theur 

deliberations. 

A considerable number of members of both 
Councils, having assembled at private houses^ 
sallied forth in their scarfs^ and attempted to 
gain the entrance of their own halls, but were 
thrice repulsed by the military ; while the mi- 
nority of each legislative body met at a play- 
house in the neighbourhood of the Direftory^ 
called Odeon, and in the amphitheatre of the mer 
dical college, apd made laws suited to the views 
of the triumvirate. 

This party had, previous to the explosion of 
their mines, prepared proclamations to deceive 
the pepple of Paris, declaring the existence of a 
plot to re-establish royalty^ and in the evening 
of the same day, the mock assembly at the Odeonr 
received a message from the Directory, equally 
false and absurd' with the proclamations In the 
morning, affirming the balls of the councils to 
have been fixed on as the scene of a conspiracy 
to restore royalty, and that Pichegru, in a cor- 
respondence with the Prince de Conde, had 
formed a plot which would have been executed^ 
but that the Prince himself refused to afford his 
sanftion. These accusations were supported by 
a pretended correspondence' said to be inter- 
G 6 fepted 



1S2 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

cepted (bat which, from the strongest iaternal 
evidence, appeared to be forged), imd some alv 
surd extorted confessions of Duveme de Preslc, 
one of the royalist conspirators arrested at the 
commencement of the year *• Reports were 
then presented by several members, who read 
draughts of law, annulling the elections in forty-* 
nine departments, and ordering the deportation 
of Generals Pichegru and VVillot, with thirty- 
eight other members of the Council of Five 
Hundred, and eleven of the Council of Ancients, 
and the Directors Camot and Barthelemy ^ with 
a number of other citizens, generals, ministers, 
priests, and editors of newspapers. The fate of 
all these.vidtims, condemned without a trial, was 
rendered additionally cruel by the sequestration 
of their property, till accounts should be received 
of their arrival at the place of deportation : the 
remainder of the Council pf Five Hundred passed 
this sentence without hesitation, in which that 
of the Ancients cdncuyrcd ; while they boasted 
of this proceeding as an a£t of mercy, though it 

pre- 

* Pichegru was at th& same time accused and denounced by 
Moreau and Buonaparte, the former being the dupe of tlie latter i 
who, as long as Pichegru remained in France, could have no hope 
to usurp power over Frenchmen ; but neither of them produced a 
•ingle line of P lchegru*s hand - wjri ting. 



PICHEGRU. 133 

prevented the unjudged prisoners from procuring 
even the most common necessaries . for their 
comfort and accommodation in the voyage which 
they were afterwards doomed to make. Laws 
of the greatest severity were enaAed against 
emigrants and their relations; a new oath was 
imposed, of hatred to royahy and anarchy, and 
attachment and fidelity to the Republic and con- 
stitution of the year three, a constitution which 
t^y at the same time violated in the most scan- 
dalous manner. All journals, periodical papers, 
and the presses for printing them, were put 
under the inspeAion of the police : the late laws, 
decreed according to the motion of Pichegru, for 
re-organizing the national guard, were abrogated, 
and the Direftory was invested with the power 
of declaring any commune in a state of sieger 
These, and some other regulations equally tyran* 
nical and vengeful, gave to the executive power 
a complete diiftatorial auth(H*ity, and terminated 
the glimmering prpspeft, which some still affeft- 
ed to view, of liberty restored by the exertions 
of the French philosophers*. 

Pichegru 

* The Author was at Paris when this revolution was eflfedled ^ 
and what he then observed, confirmed his opinion of,the base and 
cowardly character of the Farisiant. The Jd of l^eptember was a 

Sunday i 



134 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

Pichegru and the other arrested Deputies had 
been conducted to the Temple bastilei and dur- 
ing the ensuing days the private vengeance of 
the DireAors added considerable numbers to the 
list of sacrifices : their tool, the infamous Auge- 
reau> was well adapted to cany into execution 
their orders of cruelty, by himself, or by instru- 
ments worthy of him. He had appointed Ge- 
neral Dutertre commandant of the Temple, and 
of the escort destined to accompany the impri- 
soned Deputies to their place of embarkation. 
This republican general had, a month before^ 
come out of the gallies at Toulon, where he had 
been confi:ned under sentence of a court martial, 
for robbery, assassination, and setting fire/ to 
houses, in La Vendee*. 

At two in the, morning of the 8th of Septem- 
ber, Pichegru, and the other proscribed persons 
were removed from the Temple in vehicles 
placed upon four-wheded waggons, neariy re- 
sembling 

Sunday ; and the Tivoli, and all other public placet, were crowded 
with elegant and fashionable people, who all cursed the Diredloryy 
and praised the two Councils. In the night the revolution took . 
place r stnd the next day all the gardens, squares, and streets, were 
:^tkd with the same Parisians, dressed as sansculottes, and crying 
out every where, '* Long live the Dire^lonr I Down with tb« 
Councils!" 
♦ Ramcr« Njtfrauvf J page la. 



(ICHEGRU. I3« 

iembUng frunncarriages. They were a kind o£ 
cage« secured on all sides with bars of iron Inreast 
lugh, nearly resembling such as are used in £ng« 
land for the conveyance of wild beasts; and 
every shake or jolt bruised them in a most ter* 
rible manner : a padlock fastened the iron grat* 
ing by which they entered ; they had neither 
time nor -means to make the sligh^t prepara-* 
tion for their removal. The triumvirate, anxi- 
.ous to enjoy the brutal and cowardly pleasuse of 
contemplating *their fallen adversaries, caused 
the cars to pass before their palace of Luxem* 
burgh, where the walls, already rendered by its 
inhabitants the inclosure of every imaginable 
crime, re-echoed with the mirthful plaudits of a 
ruffian band. Whose savage exultation would 
have disgraced the untutored aborigines of Arno* 
rica. 

During the journey from Paris to Rochefort^ 
there were na sufferings or indignities which Pi<n 
chegni and his companions in misfortune were 
not obliged to endure, and na danger to which 
they were not exposed : they were hooted at, 
cursed, threatened, and covered with mud, by 
the jacobins, at every place they passed or 
halted at: water was their only drink, and 
^bck bread their only food; during the day, and 

a pri- 



136 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

a prison, a dungeon, or the damp pavement in 
some deserted church, their place of repose at 
night. The officers tinder Dutertre, Adjutant 
general Colin, and his second, Guillet, were, in 
September 1792, among the Septembrisers, or 
assassins of the prisoners at Paris, and owed to 
it their military rank. At Blois they had pre- 
pared the same destruction for the departed De- 
puties, had not the courage and humanity of a 
municipal officer prevented it ; but, enraged at 
their disappointment, they lodged him the same 
night among the galley-slaves, in irons, at Tour, 
in Tourain. At Chatelherault, Dutertre ordered 
them to be shut up in so infe<Elious a dungeon^ 
that Pichegru and several others swooned ; and 
they would all have been stifled, had not the 
door, at which sentinels were placed to watch 
them clpsely, been speedily opened. Even. Pi- 
chegnj, though still young, and hardened by 
the fatigues of war, suffered so much from the 
badness of the roads, and the jolts of the wagr 
gons, that he demanded as a favour to walk on 
foot, in the midst of the escort ; but he was re- 
fused with brutality : for *^ when once the pri- 
soners had entered the carriages, or rather the 
cages in the morning, and the iron grating was 
lockedi they were not opened again till nightj 

though 



PICHEGRU. 13T 

ehough illness or natural wants ever so much re- 
quired it." Such were the orders of Dutertrc. 

At last, on the 21st of September, they ar-» 
rived at Rochefort, where the most ill-omened 
presages surrounded them. The soldiers com- 
posing the garrison of this city lined the hedges 
upon the road ; and a crowd of sailors made the 
air re-echo with the ill-boding cry of—'* 72? tie 
tvatetj to the water ! Drown thetny drown 
ihem ! ! /" Here they were eioibarked on board 
a small brig, and by some ill-looking soldiers 
rudely forced down between decks, pushed 
and crowded toward the forecastle, while they 
were nearly sufibcated with the smoke of the 
kitchen. 

They were now sufiering extremely from hun« 
ger and thirst; for they had neither eaten nor 
drank during the thirty-six preceding hours. A 
pail of water was let down in the midst of them^ 
and a couple of the crew's loaves were thrown 
down beside it, with a gesture of the utmost 
contempt. They were, however, unable to eat, 
on account of the smoke, and their very uneasy 
situation. In the meanwhile, the sentinels, who 
pressed them more and more, held the most 
horrid language. Pichegru having resented the 
insolence of one who was in the midst of theui, 

th« 



f S8 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

latter replied to the general^ ^ Thu hadsi better- 
be siknty for thou are not yet eut of our power. ^* 
Tlus was a boy of £fteea or sixteen years of 
age. 

They liad every reason to bdiere that the 
place of their deportation was ao other than the 
bed of the river Charante, where they were now 
at anchor^ and that they were a£hially on board 
one of those horrid instruments- of executipn, « 
vessel nvitb a trap^-door^ invented to quench tho 
thirst of repuUkan tyrants for human bloody and 
to murder in the dark, as rapidly as possible, as 
many viffims as their caprice could desire : and 
during one, to them, dreadful night, they were 
listening in anxious suspense, and silent horror 
and resignation, constantly expefting the fatal 
moment to arrive. At last they were sent on 
board a cutter, where Pichegru and three others 
were separated from their companions by the -cap* 
tain, who himself ordered them to go down into 
the boatswain's store-room, saying, " As for you 
four gentlemen, this is to be your lodging :*' and 
thus they remained for fifty-^two days, in the 
profoundest darkness, in that horrid dangeon> 
infeAed by the exhalations of the* hold, and by 
the cables, without hammocks or covering, or 
any thing on which to, lay their heads, though un<» 
^ J able 



PICHEGRU. 139- 

able to hold themselves y{Mrightt At noon every 
day a biscuit was brought to each ; and a bucket 
full of gourgones, or large peztks boU^^ filled with 
vermin, filtb» and hair, and without any season- 
ing, was set down for them. This was their 
daily allowance, and the only food that was given' 
them during the whole voyage. 

The detachments which had beoi pat on board 
the cutter to guard them, consisted of men se- 
lected from among the revolutionary bands of 
the Committee of Nantes, so famous in the an- 
xials of terror for the massacres and drownings 
of the priests who were sentenced to deporta- 
turn. They were heard to relate to each other 
their various and in£uB0U9 exploits. One boasted 
of having, during, a march, assassinated his cap* 
tain by stabbing him in the backj and thrown him 
into a ditch, because he suspefled him of aristo* 
cracy; another eooUy enumerated how many 
priests he had drowned ii;i the Loire ; a third ex>- 
plzined to his comrades how the drownings were 
performed, and mimicked the grimaces (^ the un«* 
fortunate wretches at tl^e moment of submer* 
sion : several of them boasted of having killed 
with their oars those who, after passing through 
the trap-ndoor in the drowning vessels, endeavour-^ 
to save their lives by swimming.} and if theso 

monsters 



l40 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

monsters suspended for a moment their borrfcl 
conversation^ it was only to sing disgusting songs. 
They chose the time of their prisoners resting^ 
to place themselves by the hatchway, and howl 
olit their obscenities, their blasphemies, and their 
songs of cannibals. 

Of those transported, Pichegru was the only 
one who was not sea^sick ; but he sufiFered so 
much the more from hunger. It produced pa« 
roxys'ms of irage, and the coarse food, which 
he ate in too small quantities, only excited his 
ravenous appetite. One day the hunger and im- 
patience of the general furnished the captain 
of the cutter. La Porte, with a pretext to add to 
the vexations which he infli£led on the four pri* 
soners of the store-room. The cabin-boy who 
waited on them persisted, notwithstanding their 
prayers and menaces, in always bringing them 
their bucket of beans so filthy, that they could 
not touch them : Pichegru therefore pushed the 
boy once, when he brought a bucket almost co« 
vcred with 'hairs. The boy fell into the bucket, 
Midi being scalded, cried aloud, and called for 
help. Pichegru accused himself of the faA -, but 
his fellow*prisoners would not allow that he 
alone wg^ culpable, and the captain ordered tbtm 
«// four to be put in iroas, in which condition 

they 



WCHEGRU. ^ \A^ 

they suffered severely for six days ; nor was the 
captain then disposed to relieve them^ had not 
fear J from the murmurs of some of th6 sailors* 
who compassionated the fate of their four en- 
chained fellow-citizens, of luhom three had hem 
republican generals, compcUtd him to that mea^. 
sure. 

At length they landed in Cayenne, and hoped^ 
haying escaped from the presence of their ty- 
rants, to range thefe at liberty; but they were 
mistaken : wherever a French republican com- 
mands, tyranny and oppression are felt,J and 
their companions, wretchedness and misery, must 
be expefted. Instead of enjoying even the sha- 
dow of liberty in the deserts of this unhealthy 
country, they were sent to the fort of Sinamary, 
on the pestilential banks of the river of that 
name. Even iii this miserable abode, their per- 
secutors harassed them by a refinement of cru- 
elty J they were closely confined in dungeons 
used as prisons for fugitive negroes and crimi- 
nals, containing neither beds, tables, nor chairs, 
nor any one piece of furniture. No European, 
perhaps, had ever before been thrown into such 
a den, in such a climate, there to be given as a 
prey to scorpions, centipedes, gnats, musquitos, 
and ^rnany other species of insci^, equally nu- 
merous, 



142 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

merousj dangerous, and disgusting ! they wens 
not even secure from serpents, which frequently 
crept into the fort. Pichegru found one of an 
uncommon size> which he killed: it was thicker 
than his arm, and lay concealed in the folds of 
his cloak, which served him for a pillow in hk 
hammock. They were, besides, totally desti* 
tute of clothes, linen, and money, and their 
'trifhials were worse than those given to the ne- 
groes. 

Pichegru still retained his accustomed firmness, 

and shewed that confidence, that presentiment/ 
as it were, of future amelioration, which na* 
Rurally communicates itself to others. His prin- 
cipal occupation was inspiring his fellow-sufierers 
with courage and constancy ; his only amuse- 
ment was learning English. He* preserved, 
•amidst all his pursuits, his -military tone and 
manners, by which he endeavoured to overcome 
the tedious monotony of imprisonment. He 
was often singing, especially such fragments as 
were applicable to bis situation ; not plaintive or » 
romantic effusions, but such as . abounded in th^ 
energy of vehement expression and awakened mi- 
litary ardour. He supported with fortitude, and 
without complaint, his present evils^ and con«« 
teinplated the vile instru^joent of his misfortunes 

with 



PICHEGRU* 143 

With contempt. Th^ only day that he seemed 
afflifked was, when an American vessel brought 
news " that the usurpation oyer his country was 
completed, all good citizens oppressed, the r&* 
Toluti(Hiary laws rigorously enforced, apd the tri- 
bunals, of blood re-established under the name of 
Military Commissions." He then deplored, with 
the ot^er prisoners, the fate of their wretched 
and degraded country. If an honest man, strug- 
gling with misfortunes, be the noblest work of 
God, a hero and a patidot in fetters is ap angel 
upon earth. 

After ^ight months endurance of all the su^ 
ferings of captivity and want, of insult and tor- 
mentsj Fichegru, with seven other prisoners, mt 
last escaped from his oppressors, the dangers of 
the waves and the horrors of famine ; having at 
the moment when he was arrested, and during 
the voyage to his place of deportation and his 
imprisonment at Cayenne, condadled himself 
with that noble fortitude which elevates misfor* 
tunc, and commands respeft even from republi- 
can, despots. He £r$t landed in the Dutch co- 
lony of Surinam, and afterwards, on the 2Sth of 
September, 1798, disembarked inEnglandj where 
xoyalty received the republican exile, generosity 

rewarded 



144 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

rewarded talents^ and hospitality soothed misfor'* 
tunes*. 

It is I\ppedf that the- particulars of Pichegra 
proscribed, will be to loyal men equally interest- 
ing with those of Pichegru viAorious ; as thej 
truly paint the cruelties of republican rulers, the 
ingratitude of republican citizens, and the in- 
justice of republican governments: they exhi« 
bit the immoral, barbarous, and infamous con- 
du£l of most men, of inferiors, as well as of su- 
periors, who have engaged or are employed in 
keeping' up the cause of the French rebellion ; 
and if it has surprised foreigners, that some 
Frenchmen^ in the name of liberty, have usurp- 
ed power to become tyrants, it is no less asto- 
nishing, that those upstart tyrants have found 
slaves base enough to obey their dilates, and 
cruel enough to execute, and often to aggravate, 
their commands $ and that the same great nation 
contains such a number of various, vicious, and 
vile men, that Robespierre*s guillotine, the Di- 

reftorial 

* The particular fads mentioned concerning the revolution of 
the 4th of September^ 1797, and Fichegru's deportation, are de* 
rived from Di^ionnaire Biographique, Carhot's Reply» Job Aime's 
Karmtive, Secret Anecdotes of the 18th Fnididor by De la Ruc^ 
Ramel'f Narrative, and Recueil d' Anecdotes. 



WCHEGRU. ' U9 

"■retrial dq)ortation, and the Consular shodcing 
and poisoning, have never wanted fit subjeAs to 
carry into effed their inhuman and merciless de- 
crees. 

Of Pichegni*$ talents as a general, neither 
Buonaparte nor his military sycophants have 
dared to throw out any doubts ; of his principles 
as a politician, nothing is known but what does 
honour to the commander as well as to the se- 
nator, jnd inspires admiration of the patriot. Thtf 
conquest of Alsace, Brabant, Flanders, and Hol- 
land, convince every body of the former ; while 
vague accusations, invented hy envy or forged 
by jealousy, without proofs as ifrell as without 
fs^s, are unable to diminish known patriotism 
and irreproachable opinions ; and whatever ca- 
lumny or affliftion have proclaimed, exaggera- 
tion propagated^ treason discovered, or fear dis- 
closed, all moderate and ju^t men, even in France, 
acknowledge that Pichegru is really and more 
sincerely attached to the honour and happiness 
of his country, than Buonaparte, or any other 
Republican ruler or general \ and though he doei^ 
not agree with the Corsican, and approve of an 
unjust and perhaps impolitic aggrandizement, at 
the expence of good faith and of the tranquillity 
of Europe, his moral arid political notions, « th^t 
VOL. lu H it 



146 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

it is not the extent of t country^ or the number 
of its inhabitants^ which constitute the greatness 
4ind prosperity of a nation/' has as many, if not 
more) adherents, than the Machiavelism and ex* 
travagant ambition of his unprincipled antago- 
nist ; and all loyal Frenchmen prefer, with Pi- 
chegni, ** to enjoy liberty with twenty millions 
of freemen, than; under the artificial and op^ 
pressive grandeur of an adventurer, to suiSer 
bondage with thirty millions of slaves/' 

In a work attributed to a person who was not 
ft friend, or partial to Pichegru, is the following 
sentence : ** Pichcgru*s only occupation is his 
country ; and he is always disposed to answer 
those who speak to him in favour of such men, 
or of such a faAion, — Protnote the happiness of 
France^ and you may depend upon ine as ^one of 
your party,^ This was written some few days 
before the 4th of September, 1797, when Buo- ^ 
tiaparte denounced, Barras and the Direftory 
condemned, and Frenchmen transported, Piche- 
gru, as a traitor and conspirator*. 

Egotism is the chie£ passion of French repub- 
licans \ it has caused them to commit murders, 

and 



« Secret Anecdotes of the iSth FniAidor, by D^ U Rue, and 
Recuell d' Anecdotes. 



picheg;ru. 147 

and to issue proscriptions ; to plonder and ea*- 
' slave France and Europe ; to sacrifice parenti, 
relatives, and friends 5 to betray and butcher 
their king ; to desert and deny their God ; to 
adore Marat, to worship Robespierre, to prai$e 
Barras, and to prostrate themselves before Buo- 
naparte. According to this true definition of 
Gallic republicanism, Pichegru is- certainly no 
republican ; and he had besides the honour and 
courage to continue poor in a commonwealth, 
where, among rapacious upstarts, it was suspi- 
cious and ridiculous, a folly and a crime, not. to 
be rich. 

PicHegru is stout, athletic, near six feet high, 
and of a strong constitution, well fitted by na- 
ture to encounter and endure tte fatigues of war. 
Upon a first interview, there is something severe 
about him 5 but his austerity wears off after a lit- 
tle intercourse, and he soon insj)ires the greatest 
confidence. His politeness is without affectation, 
and not a formal etiquette, often signifying no- 
thing but duplicity and imposture. He is frankly 
condescending, liberally obliging, and naturally 
good and benevolent ; but he possesses not the 
agreeable littleness and the trifling meanness which 
make the fortune of republican courtiers as much, 
and as often as those of a monarch. Hil moral 
h2 - > cha* 



» • 



148 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

character is excellent : firank, candid, humane> 
and politei cordial to his friends, and pleasing to 
his acquaintance. To lus oiGcers he was always 
complaisant; and with his soldiers stride, but 
just and generous. With a sanguine disposition, 
he is cool and deliberate in his conduA i and the 
extent and versatility of his talents have obtained 
the same approbation and success in the senate as 
in the field. 

There are some striking resemblances between 
Plchegni and Moreau, two republican gen^als 
as much above the petty Buonaparte, by their 
external form and internal worth," as by their 
talents and merit : they are both about the 
same age, and of the same size ; and both have 
natural genius and a cultivated education ; but 
their charaAers, without being quite opposite, 
are very different. Moreau is more insinuating, 
his manners more agreeable, and his perspn more 
graceful. Nobody is an hour in Piche^ru's com- 
pany without placing confidence in him, and 
judging him to be a man of honour, of probity, 
and of generosity j at first sight, Moreau infuses 
the «ame sentiments ; every day's intercourse 
with Pichegru increases our esteem for him; 
with Moreau it does not augment \ it does not 
even always continue the same* If exception be 



PICHEGKU. A49 

made of the Corslcan courtiers and satellites, TU 
chegru is universally honoured aud beloved in 
y ranee ; Moreau's admirers are more numerous 
than those of Buonaparte, but not so numerous' 
as those of Pichegru* 

In 17^6, when Buonaparte was {^omoted to, 
the command ofthe Army of the Alps> this armyj . 
as well as those commanded by Moreau on the: 
Upper Rhine, and by Jourdan on the Lower 
K hine, consisted chiefly of officers instru£):ed^ 
and soldiers disciplined by Pichegru : that Buona«. 
parte, with such an army, accustomed to success,^ 
and elevated by victory, should defeat the lesr. 
numerous, dispirited, divided, and betrayed 
Austrians and Sardinians, was not surprising ;/ 
but that the general, to whom all those advan- 
tages might be ascribed, should experience from 
tic base jealousy of the base Buonaparte, envy, 
hatred, and persecution, instead of praise, amity, 
and gratitude, is surprising, even in the abomi* 
iia])le annals of the French rebellion. ' Buona- 
parte's extorted addresses from this very army» 
and his forged accusations^ we^e the only faHs 
whi^ii the infamous Barras and his accomplices 
condescended to publish in vindication of their 
revolutionary proscription of Pichegru \ and these 
^re the nominal reasons why Buonaparte still re- 
h3 tains 



lOO REVOLUTIONARY FLUTARCH. 

tains Pichegru upon the list of the true legion of 
hwiour : the list of the emigrants *• 

Notwithstanding what Buonaparte has done 
to iiynre Pichegru, add to undermine his repu- 
tation, he is yet regretted and beloved by the. 
Krench army, and pitied, praised, and esteemed 
l^ the French nation, as the only republican ge* 
neral who has not sullied his vidtories either by 
rapine or murder, by plunder or confiscations. 
These, are unpardonable crimes in the ppinion of 
the guilty Cortican, who fears the unfortunate 
Pichcgru in exile, more than the fortunate Mo* 
neau in the neighbourhood of his usuisped throne^ 
because Bud&apavte knows,< that esteem fbonded 
iqxm merit, is more to be af^prdiended than fbrw 
tune founded upon chance ; he knows that even: 
the/c/r«Mbreauha« hurt hJA credit, iry fehelf 
denouncing his friend and bene&Aor Pichegniyi 
to whom he was indebted fcnr his first nylitary* 
instru^oa. and promotion, and by continuing^ 
to serve the repuUtcan assassins of his loyal /a* 
ther. 

When, i^ ]t?94> fichqupu commanded tbfr 

armyr 

\ 

« A friend of Fnncc, tndf 6f Pich<gni» asked Biioiuv»rte» in lAvf 
iSoz; to recal Pichegru ; and reeelved for answer, " France it not 
Urge enough to contain us botk«*'«— Lea ^ouvelles X la Main.Pni* 
ij«fi an z. No. viii. 



.KCHEGRU. 131 

Army of the North, and the National Conven- 
tion ordered no quarter to be given to English* 
ihcn, at the risk of his own life Pithcgru spared 
thelives of Britons, The murder of i He Turkish 
prisoners at Jaffa in 1799, tells the world how 
Buonaparte Would have afted with English- 
men in 1794. All the conquests of Pichegru 
did not cost the lives of so many Frenchmen as 
Buonaparte's two battles of Lodi and Arcole. 
Pichegru was the father and friend of his soldiers 5 
Buonaparte is their oppressor, destroyer, and 
poisoner : Pichegru was more careful of the life 
of a soldier than of his own ; Buonaparte wil- 
lingly sacrifices all the soldiers in France to ad- 
vance his outrageous, ambition : Pichegru served 
his countrymen from the love of his country; the 
Corsicaa Buonaparte has served France to be 
en Alcd to enslave Frenchmen : Pichegru owed 
his promotion to. his own merit ; Bubnaparte to 
. his own crimes and to the intrigues of Barras : 
to the viftoriea of Pich^ru France is indebted 
lor Brabant, Flanders, and the new provinces on 
this side of t& Rhine ^ ta Buonaparte, or ratli^r 
to hif intvigues and breach of treaties, France 
dwes Fiedmont,^ and notiing but Piedmont: po- 
verty and proscription are the rewards o£ the 
great nation for Pichegru's virtue and services? 
h4 with 



t32 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

with an usurped throne and an udimited power 
has Buonaparte recompensed himself, his plow 
and crimes, at the expencc of the honour and 
freedom of the great nation: to all good and vir^ 
tuous men, however, the honourable exile of Pi- 
chegru is preferable to the guilty usurpation of 
Buonaparte. In a few words,, between Piehe- 
gru and Buonaparte erery thing is opposite; no- 
thing 4s common between them ; the distance ii^ 
as 'great as between virtue and vice. 

Buonaparte falsely accuses Pichegru of having 
carried arms against his own country; whereas 
Pichegru has not even carried arms against tke 
foreigner tyrannizing over his countrymen : Buo- 
naparte says that Pichegru is a royalist; Pichegru 
loves hh' country and manlnndy and Wishes therrfore 
rntherfor a monarchy under a legal severeigny than m 
monarchical republic and republican tyranny, under (f 
Corsican usurper. 

If brilliant talents, employed bravely, nobly,, 
and successfully ; if modesty in prosperity, and 
fortitude in adversity; if a genuine love of liber- 
ty, a real spirit of patriotism, a tender affeftion 
for his kindred and his countrymen, a regard for 
their lives, a solicitude for their safety, and a feel- 
ing which advances from prif ate to public life, 
until it expands into universal philanthropy^ 

con« 



PIOIEGRU. ^ 15J 

•onstitutc true greatness. General Pichcgru is si 
great man*. 



Jf^£ have been favoured ivith the following a^ 
rhus communication by Dr. Blane* Among several 
interesting confessions^ and important remarks, the 
great and unfortunate Pichegn/s acknowledgment^ 
that his soldiers bore the hardships of a singularly 
severe campaign, not from any political enthusiasm^ 
but from un esprit de coquinage (which, among 
other explanations, must doubtless include the hve of 
plunder), throws a nenv light over those revolu^- 
tionary heroes, who hcroe received a tribute of ap» 
plause they t^ever merited, from a wise qnd induS'- 
trious nation. Every military man who is not ac^ 
tuated by a constitutional principle, is not the difen» 
der, but the most dangercMS enemy of his country^ 

SUJBSTANCE 

* Smce the above was written, Pichegru hat been murdered ii» 
a French dungeon ; and hi^ murderer,, Buonaparte, hat made hit. 
corpse one of^the steps on which to ascend the Imperial throne.. 
When these Sketches were printing, every thing tn Fi ance remain^ 
> cd yet unsettled ; the pretended" conspivatort ioculpattd with PU 
chegru were not tried; and Buonaparte^ though procbimed ia 
France, was acknowleiged by no foreign sovereign in his imi* 
perial dignity. Nothing can therefore be here added, or changed^ 
iacoase^uence of the iaU ey^nt ; their maturity v stiU dittaot^ 

h5 



164 REVOLUHOWAllir PLUTARCa 

SUBSTANCE OF SOME CONVERSATIONS UTHJCH I 
HELD WITH GENERAL PICHEGRU^ OCTOBER 
1798^ DURING HIS RECOVERY FROM AN ILL- 
NESS CONTRACTED CHIEFLT DURING THE 
HARDSHIPS HE UNDERWENT IN MAKING HIS 
BSCAPB FKOM CAYENNE. 

In speaking of the French Revolution, he said 
the two first years of it were vety seducing to well- 
intentioned people. I answeredi that we found 
it so seducing at that time, that we, in general, 
wished well to it, and that republican principles 
gained much ground among us: that w« had been 
prevented from running the like wild career, bj 
having a wise, firm, and temperate ministry, 
a moral and religious Sovereign, and were finally 
converted to monarchy by two great political 
apostles, Robespierre with the terrors of his 
guillotine, and Edmund Burk^ with the thun- 
ders of his eloquence. He said both these were 
very persuasive, particularly the former (with 
whose works he was best acquainted), by the 
disgrace which he and others brought upon the 
cause, and the universal disgust they produced 
by their profligacy and atrocity. . 
He said that the great error of himself, and 
^ . others. 



MCHEGEir. 155 

others, conskted in astttoiing* mm to be better 
than they really were; tkat neither the Frencli 
nation, nor perhaps any other great nation, had 
a. sufficient measort of virtue for a repubiicait 
goyemment, which still appeared to him the 
best, if men were perfefk ; but^ checking him* 
self, he added, that, if they were pcrfc^ they 
would require little or no gcnrerament, and that 
tmpcr£s6kion was of the essence of human na«> 
turfe, and therefore of goyermnents. Men, aays 
he, are governed by men : that government is* 
the best, which^ with the iisvcst igDEtpei;£eAionsi 
k best adapted to the tespefirre genius and chai*^ 

raOer 

.* Mr. Soam« 7«nyiit, in tolMpaitof KiiwMlM rtmatkit tet 

th« fallacy ia thereasonmgt of Mr. Locke, and ochcr political theo* 
rists, consists in their taking it for granted, that man is a reason*' 
able being, but that this nov being the case, tKeir systems must fall 
80 tke ground. It cannot admit of a doobt that* to cttaWithing tk« 
principles of goverumcnt, one of the fundamental elements must 
consist in a faithfWl delineation of the nature of that being which i» 
the subjedl of them ; and, in this-tiew, it is partieularly important 
c» ucertain what idmixtura of the Ua$k and selfifh pafsione e%it« 
into the general composition and description of the human chara^er 
and conduct. If this consideration is negle^ed, all the dedudtiona 
must be false, just a» the result of » calculation must be falser 
where one of the elements- hal been qsiittad. Those who are mora 
versed than I can be in political erudition, can better judge how far 
this error is chargeable on these theorists. Mr. Jcnyns's remark 
•eeoif only to be a part of the more general principle " that in att 
our praai«al laiercouice with mankmd, we should deal with theni> 
s^ they are, and not a* they omg&t tohe.** 
H6 



156 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

nAef of nations; and as there must be some 
evils, those -who plan revcdntions would do well 
to consider whether tlie eventual evils of thenr 
projeQs may not be greater aod worse than the 
existing evils. 

In speaking of the DireAor^i he said it was.a 
form of government big with mischief; that the 
temporary tenure of power would lead its mem- 
bers tp aggrandize aiid enrichthemselves, their 
friends and families, at the expence of the conn* 
try;. that it must ever be argovemment of tyranny^ 
rapacity, and corruption ; that they were now 
aAnally corrupt, particularly Rev^bel. I said, I 
believed he meant to describe something like the 
nepotum of the Popes. He said he did. Though 
naturally of a sedate demeanour, he grew warm 
on this subjc6l ; and, starting from his seat, he 
said he would maintain, in argument, against the 
most dcterrpincd republican, that there could be 
no good executive administration but what pro* 
eeeded from a single man ; and gave reasons for 
jt — such as promptitude, secrecy, and those 
countera&ions of eavy and jealousy, which mar 
public feusiness when in the hands of equals.. 
Asldicf not think it right to press any poli- 
tical subjeA .upon him, I did not ask whether 
he thought it most expedient that this single 

man 



PICHEGRU. . r IBf 

pian should be a Hereditary Monarch, or an 
Ek£tive Magistrate like the American Presi- 
dent. 

|n a subsequent conversation^ he s^ntaneousl; 
gave hiiLopinion on this point. He said, that as 
loi^'as France Jbad ^republican government, in 
any form, there must be eternal seeds of animo-^ 
sity and hostility with all the surrounding Mo* 
narthies, and that there would be an unceasing 
efibrt to overturn them* I answered, that the aver- 
sion of all conditions of people in this, and I be- 
lieved other countries, to French principles^, would 
be a sufficient bar to this. He replied, that it was 
very likely they niight not be able to effedV their 
purpose upoR jH-inciples c£ persuasion 2Xi6.fanatU 
asm, but they would do so hj force, as a measure 
of policy and self*prescrvation ; and as Monar:^ 
chies would necessarily be a£luated likewise by 
considerations of self-defence, there would be a 
perpetual and reciprocal spirit of contention^ 
He saw no remedy for this but the establishment 
of a limited monarchy in France fun monarchie 
tempetee). It was monarchy alone, in some shape 
or other, that could suit them* 

I asked him whether, if there were to* be an 
appd nominal of the whole French natioii, withr» 
out being under the influence of fear, and at per^ 



itn REVOLUTIOftAHY PtUTARCH. 

fca liberty, the vote wgiaiUi he in fkvoor of rojr- 
afty ? He sard, by a great iriajority, if they were 
sure of amnesty. I said, the greatest obstacle to a 
coimtcr-rerolutioii, appeared to me to arise 
from the possessors of the rtjysrf dcmes»es, tht 
irhurch lands, and confiscated estates. He said, it 
did not follow that the neir proprietors wefe to 
be deprived of their possessions in 9BtA an 
event. 

t asked him, how he thought they stood in* 
dined to peace at this moment ? He said, he 
made no doubt they would accept of it. That 
their three great resources, namely, paper money,, 
confiscations, and foreign contributions, were 
fiow exhausted ; and that more money would be 
wanted than they could possibly raise by taxe$> 
which they were now going to resqrt to as their 
only e^tpedient ; and that this mode of raising 
money was so odious, that it must excite great 
discontent. I asked, whether the Direftory 
might not think foreign war at all events neces* 
sary,' for the maintenance and continuance of their 
power ? He said, no ; for that the garrisons^ 
and other forces composing a standing army, 
would -at all times afford sufficient pretences 
for keeping a military force on foot to over*^ 
awe the coiuitry. He said^ he beHeved it tra^ 

the 



PICHEGRU. tBif 

the prospeft of a successful insuweftion in Ire* 
land, that had made them rejeft our fonner* 
overtures. 

In another conversation, I told him that the- 
fnnftion of our King consisted in little more 
than eleAtng ministers ; that they were alone 
respoxisible, the King being, by a delicate and 
wise fiction of the constitution, held to be even 
incapable of doing wrong ; and that in making 
choice of ministers, he was under a sort of ne- 
cessity of consulting the public interest and wishes; 
that this guarded, in a great measure, againsi 
the alleged evils of hereditary power, where the 
accident of birth is accused of supplanting or 
superseding the fair operation of virtue and ta- 
lents. He observed upon this, that the Di- 
reflory, so far from consulting the public opi- 
nion or wish, made it a sort df principle to 
hrave these ; that two or three years ago, there 
were three of the ministers who possiessed the 
public esteem and confidence, while the rest 
were detested : they dismissed the former, and 
retained the latter : that better experience had 
taught the French naticm that virtue and talents^ 
so'^far from being a recommendation to popular 
choice, had been ihe most common object of 
prgiscription^ and the most usual pas^rt ta 

the 



l€a REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the guillotine }. and as to personal suffrage, 
fus remark was, that it is the sure method 
of obtaining the most worthless men for re- 
presentatives, judges, or magistrates. I remark- 
ed, that though I ought to speak with diffi- 
dence upon subje£te which my profession and 
habits did not allow me to consider deeply, 
it appeared to me that the true crtieriou of a 
good form of government was to be sought^ not 
in a theoretical analysis of it, but in its praEiical. 
results and as eiir constitution, in the last 110 
years, had actually conferred a degiree of. feli- 
city, civile political^ and physical, unequalled 
perhaps in the history of the world, unless we. 
except the Roman empire, from Trajan to An- 
toninus, including both their reigns, that inno-^ 
vations should be adopted with extreme caution :, 
that our hasty reformers seemed to me to aft just 
as if I, or any other physi<;ian, were to tell a. 
person who assured us that he now enjoys, and 
has long enjoyed, good health, that he knows 
nothing of the matter, but that we, from our 
study of the animal economy, know that he la- 
bours under a dangerous malady, and ought to- 
take physic. 

Though at this time only thirty-six years of 
B|;e, he had^ in conducing armiesj done what na 

General 



MCHEGRir, 161 

General in ancient or modem times had per^ 
formed in the same climate — ^he carried on an 
tifiinterruptcd series of military operations in 
the field for two successive winters, included 
between the time at which he took the. com- 
mand at the Lines of Weissemburgh in 1799, 
till he ovcr-rin Holland in 1795. He said that, 
in that time, he had not, at an average, more 
fhan one hour's sleep in the course of the night 
and day, yet had always perfeft health, till the 
illness for which he was under my care. This is 
a, proof, among many others that have occurred 
to my observation, of the extraordinary powers 
impacted to the body by excitement of mind. 

In the course of his conversation upon militarjr 
afl^ir^ he said^ that during all his command, hif 
army never had a tent; that they never were 
sickly,jexcept that part of it which was employed 
in the siege of Sluys ; that in a space of time 
from four to six hours, an army can build hut« 
to shelter them$elves, and, that his camp W2S 
like a town composed of huts. I' asked, whether 
it was political enthusiasm which recoQciled th^ 
soldiers to the hardships and dangers of a service 
into which most of them had been forced i H9 
$aid, no i but un esprit JecoquinagCj which I takje^ 

ia 



Ite REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

in English, to mean a spix^ *of idleness, or the 
Jove of living independent of hoftpst industry. 

I asked him, how military subordination could 
be maihtained under principles of equality ? and I 
remarked, that our hopes of success at the begin- 
ning of the war were greatly founded on our opi- 
liion of the impossibility of this. He answered^ 
that at first, great difficulties attended it 5 but 
6very one soon discoveredi that their personal 
safety, in the business of the field, depended on 
discipline ; and obedience was enforced, and jea^ 
lousies quashed, by strong exertions of authority 
from the scsLt of gov ern ment. 

He had been well educated, B6tb c^sskalty 
and mathematically, at some public mstitution 
for educating engineers $ «hF it was evident 
from his conversation, that subjeA:s of sciencn 
were familiar to him. I shall ^ve an in- 
stance. Upon my explaining to him. the great 
perfeftion to which our system of intcrco^so was 
brought by means of mail coaches, and that 1 
Bad just learned, in a medieal attendance oft the 
person who contraAed tor these vehicles, that 
they ran 4^,000 miles m the conrse of every 
week, which is nearly twice the circHtaiference of 
the ^6bc\ he said I was right, since a great 

circle 



PICHEGRtJ* Ky» 

clrde of due earth measux^ea 9000 Frendi leaguetir 
It proved to be very impolitic ia the old govern* 
ment of France, to bestow such high educa* 
tion ai2d acccHnplishments^ on men vho, b^f 
their ' regulations, could not rise above the 
rank of non*comxnissioned officers; and, next 
to the successful resistance of the Amerioan Co* 
Ipnies, the disorder of the French finances^ the, 
growth of false philosophy, and the too great 
facility of the reigning Monarch, this seems Um . 
have contributed most towards effectuating the 
most dreadful of all the revolutions recorded in 
history. 

General Pichegru was by nature a humane and 
moderate man, and, having been bom in Franche 
Comte, had much more the appearance and man- . 
ners of a Swiss than of a Frenchman ; yet it is 
hardly conceivable, but that, with his attainments^ 
he must have felt the most galling discontent at 
the great and insurmountable distance, in point 
of rank and estimation in society, between him-, 
self and the-youngest, most ignorant, and most 
flippant subaltern of noble birth. The member 
of the Committee of Safety and^ the ^Diredlory, 
Carnot, who was War Minister under Buona- 
psffte, and who planned the (iampaigns with such 

. * ability 



1«4 tlEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH, 

ability and success, had also been bred an etv 
ginccr. 

As these fa^s and reflexions, so honourably 
illustrative of the charader ofG^neraLPichcgru, 
tend to diffuse sentiments friendly to loyalty^ 
and to inculcate j>rinciples conducive to the peace 
and good order of society, I have deemed it my 
duty to comply with the request of the Editor^ 
to insert them in this Work, and to authentiqite 
them with my name. 

GILBERT BLANE* 



THE 



IBS 



THE BUONAPARTE FAMILY. 



The families of legitimate sovereigns are 
known ; and their ancestors are esteemed, ex- 
tollcdj censured, or calumniated, according to 
their merits, talents, and vices ; or as envy is 
excited, or hatred provoked. Of the lineage of 
usurpers, generally, little account is given, and 
that little is doubtful ; because, while their ad- 
herents flatter them, their opposers revile them 3 
and while some assert that they descend from an 
ancestry as illustrious as eminent, others pretend 

' to prove their forefathers to have been as meat) 

-as they were criminal. 

According to some, Carlo Buonaparte, the 
father of him who has usurped the throne of 
France, and dragged his race and relatives from ' 
obscurity, was a gentleman descended from a 
Tuscan family, but settled two hundred years in 
Corsica ; although they are forced to acknow- 
ledge that, dm*ing. the civil troubles, he bad 

served 



166 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

cerved as a common soldier under General Paoli ; 
VinA that it was the beauty of his vrife^ and her 
connexion with Mr, De Marboeuf, commander 
fbl' the King of France in Corsica, which made 
him leave the field for the forum, by procuring 
him a place as the King's attorney* 

Carlo Buonaparte, however, was a man of so 
little ability, that it required all Mr. De Mar- 
bceuf's partiality for Madame Buonaparte, to 
keep him in a situation where he could not 
transact even the little that was necessarily re- 
quired of him. He was dull and mischievous, 
but not jealous ; his wife brought him eight 
children, whom the atni de la tnaison^ Mr. De 
Marboeuf, assisted to bring up, and to provide 
for: and if they owed their existence to a Corsi- 
can, their education was ppid for by a French- 
man. Possessing no more industry than capa- 
city, he lived and died poor, and bequeathed his 
offspring and their mother to the kind care of 
her protestor and supporter*. 

So far, and no farther, go the ingenious admi- 
rers or adulators of the First Consul ; but who 
were his grandfather or great-grandfather, they 

pass 

* Le Recueil d*AnecdMes, Lc Grand Hoi .me, uid Di6tioiinair« 
Bi«|rjifhi%u«. 



. TH£ BUONAPARTK FAMILY. iQr 

pass over in silence. On the other hand, the 
enemies. more to usurpation than to the usurper 
enter into several distinA jparticulars j whicbf 
although published in France, /have never been 
contradided, or proved not to be genuine, except 
by sending the supposed Author to the Temple^ 
and afterwards without a. trial to Cayenne : there 
was printed in 1800 a pamphlet, which they call- 
ed ** Tie Genealo^ of. Brutus^ Alyy Napoleone 
Buonapartey the Corsican Successor to the French 
Bourbons ;' of which the following is an ex- 
traft : 

" After the disgrace of Theodore, King of 
Corsica^ the Republic of Genoa published an 
official paper, to make him and his adherents 
moro ridiculous and despised, entitled, "^ A List 
of all Persons ennobled by the Adventurer calling 
himself King Theodore of Corsica.' This list 
was, printed by the widow Rossi, at Genoa, in 
1744; and contains, pages 6 and 7, spme cu- 
rious remarks «pon,^nd concerning the usurper's 
family, more to be depended on, than those 
.which fear, interest, meanness, and adulation 
have fabricated since he seated. himself upon the 
throne of the Bourbons. 

^* When, on the 5d of May, 1736, Porto- 
Vecchio was attacked, a butcher from Ajaccio, 

called 



168 KEVOLUTIONARY PLUTAltCH. 

called Josepho Buona, brought a seasonable as* 
sistance with a band of vagabonds and robbers ; 
who, during the civil troubles, had chosen him 
for their leader 5 in return, King Theodore the 
next day created him a noblems^n, and permitted 
him, as a memento of his services, to idd to his 
name of Buona, the final termination, parte. His 
wife's name was Histria, daughter of a journey^ 
man tanner at Bastia. Carlo Buona, the father 
of Josepho Buona, kept a wine-house for sailors j 
but being accused and convifted of murder an4 
robbery, he died a galley-slave at Genoa in 1724- ; 
his wife, as an accomplice, and who, on ac- 
count of her extremely vicious character, was 
called La Birba, died at Genoa in 1730, in the 
house of correftion. These were the grand and 
great-grand parents of his Consular Majesty : who 
his father was, is well known 5 as also, that he, 
by turns, served and betrayed his country during 
the civil wars, 

** After France had conquered Corsica, he wa^ 
a spy to "the French governors, and his wife 
t hci r rii ist ress. From tiis pure and virtuous source 
descends Brutus, Aly, Napoleonc Buonaparte, the 
successor of the Bourbons, born in a country 
whose inhabitants were, in the time of the Ro- 
mans, held in such detastation for their infa- 
mous 



LETITIA RANIOLINI. 169 

inous and treacherous disposition, that they ~ 
would not have them even for slaves ^ and of 
\7h0m Seneca, who resided long amone them» 
has said, as if he had imbibed the prqphetic spi- 
rk, ' • 

PNQva Iex» i)iis ulcisci; altera, vivere raptot 
Tertia, meotire ; quarUf begare Deos. 

SKKECA OE COAfilClS^ 



LETITIA RANIOLINI, 

MATER GHAC CHORUM. 

Letitia Raniolini, the mother of the Buo- 
napartes, is by some said to be the daughter of 
an attorney, by others, of a blacksmith. At the 
age of fifteen, she m^de Ttfaux pas with a friar, 
and at sixteen married the soldier Carlo Buona- 
parte. Her education had hccn so totally ne- 
^lefted, that when she was picked up by Mr. De 
Marbceuf, she could neither read nor write ; and 
her own brother, a poor curate, was engaged and 
paid by him for instru&ipg her ; while he him- 
self taught her to perform the honours of his 
house. Possessing a natural, though unculti-. 
vated genius, she soon repaid, by Iver improve- 

VOL. II. 1 raent 



l^ REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

ment and attentions, the expences and anxiety of 
her fdend. In her younger years she was pretty, 
rather than handsome ; her conversation was tri- 
vial, but rendered pleasing and agreeable by her 
manner oi expressing herself. She was accused 
of blending the Italian cunning with the Cor- 
slcan duplicity, and prudery with wantonness i 
and, to cover all fashionable vices witTi reli- 
gious hypocrisy, she weat regularly .to church, 
and religion always appeared to occupy a mind, 
vacant, if not wicked. She confessed once in the 
week, got her absolution, sinned, and confessed 
again. She wore, and yet wears, upon her per- 
son, tie relics of some s/iint; she was, and is yet, 
strift in her external devotions, fast-days, andin- 
•fliftions on herself of severe penances and morti- 
fications*. 

Aftet* the death of her benefaftor, and by the 
Revolution, which deprived her of a pension 
settled on .her by^him, she was reduced to the 
greatest indigence. Her eldest daughter, having - 
married Bacchiochi, a Corsican established as a 
chocolate manufacturer at Basle f , she received 

from 

♦ Sec La Saintc Famille, Paris, year xi. without printer's name, 
page 8. 

+ Bacchiochi was SrH marker at a billiard-table, lit is lately 
made Prince of Pionabiuo III ^ 



LEtltlA RANIOLINl. l^t 

from him an aiinuity of six hundred livres (25 A 
sterling); upon which, and some millinery 
work of her other daughtersj she subsisted| un- 
til Napoleone obtained from the hands of Bar- 
ras, the widow of , the guillotined General Beau« 
harnois ^ 

Before Napoleone went to, Egypt, in 1798, 
he deposited a capital, of which the. interests 
twelve thousand livres (or 500/. sterling) was 
left at her disposal, to provide for herself, her 
youngest son, and two daughters yet unmarriedf • 

During the absence of Napoleone, she was 
regarded with such an air of caution, suspicion, 
and superiority by his wife, that, notwithstand- 
ing all her Christianity, she can hardly forget or 
forgive it. She was despised as a person without 
birth and education, and shunned or insulted 
because she was believed to watch the conduft 
of her daughter-in-law, which could not always 
stand the scrutiny. When Napoleone had usurp- 
ed the supreme power, she obtained apartments 
in the -castle of the Thuilleries ; but though she 
lives under the same roof with Madame Napo- 
leone, she neither likes her, nor has she spared 

any 

* See th« last* mentioned pamphlet^ page u. 

+ Set Lcs Nouvclles lU Main, Fru^idar, mi vi, Nq. iii. p, j, 

i2 



17.2 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

any pains to set her son against his wife. With 
the charitable disposition of a Corsican bigot, 
she has more than once intrigued to persuade the 
Consul to a separation, if not to a divorce ; but 
his policy and fear have gotten the better *'both 
of his own desire and the intrigues and hatred of 
his mother*. 

Since her daughter's marriage ^ith Louis Buo- 
naparte, Madame Napoleone has gained much 
influence over her husband, and in proportion 
lessened that of his mother, whom the Arch- 
bishop of Paris and her own confessor, both 
in the interest of Madame Napoleone, have 
advised to seek a reconciliation, and forget 
what has passed, or is supposed to have pass- 
ed, injurious or offensive to her ; and their ad- 
vice ha$ so far been followed, that these two 
ladies live in peace, though not in friendship or 
familiarity. 

When the religious concordat had been agreed 
to and ratified in France, the Pope's nuncio, the 
Cardinal Legate Caprara, presented her from his 
Holiness with some very precious relics; amongst 
others, a finger of St. Xavier, having the qua- 
lity to keep off evil tmd haunting spirits, because, 
though her consular son neither believes in a 

God, 

* See La Sa'mte Famillc, fage 13. 



LETlTiA RANIOLINL \7 

tiodf nor in his angels and saints, she dreads 
ghosts, goblins, and the devil ; and such is her 
superstitious and ridiculous terror, that she never 
dares to remain alone in a room, or after dark to 
go out without somebody to accompany-her. She 
passes several hours 'every day in consulting j-o/V- 
disant vritches, in whom she places great confi- 
dence, and in having her fortune told by cards 
or in coffee-cups*. 

It is reported in the Corsican family, that 
when Madame Buonaparte was pregnant with 
Napoleone,, *' an Algerine woman, slave to a 
Sardinian lady, travelling in Corsica, prediEled 
that the child in her womb should live to create 
kings aild diftate to emperors \ but that he should 
perish at an early age by the hands of a young 
woman, with a large lip, small nose, fair hair, 
and black eyes**' She has such an implicit 
faith in this predi^Elion, that two of her rela- 
tions, whom she sent for from Corsica, were or- 
Idered back to that island, under the idea that they 
bore some resemblance, to such a person. It is 
even said that Napoleone himself is not entirely 
free from "sJAiples, and therefore approves his 
mother^s failings, and weak and laughable pre-^ 

* cautions. 

* Sse Les Nouvellcs \ la Main, an xi. No, v. p. 9«. 
-.- IS' 



174 KEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCEf. 

cautions. A priest lately made his fortune hy 
staggering her belief in this prophecy, and as- 
suring her, as a christian astrologer^ that, ac- 
cording to the Apocalypse, *^She is to live to the 
age of ninety j after her death be proclaimed a 
saint, and that her son Napoleone is to be pre- 
sent at her canonization.'^ As she is only sixty- 
two years old, and this priest is respefted as a 
.very virtuous and devout man, this has weakened 
or taken away a part of her apprehension of Na- 
poleone dying young. Many of her intimates 
think that this 'priest was engaged by somebody 
in the Buonaparte family to diminish her own 
'and heif son*s alarms*. 

Madame Buonaparte's apartments, besides re- 
lics, are cirowded with phials, with drops to pro- 
long life, and to restore youth and vigour 5 with 
boxes, containing sympathetic powders for the 
continuation of her son's success in the world,^ 
and his affection for her, and with counter-poi- 
sons to preserve his life from the attempts of his 
enemies. 

- 'At certain periods of the year she does not 
suffer any body besides herself to prepare and 
dress the Consul's viftuals ; and when he is not 
travelling, she tastes every plate containing nou-^ 

rishment 

, - ^ Seethe Iast*m«tttioaed publication, page 10. 



LLTITIA RANIOLINI. . 175 

rishmcnt destined for-him, because a necroman- . 
cer has calculated, that during some nionths of 
every year Napoleone is exposed to die by poi- 
son; but that at all times her care and inspec- 
tion over his food is useful, and a preservative of 
his existence, health, and safety*. 

Madame Buonaparte has rather been a wcnk 
than a good mother to her ciiildren^ oftener over- 
looking their faults than correfting their errors 
or reprobating their offences. She has taught, 
them to pray to God, but not to let their con- 
duct bespeak their reverence of religion, and their 
faith in a Divinity. All her sons are of vicious 
and -immord primiiples, and all her daughters ' 
have been early relaxed, corrlipted, and licenti- 
ous. Lucien ,^n4 Madame Le Clerc were her fa- 
. vouritc children from their youth ; but Napole- 
. one was his own master, and her's, even when a 
boy; and she rather dreads than loves him, rather 
fear^ any accident happening to him on account 
of its consequence to the whole family, thanwiti 
regard to him as her son; and it is for the life of 
. the First Consul, not for the life of Napoleone 
Buonaparte, that she is so very anxious, that she 
ransacks scriptures, consults conjurors,, believes 

itt 

* S^e La Sainte PamiUe«^ pife iS^.^ 
i4 



176 REVOLUTIONARY K.UTAROI?. 

in witchcraft, pr^ys to God, and excommunicates 
the devil*. 

Her political influence is not great, and she 
has sense enough not to meddle much with poli- 
ties or state affairs. Of the revolutionary bi- 
shops, however, eight owe their 9ees to her re- 
commendation, and three of the cardinals their 
ranks and dignities ; and she had a carte hlanche 
from her son for the nomination of all the Curates 
at Taris and in Corsica. 

in the spring of 1802, after the publication of 
the concordat with the Pope, by the advice of 
some pious counsellors, she desired and demanded 
to be founder of some convents for nuns; biit 
Napoleone cut the business short, by telling her,, 
that if in the Bible she could shew him a passage 
where nuns were mentioned, he would permit her 
to creft convents, not only in France, but all oircr 
Italy, Switzerland, and Holland. 

According to the Ll^ire Rouge^ by BourriemieJ 
Madame Buonaparte has received two millions 
of livres as an establishment 5 and'presents to the 
amount of 600,000 livres : she has, besides, an 

annuity 

♦ In a family quarrel, March 1804, she dcien^ed Lucien, and 
lias therefore shared no honours from the late emperor-making.. 
She resides sow at Rome, with LucicDi and the Princess Borg^hea|v 
fci-dcvant Madame Le Clcrcj. 



LETITIA RANIOLINL m 

annuity of 1,200,000 livres, which, as she resides^ 
mostly with the First Consul, she distributes, 
amcmg her other children. 

In her dress, Madame Buonaparte is pfain; in* 
manners unassuming ; but in her looks may be 
perceived a continual agitation and unea^iness^^ 
either aboi^t her own future welfare, or the pre- 
sent existence of the First Consul* At the Thu- 
illeries, as well as at St. Cloud, she has a private 
chapel adjoining her bed-room, and' a private- 
chaplain occupying an apartment next to the* 
chapel. This priest isanoldCorsican, who has 
been her confessor for nearly forty years; and' 
she i» said to pass even whole nights with this.- 
holy man in her chapeli in prayers and" medita^^ 
tions *. 

* The particulars mentioned in*th» sketch, of whicht the -author- 
rity is not quoted, are found in a pamphlet, called La Sainte Famille, , 
printed last year at Paris, and in the difltrenc numbera of-Lcs Noa« • 

velles llaMaiiu 



J 5 J6SBPB. 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 

Joseph Buonaparte, the elder brother of 
the First Consul, was, before the Revolution, 
a clerk to an attorney at Ajaccio, in Corsica. 
Having lesa vanity and less talents than many of 
the other members of his family, he passed his 
time in obscurity and penury, and continued 
quietly to reside in his country during its occu- 
pation by England. 

When the crimes of his brother Napoleonc: 
had thrown the mistress of Barras into his arms, 
with the command over the army in Italy, the 
intrigues of the Dircftory caused Joseph to be - 
chosen, for the department of Liamone, a mem- 
ber in the Council of Five Hundred. In this- 
p^ace he selciom ascended the tribune, or made 
h;mself remarked for any thing but his silent 
vote, always in favour of the DireAorial fafkion,. 
and its plots to oppress and enslave Frenchmen^ 
In the spring of 1797, he was suspefbed to be 
Barras' spy upon the conduit of the loyal mem- 
bers of the Legislative Body, who shunned, de- 
spised, and insulted him*. From this disagree- 
able situation he was relieved by his brother's 

demand^ 

# La Saiate Funille, page 2(, 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 17^ 

demand, and his promotion by the DirefVory, lA 
August the same year, to be Ambassador at Rome* 
Pius VL the virtuous sovereign over the Pa]^al 
territory, had some few months before, by hu* 
iperous territorial and pecuniary sacrifices, bought 
and concluded a peace with Napoleone Buona- 
parte, for the French Republic and its govern* 
ments*. Of the contracting parties, the Pope,. 

the 

* On the- occasion of this peace, ^hich the interest of Ftanctt- 
demanded, and the humanity of the Pope consented to sign, the 
two following letters passed between the chief of the Catholic rtli* 
^ gion, and a General of no religion. 

POPS PIUS VI. Tt> CENBRAt BVOKAPARTE. 

Dear Son, health and apostolic benedidion. 
Desiring to terminate Amicably our differences with the French- 
Republic by the nitreat of the troops which you command, we send; 
and depute to you as our plenipotentiaries, two ecclesiastics, the 
Cardinal Mathei (who is perfc^ly knoWn to you), and Mr. Calcp- 
pi; and twosecuhrs, the Duke Don Louis Braschi (our nephew)^ 
and the Marquis Camillo Massimo, who are invested with our fuU 
powers to concert, promise, and subscribe, such oonditions as wcr 
hope will be just and reasonable; obliging ourselves^ under our 
faith and word, to approve and ratify them in special form, in cru- 
der that they may be valid and inviolable in all future time, ^x* 
sured of the sentiments of good iviii xvbicb you have manifested^ 
M'c have abstained from removing any thing from Rome, by xvbicb 
you xv.i// be ftrsuudedoj the entire, confidence lubicb we repose in 
you, ,We conclude with assuring you of our most perfeA esteem*, 
and presenting you with the paternal apostolic benedidlion. 

PIUS. P. P. vr. 

Given at St. Peter's, in Rome, the nth PcbfUary, 1797; 
the zzd.year of our^ntificate*. 



1^ REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the only sufferer, and who alone had any reyt ' 
complaints to make, was the only sincere onew 
The direAorial rulers and their general were at 
th23 period tormented by the fury of an univer^ 

sal 



B^UO-NA^AftTly .6INBH.AL I IT QHtKF OF TMI AXMY 0» 
ITALY}. TO HIS HOl^INSSS THB P.OFS. 

Head-QttarUrt at ToUnilno^ i FtntQie^ ^tb Yenr*. 

HOST HOJ^Y. f ATHSIl^ 

. 1 ought to thaiik your Holiness for the obliging things contained 
in the letter which,xou have taken the trouble to write to mc. 

The peace between the French Republic and your Holiness it 
just signed; 1 felicitate myself in- being, able to contribute to your 
personal safety. 

I entreat your Holiness to guard against the persons now.at Rome,, 
iirho are sold to the courts^ the enemies of peace, or who suffet 
themselves to be guided exclusively by the passion of hatred, whicK 
the loss of territory naturally engenders. 

Europe know* the pacific inclinathft anil t be- virttu ojyour Ho^ 
liness. The Frxnth Republic willbe on^ofthc truest frieuJi of, 
RonUn 

I send my aid-de-tamp, chief of brigade, to «j[pres8 to your Ho* 
liness the perfeft Veneration, which I have for yojur person, and tor 
cntreat.you to confide in the d/^sire wiiich I have to give you, on. 
every occasion, proofs of the jespe^t and veneration with which I. 
have the honour to be, 

Your most obedient servant, 

BUONAPARTE.. 

Within ten months from the date of this letter the Pope was in 
fetters ; and his trunt friend, the French Republic, occupied and 
plundered Rome, and established an atheistical republic upon the 
luin&of the Christian religion. 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. IBI 

* 

sal republic; and their favourite plan and ambi*- 
tion was, to revive the ancient Roman common* 
wealth. No sooner^ therefore, was the peace at 
Tolcntino signed, than a swarm of jacobin 
emissaries were sent to Rome, to conspire and 
spread di$afie£tion and atheism among the sub«-' 
jefts of^the Holy See. Determined to carry their 
point by their old means of exciting insurrec- 
tions, the l^i^'caory had chosen Joseph Buona*-- 
parte to proteA, by his diplomatic charafter, and 
as a privileged person, the rebellious and revo*- 
. lutionary insurgents and traitors instigated' audi 
instruAed by republican France. From the mo- 
ment of his. arrival, ptets,Jhsurreftions, and in- 
cendiary^ placards were daily produced; under, 
bis influence, all persons confined for treason and 
sedition, or, as he gently termed it, for political 
opinions, were liberated from prison ; his palace.- 
became their constant rendezvous j and he ap«- 
peared as the patron of a fete, at which all the 
vagabonds and desperadoes in Rome were col- 
lefted, called The Feast of Liberty / These men, 
headed by French jacobin Sj formed a plan for 
revolutionizing Rome^ They began, their career 
by erefting poles, as trees of liberty, surmounted: 
with red caps, and dancing round' them at 
aiidnight^ and by forming fal^e patroles to 

elude 



J62 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

elude the police, and to throw the city into con^ 
fusion ; and fixed on Innocents-day for the com- 
pletion of their projeft. In the afternoon of that 
day, or on December 28th, 1797, a large party 
assembled in the street called the Lungara, op* 
posite the Ambassador's residence, where a 
Frenchman attended, delivering to them national 
cockades, and six Paul-pieces, (35 shillings) to 
be expended in liquor. Their conversation, di- 
refted by prepared incendiaries, turned on the 
common topics of popular complaint, the dis- 
tresses of the poor> and the dearness of provi* 
sions: a revolutionary abbe made a long ha- 
rangue, interlarded and enforced by perverted; 
texts from Holy Writ, to prove that the time 
was arrived for the overthrow of their existing 
government. 

Animated by these discourses, and secure of 
protection from the French Anibassador, Joseph 
Buonaparte, the mob sallied forth, seized the 
guard-house, and attacked the Ponte Sesta. At 
this place, however, they were repulsed by the 
military, and pursued to the Ambassador's hotel, 
the Corsini palace, whither they retired for shel- 
ter. Joseph fiuonaparte and his associates, hast- 
ening from their apartments, rushed into the 
Hudst of the mob with drawn swords: a great 

tumult 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 185 

tumult and some firing ensued, in which a dozen; 
persons lost their lives, among whom was General 
Duphot, affianced to Joseph's sister. 

Immediately op this event, Joseph Buonaparte 
retired to his palace, and, on the ensuing morn- 
ing, at six o'clock, quitted Rome, obstinately 
deaf to all propositions of explanation or apdiogy^ 
He forwarded from Florence an exaggerated ac- 
count of this transaftion to France, which fur- 
nished the Directory with the pretext that they 
had so long and ardently desired. In vain did 
the Papal Government offer every kind of ac- 
knowledgment and atonement j in vain did they^ 
tender implicit and unconditional submission:: 
orders were immediately issued for General Ber- 
thier to revoluti9nize Rome, and give up the 
country to pillage *. 

This faithful detail, related by loyal and able* 
contemporary writers, unties the Gordian knot 
of French republican diplomatic chicanery, and 
the revolutionary Machiav^lism of its ambassa- 
dor ; and almost proves what an Italian author* 
printed at Verona in 1799, that General Buona-- 
parte destined his brother Joseph, and his bro- 
ther* 

*^ See Duppa's brief account of the subversion of the Pagal Go». 
vernment, and Les Crimes des Republicalns' en luUe* Hbtoirc 
du Dire^lrt ExecuUf has ^ven hun consulted^ 



184 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

ther-in-law Duphot, for the two 6rst consuls of 
' the (by France) renewed Roman Republic ; but 
which the well-merited death of Duphot, and the 
different views, and perhaps jealousy of the Di- 
reftory, prevented from taking place. 

Of the conduft of Joseph Buonaparte on this 
occasion opinions are not much divided; even 
Frenchmen agree, that he must want as well ho- 
' nour, religion, delicacy, and , probity, as talents- 
and sense, to suffer himself to Become the des- 
picable tool of ambition, or of the ambitious; 
and it is not a little degrading to the present. 
Chief of the Roman- Catholic religion, that he 
signed, in 1802, the concordat for establishing 
religion in France, with this same man, who, by 
hrs intrigues in 1797, signed the death-warrant 
of rehgion in Italy, and. of his own religious pre- 
i^ecessoi". 

Dtiriiig Napolcone's absence in Egypt, Joseph 
was again ekdled a member of the Council of 
Five Hundred ;: but the cabals of the faftious at 
this period, the danger of notoriety, the defeat of 
his brother before St. Jfean d'^Acre, and his cri- 
ttcal situation in Egypt^ made him resign his 
place as a deputy, which he could no longer enjoy 
cither, with profit or safety. 

At' his^ brother's>unexpeftcd return tp France, 

after.. 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 185 

after his desertion from the Army of Egypt, Jo- 
seph left his retreat, and, with Napoleone and 
Talleyrand, plotted the revolution which was ef- 
fefted at St. Cloud, and seated a Buonaparte upon 
the throne of the Bourbons. He was soon after 
appointed a counsellor of state in the sedtion of 
the home department, or interior. 

Frenchmen were now as insensible to Josses 
as indifferent about advantages; disgusted with 
the war, they disregarded viftories; and their 
only wish, their only cry, was Peace. Napo- 
leone was the favourite of the people, not so 
much for his cpnquests, as for his policy of al- 
ways talking of peace, and of his endeavours to 
obtain it. He knew, therefore, that any persoi)^ 
of his family negotiating and signing the termi- 
nation of hostilities, would endear themselves ta 
tKe giddy French nation; and, by procuring a 
general pacification, produce a temporary tran- 
quillity, lessen the injustice, and palliate the ty- 
ranny of his usurpation, and give tiim time to or- 
ganize his consular government. Joseph Buonar- 
parte ws^s therefore ^ent to negotiate with Austria 
at Luneville in the winter of 1800, where lie sign- 
ed the Definitive Treaty on the 9th of February « 
1801. On the 10th of September following,, he 
concludedjt at Pariis, a Convention with the 

Popei 



18(5 REVOLUTJONARY PLUTARCH. - 

Pope 5 and ^t Amiens, on the 27th of March^ 
1802, he terminated the war with England. 

When a person is backed by 500,000 bayo- 
nets, assisted by well-drawn instruAions, and 
accompanied by able secretaries, it is neither 
difficult to negotiate, nor to-didlate treaties, con- 
ventions, or concordats. The arguments of 
bayonets always carry convidlion with them, 
shorten conferences, force sacrifices, bring about 
conclusions, and bid defiance to tt^e acknow- 
ledged laws of nations, balance of power, poli- 
tical justice, the prerogatives of sovereigns^ and 
yhe right and liberties of the people. Austria 
was weakened and humiliated by the treaty of 
liuneville ; by the Convention aX Paris the Pope 
was insulted, and religion degraded 5 and, at the 
same time, the politics, morals, and religions of 
the Continental Nations were reduced to the 
same level, and made to dep^d entirely upon 
the caprice, passions, or ambition of the revolu- 
tionary and military despot in France. Fortu- 
nately for the civilized world, that this was nojt 
exaftly the case with the treaty of Amiens, its. 
short duration proves; England, therefore, m^y 
yet claim tfie respeft of contemporaries, the gra- 
titude and admiration of posterity, as the pro- 
teftorof the weak^ the barrier to ambition, the 

check 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 1 ^ 

check to selfishness •, the example of virtuous 
moderation, and the guardian angel of the liber- 
ty and Independence of mankind. 

In the summer of 1802, Joseph Buonaparte 
was nominated a senator, and a grand officer of 
the l»egion of Honour ; and he has lately re- 
ceived the Senatorie of Brabant; or which is 
the same thing, is made Napoleone'js governor- 
general over Belgia, and his future residence is 
fixed at Brussels. He has often, particularly 
since the war broke out anew, been employed in 
missions in different departments^ and, as his 
brother'^ pro-consul, presided at rhe Eleftoral 
Colleges, where, according to the consular con- 
stitution, candidates for the Senate, the Legis- 
lative Body, and the Tribunate, are elected. 

That Joseph formerly possessed the esteem 
and friendship of Napoleone, the annexed letter 
shews*. It was sent to him at a time when the 

general 

* Copy of a letter from Baonaparte to his brother Joseph, taken 
l^y Lord Nelson in the Mediterranean, with\}ut signature, but 
sealed with wax; the impression^ a female figure standing with 
the cap of Liberty, and the fasces. 

JPUONAPARTE, GENSRAI. IN CHEF. REPUBLIC PRAN0AI8E. 

Le Caire^ ie J Tbermidor, ^25 Juilltty 1798.^ 

Tu varrii dans les papier public la relation des bataille e de 1% 
conqu6t« de TEgypte q,m a et€ asse dispute pour ajouter une 

feuiUt 



J68 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

general dreaded the consequences of his absurd' 
and ambitious schemes, and therefore wished for 
retirement rather than publicity, to bury him- 
self in oblivion upon an estate in Burgundy, ra- 
ther than to head armies m Egypt and Syria. 
Since Napoleone has usurped the supreme power, 
Louis has superseded Joseph in the- consular 
friendship, and is worthy to have done so when 
vice and wickedness arc the principal recommen- 
dationjs to favour*. 

Josepk 

fcuille \ U. gl'oire OMlitaire de cettt arm£e. L'Egypte est le pays 

le plus liche 'en bl6, ris, legumes, Tiandes ^ul existe sur la teixe 1ft. 
barbarie est a son compte. II n'y a point d'argent, parmeme pour 
Mider la troupe. ]e pente etre en France dans 2 mois. Je tere^ * 
commande mes interets. — J'ai beaup beaup de chagrin domeitique 
car U voile est entierement levee. Toi seul me reste sur la terre^. 
ton: omitie m'est bien chere. II ne me reste plus pour devininmisan« 
trope <i.u'a te perdre et te voir me trait.— C'ett ma triite position 
^ue d'Avoir a la fois tous les sentimena pour une joaeme personne ' 
dans son coeur— tu m'entend ! 

Fais ensorta que jaye une campagne a mon arrivee, soit pres dtf 
Paris ou en Bourgognr, je compte y passer I'hiver et m'y enter* 
rer jesuis annue de la nature humaine ! J*ai besoin de solitude 
et d'isoleofient, la grandeur m'annue, le sentiment est deseche, la 
gloire est fade, a 29,ans j'ai tou epuise. II ne me reste plus qu'a 
devinir bien vraiment Egoiste. Je comte gar^ler ma maison» 
jamais je ne la donnerai a qui que ce soit. Je n'ai plus de quoj 
vivre ! .Adieu mon unique ami ; je n'ai jamais ete injuste eiivers^ 
toi. Tu me dois cette justice malgre le desir de moq coeur de-. 
^tre-tu m'entcndl 

Ambrasse ta femme pour moii. *• 

Tht spelling is preserved exa^lly as it was in the briginaU. ^ 



JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. 189 

Joseph is a good father and husband, a dutiful 
spn and m affeftionate brother, but an indifferent 
and dangerous citizen in a commonwealth. He 
is married to a woman of obscure birth and low 
manners, ' but of an estimable and good charac- 
ter; he loves his family, and relatives, and no- 
thing but his family and relatives. His native 
country, Corsica, he dislikes j he hates France 
^nd Frenchmen, and would willingly sign the de- 
struftion of any kingdom, were it necessary for 
his family elevation, ambition, or pretepsions *. 

According to the Livre Rouge by Bourrienne, 
Joseph has received for an establishment two mil- 
lions of livres, and as presents for his negotia- 
tions one million five hundred thousand livres ; 
he enjoys, besides, the salaries for his many high 
places, a yearly pension of one million two hun- 
dred thousand livres, and as an annuity for four 
relations of his wife, two hundred thousand 
livres f. 

* In the late change of governmeDt and dynasty in France, pro- 
claimed and decreed by some rebels under the name bf Senators and 
Tribunes, Joseph Buonaparte has been made an Imperial Highness 
and an Arch-Eleftor. 

<f See Di^tionnaire Biogrsiphique, Le Grand Hoihme, and la 
Sainte Famllle, with •everal numbers «f Les NouveWes ^ U 
Main. 

NAPOLEONE 



xpo 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 



Qvitl* traits me presenteot voi fastes, 
' tmpitoyable conquerans > 

Des v(£ux outres, des projett vastes 
JDes rois va incus par des tyrant i 
Det murs que ia flamme ravage 
till vainqueur fiimant de carnage, 
Un peuple au fers abandonne ; 
2>ei meres pales etsanglantcs 
Arrachant leurs filles tremblantet 
Des bras d'un soldat efiren6. 

J. B. AOUSSKAUk 

A TRULY great man wants neither the 
often-envied merit of an ancestry, nor the doubt- 
ful hope of a brilliant progeny. He alone con- 
stitutes his whole race j he makes" a blot of what 
has been before him, and apprehends nothing of 
what is to succeed him. Without virtue there 
is no real greatness, as without religion there is 
no genuine virtue. Fortune, as frequently as 
talents, makes the warrior viftorious and the 
conqueror successful ; but not the fame of bat- 
tles, or the renown of prosperity, any more than 
terror of power, can command the admiration 
of the good, the approbation of the humane, or 
the applause of the just and generous. 

Who 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. igi 

Who w€re those, praising and worship()ing a 
Cxsar, extolling and adoring an Oftavius Au- 
gustus? Were they not the base slaves of an 
usurpation, and not the free citizens of a com- 
monwealth, who would as willingly and as cor- 
dially have prostrated themselves before their 
rivals or opposers, before a Sylla, a Pompey, a 
Brutus, or an Antony? Who are those that 
lavish encomiums, preach obedience, and ex- 
hort submission to a Buonaparte ? Are they not 
the already degraded and dishonoured slaves of a 
Robespierre, a Marat, a Brissot, a Merlin, and 
a Barras ; who have been fighting their battles, 
submitting to their' tyranny, and magnifying 
their clemency, just as they now do that of the 
Corsican? 

All usurpers have been despised by tlie vir- 
tuous, dreaded by the weak and timorous, obeyed 
by the vicious and the cowardly, associated with 
by the treacherous, disaffefted, and guilty •, and 
if all usurpers are " damned to everlasting 
fame," their base tools deserve everlasting con- 
tempt ; because they are the accomplices of their 
crimes, the obscure instruments of their eleva- 
tion, without an adequate profit or advantage to 
diminish their infamy, to extenuate their rebel- 
lion^ or to palliate or excuse their seduction or 

deser- 



192 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

desertion from the cause of honour and of 
loyalty. , 

Of the accomplices or slaves of ancient usurp- 
ers.9 but little is known; oblivion has erased and 
concealed most of their names, although history- 
has recorded their guik.; but we know that 
Caesar descended from a noble family, and that 
OAavius was his nephew ; we arc ignorant, 
however, who were their relatives, what places 
they filled, what authority they exerted, what 
riches they possessed, what influence they had, 
what good they effefted, or what evil they pre- 
vented* 

By the short and imperfeft sketches contained 
in these small volumes, some of Buonaparte's re- 
volutionary predecessors, and many of his cri- 
minal associates, are made known, as they de- 
serve, without flattery hnd without falsehood ; 
and the pedigree of his family has been traced, 
bath as it has been represented by his friends 
and by his adversaries. 

The plan of this work does not permit the 
Author either to foUovi' him jthrough his cam- 
paigns in Italy, or to wander with him in 
Egypt; to discuss the cause, means, and man- 
ner of his usurpation : to penetrate into the se- 
cret 




i oC'Hii/^r j^ 






\9A REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

Itftlonary anarchy of Robespierre $ in 1803^ 
france is oislaved, and Europe dishonoured^ by 
tbe revokiUonary tyranny of Buonaparte. 

Robespierre and Buonaparte are both children 
^ the s^me parent^ the FreiKh Revokuion: 
t^ey ai?s brother sam^cuhttes i brother jacobins & 
leliow-subje^ of the sovereign people ^ fellow* 
pl^ags^tors of fraternity; fellow-apostates of 
f quality \ and fellow-destroyers of liberty in th§ 
va^c q£ liberty itself. Fellow-rebels to their 
Jl^fffy they have both usurped his throne j and 
feHp^idpQStates of their religion, they have both 
used religion as an instrument to support their 
ufDrpi^tion. 

Itobes^erre had but little revolutionary e:[^« 
fCamiCfii Buonaparte has bad aperfed rev^lu- 
liopaiqr ^cation. That the same blood. ruxi9 
i|^ ihc veins of bothy the equally sanguinary 
Vfv^9$^TC$' employed to obtain power, and the 
l^qually bloody deeds to preserve it, prove be* 
fpni contradiction s but the impolitic terror cm^ 
ployed by the one^ has strengthened and con- 
jiTiitfd the ppUtical jcqp^pression of the other. 

The murder and massacre of the Parisians ii| 
the pris^a^, September 1 792, l^id the founds^i9i^ 
of the greatness of Robespierre; the p^irder 
aod ipE^fsacre of the Parisians in th^ str^^^ 

Oftober 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. t^g 

OAober 1795, laid the foundatita of the grtaU 
ness of Bttonaparte. Both wore, however, pre* 
viously knowp in the bloody annals of the Ro» 
volution-, both had abready given proofs of their 
revolutionary civism. Robespierre planned the 
massacre at Avignon in October 1 791 i and Buo* 
naparte headed the massacre at Toulon ki Der 
cember 1793. 

Robespierre had his Danton; Buonaparte, his 
Barras. The advice of Danton assisted Robes* 
pierre ; the proteAion of Barras advanced Buo* 
naparte. Robespierre, to become Di£btor, cs« 
poused the interest of Danton ; Buonaparte, to 
become a General, married the mistress of Bar* 
ras. Robespierre sent Danton to the scaffi)ld % 
Buonaparte sent Barras into exile* The one 
murdered an accomplice ; the other disgnicttd a 
benefaftor, whom he dared not xpurd^sr. 

At the head of the Committee of Public 
Safety, Robespierre crowded the prisons with 
suspected Frenchmen ; at the head of the army 
in Egypt, Buonaparte poisoned the wounded 
Frenchmen who crowded his hospitals. Robes- 
fuerre guillotined en masse French aristocrats; 
BuonapsMTte poisoned en masse French soldiers. 
Fear moved the axe ojf Robespknre's guillotine^ 
cruelty distributed the poisonous draught of fiuo* 
K.2 napartCr 



tgS REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

naparte. Cowardice inad« Robespicri'c a mur- 
derer i calculation made Buonaparte a poisoner* 
The one destroyed those whom he feared as 
enemies ; the other poisoned those friends wh<J 
had served him as soldiers. Robespierre gav6 
. no quarter to his enemies ; Buonaparte massa- 
cred, in cold blood, enemies to whom he had 
given quarter. 

Robespierre declared a war of exterminatioii 
against La Vendee; Buonaparte, by a perfidi- 
ous peace, exterminated the Royalists of La 
Vendee. The one burned and plundered their 
property as enemies; the other imprisoned, 
transported, and murdered their persons when 
friends. 

Robespierre, in his proclamations, threatened 
all Europe with a revolution; BuonapartCj by 
his negotiations, has revolutionized the whole 
Continent of Europe. Robespierre, with his 
guillotine, proposed to establish an universal 
anarchy; Buonaparte, with his bayonets, pro- 
poses to establish an universal slavery. 

Robespierre spoke of humanity, while sending 
hundreds every day to the scaffold ; Buonaparte 
talks of generosity, while sending to pr&oti 
thousands of innocent travellers, protefted by all 
the laws of nations and of hospitality. ' 

Robes- 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 197 

Robespierre bravely ordered no quarter to ]bc 
given to British soldiers ; Buonaparte nobly im» 
prisons Britons who are no soldiers. 

Under Robespierre, thousands of Frenchmen 
were in fetters} under B^onaparte^ the whole 
French nation is enslaved. 

Robespierre called all legalPrinces tyrants; Buo- 
naparte wishes to tyrannize over all legal Princes. 

Robespierre, in his speeches, abused and in* 
suited all Monarchs ^ .Buonaparte, by his nego- 
tiations, has degraded Monarchy itself. 

Robespierre proscribed commerce In France^ 
by publishing a maximum ; Buonaparte expe^ 
to revive commerce, by establishing a maximum 
upon thrones. 

Robespierre, when a DiAator, to undermine 
thrones, continued to use the manners and lan- 
guage of a. citizen sans^culotte s Buonaparte^ 
when a Consul, to crush thrones, speaks to kii^a 
as if they were sans'^ulottesy and emperors as 
if they were his fellow-citizens. 

Robespierre was a revolutionary fanatic ; Buo- 
naparte is a revolutionary hypocrite. The one 
.was blood-thirsty through fear and fanaticism \ 
the other is cruel by nature, from ambitioui and 
self-interest. The one boldly told all mankind^ 
that he was its enemy j the other, afts as the 
K 3 enemy 



196 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

lenemy of all mankind, while pretending to be Its 
tricnd. The one decreed .death to any one who 
should speak of peace; the other meditates slave*- 
Sy, plots, ruin, and prepares <ieath fay his paeifi- 
icatiohs. 

The names of the viftims who perished by 
"Robespierrcan cruelty were published in.the daily 
papers ; the names of those vlAims of Bjuona^ 
parte's cru«y/who perish by the arms of his 
military commissions, by poison in hi^ diingeonsi 
by sufferiftg during transportations, or by miser jr 
4n the wilds of Cajrerinc,'arc only known ^o him- 
self, to his accomplices, and to hts executioners; 
•Hobcspierre's viftims -were tried and condemned 
before they were executed j the TiRims of 3od«- 
naparte are trbiktemned without a trial, and cx- 
'ccuted without c6hdcmiiation, 
* The revolutibnary fanaticism of * Robtspicrrej 
like the religious one of Cromwell, sent his king 
to the scafibld; the revolutionary hypocrisy and 
^ambition of Buonaparte, like that of Cromwell, 
Icccpshis legal king from his hereditary throne. 

The friends of Robespierre pretend that he 
died a martyr to his cause, as a revolutionary en- 
thusiast 5 Buonaparte fe a revolutionary sophist,- 
who jnrobably will perish the martyr of his own 
Machiavelism* 

Robes- 




i^n^KHOANa IJKBER ])IE .M.PEX 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, . ig» 

"Robespierre was a Fleming j Buonaparte' is a 
Corsican; the one born at Arras in Flanders, the 
other at Ajaccio in Corsica; the one in the north- 
ern, the other in the southern part of the French 
empire : neither was a Frenchman. 

Robespierre has only been seen during the ex* 
tstence of foreign wars, civil troubles, and domes- 
tic faflions ; Buonaparte is firmly seated upon the 
throne of the Bourbons, all enemies are van- 
quished, all troubles are quieted, and all fa^ons 
dissolv€ad. What Robespierre would have done 
in his situation, It is impossible to say ; but we 
have all witnessed, and yet witness, the proscrip- 
tion of liberty, the subversion of laws, the incer- 
titude of property, and the organized militarf 
despotism of Buonaparte. The First Consul of 
the French Republic, and the sovereign of forty 
millions of slaves, shews every day the low 
whims, the mean cajM'ices, the degrading vices> 
and the unbecoming passions of a Corsican ad- 
venturer, and the little soul of a fwtunate up- 
start. 

After this brief comparison, it may,, however^ 
be said, without exaggeration, 

Le masque tombe, I' horn me reste, 
lit le h^o» s'evanouit. 

And indeed, when, without any colouritlg, am- 
^ ^ plificatio% 



2W REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

plification, or aggravation, only some of the atro« 
cities of the Corsican First Consul have been re- 
latedj it is to be apprehended, that even the man 
will disappeari and a monster remain ; having 
nothing human but the shape, with the heart 
and ferocity of a tiger, and the cunning and trea^ 
chery of the fox j artful and mischievous as a 
monkey, and blood-thirsty as a wolf. 

Educated in a public military school at the ex- . 
pence of his virtuous Sovereign, N^poleone Buo- 
naparte received, at the age of seventeen, from 
the same Prince, a commission as lieutenant of 
artillery, and new duties were added to former 
obligations ; but no sooner sounded the tilimpet 
vf revolt, than, he was one pf the first (o join its 
colours i and be beame 9 traitor and a rebel be* 
foife he was a man. 

. Among the m^ny other loyal officers in the re* 
giment which Buonaparte disgraced by his princi- 
ples |ind conduct, was Lieutenant Philipeaux, who 
was educated with him both in the college at 
Autun, and afterwards at the military school at 
^rienne, and who had hitherto been his friend. 
Philipeaux was frank, brave, and liberal; Buona- 
parte conceited, selfish, and mean ; these oppo- 
site characters could not, therefore, long remain 
in unisoti, when experience and maturity, while 

they 




t^\ 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 201 

they improved the judgment of the one, served 
but to expose, in more pointed colours, the vici- 
ous propensities of the other. 

Both Philipeaux and Buonaparte had, from 
the absurd and dangerous system of education 
prevailing in France during its monarchical form 
of government, imbibed at an early age an ad- 
miration of the Grecian and Roman republics. 
Each had his chosen heroes of antiquity, whom 
he desired to imitate in his method, manners^ 
and language. While Philipeaux rather inclined 
to the mild and amiable philosophy of a TiiUy, 
^the cruel and unfeeling stoicism of a-Cato and 
of a Brutus was the admiration of Buona- 
parte. 

When the Revolution broke out, these two 
young men discussed, according to their different 
notions, what they owed to their king, to their 
country, and to themselves. Buonaparte, con* 
founding stoicism with egotism, as be more than 
once already had done with cruelty, tried in vain 
to persuade his friend to regard the present poll* 
tical convulsions of France as referring only to 
themselves, and the hope it held out to them of 
rapid advancement among the civil troubles of 
parties, and the struggles of faAions. Philip 
peaux- s loyalty remained unshaken by all the 
K 5 efforts 



a02 HEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

efforts of bis friend's sophistry } and neither <$r»' 
tainty of rank, nor prospect of riches, could 
move the heart of a person firm in his duty, both 
•s a subjeft to his King, and as a Christian to his 
God, 

The revolutionary fanaticbm of Buonaparte 
aoon exceeded all bounds; by associating with 
Championet, andother.persons notorious in the 
cause of rebellton» he insulted the feelings of 
Philipeaux, who soon ceased to be' any. longer 
his friend. In 1790, by taking the decreed oath' 
tp the nation, which annulled his former oadi of 
allegiance to his prince, Buonaparte proved diat ^ 
bs was unworthy the attachment of the friend of 
his youth j and, in proportion as their mutual 
ofii;£tion had been great, their reciprocal hatred 
became violent. At the mess. of their regiment, 
Philipeaux publicly insulted him as a perjured, 
-traitor I buf, as this fashionable patriotism had 
been combined with a no less fashionable pru*. 
dence, he declined (though so contrary to the 
nice principles of honour among the French mili- 
tary serving the King) either to demand an ex* 
planation, or to take satis&flion as a gentleman . 
cxr asan officer. He w^, ineonsequence^ exclud* < 
cd from the mess } and, in reveiige> he excited 
|||0 jacobiBs to attack the whole cprps of officer^ 

with 



NAPDLEONBT BUONAFAM*. ft» 

With their nsual calumnies^ abuaing thcfiA as nri»^ 
tocrats, and thrcatetiittg them ^ith the! Uinp^ 
post, or, as it was then calkd, the lanterii df tbS 
sovereign pe6ple. To spare their twtttyfti^A 
from fresh crimes, most of the officers^ alld an^idlig 
others Philipestux, emigrated. 

Imprudence, or the want of di^ritiliilliCiSCrti^ 
often misleads young and wat^n mind% Irh^ fisel 
as a want, the pleasure to be derived. fi'Mi €om<^ 
municating with and confiding iii^ a frtend ; bO( 
who cease to feel so forcibly that sytepftthy wkea 
age has matured their reasM* . This bsAt and 
cowardly bdiaviour of Buonaparte, thefsfoee^ 
convinced Philip^ux that he had hitherto io9*' 
tered a serpent in his bosom, and mad« him rof 
member many particulars of their caidiest yaoth» 
which caused him to be ashamdd of having-so'loo^ 
lueen the dupe of a c^al!, whose lerocidusi ^nd 
atrocious sentiments he had ofton wkaacKsed^'buir 
whieh, instead of ascribing to z deeplf viciou* 
heart, he conceived to originate, fiNHH a hiad^ 
^turned by wrong idea^ of stokism. 

He ttcMtSkA, fhat, at the agtt of ewdirff, im 
tiki College tft Anfui^ Buodapacte had a fiivoa«) 
fiiedogwhidvkad behmgcd to his deceased father,^ 
wha wa» paftkufarly fisnd of him, aod On h!$ 
<^arth«»bed had bequeathed hkn ta NapokoiSe to^^ 
K6 be 



?Q4 R^OLUTIQNARY PLUTARCH. 

b^ tgken c^re of. 'j^px fifteen xnonths this dog 
bjul. te^: his constant and faithful attendant; 
Hfheii.Qne night, by stealing a ps^rt of his nias^ 
ter'^ supper, he offended hini so much, that 
after a crpel beating, Buonaparte swore the dog 
should never live another supper-tjme ; the next 
4f^yili<6'pc(t his threat into execution, by nailing 
tbci pocNT anij^al alive against the wall, and cut- 
ting ^bm op deliberately^ that he might be tor* 
loe^tod ^. much the longer Ml 
. .At tb^ age of £ft<een, iq the military school at 
Bcieniie^; Buonapai^e had an intrigue with the 
dsoigbtVi; pf a ]washer*woman, who ^^nd herself 
/iaokatste-df pregnincy.: He consulted PhiU- 
pnux, howto extricate himself from this dis* 
^gteesMe afiair ; and was advised by- him to give 
hce\some:moii0y'to calrry her to the lying4i>- 
liospital . at Lyon9^ and. Philipeaux offered hiqi 
pmss^.to usijst him* The money was accepted^, 
but/vithia twenty^four hours the unfortunate 
giii perishfidiwith h4r child, victims to the early 
cruelty of this .young monster, who had brouight 
her sDihe piQs, as:ho.'$aid» to produce an abortion 
&r a.'miscai*riage; but. wbicb» in fa&y were coxp- 
posed of, or. mixed with verdigris, and arsenic. 
The . protection of M«.de Matboeuf, however* 
the interest and reputation of the school^ and a 
.i ' sym 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 205 

sum of money given by his proteftor to the girl's 
mother, saved him from a well deserved punish* 
ment* 

On the day- that his poisoned mistress had 
been buried, he began to court her younger 
sister, and thus augmented his former unrepented 
guilt by base insensibility. Friendship, often a3 
blind as love, ascrit>ed to imitated stoicism> what 
was the mere eflFeft of rooted wickedness. 

His greatest amusement, when a boy, was 
to frequent the public hospitals when any dread- 
ful or disgusting operatipns were to be performed^ 
and to regard the pains and agonies of the suf** 
ferer, and of the dying. With what little money 
he had, he paid the attendants in these abodes of 
misery, to be informed when any scene of horror> 
conformable to his feelings, was expedbed to take 
place ; and he diverted himself often with his 
comrades, in mimicking the convulsive struggles 
of suffering or expiring humanity. He piqued 
himself on having seen, before he was fifteen^ 
544< operations, or amputations, and the agonies 
or deaths of 160 persons*. 

After 

* These ptrticuUra of Buonaparte are taken front a work called 

Let Annales du Terrorisme, printed by Desenne* at PariSt in 179$* 

•r aa iv« pag. S9r ^ w^ ^*» Ia Fcbniiry J798, the anthor, thcnr 

' - ayrU 



206 REVOLUTIONARY I^LUTARCH. 

• After the emigration of most of the officers^ 
Buonaparte was promoted to the rank of cap- 
tain. In the course of the Revolution he wa^ 
often employed in different expeditions ; but his 
situation was obscure, his exertions unnoticed^ 
and his charadler suspe<Sked, on account of hiis^ 
kifbwn connexions with intriguers of all" parties^ 
either aristocrats or jacobins, either Frenchmen 
or Corsicans. After resigning his company lA 
the regiment of artillery dc la Fere, he obtained . 
^ battalion of National Guards in Corsica; where. 
bemg suspefted of plotting the surrender of that 
island to the English, Lecourbe, St. Michael, and 
two other deputies of the National Gonvention,. 
ordered him to be arrested. This circumstance 
abliged him to leave the army ; andHie was r-e-*^ 
siding, in indigence, eight leagues from Toulofli: 
when, in 1793, that city was in the possession of 
the English : Salicetti, one of the deputies os 
mission with the republican artnyj having some 
acquaintance with Btion»parte, recommended 
him to his colleague Barras^ and he was eoi'* 
ployed during the siege with the rstnl: ef a dbisf 
dCe brigade. The cruelties which followed the 

sunreiKfer 

• friioncff« ms in coinfaay with WWiijfum at Paris, wb# eoib*. 
finneA the ahove- mentioned 'particular* in the preiencft of 
i'Ab....t| at present a Corsican Colooel of Artillerji:. 




r arisniLc iurcii Kunsfc - VerU i; 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 207 

surrender of Toulon he commenced or commit- 
ted. By a deceitful proclaitoation, all the tnha* 
bitants who had employment tinder the English 
during their occupation of Toulon, who had 
served or lodged any Englishman, or who had 
been suspeEled to have favoured their entry and 
the capitulation of that city, either d'treBly or 
ifidire^/y, were ordered, under pain of death, to 
meet in the grand square, called Le Champ de 
Mars, on a fixed day and hour. Upwards of 
fifteen hundred men, women, and children, as- 
sembled there in consequence of this proclama- 
tion ; Buonaparte then desired all those who 
wished to escape punishment and death to cry 
out — Five la Republique ! With one voice these 
unfortunate persons called out, the Republic £ot 
ever ! This was the signal for their destru^on. 
Cannons loaded with grape shot killed some, and 
wounded and maimed others, who were dis* 
patched with swords and bayonets. The official 
report of this ferocious performance is contained 
in the following letter from Buonaparte, ad- 
dressed to Citizen Barras, Freh>n, and Robes- 
pierre the younger, representatives of the peo- 
ple, dated Toulon, the 29th Frimalre, Year 2 
(December 24th, 179S.) 

•• CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVES, 

?f Upon the field of glory, my feet inundated 

with 



208 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

with- the blood of traitors,. I announce to yoo^ 
.with a heart beating with joy, that your orders 
are executed^ and France revenged ; neither sex 
nor age have been spared ^ those who escaped, or 
were only mutilated by the discharge of our re- 
publican cannon, were dispatched by the swords 
of liberty and the bayonets of equality. 
** Health and admiration. 

" Brutus Buonaparte, 
** Citizen sans-culottes*,*' 

It was the fashion in 1792 and 1793, among 
the exclusive patriots, as they were called^ to as« 
sume Roman and Grecian names ^ intending 
thereby to exclude from modern republicanism, 
and to regard as suspefted, or to proscribe every 
citizen, who, as Dubois Creancef, one of them 
proposed, at the club of the jacobins, could not 
prove that, in case of a return of order and 
religion, a gibbet was merited by, and would 
reward his patriotism. This was the first time, 

but 

- * Let Anoaks du Terrorii me, ptge 64. 

-I In May 1794, whea Robespierre accuaed Dubois Creaoce 
HfUh not being a patriot, the Utter, to pro^e his patriotism, made 
the 'motion, that no man should be regarded or protefted as a pa* 
ttriot, who could not answer in the affirknaiive this 4uesttoo,^-r 
** H4t¥e you done Mttjf thing to dtierve the ga/JtiVfff thould tbt 
tkrMt and sitar h re^ttablisbtd P* 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 209 

but not the last, that Napoleone Buonaparte 
changed his Christian name. In 1796 he was 
ag^n Napoleone Buonaparte ;. but in 1798 he be- 
came -Ali Buonaparte; and in 1800, tout courts 
Buonaparte. 

After the death of Robespierre, the horrors 
that he had excited at Toulon caused him to be 
arrested as a terrorist, and sent prisoner to Nice. 
As, however, it was impossible to prosecute all 
the subordinate agents in those disgraceful scenesj 
he was, with many of his accomplices^ released 
by the amnesty of the National Convention; but, 
on his return to Paris, failing in his efforts to 
procure employ, he was reduced to extreme dis* 
tress and penury, . In this desperate situation, he 
was again recommended to the notice of Barras, 
drawn forth firom his place of concealment, and 
invested with the command of the artillery to be 
employed in murdering and subjugating the peo-» 
pic of Paris. 

The regicide National Convention (which had 
overthrown the inonarchy and the church, mur- 
dered its king, disturbed all Europe, and made 
all Frenchmen wretched), when forced to re?- 
aign its usurped, power, wishing partly to conti- 
nue it, decreed the re-elcftlon of two-thirds of 
its guilty members. This was opposed by all 

rcspcft'. 



116 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

rcspcftabic and loyal citizens; among others, by 
the seAionsy and by the inhabitants of Paris, wh6 
prepared, with arms in their hands^ to defend 
their violated rights. ' 

Pichcgru, Moreau, and other known and dis- 
tinguished generals, were applied to ; but refused 
to command the conventional troops destined to 
perpetuate rebellion by exterminating its opposers. 
Buonaparte and other military criminals were theti 
resorted to, and dragged forward from their hid- 
ing-place 5 and thus, by perpetrating new crimes^ 
they exchanged their well-deserved obscurity for 
a dreadful notoriety. 

On the night of the 4th of Oftober, I7d5, pre^ 
ceding that which was to decide the fiite bf At 
National Convention and the new constitution^ 
the two parties drew out their forces under cir- 
cumstances widely different. The soldiers of the 
Convention were well armed, long disciplined, 
;in:^ly supplied with ammunition, , and drilled 
Into unanimity : the insurgent f arisiah seftions 
were deprived of the grcatjer part of their arms', 
in consequence of the late insurreftions ; they 
tad no artillery, and but a small supply of am^^ 
munition for their muskets ; they had never 
seen any military service ; and so far wera. 
they from being unanimous in any political sen-^- 

timenv^ 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 211 

timent, save that which occasioned their mo^ 
mentary combination, that it was judged expe- 
dient to avoid every discussion, and every allu- 
sion to general affairs, and to limit their aemands, 
and their rallying word, to the single proposition 
of a free eleftion, and no compulsory return of 
the two- thirds from the members of the Con- 
vention. The individuals who appeared in this 
insurreftion were not, as on former occasions^ 
the refuse of villany and infamy, the dregs of 
, the suburbs, and the sweepings of the gaols; 
but their decent appearance, and neatness in 
their dress, exposed them to the ridicule of their 
adversaries, who contemptuously inquired, whc* 
Vbtt a successful ins u rre fti on had ever been con* 
duAed by gentlemen whh powdered lie^ds and 
silk stockings i 

General Danican, the commander of the troops 
of the Parisian seftions, feeling the insufficiency 
Df his force for a mamial contest, was anxious to 
avoid hostilities, and spent great part of the 
night in hkranguidg the troops 'of the Conven- 
tion, under fiarras and Buonaparte, and attempt- 
ing to persuade them, that, as fellow-citizens, 
the cause of the people was their own. He found 
great difficulty in making himself heardj amij 
the persevering cry of Five la Convention / whidl 

the 



212 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the battalions on duty were instrufted to voci- 
ferate. Many hot-headed men of hi$ qwn party 
• were eager to engage j and Buonaparte, and thp 
other satellites of the Convenition, confiding in 
their superior numbers, were desirous of hos- 
tilities, as the sure means of establishing their 
own power, and repressing all future exertions 
to counteract their unwarrantable assumption 
of authority. I>anican did ■ not, however, ne« 
gle£t other precautions suitable to his situation i 
and, by his efforts in the course of the night, hi9 
adherents were placed in a more. respectable 
.position than their numbers or their force had 
.appeared to promise* Several of the seAipas^ 
j»unmoned by mi|5sionaries from the CojoveoH 
tion to lay down their ^i^Sy had returned i^ vtso^ 
lute refusal; and the dread lest the soldiery should 
b|e4)ersuaded to declifie firing on the people, ren- 
dered the strongest party uneasy, though they 
persevered in their original determination to try 
the utmost extremes of blood, fircj and fajnine, 
rather than recede. 

The troops of the Convention were reinforced 
during the next night by twenty thousand ipen 
from the country i the generals who wc;re susr 
pefted of an inclination to ppid the effusion of 
))lood| were exchanged for others incapable of 

remorse 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 213 

rcfmorse or shame ; the troops wei*e intrenched, 
and the best position secured. The Primary As-* 
scmblies were convened in the seftion of I-e 
Pclletier ; but the sanguine confidence of some,* 
aAd the treacherous insiriuairions of Others, bore 
down the prudent counsels of General Danicari ; 
and it was resolved to attack the troops of the 
Convention in their strong-hold, not firom the cx- 
peftation of advantage in a regular conflift, but 
from a blind hope and foolish confidence that 
the military would' not fire on the people. 
' The line of deferice 'occupied by the Conven- 
tion extended from the PonUneuf^ong the quay^ 
on tl>e right bank of the Seine, to the Champs 
Elyseesi and was continued to the Boulevards. 
The people we^e masters of the Rue St. Honarey 
the Plac^ dfi FendStne^ St. Roch^ and the Place' 
dti Palais' Royal s but they were without order,' 
or a common point of attion ; and the nature of 
the insurreftion had rendered it impossible ta 
establish any. The Convention, pursuing the 
system whieh they had so often before tried with- 
success, lasted a greut portion of the d^yin 
sending deputies to harangue the seAions, and in 
receiving and discussing propiositioiis of peace ;* 
but- during the whole time thus gained, they^ 
werecipplofcd in rcin&raing their portions, 

adding 



au REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH, 

f 

adding to their supplies, and raising the spirits of 
their troops. They knew that the insurrection 
must grow languid towards the evening, espe* 
cially as those engaged in it had been exposed 
during the whole day, and part of the preceding 
night, to a storm, with ^ torrent of rain. Their 
scheme was attended with as complete success 
as they could wish for. Fervent debates in the 
Convention, messages, and an equivocating let- 
ter from the Committees to Danican, kept the 
people employed in discussion instead of aAion 
during tho day; but as evening approached, 
when the general of the insurgents was prepar- 
ing to withdraw his troops in separate portions, 
each to its own arrondissement, the forces of the 
Convention changed their positipn j the post of 
the citizens at St. Rock was fired upon from a 
house in the Cul de Sac Dauphin^ and the scene 
of carnage was begun. The citizens made at 
first some resistance ; but the ^artillery, com- 
manded by the cruel Buonaparte, swq[>t the 
streets in every direftion, killed or wounded 
Qvery person walking in them ; and the insure 
agents, neither sufficiently numerous nor despe- 
i^te enough to rush forward and seize the can- 
non, retreated in every dIreAion, concealing 
themselves in bouses^ stctd under gateways, and 

finally 



NAPOLEONE BtJONAPAttTE. aW 

Anally in the church of St. Roch^ yhile great 
numbers fled from. the spot, crying treason^ and 
spreading alarm and despair in every direfbion. 
All the barricades erefted to oppose the progress 
of the troops of tbe Convention were beaten down 
by Buonaparte's cannon, and men, women, and 
children, killed without mercy. Every expedi- 
ent for resistance failed 5 and the insurgents be-* 
ing dispersed, and Danican himself obliged to 
ensure his safety by concealment, the regicide 
Convention remained vidlorious ; ahd during the 
whole night repeated discharges of cannon an- 
njounced their triumph, and prevented any i^w 
rallying of their opponents. 

Eight thousand mutilated carcasses, of both 
sex^s and of all ages, were the horrible trophies 
presented to the French nation by Buonaparte'^^ 
first"viftory as. general ; but as he never before 
had filled any superior command, it is necessary 
to exhibit his principles and patriotism in their 
tru^ colours, by shewing, from impartial and 
loyal authors, of what sort of men a Conven- 
tion was coniposed, for whom Buonaparte had 
been fighting, or rather butchering*. 

The 

' * Sec Lef Brigands Demasquet^ sar DaaioiOt and Hi«W|re in 
pijre^fc £;fecutif. 



216 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

The general charafter, however, of this body, 
at once contenjptible and formidable, atrociously 
■wicked, and abje£lly mean, cannot be , given 
complete, without a distinft revision of its a(Ss, 
which- in government, religion, finance, juris- 
prudence, and warfare, exhibit but one principle 
•—a resolute pursuit of a given objeft, with a to- 
tal disregard of the opinions of mankind, and a 
contempt of all established or avowed principles 
of morality or good faith. But perverse and ig- 
norant men, suddenly possessed of all the wealth, 
strength, and resources of an ingenious, rich, 
and powerful nation, could not, without a pe- 
culiar mixture of ferocity and wickedness, have 
committed the afts which stigmatized the Con- 
vention ; nor could the mighty energies which 
they aroused and guided have been directed to so 
few purposes of real national good, but for the 
folly which generally accompanies extreme vice 
and depravity, and renders the triumphs of vil- 
lany bitter, even in the most ardent moment of 
enjoyment. 

The general abstrafls of the afts of the Con- 
vention, and the effefts of its existence, is thus 
detailed by Prudhomme, who, from an outrage- 
ous jacobin, became a repentant citizen, and, to 
prove his sincerity, recorded the atrocities of his 
former accomplices. The sittings of the French 

National 



NAPOLEONE feUOKTAPARTE. 2\J 

.National Convention continued thirty -scved 
moinths and four days; during which timei 
11,210 la\rs .were enafted ; 360 conspiracies 
and 140 irisurreftions denounced j and 18,6 IS 
persons put to death by the guillotine. The ci- 
vil war at Lyons cost 31,200 men; that at Mar- 
seilles, 729. At Toulon, 14,325 were destroy- 
ed ; and in the reaftions fn the South, after the 
fall of Robespierre, 750 individuals perished. 
The war in La Vendee is computed to have 
caused the dcstruftionof 900,000 men, and more 
than 20,000 dwellings. Impressed with in^agcs 
of terror, 4790 persons committed suicide^ anil 
3400 women died in consequence of prema- 
ture deliveries ; 20,000 arc computed to have 
died of famine, and 1550 were driven to insa- 
nity. jIn the colonies, 124,000 white mcp, wo* 
men, and children, and 60,000 people of colcur, 
were massacred ; two tpwns, and 3200 habita- 
tions, were burnt. The loss of men in the war 
is cfstimated, though certainly below the real 
truth, at 800,000; while 123,789, who had 
emigrated in the course of the Revolution', were, 
by the Convention, for ever excluded from their 

^ * Enchanted 

* Tbe account of these transactions and particulars is takeo (rom 
J.et BHgandi D^masques, by General Danicao, a.id Frudhomn^e^ 
vol. vi. and'TaHlea^u Gcocral . 

TOLy XU I. 



ai8 EEVOLUTK)NARY i?LUTAIVCH. 

Enchanted ' with Buonaparte*s humdnity and 
brayery in the streets of F^is, his prote<a;or Bar- 
ras first made faiiu second in command in the 
Army of the Interior, and in a short time after- 
wards commander in chief over the same army, 
jDuring the winter of 1795« to qualify himself 
for his new appointment^ and to retain an inte- 
rest with the Dire&or Barras^ Buonaparte wedded 
^die widow of Alexander Beauharnois, who had^ 
since the murder of her husband, in the time of 
Robeq^ierre, exchanged with Barras complaisance 
for protection, and who brought her new hus» 
band# as a portion, the command oyer the army 
|n Italy. 

The military talents of Buonaparte were not 
unknown to, or undervalued .by, the Allies \ but 
iheir armies in Italy were not put on a footing 
sufficiently respeftable to pncounter thosp of the 
Republic ; they were vastly inferior in number, 
and of different nations : Austrians, Italians, 
Sardinians, Neapolitans, Swiss, and Tuscans, aU 
divided among themselves by national jealousies^ 
instigated or kept up by French eoxi^aries,. Buo- 
naparte's troops were both numerous and united^ 
and mostly composed of veterans and warriors 
inslru&ed in the school of Fichegru, and by him 

9CCUS* 



t- 



2W REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

intention to seize Genoa ; aqd ten or twelve 
thousand men, under General La Harpe,. pushed 
forward to St. Pierre d' Arena, a suburb of the 
city. General Beaulieu, setting out from Alex- 
andria to oppose them, took post in the front t>f 
the defile of the Bochetta, and caused a strong 
detachment to advance to the gates of Genoa* 
The chiefs of the government endeavoured to 
cptleA troops for the defence of their independ*i> 
^cnce ; but there, as in all other places which the 
RepvbUcaii satellites approached, the internal 
danger of iitsurrefUon* from the prevalence of 
French principles, was far more alarming than 
even the terror of violence withoqt. 

Tlie Austrian commander, percefiving that the 
French became daily more formidable, tm the 
10th of April, 1796, prepared a judicious plan 
4tf general attack ;^ in which hi$ operations were 
combined with tlM>se of General Colli, who then 
commanded the Piedmontese troops ; but, de- 
serting soon after, he was made,* and is yet, a gcr 
ncral in ^he Fncnch army j and the success in .ex- 
ecution depended in a great measure on him, and 
on the coihduft of another suspicious charaAer, 
d*Argentcati*. Beaulieu's presence fcrced Colli 
to be successful; but d'Argenteau, who was to 
Storm an intrenched position, consisting of three 

great 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, 221 

great redoubts, was, as might be expcAed,. re*- 
pulscd at the first two, and did not arrive at the 
last, situated on Montenotte, tillthe day closed. 
Rampon, the French general who commanded 
it, received reinforcements durinj^ the night, and 
dispersed them in the neighbouring woods j 
d'Argenteau, treacherously or incautiously ad- 
vancing, was assailed on all sides, and put to 
the route. Unwilling to remain longer, or feaxw 
ing that h^ should no longer be able ip resiit 
the French, he wrote to Colonel VuckassoWiih 
to Join biih with three or four thousand men^ 
'iut, by an astenifhing iNADVfiRTB^CE, dated his 
Utter erroneously^ and appointed the succours a^ 
*day later than he intended: In the mean time 
Buonaparte, having reitiforeed his nght, and 
ordered La Harpe to advance between Oeaerals 
Beaulieu and d*Argenteau, marched forward by 
the valley of Tanaro and the heights of Savona^ 
to turn the rigjit of the Austrians, aiid separate v 
them from General Colli. - This attempt waii 
crowned with success, atld vidtofy remained with 
the French, who took poSM^siOn of Carcftni, and 
established themselves on the heights surrounding 
Cairo. • • 

On the 14th the Republi<:ans, rapidly ad- 
vancing, forced the weakened and betrayed Im- 
h 3 perialists 



?2a JREVOLUTIONARr PLUTAfiCH. 

{Mariali6ts to ris^ smother gstm^ral engagement aT 
Mpntelezinox ui which tl^cj agaixr essayed jheir 
former manceiivre wkh success^ aad put d'Ar^ 
g<^<ait to fliglitk Colonel Vudcassowkh, unex- 
pe6:Q<i;fiy coming op with the men who had been 
applied for^ gamed considerable temporary ad- 
-van^eSf aod might even hate tnrnjed the fate of 
thQ4a7:^^t^d*Argcnteau took no means to rally 
i|H^tPfltop% and Vucka980f»ich was obliged, alter 
foi^sHn taping anhooocirable'CoepdUft^ t^ retife. wiiJL 
^re^t Icm*. IhihiafveciiMtalefK^eal pntbe I2xb^ 
^4'MgiSJ^W Mfi^^m .% detached tioiqpi. iuk 
4er ji^te^aatrSeiMxsAkProvecai and this officer 
. ^idtpo) I^ai^^h^ doC«at:ofthe M&e» feiithe»r 
^thc S^puUic^i]^ ikdvan^iilg agakwt htm. He w^. 
jtTi^vefitedfrom ii^reoti^g to tiko Aaatriaiis by a: 
sssii4d6a rv^ ^'^ thf: Bonxiiddb and therrfore ro- 
^ed, without provisions or water> t^ a h^h- 
^moontaii^^hcre for two 4ays he defended Iboi-^ 
^e]f with increcbbbs valour against the assault of 
Jbj^ whol^ French army^ repulsing them witk 
^^|«e^diM caiiiag% kitti|^{ two andwimnding one 
•ctf itbsMT gei^eral .0£c0i»> and sujEnq^dering at last 
only through fatigue s»nd. famine. 

Though the battle of Montelezino had greatly 
.weakened the communication between th^ Aus-. 
J^ho, 9»d Pkdmion^e ^smes^ti^ made no com^ 

iined^ 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 22» 

hmed tnov^ment ta approach iach otiir and C9tp^ 
Pra6f theit line. BuOtlapaTte gained the oppor-»* - 
ttinity of i^dciag himsctf- becween tbcnn and 
forcing tlie Picdmomcse 19 aft separately* Thejr 
ykjctt on the Uth attacked to their intrenched 
Csa<ip^ and) fhottgh fhey ripuhtd the aJiaiJautf^ 
Gewrat C^Ui fouui it Heassar^ to abandon theit 
position the ensuing day^ aad phce thoa betweenf 
the conflux of the rmrs Taaaro suod Carsaglia^ 
where^ for four dsi^' mdto^ ihey resisted the eft 
f0tt§ ^ the Republicans t^ didodge theml ¥he 
Frenehy^owefer^ hai^gf a» Boighl be ttj^eftod^ 
en>89ed the Tatero^ CoUi n^ftiMed tmraflhdtf Mm-^ 
dttvi, 'lMiewaso>vertalteii:^uid^tfe&ted at Vltoi 
and Mondo^i^ the satee evening, fell into th# 
hands of the enemy*. ' * 

The Piedmcmte^ ^iPtaf, t^eihg 4hn$' entirely 
separated from the 'AuslriaitSi- tdok ii goM de^ 
fensive position behind the Stura, vCalctiht€d td 
prevent the irruption of the French into Pi^d^. 
ttiont} bnt the King of Sardinia, advised by bi^ 
faithful counsellors, and fearfhl of risking" hil 
cirown on the uncertain issue of a battk^, obtained 
an armistice at the expencc of the fortresses rf 
Coni, Ceva, and Tortona, and the town of Alex-- 
andria; several important permissions wfert'btfii 
tides extorted bj Buonaparte^ 'and conceded ttt^ 
I-.4 the 



304 REVOLUTIONARY PLOTARCH. 

the Republicans^ particularly those of rimaiolng 
masters of alt the country qd the right bank 6f 
the Tanaro, of crossing the Po below the town 
of Valenza, and passli^ freely through the ter* 
ritories of the King of Sardinia. This armistice 
Was succeeded by a treaty of peace with the 
)P*rench republic) but within eighteen monthft 
afterwards, he was dethroned by the Freach Re- 
puhUcauSf after having in vain endured their re- 
peated plunder, insttlts> and threats. ,• 
: As this campaign b^an fiponaparte's nuJUai^ 
^hrji particulars have, been related to an extepta. 
otherwise not corresponding with the plan of 
this sketch, but necessary to prove, that treason^ 
accompanied with superior forces, some ability^ 
tind great audacity and fortune, have laid its prin* 
tlpal basis } ;^nd that if d'Argenteau an4 Colli 
had iGOf th^tr d|tty as generals and subje^ 
Buonaparte might yet have had to establish his 
reput^Sition as a warrior and commander j but, si- 
tuated as^hc was, any chief, ev^n not possessing 
liis talents, or not so much favoured by nambers 
and fortune, might have done as great things with 
Bkore generosity and less cruelty. 

From this period, until the peace of Campo 
Formio, Buonaparte marched from success to 
iuccessj from viAory to viAory, owing more to 

the ' 



^ NAPOLEONE BIJONAP^ARTE. 22s 

the continue inferiority of the Austrians^ to the 
want of vigour in their' coiiiicik> and of capa« 
city in their generals in the fields than to the 
courage and brilltanj: manoeuvres of the. Frencli 
commander. ' 

Buonapar^e> among his other exploits, terri« 
Jied most of the princes and states of Italy i^to a 
xleceitfiil peace ; obtained great sacrifii;es in mo« 
ney for proteifion and neuti^ality ; and. afterwards 
{Sundered in mass the subjects, and prosqrilSed 
the sovereigns, bf: those protected and x^tral 
countries; ... 

^ Without generosity, and often without pppor 
sition, he vanquished, and without fs^ith'he always 
negotiated. Perfidy and fjcrocity Wf re interwoven 
with his oUve branches of peace, as wfU 9,s witik 
bis laurels of viAory-r-^aurete atained ^ith. the 
blood not of an ^neiay con^ered or defeated, 
but with thfit of delpded ac|ilia|>.^d friends, 
disarmed a$ well a$ deceived. 

By proclaunmg Xiombardy a republic, he de» 
ttroyed its foriner JSherty^ and in makipg.its ia« , 
habitants citizen^ 4>f a cpmn^p^e^th, he pre* 
pared for .them pei^Metual ^ttrs^' The nnutral ' 
republic of Genoa lost it» indqpqidence, trade, and 
prosperity, with its fmnpemx^VB^ coostitptioni 
and the present Liguri^ g^vcvoipci^mgns only 
JU J over 



%U MVOLimONAftT PtCTARCfr. 

over Oie nans of fiMTiner Geaoau ^ After havings 
^Adored Venice) atiotber neotral^ attd the most 
aneietit ^ ^ modem* republics, of ks ifrnnepse' 
ttcMnres^ lis monuments of arts> and its navf^^ 
and butchered fifteen thousand of its best citl« . 
zens, Buonaparte ex^bai^edf it with, and gaiFC it 
tip t^ fbem seme new provinces under the Aus-^ 
ti4an 'monarchy. The imdrml Tuscany was in« 
Tsded and pillaged by him; but in 1796> Austrian 
wiM not yet weakened enot^h to endure, nor Buo* 
staparte powerful enough to dare to create, aSpa* 
nish prince king over an AiBtrian province: this 
reinaunedto be done wheahe hod attained the. 
rlimax <)f perfidy and power. 
^ ' The Duke tt Modena ^kL mtlHons to Buona^ 
t^arte^rihe neutra&y of his dominiMs) and to 
i^aih tke guarantee ef the Trench Republic fbr- 
t4i<Sr integrity. -B^' the Prendi General, after 
pocketing the^tnciklf , eontinued to treat Modex^a. 
as a conquered country ; and by his advice, with^ 
lA s&f months after this treaty of peace, ncutra- 
Utyi ajMi- gnartintce-, the fVcndt government 
ittcoriwrakid tKs dtitiaiy with ^i CSsalpine Re- 
Jpublk:, vcuA thrflHil^of Mbdlena died' aoTexile 
4n <Jermany.' -WVi^Ut tting at ^ar^ the Pope 
twtoJbrced^ ^(WiiWiMl *a peatetv^ Buonaparte^ 
and togiv*iipiw*S?C#Wriiibst^i^ prbvinc* 
^ -^ to 



ti»* augment the dep2itments> of die CorslcanV. 
newly-formed republic ; and, two y&anr uBxt^ 
wards, the Pope died a prisoner in Francei after 
having, seen the wretchedness of his subjeAs^, 
and the ruin of hiv country with that of his go-^ 
vernment. The King of Naples made nume^ 
lious pecuniary and other sacrifices to obtain, 
peace and neutrality; but French intrigues andl 
conspirators were more dangerous than French, 
soldiers* When Francewas no longer an enemy ». 
its emissaries perverted the loyalty of his subjedb;. 
and fourteen months of French friendship obliged> 
his Sicilian Majesty (to avoid the destiny of the 
Pope) to fly from his capital, and be indebted to^ 
an English fleet for hi; safety, for his throne, andl 
for his life. 

In such a masnerdid Buonaparte aA, and such? 
Were some of the consequences o£his. viflories^ 
6vcr, and his negotiations with, most of the 
powers in Italy, whom French ambition. treated 
as enemies, French cupidity received as iiiends^ 
and French treachery weakened, ruined, or anni- 
hilated. When a man is destitute of every sen- 
timent of common justice, 'generosity, and Kbe— 
tality; has no political faith or honour, and na> 
religious principles; he must be as unfeeHiig,. 
iaoebarous; and tyrannical over his countrymen^. 
lSL** audi 



t2$ RBVOLUnON ARY FLUTABCH. 

and those immediately under his command and 
disposal, as he has been base and cruel with fo* 
rcigners and strangers*. 

In the opinions of the inconsistent and dege<* 
nerated French republicans, as well as in those of 
some people in other countries, the conqueror of 
Italy had erased the crimes of the murderer at 
Toulon and at Paris : but that a vicious 'nature 
does not change with fortune, nor a depraved 
charafl:er with public opinion, the following let- 
ter, written in 1797 by a French general, and 
transmitted to this country by an ambassador of 
one of the powers, allied to the French Republic, 
will prove. Its original will be found in No. 101 
of ^^ Paris ^pendant VAnnee 1797." Its repub^ 
lication at present adds new conviftion to what 
has already been ajErmed ; it identifies the Her^ 
of 1797 with the Consul of 1S03; and serves to 
establish more firmly the truth of those atrocities 
of , which the Corsican has been publicly accused, 
both before and since the time at which it was 
Ifrritten. 

« Escaped at last from the long and cruel fa- 
tigues of the most murderous of wars, I am just 
arrived from the army of Italy, after being lamed 
for life at the battle of Areola. I have paid the 

debt 

« Scttbf llMferj of the Cmsaiin io 1796, * . 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 229 

debt of gratitude which I owed to my country ; 
I have given her proofs of my zeal and of my 
love, and have sealed them with my blood. Be« 
come an invalid in the bloom of youth, and no 
longer able to fight in her service, I am entitled 
to her proteftion. In her bosom have I sought 
an asylum^ and no longer able to serve her with 
an arm paralysed by the steel of the enemy, I 
nevertheless, devote* to her a heart which adores 
her, and a holy boldness in denouncing to her 
(I will not say abuses, that would be too cold 
an expression, but) deeds of atrocity, at which 
Nero himself would have blushed, and which 
Suetonius would not have dared to impute to 
that monster. 

" Believe me, I do not dispute, the great mi- 
litary talents of Buonaparte ; his successes speak 
for themselves. But what I contend for is, that 
Buonaparte is tlie most dangerous of all the 
French citizens ; that Buonaparte is a citizen in 
the manner of Csesar; that it is in the man- 
ner of Caesar that he loves equality : and that it is 
with all the contempt ^hich Csesar entertained 
for the senate of Rome, that Buonaparte q>eaks 
of. the government of France. For the truth 
of my assertion, I appeal to all who are ib 
ibf habit of bfing cox»tantly about his person. 

He 



too REVOLUTIONARY PtUTARdT. 

He is Gustavus in the midst of battle 5 but, lite 
Gustavus, he pants for ii throne and a crowTi> 
hot to set it upon the head of this or that prince^ 
but to place it upon hi^ own. 

" The most violent satraps of the great king-. 
kad less power, and certainly less insolence, zndi 
less vanity, than Buonaparte has giyen proo& of: 
during his campaigns in Italy. 

^ These are fafts of the. greatest notoriety. 
1 only relate what al! have seen, what every ge- 
neral has heard, and what all ace ready to depose: 
whenever they are called on by the IMreftory, 
with the exception of a wretch of the name o£* 
Le Clerc* (the- slave of Robespierre), of JSw/r^z, a. 
drinker of blood and a shameless robber,. and of 
a few brigands of the same stamp. 
* ** Ardently do I hope that some one more 
ikrlfol than myself will furnish the public with: 
a detail of th^ atrocities committed by fiuona^^ 
parte : they exceed all possible belief f I call 
upon every trife Frenchman, now at the head 
of^ our ' armies in Italy,, to save*their country 
■anA titefr fcflow-citizens, and to tfedare* to the 
©ireftoi^ vrliht they kndw'bf the fafts* which I 
•••'• - ' • • •-• ' - ■ -' : -"anL 

♦ This wreteh^afterwardf married ^tjic Qor^^nf$,s\^fii^dfn^. 
ieniwUIr the command" of the army to St. Domingo,* where h^ 
raid the forfeit of his crimes* 



WAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 33* 

am about to denounce. I call too upon the Di-^ 
yeftory, to interrogate the best 'generals in the 
army. Guarantee them but from the poniard of 
Buonaparte ; then will they speak out, and thi* 
is what they will, depose : 

" Buonaparte, beside* the contributions which- 
he l^ies, exa£l$ also enormous sums for. him«^ 
self,, and appropiiates to his own use as much 
of the spoliation of -the countries that he has de» 
wasted, as suits his convenience ; this money is^ 
lodged in the hands of several bankers at Gcnoa^ 
Leghorn, ted' Venice. Very considerable suxns^^ 
also have be^n sent into Corsica. 

*^ Buonaparte is at once the vainest and'thcr 
meat impudent of mortals^ But he unites the* 
vanity oi a child, with the atrocity of a de;- 
men. 

**'! say — (and rt is wli^t twenty thousand men^ 
know without daring*t6 say k, but what all wilL 
say,.now that,Jike another Curtius, l4hrow my- 
self mto the gulf, for the safety of my brethron 
in arms)— I say, that in no age, and under no ty- 
rant, have crimes ttorr enormous been com- 
mitted, than those which afe daily- perp^trat- 
^ed under the dircftion ind authority of Buona- 
parte. > :'hKu 

♦* Will it be creditdli -thatt in itsst lospitak 

appro- 



as2 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

^propriated (o the sick and wounded, the surr 
geons devoted to Buonaparte have a constant 
order y as soon as they see a sick soldier past re- 
covery, or one whose incurable wounds will 
render him no longer of use to the service, to set 
a inark upon his bed ; which fatal mark an- 
nounces to th,e attendants that this vidlim is to 
he carried away ivitf> the dead I He is accord- 
ingly thrown into a waggon appointed to re- 
move the dead bodies to the grave, and is gene- 
rally strangled or smothered I But, notwithstand- 
ing these precautions, as the carriages move along 
to the place of interment, the cries and groans 
of the unfortunate men about to be buried alive 
may be distinctly heard on all sides ! To this 
horrible faft I have myself been an eye-witness, 
as well as to what I am going to relate. 

" In the month of July 1797, after an z&xoxl 
which took, place near Salo, on the Lac de 
Guarda, Buonaparte gave orders that, not*onlytbf . 
dtady hut the dying and laoundedf should hi hw- 
ried / The wretched viAims were placed upon 
£ve wagg.pn8, and at mkhiight were dragged to 
an enormous ditchy and precipitated tl^erein. 
The cries of the linog being distindtly heard> 
the monsters threw down eight loads of burning 
Cme upon themj w|udb^ falling upon the un- 
I dressed 



234 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARC&. 

cfjormities, he dispatched a letter to the Arclii» 
duke Charles, wkh proposals for a termmatioii 
of hostilities, conched in terms of the most im- 
ptfdent hypocrisy as to his own sentiments, and' 
ihsnh ^s to the condnft of Great Britsdn. ** As. 
Ibr trtCf. General (said Buonaparte), if the &sfer- 
ttire wtircb I'hd^ the honour* ttt tnakt to you cnn 
stfve the Hfe of a srwGLE maw, / slhJi prvde mfsetf 
ihote upon fbe civic rro^n ivhivh my CONSCIENC*. 
will iett me I shall thits have dtservedi than -ttpoft 
tie melancholy gkry 'oihieh arises front yniHitary^uc^ 
cns:^ What -a heart must thtet man have, who. 
coldly speciftat^ upon ^flferlngs .and destrufiSon^' 
By commanding, with a ^crtnff ihdifferencc, the^ 
burial alive of his wounded soldkcs % What 
barefaced impudence must he' possess, and hotr* 
great must his contempt have been, both for 
the prince to whom he wfote, and for mankind 
in general, to dare to talk of a conscience, and ta 
make use of expressions of tenderness and hu-^ 
manity, whilst "afting as the most profoundly 
perverted and atrocious of all tyrants, either 
sncient or m^odern ! But such has been the 
kypacritical and deceitliil jargon of all revolu- 
tionary heroes. Demons in their minds, senti-^ 
ments, and behaviour, they were angels in their 
words, Robespierre spoke of Ebcrty and virtuej. 

whik; 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 23& 

while two hundred and £fty thousand families 
crowded hfs prisons, and hundreds daily asoend* 
icd his scaffolds ; just as Buonaparte writct.of ^ 
conscience^ when all hia actions bid defiance to % 
divinity as well as to humanity. » 

. Durti^ the campaigns in Italy, in 1796 and 
1797, military execution was inflided, and de* 
stru^on ordered^ by Buonaparte, on a niimber o£ 
cities, towns, and villager, and on their unfortu-^ 
WHe inhabitant, in July 1796 an infturrec-c^ 
Won bfobeont in the city of Payia,. and spread 
hself JB soow paits of Lombardy* At Jifitan^ 
dpe Fiwch bayonets, and the French butcheries^ 
soon reOwtd ordiri but, at Binasco^ of ei^ 
hundred armed peasants who tried to defend 
their lives and property against the repd^Hcan 
assassins and plunders,, two hundred were shoti 
and this large village entirely burnt to the ground^ 
by the command of Buonaparte. At Favia, thd 
inhabitants shut their gates against the French 
troops, .who, with their cannon, forced their en^ 
trance without Ipsing an individual : Baon»^ 
Jiprte, however, condemned the whole momci** 
polity to be shot, and two hundred hoiU^s ta 
be sent as prisoners to France. In his public 
orders to )iis soldiers, Buonaparte declar^ that 
if a Frenchman had been» killed in the atSck pa 

Favia^ 



«6 REVOLUTIONARY PLlTTARCH. 

Pavia, his intent was to cause that city to be 
burnt or demolished, and to crt& a column on 
the spot, with the inscrip^tion^ lei etoit la vilk 
dt PavU. On the 8th of March 1797> the towns 
-of Macegata, Fcrmo, Porto di Fcrmo, Grotto ds 
Mari, and Jesi, were by Buonaparte given up to 
* miEtary execution, and their citizens to plunder 
and murder. According to the author of Let 
Crimes des RepuUicmns en halie^ printed at Ve» 
rona in 179d, during sixteoi months campaign 
in Italy, Buonaparte caused tweiity«fbur Tillagei 
»nd six towns to be burned, ten thousaad and 
ninety of their inhabitants to be shot, dirowii' 
into the fire of their burning dwdlings, or 
drowned. Five thousand and forty*two virgins 
were ravished, and fourteen thousand six hun« 
dred and twenty-six married wotnen were vio- 
lated. Thirty-two villages, nine towns, and 
four cities, were laid under military execution]^ 
and six hundred and fifty-two thousand of their 
inhabitants, who escaped death, were reduced to 
want and beggary*. 

The pcace^of Campo Formio permitted Buq» 
naparte Ao leave wretched Italy, to return «r 
France, and to prepare the I'uin of .other coun-» 

^ trifcs* 

• See Les Crimea (le»^ RcpubCca^ns en Italie, p. 493 and 496, 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 23/ 

trses* A revolution had a short time before 
taken place at Paris, and the Republican and Di- 
reAorial Constitution had been openly violated 
bf the conspiracies^ intrigues, and crimes of 

' ^ Buonaparte's friends, backed by the addresses and 
bayonets of his ai-my in Italy. By the imprison^ 
ment or transportation *of all loyal men, the vetj 
dregs of the jacobins, and of all other former 

. ferocious .factions, were become all. powerful. 
Buonaparte was their idol, who could command 
their daggers as much he possessed their good 
opinion. 

Of all countries not yet cursed with French 
fraternity, Switzerland was the nearest at hand, 
and most envied by Buonaparte, on account of the 
true liberty and real happiness of its inhabitants. 
The Swiss government had, however, done 
every thing to please France, and therefore flat* 
tered itself with the chimera of having acquired 
the good will of Buonaparte,, and of the French 
rulers : it bowed when it should have armed, and 
negotiated when it should have been fighting ; 
like the worshippers of malignant deities, it pro- 
strated itself before him with the offering of its 
affe£tiohs, without considering that the only sa* 
crifice which could satisfy him and his associates, 
was that of the constitution, of the independence^ 
and of the riches of Switzerland, 

That 



tSB ftEVOLUnONARY PLUTARCH. 

. That this was really tke case, Buonaparte un- 
diertiiok in Italy to convince even the most in- 
cvedolous J ,and by writing the sentence of neu^ 
tral states on the ruins of Genoa and Venice^ hc 
4iVu}ged to Europe the mysteries of his bwn po- 
litical £utli» as well as that df present s^nd liiture 
A?ench republican rule's. Such effrontery and 
^rfldy,aa l^pocrisjso dastardly combined with 
such barefaced usurpations, announced the disK 
fSolutioa <^ every social system. 

A revolutionist by ctmstitution, a conqueror 
by subordination, cruel and unjust by instin£t 
insulting, in vidory, mercenary in his paft'onage, 
an inexorable plunderer and murderer, bribed by 
the viftims whose credulity he betrays, as ter- 
rible by lus artifices as by his arms, dishonouring 
valour by ferocity, and by the studied abuse of 
public &ith, crowning immorality with the palms 
of philosophy, covering tyranny and atheism with 
the cloak of reUgion, and oppression with the cap 
of liberty 5 this fortunate Corsican, carrying the 
torch of Erostratus in one hand, and the sabre of 
Genseric in the other, had already laid the plan 
for burying Switzerland under the rubbish of 
Italy- But this sulphureous spreader of havock 
had not time to carry his plan against Helvetia 
imo essecution } certain* however, of its success, 

he 



NAPOUE(MJE BUONAPARTE, astf 

he was forced to leave it to aj> old- accomplice — to 
Gexicral Brune, a man as. worthy to be the con- 
£daytial friend of Buonaparte, as^he had before 
been s^ Ms^at and Sjobespierre i and the Corsir- 
jCcaoi steered his^, corpse towards Africa, in the 
hope of soaking, that part of the world and Asi^ 
^ as raiserable as he had left all the countries of 
.Europe into whick his arms or his plots had pe- 
netrated. 

Bpfore the atrocious and sanguinary tragedy 
•pf the Teduftion of Switzerland was accomplish^ 
"Cd, treachery and ambition had carried fiuona* 
parte into Egypt, and with him the wretched- 
ness of French fraternity^ and the horrors of un- 
provoked aggression. While the uninformed in 
France, as well as Qt^er countries, were amused 
by pretences of a powerful preparation for the 
invasion of England^ and Buonaparte went even 
^p fi^r as to sw;indle p;ioni^d men out jof a loaa 
upo^.the credit of ^ the plunder of this country j 
t^>ose whp e:i^amin^,more considerately the place 
w4 jtnann^of^qfiippijQig the. armament, were sa- 
tis^6dth^t4t$tlQstinatiop,was for some other coa$^ 
and public expedation had already pointed out 
jbat of Egypt. It was .so, secret, that, during 
the njonarchy^ many ^ojeAors,^ who hoped to 
irecommend t^eoj^v^^ i>y. suggesting extensive 

enter- 



^^40 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

cnterprisesy had lodged, as far back as in the time 
of Louis XIV.) in the ofEces of different mi- 
xitsterS) proje£b for the subjugation of Egypt ; 
bat the old government, h^ing always some re- 
gard to appearances, and some consideration for 
the lives of the people, had not ventured to pa- 
tronize an undertaking, which could not be 
achieved without the infamy of assailing the do- 
minions of an ancient sifnd unprovoking ally, and 
the probable sacrifice of a great portion of the 
army in conquering a traA of land situated in an 
untried climate, where privations and diseases 
of every kind would thin their ranks, and make 
them execrate thq fatal ambition of their rulers. 
Recent travellers from France had described 
Egypt in terms widely different from those in 
which the experience of earlier and more honest 
ages had depicted it ; and the hopes of possessing 
a land replete with means of eol6nization and 
commerce, combined with that of destroying 
the power of Great Britain In India, were sup- 
. posed sufficient motives with republican France 
for the violation of all treaties, and the oblivion 
of all rights. 

Buonaparte was entrusted with the command 
of this expedition 5 and in assuming this station, 
his personal ambition to tread the ground which 

lud 



NAMLEONE BUONAPABTE. 241 

iiad been Imp^ssed by the tiOorious feotstepsi 
^f Alexander andCxsar, was subservient ifo the 
views of the Dii^ory, who hated, feared, andi 
according to Gamot, ^ve^e anxious to destroy hinii 
Probably both the rulers and the general were 
a^ng with, refined artifice and daplicky: thej" 
h<^ped- to deprive him of the advantages resulting 
from the coihmand of an airmy which he had led 
to ghry^ by involving that amiy in a tedious and 
uncertain expedition; while he, relying on hi* 
jrenowti and popularity, anddesirous to avoid in* 
terfering personally in the tiransaftions of the 
CorigresS'at'Rastadt, which theil efig&ged the at-^ 
tent ion of all Europe, accepted the commind df 
the expedition, though he intended, as his inter- 
tepred letters prove, to accomplish the first part 
of itfe d^stinationonly, and t6 return to France 
in the^-autumn. '. '- ' \ * 

Wliat^ever sagacity might be ',fe:j^erted in <;oii* 
jeAUres resjJefting the destinklioh of Hit FrcndK 
fleet, which, including' transports, amounted to 
upwards' of four hundred*- sail; nothing certain 
^odld. be leiirnlj : ^tKe troops «etit for erribarkatioit 
Wfere called the right wing df the Array of Eng- 
laild 5 biit the squadrtJh being assembled in th^ 
port oPT-otelon^ ' aiitf ribfe* cblleftidnof Savami df 
pnnrfng presses> and various other implcmdfits 

VOL. IC. M of 



a42 REVOLUnONAEY PLUTARCH. 

of science, 'demonstrated Chat.its destination was 
for some, other country. At lengthy q& the 4tb 
of May, 1798, Buonaparte repaired to Toulon, 
for the purpose of commanding this farr£imed 
and mystorious expedition ', and, as a preparatory 
measure, published a kind of military harangue^ 
in form of a proclamation, reitiinding his sol- 
diers of their numerous viflories on mountains, 
in plains^ and before fortified places, and that 
nothing now remained for them to achieve but 
maritime conquests ^ they would now, he said, 
evfn exceed their former, exertions ^r the prt^pe* 
Viy ^ their country^ tie good of mankind^ and their 
own glory.- 

. On the 19th following, the fleet sailed, and 
soon arrived off Malta, which the intrigues of 
France had prepared to surrender. On the nine* 
leenth of June> Buonaparte commenced a farce 
•of provoking hostilities, by demanding per- 
mission to water his squadron : an indireA re- 
fusal being conveye49 thd milit^ty nfere disem<- 
barked, and after two days of pretended resist- 
ance, a capitulation was signed, yielding the 
islaitds of Malta^ 6ozo, and Cumino, to France;* 
Some ridiculous stipulations were made for ob- 
taining indemnities for the Grand Master at the 

Con- 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPAUTE; 5I4S* 

Con|;res$ of Rastadt, and for assigning to each of: 
the knights a paltypension of i^even hundred livres* 
(29/.^terling). Buonaparte, as usual, acconnnb*' 
dated the new acquisition With a constitution on 
the French model ; and, having plundered the 
kland, again proceeded towards his final destina^ 
tion. Before heset sail, however, he put into rc^ 
quisition all Maltese sailors, and one hundred and 
ten young Maltese knights, all sons or relatives 
of emigrated French noblemen who were in the 
^ army of Conde, or in the Austrian or English ser-^ 
vice. They were distributed atriong the rdpiibU-' 
can crews of different ships} and, in. the aftion at 
Aboukir, many oC them were killed orwdUnded 
in fighting with men and for a cause wbi^b di^. 
alike detested. Twenty-two of these nnfoittunate 
young men were blown ttp in the L*Orlei^, one 
of whom was a Chevalier dc St. Leger, Irom La 
Vendee, whose father had been killed in the armyi 
of Conde, whose brother was butchered at Quibe- 
ron, and whose uncle had been shot as a Chouan. * 
On the 1st of inly, Buonaparte with all his 
forte appeared before Alexandria, being only twd 
days after liord Nelson had quitted that station. 
Apprehensive that Fortune might yet desert him^ 
and the English fleet return to frustrate his epos- 

T yi fffiffj 
m2 



^M. BIYOLUtlONAKy PLUTARCH. 

iatbns^ Buona{>arte hasdly dSSsfted a hndtng of 
dbotit four thoosand dirce hundred men at Ma^ 
Mboo. Althongh dys place was onl j two leaguiss 
from Alexandria» the French found no opposi- 
tion from the natives ; not even a piece of artil* 
Uty WM planted for prote£B<m. Having subse- 
quently augmented the number landed to up- 
wards^ of twenty-five thousand, they advanced in 
pbtoons against the city> and reached it unop- 
posed, except by a few Mamelukes, who, hover- 
uig around, cut off stragglers, and fought a few 
slight a^d partial skirmishes. 

He began» before any attack was made on 
iikxtuidria^ by circulating a printed address to 
hh army) in which, after obsei^ng that the Ro- 
ttiaas protedkcd all rdigiom, he requited the 
soldiery to treat the ^^ Muftis and Imans of 
Africa mtb tbf tame rtsptSt that they had ex-^ 
kibited towards the bishops and rabbins of Eu** 
fope.*' He also transmitted three proclamations^ 
prepared beforehand, and dated on board the 
lag-ship ; the first to the Pacha of Egypt, stating, 
^ that he was come to put an end to the exaSions 
^ ike Mamelukes i^ and inviting his Highness, 
V&.the oriental style, '^ to meet and curse along 
wil^him.the imfitAts race of Beys.V The se- « 
tendinis addressed to the ^hief of the caravan ; 

and 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, 245 

and tl^e last to the inhabitants : in thii he had 
the impudence to assert, " that he was com€ to 
r4scui tbf rights if the pmit from the hands of 
their tyrants ^ and added, with his usuai hypoi* 
critical cant, '^ that the French respeit^ more thftH 
the Mamelukes, Coi^ His P&ophct, and nm 
Koran." 

« Cadis, ShiekS) Imam, ChitbadfeesP comi'- 
nued he, " tell the peofde that ire are thefriend$ 
0/ true Mussulmen. Did we not dethrone the 
Pope^ who jM'eached that it was necessary td 
make war againiK the true believers P Did we 
not destroy the Knights of Malta, because those 
foolish men thought that God wished hostilities 
to be .perpetually carried oh against those of 
your faith ?" After stating, " that dl towns 
and vitiages which might arm against the FrencK 
should he hsrnt^ he commanded erery cme'ta 
temain in his house, enjoined prayers to be said 
as usual, and concluded with <* Glory to the SuU 
tan. Glory to the French army^ his PRIEN1>9^' 
ettrsiS to the Mamelukes, znd happiness to the 
people of £gypt/' It is hxtdfy possible to point 
6ut any page of ancient or mddoii history, where 
impttdeace is more «»iited with falsehood, de^ 
cq)tion and imposture with atheism and politic 
6at treaetkery* Buonapaite, Accompanied by hi« 
jlS staff. 



246 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

$taff|headed the advanced guard marching against 
Alexandria^ a defenceless city, the property and 
possession of one of the most ancient allies of . 
France* General Bonn c^mtnanded the cplus^ 
on the. right ; that in the Centre was led by Ge- 
neral Kleber ; virhile the re^, under General Me- 
noU} proceeded along the sea coast. Alexandria 
«ra$ garrisoned i5y ^bout five .hundred unskil-. 
ful Janissaries ^ and the remaining inhabitantSx 
in the forts, and on the tops, of houses, waited 
the attack. It hafs been ^issertedy but v^itbout 
any 'proofs that J^^exandria was summoned |. 
but the people answered only by the shouts of 
the garrison and the- inhabitants, and .b^ ^me: 
cannon shot. The French had not yet land^ 
their ordnance ; but the defences of Alexandria 
were ^o weak as to forbid all fear. Bi|on»r 
parte, .there§>re, braveFy gave orders Jo beat a. 
fharge; andtheFr^cfa, advancing tovrards. the 
xraHs, prepared to sczic them. While the g€r. 
nerals ai|d privates wer<^ attempting to reach th^ 
summit,. Klebef ireceived a Invisket shot in* t^ 
head, and Menou was thrb^^ ttok fronx tht pa^ 
rapet, covered wiA <mtusionsi but the. walla 
9H:re,* notwithstandii%, soon covered with rtr 
publicans, while the besieged . fled. Here b^gan 
^scpsic of horror and €amage»\co|niiiand?4 bjl 

the 



NAPOLEONB BUONAPARTE. 247 

the sanguinary and barbardos poUcy of Buona* 
parte^ which would hardly be credible, had it 
liot been authenticated by the original letters of 
the French generals, intercepted by our cruisers, 
and made public by our government* iVfter the 
butchery of every person on the walls or m the 
streets, all houses were forced md entere4» and 
neither age. nor sex spared. Trusting to the pro* 
claimed rapeS of Buonaparte for their Prophet^ 
numbers of Mussulmen took refuge in ditir sa» 
cred mosques^ but the r^ublicans pursued them 
with the rage of cannibals : men and women, (dd 
and young, children at the breast, all were inhu* 
manly murdered without resistance^ as well as 
without pity; and these bloody transaftions laat^ 
ed four hours ; when at last these hnprovirt cf 
the happiness of mankind^ glutted with massacre^ 
desisted. 

From the manner ia which the capture of 
Alexandria by Buonaparte is narrated byper^ 
sons, not interested ito impart &)se .inipres^an% 
it is beyond a doubt, because it is positively sdE^ 
£rnied, that this city was not summonedy in or* 
der to found a fM-etence for storming it, and thus 
striking terror intp the intended vi^ms df Buo- 
jpaparte's perfidy and barbarity.' In sm intcr-> 
cepted letter from the French Adjmant-generaf 
M4» ' Boyer, 



248 REVOLUllONASY PLUTARCH. 

Buyer, addressed to General Kilmabc, are the 
following paragraphs * : — " We began by making 
an assault upon a place without any defence^ and 
garrisoned by about 500 Janxssariesi of whom 
scarce a man knew how to level a musket. I aU 
iude to Alexandria, a huge and wretched skel&p- 
ton of a place, open on every side^ and most cer* 
Uinly very unable to resist the eSbrss of 25fiQO 
inen^ who attacked it at the same in^:ant. We 
Ipst, liotwithstanding, 150 xnen, whom we tmg^ 
iave preserved by tmly sumsnoning the town ^ but it 
was thought necessary to begin by striking terror 
into the enemy/* 

Poaseavion of Alexandria having been thus ob« 
tained, iihe French commander, the Corsiean 
'Buonapart^ issncd another proclamation among 
Ibc aaseraUe sunimf of massacre, axq^menting 
and improving upon bis former ones, and which 
mli stgnalize to all ' ages^ his cooten^t of divine 
jnalitotidns; a proclamatioa desigiled, uadeubt- 
iKttyf as ft trick to a|lure the <!0nfidence of the 
natives; faii| which, whenever viewed »|ipQitiaI^ 
^ ly, muft Mink iota the most dagrading coxt^fxvfk 
thi^ cbaraAer of .that military adventurer, who^ m 
a piratkai punniit hi ftoLnier, not only .c0ln^ut-- 
' ' ■ * > 
* S«e iBtftrccfttj Coirupendeact, vol. i. No. xsi* 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 749 

ted the most unprincipled barbarities, butvolm^ 
tarily announced the renunciation of his faiths 
' which, even when done through compukipo^ 
stamps on the delinquent tte name of rencgado,; 
and is justl)' considered aaihe last t^at of a de« 
praved jniod, as devoid odf reUgtody virtue, and^ 
integrity, as incapable of honour. In this pro-. 
clamation, ** he expressly denies Jesus Christ j"^ 
affirming, <^ that he himself, hia generals, ofH-' 

^ eers, and soldiers, are true profeSiBors. of Islato* 
ism^ who adore andhonour the piophet Maho* 
met aod his holy Kor^i"^ that ^.a» » Mussul- 
man, he had overturn^ d>e throne of tbfe ChrM 
ftian Pope, visited Malta, and drove out the un«i 
believers from that island.' 

From this period^ until his defeat before Acre,- 
iin the spring of 1799, except iti some skirmisl^e* 
which he decorated with the apfifeUatioii of bfttn 
ties, Buonaparte had. no regular encxtj tb 6am 
counter, no armies to combat ; soaic sfaroUiiig 
Mamelukes^ or Axabs^ were bis only fees. . To 
jhdjge rightly^' rhei'efore, of tHe feom&astk de« 
scripdons of his battle of tkt Pyiaiikk^ iwdr 
others^ amptber' passage €tom the kbove-qiM»te4 
letter is useful ^nd pifopex^ to be ^xtrafied ; a» 
the conipttency of the wiiter> r»'goaerslI;Q9m-. 

^munic'ittini^ his- sto^mkntStWadr,,apbm^$ te anw 
u 5 other 



200 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

other gener^ cannot be questioned.. Its date- 
at Cairo, Julj 28th, 1798, proves it posterior to 
all ^ngi^ments lor the possession of Lower 
Egypt. ** Oar entrance into Grand Cairo," 
says General Boyer, will doubtless excite that 
. siensation at home which every extraordinary 
event is calculated ta~ produce ; but wh^ you 
come to know the kind of enemy that we had 
to combat, the Kitle firt they employed against usy 
and' tie petfeSt nuHky of all their measures^ our 
expedkiom and our vi^bries will appear to yom* 
very common things. ^ After this (the assault o£ 
Alexandria^ we marched against the Mame- 
lukes; a people highly celebrated among the 
Egyptians for their bravery. This raiUe-(l can-^ 
not call them soldiers), tviicb has not the most 
drifting idea rf taSicSy and which inoH^s nothing^ 
if war but ithe Hood that is spilt in it^ appeared, 
for the first time opposed to our army on the 
12th of July. 

• *< Ffom the first* dawn of day,, they nuute a: 
general display of their, forces, which straggled 
vottpd and round our army, like so many cattle r 
sometimes galloping, and sometimes pacing, i& 
groups of ten, fifty, a hundred, &c After some 
time, they made several attempts, in a style equally 
fidi^uhm and .curioiiiii to break in^ipop us ; but 
M finding 



NAPGLEONE BUONAPARTE. 2*1 

finding every where a resistance which they pro- 
bably did not expefty they spent the day in 
keeping us exposed to the fury ^f a burning suik 
Had Hve bken a little mare enterprutffg ibis daj^ I 
ihhik their fate w^uld havej^eeh decided s bat Ge» 
neral Buonaparte temporiaed, that hemsght make 
a trial of his enemy, and become ^acquainted 
with their manner <^ fighUng* 

'^ This day ended with the refreaC of the 
Mamelukes, tvbo jcarcefy hsi\five.4md tvMt9fy.mem, 
We continued our mai^ vp.th^ Nik ttU the 
21st, which ,wa& the day tl^t put' a foal ter- 
agination to the. power of this Maitekikcs in 
Egypt. -^ : 

*^ Fottr thousand nun on horseback, baving 
each a groom or two, bore down k>trq>idiy w% 
a numerous army ef veUrans 9 their charge wa» 
an a£t of fury, ' rage, and despair. They atr 
tacked Dessaix and Regnier first. The soldiers 
of these divisions received them with ste;Mlincii9» ' 
and, at the distance o£ only.ten pace% opened a 
running fire open :diaa»'«l^ch bioii^t down 
nfH hundred arid fifty. They t^n. .feil i^Kto 
Boon's. divisito^ which recohred thm in At 
same mannier. ^ In short, aftei;;i mwiber i^. ua<^ 
availing efforts, they made off \ and, carrying 
with th(em all th^ir treasures^ togk sbeker m 
M 6 Upper 



asS REYOLUnONARY PLUTARCIT. 

Upper Egypt. The ftruit of this viSory was Grand 
CaiirOr wbere we have been ever since the evening 
oftlw;22d.*' 

Not covQtihg those who perished in ^the mas>^ 
sacre at Alexandria, from this official letter we 
learn, that namo» than one hcmdred andseventy«> 
five eiii*mies were killed by the French in those 
briliiata viHorits ^ifth a 'numerous army of vett- 
funsj ov^ fimr thousmid inixperumei Mamelukes^ 
^which made diem masters of one of ^e most fer- 
tile countries in- the world* 

At Ci£ro, Btioiiaparte mingled the toSs neces- 
sary for the maintenance of Us situation with 
those exhibitions and pursuits which were calcu- 
lated to captivate the ^people of France, by ac- 
counts of their vofam:^tenis and manners ex- 
tending themselves fo new regions ; while the 
people qS. the eountry were to be at once ast<K 
nishedy tcrH^ed, and overawed, the rigour of 
nitiKfary discipline, vbe privation of every species 
ofiibeiiHy and prbpertys the violation of fbmales^ 
atod'th^CllMtfKiiiig'df thentflives, were accompa** 
nied by pretexts of paying devoted homage to Ma^ 
liomet ; and thi&degradirig hypocrisy was carried 
to such an extent, that Buonaparte himself after 
iMiing seveoal profiine 'and ridiculoos-prQcbm»^ 
liottSi wiwAHUnfipe^pienflydisdngaifl^ 
'••;/* name 



NArOLEONTE BUONAPARTE. 2S3^ 

name of All Beside die mingled and absurd 
forms of French revoltitionary jurisprudence^ with 
their concomitant buffi>oneries and disguises, the 
fyeof^e of Egypt witnessed with aslohisbctienr, 
* efforts to counteract their very natures, to 'bring 
into sub^eAion the fierce and uiicomrolktble 
Mameluke, fix the wandering and independent 
Arab, and urge into afHvity the indolent andun^ 
inquisitive Copt. Under pretext of augmenting 
the prod«ce of commerce and agricolttite, all 
-sorts of propcrt)r> and the produce 6f cfery sfo^ 
ciesi of industry, were laid *t the mercy of the 
rapacious French 5 who, while In possession' of 2^ 
that the land eotild'afl^d, were yetin ivant cF 
most necessaries, and who extended far and vfidfe 
the reign of misery, ^ho1lt^ being able to restue 
themselves from Its oppressive grasp." * i 

While to occupy, the of&er3 and soldi^er^ 
fortifications were ordered to be c^hstpilAed at 
£a]ahich, Balbeis, Rosetta, and Damietta, estsfr- 
blishments were formed whidi gave employnftcnt 
to themnneroos cprps^of 54r«axlr wiKa^mendsfl' 
the army. An institution was formed at Cairo^ 
on the model of that at Pavisf a Ubsary.waii a$U 
liBed from the plunder of those of Eurapt^^ and4 
chemical labomtory was ^cj%ed, as^iwell'forige* 
heral- purposes^ a$ for the more peculiar motive 

of 



254 jREVOLUtlOXARY^PLUTARClT. 

of purifying saltpetre, to furnish the army with 
guopdwder. Hydraulic machines were con- 
^truAedy and even estaUishedj to relieve the 
wants of tke soldiery; tior w«as it forgotten to 
givcLtheqi themeans of drowning their cares^ by 
extra£ltng from the date a strong liquor, simQar 
in its efl^As to brandy. These operations, ex- 
-cept the strufhire of ovens,, were nwre fitted to 
' captivate the imagination than to satisfy the 
judgment. Libi'aries and laboratories,: sakpetre 
and brandy, were slender consolations to men^ 
who saw-thcir . clothes perishing, without a pos- 
sibility of their being restored ; fornoart was 
found to manuia^r^ broad-doth, and the army 
began to fear that they were doomed to absolute 
nakedness. What <bmf!oit could the leAures of 
the National Institute, or the declamations of 
tragedians, some few boixr; presence in an aca- 
demy or at a play-hou$e> afford to men, in whose 
mmds curiosity was extinguishecl by distress;» 
and ^o whose hearts np other sentiment could 
find a passajge, than an ardent and imcontrollablf 
, desire tcrrevisit their native shore% from which 
they were destined, as they conceived, to hope*- 
exUe ? . 
In this state, no&ii^ hut eager exertieti could 
, . . ; prcycm 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 255 

prevent total languor ; and therefore every cir- 
cumstance which could excite inquiry, or afFord 
a pretext for pompous exhibition^ or which had 
an appearance of promoting science^ or fH*eserv- 
ing a worthy memoriaL of the expedition^ was 
eagerly embraced. 

At the period of the inundation of the Nile, 
Buonaparte, wkh accustomed pcnnp, made the^ 
cut in the dyke which conveys the water to Cai« 
ro; and the flow inta the canal of Alexandria 
presented an opportunity, which was judiciousl]^ 
seized by Kleber, ef transporting the artillery by 
water to Gizeh/ General Andrcossy sounded 
the Pelusian mouths of the Nile, the roads of 
Dainietta, the Boghass, and Cape Boyau, as well 

as the Dibeh nK)uth ; entered the Lakse Mens^ 

•J 

kh, where he overcame the resislaace »of the 
Arabs, who opposed him with a hundred a^d 
' thirty of the Egy^itn craft, calkd JgirrAs i 
constru Aed a map of the Ijake, and measBre4 
with the chain the circumference of the. coasti 
over an a^tent of forty-five tfaonsand <£Kthoms^ 
determined the bearings o£ the islands^- ani^'iiSW 
covered the ruins of Tincb* of the aticiesi^Eelvf-*^ 
sium, and of Farama. Having ^eefoi^^'t^ 
operation^ he returned to Cairo 4 aiid^^lp^^ 



25(J ItEVOLUTIONAinr PLUTARCH. 

«ct out| attended by the savan Berthollet, to sup*^ 
vey the Lakes of Natron^ trhere he acqtiitted 
.himself with the same diligenee and success. 

\^\ the other Savans- who accompanied Buo-» 
naparte^^were engaged in pursuits of greater or 
lesser importance, according to their powers i 
^me ascertained points, in geography, surveyed 
canals, and made drawings of buildings and mo» 
numents ; others made collections and investiga* 
dons for natural history, amitrmiiei 'windmills^ 
arranged a/mamacis, and even composed a jour<» 
naL 

. During these transaAions, General Dessaix,^ 
in pursuance of the direAiiMis^ of Buonaparte,. 
w!iged sm active and prosperous war against 
Mourad Bey, in Upper Egypt; altJK»ugh his en- 
terprise wa& as dangerous as his proceedings were 
, languinary. 

It is impibssiUe to ascertain) how far the peo-i^ 
pie had been, deceived by^uonaparte's l^ypocrisy,. 
into aar opinion ^kat he was tie friend of tfjeiff 
Sovereign^ and x zeabui prosdyU to their reli- 
gion^ but on the2)st^£OfiK>ber, 1798, imme^ 
^tely on the appearance of tlie/r^^ d^clarin^ 
him an enemy to the Vorto, an insurrection broke 
fot, thougl^wltfaour any apparent: plan ov sy^ 
lem of operation* The assembling of the people, 

their ^ 



NAPOLEONE BUO?}APARTE. 2sr 

their discourse, and their menaces, excited neither 
curiosity nor apprehension, till they began to at* 
tackiand plunder the dwellings of the French. 
The principal meeting was before a mosque ; and 
^General Dupuy, advancing at the head of a fiOiaB 
troop to disperse them^ was sl^in^ with ;ali bifc 
failowevt : a few French were killed m the streeisi 
but on the beating of the generate themaia 
body flew to arms 5 the streets were soon cleared^ 
the people took refuge in their mosques^ the 
doors of which Buonaparte ordered to be forced, 
and the, buildings fired; an immense and indis^ 
criminate slaughter followed', J^'^^-f i^ndfies njoetf^ 
etiike tseterminated^ to glut the vindiftite fury of 
the republicans: the horrible illumination, xxxa* 
fiioned by the burning of part of the city ; the 
firing of artillery from the citadel^ the s(»1^am. 
and grosmd of pec|>le of all ciasees^ sei^s\ and 
eges, hggifig ih vain fir qOarter^ and the furioufc^ ^ 
shouts by which the French rallied fiind encou^ 
i^ed eacfi .otherj formed a combination of hor^ 
xors, which, in modem Warfare, seldom occtnfSL 
Quarter was at last tardMy and reluAantly grwt*-^ 
'e4 by Buonaparte ; the city re;c5vered a. gl6omy' 
^Ijmqttilliiy : but the most ferocious and rigorottfe 
teeasurcs were pursued for preventing ifuture in^ 
turre^^ons. x 

This 



259 REVOLUTIONARr PLUTARCH. 

This event occurred before Boonaparte had 
made his survey of the Isthmus of Suez \ and 
whUc he was engaged io that research^ he learned 
that Dgessar Pacha had seized and fortified the 
iort of El-Arish, and received such further inteK 
ligence as left him no longer in doubt of the 
hostile intentions of the Porte. Fursuiog his 
accustomed policy, of assailing his opponents 
before they could become strong by union> and 
formidable by preparation, Buonaparte arrange<^ 
without loss of time> a plan for attacking Dgez^ 
2ar, setting apart for. that purpose twelve thou- 
sand men, well supported with suck artillery as 
could be transported according to exigency. H^ - 
divided this force into£ve columns, under Kleber^ 
Regnier, Lasnes, Bonn, and Murat; and>^ having 
iastniAed his admiral, Peree, to embark heavy 
artillery on board three frigates ^ for Jafia, and 
taken precautions for securing the tranquillity 
of Cairo, prepared to head the expedition ; him^ 
self. Before his departure, hypocrisy? apostacy> 
^theism, and fanaticism^ were a^ijcL resorted to» 
as political measures to keep the ignorant natives 
quiet and submissive* The inhabitsmts of tjhe 
f^apital, if not more loyal, had, since the latr 
butchery, become more obedient to their n^w 
chief} who endeavoured to deceive and role t^ns 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 25y 

by means of their prejudices ; and, for this pur- 
pose, not only recurred ta the dodlrim of fatalit^^ 
but Avished to mstil a belief of his immediate if>r 
tercourse with- the divinity. In an address, to thfi 
'^ Cherifs, Imans, and Orators of the Mosque^' 
Buonaparte enjoined them to inculcate in. tl^ 
minds of the people, *^ that those who became 
his enemies should find m refuge either ^m this 
fvorU or the next J* 

** Is there a man so Nind," says he, [* as not 
to see that all my operations are tonduQed hg 
distiny? Instni^ the inhabitants, thai; ever 
since the world has existed, it was written^ that 
after having overcome the enemies of Islamism> 
and destroyed the Crossy I should come from the 
furthest parts of the ,west to fulfil the task.whie)i 
has been inD|)osed upon me. Make them se^ 
tliat> in tt^ second book of the Koran, in more 

. than twenty passages, that which has iiappene^ 
.was foreseen, and that which shall take placp 
has also been explained \ let those, then, whom 

. the fear of out arms alone prevents from prOf 
nouncing imprecations,, now change their dispo- 
sitions \ for in offering prayers to heaven against 
usy they solicit their own condemnatidn ; let the 
true believers then present vows for our success : 
/ cmld call to account each individual among you 

for 



360 REVOLUnONARV PLUTAHCH, 

for the most secret sentiments of his' heart t for 1 
inow every thingi even that which you never com-^ 
tnunkated to any person^ and the day will come 
when all the world shall witnesSf that, e^ laS in 
consequence rf orders from above, human efforts are 
-of no avail against me.'*^ 

After this sacrilegious farce, he prepared to set 
9et ont for Syria, In addition to the already 
mentioned generals, Daumartin was appokited 
to command the artillery, and General CafFarelli 
to superintend the engineers^ after which h^ 
fave erdars (or the troops tp< commence thek 
jnarcfe. 

■ On the 10th of February^ 1799, Buonaparte 
left Cairo for £1-Arish, which, notwithstanding^ 
the advantages ri^its sitxiation„ made but a ftehle 
defence Re^er and Kleber had taken the ^U 
la^, and blockaded the "fbrt, beftH'e the arrival 
ef Bton^^rte, who,, after a,^bort cannonade, on 
the 25th following, compeHed the garrison to 
-surrender, on condition of retiring to Bagdat^ 
and through the Desert. Having left Regilier's 
division to fortify and secure this conquest, which 
IS considered the key of Egypt, the French, 
marched through the Desert to attack Gaza«L 
TheMamclukcs constantlyrctreated before th»A^ 
and the inhabitants of the city^ at dieir approach^ 



NAfOLEONE BUONAPAllTE. :Wl 

<m the 28tk, sent deputies to meet arid offer 
them unmolested possession. This peaceful sur- 
render was peculiarly fortunate for Buonaparte 
and his troops, whose convoys of provisions from 
Cathieh had not been able to keep up with him; 
as they found in Gaza sixteen thousand pounds 
of powder, a great quantity of cartouches and 
ammunition, and some artillery, besides a hun- 
dred thousand rations of biscuit, rice, tents, and 
a large supply of barley. Buonaparte spent two 
days in the civil and military organization, as he 
called it, of the place> forming a divan of the 
principal inhabitants; and then prosecuted his 
route toward Jaffa. 

The way to this town, anciently called Joppat 
"" is across an immense plain, covered with hillocks 
of moring sand, which the cavalry traversed with 
dtfficidty» and the camels slowly and painfully 
proceeded $ and for abouit three leagues it was ne« 
cessary to treble the teams to the artillery. Hordes 
of Arabs hovered round the armyj without, how« 
ever, doing any injury; and the advanced guardf 
under Elleber, reached the town on the third 
day. 

Jaflla was found to be surrounded by a wall 
without ditches, flanked by good toners count- 
ing canuDOv Two forts defended i^p port and -' 

the 



2(53 REVOLUTIONAliy PLUTARCH. 

the roady and it appeared wdl armed. Tbt glur^ 
rison having retired within the pbce, the main 
attack was made on the south side. The whole 
army having come up, and batteries being esta- 
blished, a pra^icable breach was soon eSeded, 
and on the 7th of March the town was taken br 
assault. 

• As the efforts of impudence, and sophistry of. 
rebellion, have been employed in indireA denials, 
or futile palliations, of the many atrocious deeds 
committed by Buonaparte in this city and in its 
neighbourhood, an extraft from fhe work, of an - 
author, as able as loyal, as instru£tive as an his^^ 
torian as brave and distinguished as a warrior, 
will silence the faflious, convince the dubious, 
and exhibit to present and future ages in his true 
charader, a man who, to the eternal disgrace of 
the French nation, after murdering, drowning, 
and poisoning several thousand French soldiers 
and citizens,- is suffered to remain the cruel un« 
restrained tyruut over thirty millions of French- 
menw 

* ** General Hutchinson- was very angry with 
the Turks for still continuing the praftice of 
mangling and cutting off the heads of the prU 
soners; and the Captain Pacha, at his remon«» 
strance, issued again very severe orders against- 



1 



mas 
As 

I nev 

beii 

the 

ted 

tcr 

pr< 

da 

th 

nc 

o\ 

t\ 



h 
s 
n 

S' 

I 
\ 



NAPOLEONfi BUONAPARTE. 26$ 

It; but tlie Turks justified themselves for the 
massacre of the French by the massacre at Jafia* 
As this adbj and the poisoning of the sick, have 
never been credited, because of such enormities 
being so incredibly atrocious, a digression to au!> 
thenticate them may not be deemed intrusively 
tedious 5 and had not the influence of power in- 
terfered, the a6t of accusation would have been 
preferred in a more solemn manner, and the 
damning proofs produced by penitent agents of 
these murders; but neither menaces, recompense, 
nor promises, can altogether stifle the cries of 
♦ outraged humanity, and the day for the retribu- 
tion of justice is only delayed, 

<* Buonaparte having carried the town of Jaffa 
by assault, many of the garrison were put to the 
sword; but the greater part flying into the 
mojsqu^s, and imploring mercy from their pur- 
suers, were granted their lives; and let it be well 
remembered, that an exasperated army in Ihe 
moment of revenge, when the laws of war justi- 
fied their rage, yet heard the voice of pity, re- 
ceived its impression, and proudly refused to be 
aay. longer the executioners of an unresisting 
enemy. Soldiers of the Italian army, this is a 
laiircl wreath worthy of your fame, a trophy, of 

which 



t04 RJEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH- 

the subsequent treasoa of an iodividuajl $h»li not 
<)q>rive you I 

"Three days afterwards Buonaparte^ who had 
expressed xauch resentment at the. compassion 
iiuBiifbsted by his troops, and determined to re<- 
Here himself from the maintenaR<:e and care 
of three thousand eight hundred prisoners*, or- 
dered them to be marched to a rising ground 
near Jaffa, where a division of French infantry 
formed against them. When the Turks had 
cnterqd into their fatal alignment, and the 
mournful preparations were completed, the sig- 
nal gun fired. Vollies of musquetry and grape 
instantly played against them ; and Buonaparte, 

who 

* •• Bttonaparte had in person previously" inspcdei the whole 
body, amounting to near five thousand men, with the objeft of 
se'vtfv^ those whd belonged to the town* i^at he* wa» j^epa^iag to . 
4tt4ck. The agr and noble physio|;nony ofa.yeteraa Janiuw^ at- 
tra^ed his observation, and he asked him sharply, * Old man, 
^ihai did you do here t* The JansJary, undaunted, repliedf, • I 
muftt answer that question by asktog yois th« same ; your tatmtg 
will be, that you came to serve yonr Sukan i so «114 1 mine*' Xhn - 
intrepid f^ailkness of the reply excited vniveftAl interest >q his fa- 
vour. Boonaparte even smiled—* He is saVed,' whispered'foide oi 
ihe aidea»dc^cam{s. * You know not Bt]Dnapirle,!i'o1^md oM 
who bad setvcd with him in Italy*-* that smile, .1 speak (i^m cx^ 
perience, does not proceed from the sentiment of benevolence; re*. 
member .what I say.» The opinion was too true. -The J4xaiSirf 
was leftia the raokt doomed to deaths and suffered/' 




i^47l^7U^ '^^M4^ '3-^^;^^^^/.^^ //> 



(^^OTZ/ ^^^rs^Ttoj 




'^J^^^^yLJ9^7m/4/^y^^. 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 265 

who had been regarding the scene through a te- 
lescope, when he saw the smoke ascendmg» 
•could not restrain his joy, but broke out into 
■exclamations of approval ; indeed, he had just 
reason to dread the refusal of his troops thus to 
<iishonour themselves. Kleber had remonstrated 
in the most strenuous manner, and the officers of 
the Etat Major who commanded (for the general 
to whom the division belonged was absent), 
«ven refused to execute the ord^ without a^ 
written instruftion; but Buonaparte was too 
cautious, and sent Berthier to enforce obedi- 
ence. • 

" When the Turks had all fallen, the French 
troops humanely endeavoured to put a period to 
the sufferings of the wounded ; but some time 
elapsed before the bayonet could finish what the 
fk-e had not destroyed, and probably many lan- 
guished days in agony. Several French officersj 
by whom partly these details are furnished, de- 
clared that this was a scene, the retrospcft of 
which tormented their reeoUeftion, aAd that 
tiiey could not refledl on it without horror, 
accustomed as they had been to sights of 
cruelty; 

'** These were the prisoners whom AssalihJ, 
in his very able work on the plague, alludes to, 

VOL. JT. N when ' 



266 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

when he says, that for three days the Turks 
shewed no symptoms of that disease, and it was 
their putrifying rcmaiils which produced the 
pestilential malady, which he describes 'as after- 
wards making such ravages in the French army. 

*^ Their bones still lie in heaps, and are shewn 
to every traveller who arrives : nor can they be 
confounded with those who perished in the as- 
sault, since,this:field of butchery lies a mile fjtom . 
the town, ^ , 

'* Such a fa£l should not, however, be alleged 
without some proof, or leading circumstance 
stronger than assertion, being produced to sup- 
port it J but there would be a want of generosity 
in naming individuals, and branding theni to the 
latest posterity with infamy, for obeying a com- 
mand, when their submission became .an a£l of 
necessity, since the whole, army did not mutiny 
against the execution; t{icrefore, to establish 
further the authenticity pf the relation, tliis only 
can bie mentioned, that it was Bonn's division 
which fired, and thus every one is afforded an 
opportunity of satbfying themselves respefting 
the truth, by inquiring of officers serving in the 
different brigades composing this division. 

" The next circumstance is of a nature which 
requires indeed the most particular details to 

establish^ 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, TG? 

establish, since the idea can scarcely be ciitciv 
taincd, that the commander of an army should 
©rder his own countrymen (or if not immediately 
such, those amongst whom he had been natura* 
lized) to be deprived of existence, i;frhen ina state 
which required the kindest consideration. But 
the annals of France record the frightful crimes 
of a Robespierre, a Carriere^^nd historical truth 
must now recite one equal to aiiy which has 
blackened its page. 

^' Buonaparte, finding that his hospitals at Jafiit 
were crowded with Sick, sent for a physician, 
whose name should be inscribed in letters of gold, 
but which, for wdighty reasons, cannot be here 
inserted : on his arrival he entered into a long 
conversation with him respefting the danger of 
contagion, concluding at last with the remark, 
that something must be done to remedy' the evil, 
, and that the destruftion of the sick at present in 
the hospital was the only measure which could 
be adopted. The physician, alarmed at the pro- 
posal, bold in the confidence of virtue and the 
cause of humanity, remonstrated vehemently, 
representing the cruelty as well as the atrocity 
of such a murder j but finding that Buonaparte 
persevered and menaced, he indignantly left the 
icntj with this memorable cbicrvation ; * Net* 
• N 2 * the 



268 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

tlicr wy principles) nor th« cl>ara<J\er of my pro- 
fession^ wiil allow me (q b^cmx: at hiunan but* 
cher } and> General, if auch qualities as you insi-' 
luiate are Dccessary to £»rm a great man, I thank 
my God that I da not possess them.' 

** Buon^arte was not to be diverted from his 
objeA by mor»r ^k^siderations ; he persevered,, 
and found an apothecary who (dreading the 
veiight of power, but who since has made an 
atonement to his mind by unequivocally confess** 
log the faA) cQliseilted to become hb agent, and 
tjo administer poison to the sick. Opium at 
anight was. distributed in gratifying food ; the 
wretched unsuspecting vi^ms banqueted ; and 
in a few hours five hundred and eighty soldiers, 
who had suffered so much for their country, pe-* 
rished thus miserably by the order of its idol. 

" Is there a Frenchman whose blood does not 
chill with horror at the recital of such afaft ! 
Surely the manes of these murdered unoffending 
people must be now hovering round the seat of 

government, and •••«...•••. r. 

** If a doubt should still exist as to the vera- 
city of this statement, let the Members of the 
^Institute at Cairo be asked what passed in their 
sitting afier the returii of Buonaparte from Sy- 
ria: they will relate, that the same virtuous 



KAPOLEONE BUONAPABTE. adf 

■physician who rcftised to become the destroyer 
of those committed to his proteftion, accused 
Buonaparte in the full asscmhly of high treason 
ttgainst th^ honour ^f France, her chifajren, and 
humanity; that he catered into the fuii details 
of the poisoning of the sick^ and the massacre 
of the garrison, aggravating these crimes by 
charging Buonaparteiyith strangling previouslj, 
at Rosetta, a number of French ^nd Copt«^ who . 
jwrere ill of the plague j thus proving that this 
disposal of his sick was a premeditated plan» 
which he wished to introduce intd general prac- 
tice** In vain Buonaparte attempted to justify 
himself; the members sat petrified with terror,^ 
amd ahnost doubted whether the scene passing 

before 

* ** Buonaparte pleaded, that he ordered the garrison to be de* 
ttroyed, because he had not provisions to maintain them, or strengtit 
enough to guard them ; and that it was evideat if they escaped 
they would a£t against the French,, since among the prisoners were 
five hundred of the garrison of £1-Arish, who had promised not to 
serve again (they had been compelled, in passing throagh. Jaffa, By 
the commandant ta serve] ;'and that he destroyed the sick to pre. 
vent contagion, and save theipselves from falling into the hands o£ 
the Turks. But these arguments,, however specious, were refuted 
dire£lly,.and Buonaparte was at last obliged to rest his defence on 
the positions of MachiaveL When he afterwards left Egypt, the 
Savans were so angry at being left behind, contrary to promise, that 
they eleded the physician President of the IjistiCutc ;,aD a<^ whi«b 
spoke for itself fully, •» 

■ N..a ' 



^fO REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

before their eyes was not illusion. Assuredly aH 
these proceedings i^ill not befocind in the minutes 
of the Institute; no, Buonaparte's policy foresaw 
the danger,'and power produced the erasure. But 
let no man^ calculating on the force of circutn- 
stances^ which may prevent such an avowal as is 
solicited, presume on this to deny the whole ; 
there are records which remain, and wliich in 
due season will be produced.^ In the interim^ 
this representation will 'be sufficient to stimulate 
inquiry; and. Frenchmen, your honour is indeed 
interested in the examination. 

'* Let us hope also, that in no country will 
there be found another man of such Machiavelian 
principles, as by sophistry to palliate those trans- 
aftioils; nor must the judgment abuse itself by 
bringing to recolleftion the horrors of the French 
Revolution, and thus diminishing the force 

: of those criipes by the frequency of equal guilt 
in France, during her contest for Liberty or 

\Slavery*:' • 

Besides 

* " An anecdote, after what has been said against, should 
however be related, as a proof of the commanding genius of Buo. 
naparte, and will be told as repeated by a Frenchman of high 
consideration. ' Buonaparte, notwithstanding his successes and 
fame, was considered by those who knew him best, as not in bim* 

self • 



XAIOLEOXE BUONAPARTE. ' . 27 1 

Besides these detestable barbarities, the stay 
of the French at Jaffa was distinguished by their 
accustomed vfolence and rapacity; the pillage 'of 

. the 

self possessing the great qualities ascribed to him. We regarded 
him as indebted more to an extraordinary pecaliw good fortui.e, 
forcing irresistible circumstances to bit advantage, than to bis own . 
abilities and exertions. After his disasters and repulse at Acre, our 
opinion was contirmed, and we expedcd to see him return deje61e J, 
Conscious of disgrace, his sham« aggravated by tl.e rccoUcdion of 
liaving sent a messenger with a dispatch, and which was read ;o 
the Institute, in which he expressed himself, ** In three days i 
shall bs in Acre; when you open this, be assured that Dgezxtr 
pacha ii no more." The day before he entered Cairo, we received 
orders, to our astonishment, to prepare illuminations, triumphal 
arches, &c» for -honour to the conquerors of Syria, and of Dgezzar 
Pacha. The troops, who had despondingly anticipated a different 
reception, whos^ murmurs against the man who had pknned their , 
expedition amounted to mutiny, whose expressions even menaced 

. death to him, as an atonement for their seven thousand comrades 
who had perished, saw with surprise the honours paid to them ; 
heard their chief and themselves styled conquerors ; and, in the 
delirium of vanity, forgot their injuries and defeats. The* next 
morning Buonaparte, assured of the intoxication still continuing,' 
assembled his army on ^rade, distributed regards, th^ft moved 
forwards a battalion of grenadiers, whom hp upbraided with having 
refused to make another assault on Acre, and sentenced itlem to 
carry their arms slung behind till their charadler was retrieved. Ic 
was then, said the narrptor, thaCweprodouoced Buonaparte really 
a great man. We confessed his knowledge of human nature, who 
in a few hours could so improve his situation, and reassume his in- 
fluence, as to disgraee those very men, who the day before would, 
'with die applause of their comrades (now approving of their disho*' 

^ nour), Ka.d he uttered it word of censure, have instantly assassinated 

"him." , 

N 4j 



2T2 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCfE ^ 

the natives was so complete, that eveiit women and 
iittle cliildren were robbed of tl>c few ornaments 
that they carried abaut them^ consisting of coins, 
such as paras, sequins, and piastres. The artil- 
lery found in the place consisted of forty pieces of 
cannon, being the field equipage given to Dgez- 
zaT by the Grand Signior/ and twenty iron and 
brass guns nK)unted on the walls. Orders were 
immediately expedited to Alexandria for Peree to 
sail for Jaffa, which was intended to be the port 
and the entrepot of all articles to be received from 
Damietta. and Alexandria* A government, with 
a divan, was speedilv organized j and the com- 
mand of the place consigned to Adjutant-generat 
Grenierj who was afterwards carried off by the 
plague. 

Preparatory to his march for St. Jean d'Acrc> 
Buqnaparte endeavoured to terrify or cajole Dgez- 
zar Pacha by an hypocritical letter, in which he 
affirmed that be had treated tvith generosity such 
troops as surrendered at discretion, though he had 
been severe towards those who violated the rights 
of war, and promised, that as God granted him 
victory, he would, like him, be merciful, not 
. only, toii^ards the people, but towards the greats 
He recommended to Dgezzar to abstain from 
resistance, to become the friend of the French 

* and 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 273 

and the enemy of tkc Mamelukes and the Eng- 
lish ; and " in reward he should be taken //i/fi>^- 
vour, and experience more good than he Had pre- 
viously met with evil." 

This gross deceit was too clumsy to deceive 
even the mpst unsuspicious of men, with the tes-« 
timony of damning and x^ecent fefls to prove how^ 
far every sentiment of honour, mercy, or clemcn-*- 
cy, was from the heart of the writer. Dgezzar 
sent only a brief verbal answer, implying that he- 
would rather bury himself in the hiins of Acre,. 
than suffer it to fall into thehands of Kuonapafte:. 
In expressing this resolution, he was^ encouraged 
. not only by his own force, and the assistance o£" 
the Porte^ but by the unexpe6led aid of the ge- 
nius, judgment, and valour of a British Captain 
and a French Royalist Officer of Engineos; who 
were destined to revive in a i*emote century those 
exploits which, in the days of chivalry, had ren- 
dered St. Jean d'Acre the theme of so much won^ 
der and celebrity.. 

Sir William Sidney Smith, after attaining the- 
rank of Post-Captain in the. British Navy, had,, 
in 1789^ when his country, was at peace, offered: 
his services to the King of Sweden, then at war 
witli Ru^ia, and conduced himself with^ suchh ^ 
distinguished bravery during scver^ aflionrwith^ 
N.5u- tl^C: 



274 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the Russian fileeti that the Grand Cross of the 
Military Order of the Sword was conferred upoa 
him IjyMGastaFus IIL and he became the worthy 
chewt/ier of z gre2Lt king, -justly called leGhevaz. 
Uer des Rsss. The war with France soon after 
^Tiade him as remarkable for his courage as *£br 
]^£^^alents an$ladivity ;. and it was to his care 
that Lord Hood entrusted the patriotic bjit dif- 
ficult task of destroying the fleet in the port o£ 
"^Toulon. - 

BeccHne.^ prisoner to the French in. conse- 
quence of an exertion of personal bravery in the 
port of Havre, he was^ contrary to the -laws of 
war and of civilized nations, by the orders of the 
infamous republican government, imipured iVith- 
inthe wails of the same Temple where so much 
virtue and loyalty had suffered; and every attempt ^ 
for his exchange or. enlargement was rejefted. 
At \ength, however, the gates-were thrown opea 
by friendship, his liberty procured, and his return 
to England facilitated, by means that savour o£ 
romance, rather than; of history. 

Received with applause' and 'admirat ion by all 

his loyal countrymen, and with approbation and 

benevolence by his King, he was appointed to 

the- command of zr small squadron, with which' 

^ he, as commodore, repaired to ConstantinoplCj ^ 

In 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 2T^ 

In conjuiwElion with his brother, then British 
• Minister there, he formed a treaty of alliance 
with the Ottoman Porte •, and, after generously 
procuring the liberation of a number of French 
prisoners, repaired to Egypt. Whilst a Turkish 
army was jweparing to sail for the East, he en- 
deavoured to defer the expedition to Syria by 
bombarding Alexandria; and when he found 
tliat the army was preparing to cross the Desert> 
his friend Pliilipeaux, was sent to the assistance 
of the intimidated Dgezzar Pacha. 

This oiScer is the oiic already mentioned,* as 
, having been bred in the same college with Buo* 
liaparte, the friend of his youth, the companioa 
of his studies and of his amusements* Attached 
to the monarchy from principle, and to the reli* 
gron of his ancestors from convi£^ion,— ^n the 
annihilation of the throne, and the proscriptioa 
ofj Christianity, he appeared in arms in favour of 
his prince against the regicides and, rebels, wbo^ 
under the appcUatipnof .republicans, tyrannized 
over his wfetclied c6untrymen^. It was he who,» 
at the risk of his. life, had rescued Si* Sidney- 
Smith from bondage,, afl^d restored him to hi& 
country. Aftep .accompanying- him to* the Le- 
vant, with the rank of a colonel in the British. 
aeci^icej^ he had been sent into Syrja, and had 
N 6 employed 



276 JIEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

employed all his talents as an able engineer in 
fortifying Acre, so as to resist the efforts of his 
former school-fellow, who had, by crimes, by 
fortune, and by some capacity, become a rc-^ 
"^ nowned and dreaded general. 

The Commodore, who had arrived but two^ 
days before the French, although he perceived 
the works to be not in a very formidable state of 
defence, contributed, with Philipeaux, to soothe 
the fears and encourage the hopes of the Pacha,, 
' who, on seeing the enemy viftorious. every where^ 
had determined to abandon his palace, and seek 
for safety with his women and treasures in a 
more distant situation ; but no sooner did heob-^ 
serve that he was so ably sup{>orted>jhan Dgez-*> 
zar determined to stand a ^ege, and participate^, 
in the glory of stopping the career of the guilty 
and audacious Corsican adventurer. 

N6r was he mistaken either with respeft to. 
the industry or the talents of his new allies 5 foi^ 
the English squadron^ in the course of the next- 
day, discovered, in the neighbourhood of Mount 
Carmel, a corvette and nine sail of gun-boats,, 
laden with artillery and amoiunition,, intended to« 
assist in the reduilion of Acre. Seven vessels^ 
belonging to this flotilla^ containing the greatest 

part 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. Trf 

part of the battering ti:ai», were cagtured j and; 
this fortunate incident contributed much to save* 
the city, as well as to harass the invaders^; foir 
♦he prizes, bsing manned with British 'sailors,, 
were anchored near the town-, and employed in 
hnpeding the enemy's, approaches;, white the ^can- 
non were mounted on ihe ramparts, solas' to an- 
noy that army for which they were intended to 
ensure a boasted and apparently certain triumph*. 
On leaving Jafia, the French army, after some- 
slight opposition, reached Caiffa, which the peo- 
ple abandoned, carrying ^way the artillery and 
ammunition o£ the fort, and proceeded to St.. 
Jiean d'Acre. Having secured provisions, and? 
determined all the necessary previous points, vi?- 
gorous exertions were made for carrying on the 
siege: in this attempt, however, the French were 
no longer to be encountered byan ignorant adver-^ 
sary, the dupe of every ruse de guerrty and whose 
very valour was more ihjurioua to him than cow-, 
ardice could. have been-, but. by a brave though- 
fiarcc body, ted to constant exertion, and trained 
to the useful operations of discipline, by men of^ 
equal courage, greater prudence, and eonsum*- 
mate skill. Unapprised of these circumstances,, 
Ae French expeftedan easy conquest ;. and press-. 
cd forward to an assault^, in hopes again to en- 



279 RBVOLUTIONABY PLUTARCH. 

joy a sanguinary triumph over 9Xt unequal 
foe. * 

The relation of all the pairticulars of this me- 
morable si^ge demands too great a length to find 
its place here \ suffice it to say> that numerous 
afts of temerity, despair, treachery, and cruelty, 
exhibited by Buonaparte and his satellites, were 
encountered and defeated by the bravery, ability^ 
constancy, and generosity, of the British Com- 
modore, and the British and allied troops under 
his command and disposal. 

Buonaparte continued for sixty days, without 
interruption, to attack, bombard, or assault 
Acre i though after a siege of six weeks he wa» 
obliged to alter the manner of attacking iu At 
this time the garrison, invigorated by the pre- 
sencc of the English, and defended by the skill 
pf Sir Sidney and Philipeaux (who unfortunately 
died soon after by the btu-sting ,of a blood-vesselj,. 
Iiad erefted cavaliers, and construfted two places 
of arms, together with batteries so contrived as 
to flank the tower, and produce all the advan- 
tages arising from a cross .fire : a countCMttHQfa 
was also attempted under ground, for the pur« 
pose of driving the besiegers from their galle- 
ries, * . ' 

Sir^ Sidney Smith, in a letter addressed to the. 

Admiralty 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 27§ 

Admiralty at this period, expresses himself as 
follows : *^ We have the satisfaftion of finding 
ourselves, on the forty-sixth day of the siege, 
in a better state of defence .than we' were the 
first day the enemy opened their trenches ; not- 
withstanding the increase of the breach, which 
they continue to batter with effeft ; and the gar- 
rison, having occasionally closed with the ene- 
my, in several sorties, feel greater confidence that 
they shall be able to resist an assault, for which 
they are prepared. Had the Combined Powers 
afted with the same valour^ vigour, and deter*- 
mination, when besieged in Brabant, Flanders^ 
Holland, Germany, and Italy, there can. be lit- 
tle doubt hot the poHtical monster of a French 
Republic would have been confined within the 
limits of the' French monarchy, and Europe 
would have been still free. 

It ^as after the arrival of Admiral Peree at 
Jaffa \yith some heavy artillery, that' Buona- 
parte gave ordets to change the plan of opera- 
, tions, and- effeft a new breach in the eastern 
curtain, by means of a sap and a mine, which 
was to blow up the counterscarp ; the English 
however, not only discovered his intentions, but, 
• tl^ making approaches under ground, entered the 
,g^ery> destroyed the frame work, and qoun- 

terafted 



4a»> REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH: 

leraded all the operations : this new attempt^ 
di£bted rather by disappointed desperation than., 
by sound judgment!, was therefore completely ia<^ 
fffe^hiaL 

. About the same time » squadron of more than< 
thirty sail of transports^ and corvettesi under Has- 
san Bey> was seen standing in for Acre. Buo- 
napartej knowing that the landing of fresh 
troops would be productive o£ great disadvantage 
to. the besiegers, determined to anticipate the 
event by a new and still more desperate triai to 
storm the place ; and though exposed to a heavy 
^re from the gun-boats^ he made a lodgment on. > 
the second story of the north^^ast tower, on the 
outer angle of which the nepubUcan standard, 
was hoisted* The ISre of the besieged had slack- 
ened, and the re-inforccments were only, half-way. 
toward the shore. The breach was feebly de- 
fended} and this was the critical yn&ment of the 
siege. At this juncture Sir Sidney Smith landed- 
two boats at the Mole ; and, hastily^ arming the 
crew5, led them to the breach. The Turks^ 
animated by this unexpected supply, flocked to 
the point of danger, where the besiegers were 
contesting on equal terras with the defenders- of 
the town }. the zpuzzles of their muskets were in 

cont;^ 



NAPOLEOXE BUOXAPARTE. 28X 

Contaft, and the spcar-heads of the colaurs locked 
in each other. 

The conduifl of the English upon this> as on 
other occasions, fully entitled them to the grati- 
tude of their allies, and to the admiration of a 
mbre generous foe. Dgezzar> who, according 
to the custom of his nation, was sitting in a con-^ 
spicuous place, rewarding those who brought 
himthe heads of enemies, and distributing, sup- 
plies of ammunition^ rushed to the breach, and 
exhibited the unprecedented sight of 'a Turkish 
chieftain exhorting Christian soldiers to retire 
from the post of danger, as in them he should 
lose his best defenders. The genial enthusiiasm: 
prevalent under these circuin$t<inces decided the 
fete of the day j the French were kept in check 
until reinforcements were landed ; oriental jea* 
lousy gave way to the sense of peril ; a well-dis* 
ciplined regiment, the Chiffleck (disciplined un^ 
der Sultan Selim's own eye), being admitted inta 
the gardens of the Seraglio, made a sortie, an^ 
although the Turks wdre repulsed, the besiegers^ 
being obliged to expose themselves above their 
parapets, were mowed down in gfeat numbers 
by the flanking fire of the garrison y their force 
at the breach was diminished^ and the sinaU num-^ 

bc» 



2S2 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCM. 

ber remaining on the lodgteent vfere killed or 
dispersed. 

During thitf tremendous conflift, Buonaparte^ 
surrounded by his generals and aides-de-camp^ 
and burning with^ rage * and shame, had placed 
himself on an eminence, called Richard Cioeur de 
Lion's mount, already made famous by the* ex-- 
ploits of that British hero ; his gesticulations, 
and the mission of an aide-de-camp to the mwi 
body of his forces, indicated a resolution to re* 
new the attack. Accordingly, a little before 
sim-set, a massive column was. descried descend-, 
ing to the breach, which was not wide enough 
to admit fifty men alK^ast.. On this occasion, a 
stratagem of war, adopted at the instance of the 
Pacha, proved highly successful. This French 
column, which advanced to the attack, was suf- 
fered to mount the breach without molestation. 
On their descent into the Pacha's garden, the 
foremost was encountered by the Turks, who 
1^ in ambuscade .; and where combined taftics 
could hot avail, the republican bayonet was ex- 
erted in vain against the Turkish scimitar and 
dagger, wielded in the right and left hand with 
equal force and dexterity. The column was re- 
pulsed ; it was in vain that General Lasnes at- 
tempted to rally the fugitives j for he himself 

was 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 283 
^ - ^ . 

was wounded by a musket shot near the wall, 

while. Rambaud perished in the city, of whip h 

he vainly imagined that he had obtained posses* 

sion. 

A few days after this, with a zeal expressive 
of rashness and cruelty rather than of true cou- 
rage, Buonaparte ordered a new assault to be 
made ; but the troops seledled for the occasion^ 
having to mount the fatal breach over the putrid 
bodies of their unburied countrymen, refused ta 
stain themselves with tliis new outrage to hu- 
manity. On hewing this, the grenadiers of thq 
twei^ty-first demi-brigade splicitedv and obtained 
the honour of storming the place : on advancing 
for this purpose, however, it was discovered that 
the enemy had completed three lines of defencejt 
which it became impossible to carry } so that^ 
after a useless massacre^ in the course of which 
General Bonn, Adjutant-general Fowler, and 
one of Buonaparte's aides-de-camp, were killed, 
and several officers severely wounded, a retreat 
was beaten, and the discomfited volunteers re- 
turned to the camp. 

In proportion as the troops relaxed in their ar- 
dour, and the capture^ of Acre became dubious, 
chagrin, despair, and ferocity, began to be visi. 
ble in the facQ and a^ons of Buonaparte, who^ 

hitherto . 



284 REVOLUTIOXARY PLUTARCH. 

kitherto the spoiled child of fortune^ for the first 
time in his life beheld himself foiled^ and that 
too by a town scarcely defim'Me according to the 
rules of art i while the surrounding hills were 
crowded by a muhitudo of armed speftators,, 
who waited the result of the contest, to declare 
for the viftor. ' Convinced, at length, by what 
had passed, that the supposed invincibility of the 
French was not real, these people easily yielded 
to the invitation of Sir S^idney Smith, and pre- 
ferred a union with ^^ a Christian knight, to 
the friendship of an unprincipled renegado/'-— 
they dispatched ambassadors, declared their re- 
solution to arrest aB mountaineers who should 
be discovered transporting ammunition or provi- 
sions to the French camp ; and, as a pledge of 
their sincerity, sent in four-score individuals 
whom they had taken in such an attempt. This 
determination prevented the further progress of 
Buonaparte to the northward ; and at the samo 
iime he received intelligence from Cairo, that 
several provinces wer^ in insurre{Hon; that 
Gizeh was invaded by a wandiering Arabian 
tribe from the heart of Africa ) and that an im- 
postor, calling himself the angcl'El Mahdi, an- 
pounced in the Koran, had gained numerous adr 
herelitSj and carried several posts* 

To 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, ^85 

To barter honour for success was no new 
traffic with Btioiiaparte ; and on this occasion he 
made an attempt ^f the most odious and dis- 
fionoHrablc kind, to gain the long-contested 
town. The dead bodies over which he had 
made his last assault, becoming putrid, generated 
diseases, and even the plague, in the camp. Em- 
ploying an Arabian dervise as a flag of truce^ 
Berthier, in the name of the coftimander in chief, 
addressed a letter to Dgezzar,. desiring a suspen- 
sion of arms till the dead could be buried, and 
the establishment of 'an elcchange of prispners 
4:ffefl:ed* While this message . was under con- 
sideration, and the flag of truce waited for the 
answer, Buonaparte, in defiance of all laws of 
justice and humanity, and to the everlasting dis^ 
grace of the name of soldiery commenced an as- 
sault, hoping to take the town by surprise.' For- 
tunately, however, the garrison was on its 
guard ; and this a^H: of desperate treachery met 
. its due reward in defeat and disgrace. Sir Sid- 
ney Smith with difficulty rescued the dervise 
from the fury of those who considered him as a 
volttUtary instrument in the treason which had 
been committed ; and gained a full and delicious 
revenge, by sending him bjick to Buonaparte 

with 



SSS REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

trith a letter of reproof which overwhelmed him 
and his army with shame*. 

Foiled 

* 'the CINtRAL IN CHIEF TO CHIIT er TBS STAT 

Major cxniaal. 

* The Commander of the English Squadron before Acre having 
)iad the barbarity to embnrk on board a vessel which was infbQed 
with the plague, the French prisoners made in the two tartans h« 
den with ammunition, which he took near CaiSa ; having been 
remarked at the head of the barbarians, in the sortie which took 
t>1ace on the iSth, ao4 the Cngliah flag having been at the same 
time flying over many towers in the place, the barbarout coi»iu6k 
which the besieged displayed in cutting oflT the heads of two vo- 
lunteers which were killed, must be attributed to the English com- 
mander, a condu6^ which is very^opposite to the honours which 
have been paid to English olHcers and soldiers found upon the- field 
of battir, and to the attentions which have been paid to the wound- 
ed and to prisoners. 

' The English being those who defend and provision Acre, the 
horrible condud of Dgexzar, who caused to be strangled and 
thrown into water, with their hands tied behind their backs, more 
than two hundred Christians, inhabitants of this country, among 
whom was the «»cretary of a French consul, must be equally at« 
tributed to this officer, since, from circuhistances, the Pacha found 
himself entirely dependent upon him. 

' This oflicer havii^ besides refused to execute any of the arti- 
cles of exchange established between the two powers, and his pro- 
posals in all the communications which have taken piace, and his 
conduct since the time that he has been cruising here, having bees 
those of a madman ; my desire is, that you order the di^^reot 
commanders on the coast to give up all ' communication with the 
English fleet adlually cruising in these seas. 

(Signed) • BUONAPARTE/ 

Such 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. . 2B7 

Foiled in thh fosl and disgraceful attempt* 
Buonaparte found himself obliged to retreat, 

afid. 

Such accusations many, perhaps, wlH think too contemptible 
Co be noticed ; but >here are others who, infatuated with Buona- 
parte, might find, in silence, ground for recrimination. I therefore 
shall briefly observe, first as to the massacre of the Christians, that 
Dgezzar I^acha, previous to the disembarkation of any individuat 
fycoK the English ships, caused thirty men in the French interest 
to Ke strangled, foreseeing that resistance would be made to tht a£t, 
if not perpetrated before Sir .kidney's landing; tliat the embarka- 
tion of the prisoners in vessels infeded with the plague is a ludi- 
crous charge; f^r would ^Sir Sidney, in that case, have placed «n 
English guard on board over them ? So contrary, however, is the 
fad, that some French sick embai'kcd afterwards at Jaffa, for D^-» 
mietu, in eight or ten taruns, having heard of tl\e kind treat- 
ment their comrades experienced, stood out to the Tigre, thea 
cruizing off, and surrendered themselves. The charge about cut- 
ting off the heads of dead men is frivolous ; besides, how could 
Sir Sidney, in his situation, abolish the pralSice ? and it is urged, 
with some effrontery, by the n\an who had a short time before ' 
butchered in cold blood near 4000 Turks. The abusive part is^ 
too low to be noticed ; but I will exalt the vi^orious adversary •f 
Buonaparte even higher than his chara6l<r has yet reached, by 
.relating, that when Sir Sidney found the French had raised the 
$iege of Acre, he instantly sailed for Jaffa, off which place he 
stood close in to the shore, and saw a body of the enemy filing into 
the town. Immediately he cannonaded what he supposed was an 
enemy, and his shot evidently did" considerable execution; at 
length, by his glass, he perceived that the column which He was 
attftckiikgeonsitfted^only of wounded and sick men riding on Ca* 
melt, almost all of the soldiers having bandages on some of their 
limbs ; when he diredtly ordered the firing to cease, and allowed 
the whole convoy to pass on unmolested ;~-'a trait which must pro* 
cure for him the gratitade of Freachnveni and the love of his owa 
countrymen. 



588 HEVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

and, imtesad of returning as a conqueror, to re- 
tire like a fugitive. His last efforts were worthy 
of him ; they were dedicated to revenge. No longer 
hoping to gain the town, he bravely destroyed 
theaqueduSfy bombarded the principal buildings^ 
and used his utmost endeavours to reduce the 
palace of Dgezzar to a heap of ruins. After a 
«iege from the 20th of March to the 21st of May, 
condufted with treachery afid atrocity without 
advantage, and condufled without honour, Buo* 
iiaparte commenced his retreat. His artillery, and 
the wounded whom he had not time to poison, 
were embarked in country vessels, to be con- 
veyed coastwise to Jaffa', but Sir Sidney Smith, 
placing himself between that place and Damietta-, 
the crews, destitute of all necessaries, even of 
provisions and water, steered direftly towartis the 
• British fleet, relying on the honour and huma- 
nity of the English commander, and execrating 
and deploring the want of those qualities in their 
own. 

Previous to his retreat, Buonaparte addressed 
to his troops a proclamation filled with futile 
blasts, false assertions, and delusive consolations.. 
He compUmeffted them on having traversed the 
Desert which separates Asia from Africa, with 
more rapidity than an army.df Arabs j destroyed ^ 

the 



.'NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 26^ 

. the anny intended for the invasion of Egypt; 
frustrated an intended attack . on Alexandria ) 
and though but & handfal of men, carried on the 
war for three months in the heart of Syria. 
" You have taken," said he, " forty field-pieces, 
fifty standards, and six thousand prisoners; nned 
the fortifications of Gaza, Jaffa, Caiffa, and Acre, 
in a few days you might have hxfped to take th^ 
Pacha in the midst of his palace ; but^ at this 
season, ibe ycapture of the castle tf Acre is net 
wsrrth tl^ loss even of a feno .days $ besides, tl^e 
brave men whom I must lose in the exploit arc 
wanted for more cssoittal operations." These 
bdasts, with the vengeancse ctf ^//r/im;»vUlages and 
harvests; and shooting the Naplusians v/iom he 
took prisoners f^ were the only cotisoiat'wns of Buo^ • 
uaparte during his march. Such was the close 
of an expedition, the success of which Suona* 

' parte had anticipated with a profane threat, that 
furnishes the world, with a curious specimen of 
the fdety of the most Christian Consul, Aii*fiuo« 
naparte. The priests at Jerusalem told several 

. British travellers, that Buonaparte Jiad said, that 
should he ever obtain possession of Jerusalem; 
he would plant the tree of libeett on the spot 
m which the cross of Jesus stood^ and would 
BURY /A^/fVf. French Grenadier nvbo^ should 

. VOL. u. . vO fa^ 



Sgo REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

fall in the attoci^ in the tomb of our BLESSED 
Saviour I ! ! 

> His approach to Cairo was a momeat of an- 
xiety and aj^rehension^— embarrassed as he was 
with dangers which required aQ his audacity to 
face, and all his cunning and fortune to avert. 
In a boastful letter, ^which was read in the In- 
stitute, he had used these expressicms : *< In three 
days I shall be at Acre ^ nvbrn you open tbisy be 
assured that Dgezzar Pacha is no more*^ No- 
thing was left for him but to veil h\s disgrace 
uxidef the appearance o£ triumph^ and assume the 
deportment, not of a leader returning discomfited 
and disappointed^ but of a real conqueror. Or- 
ders were accordingly dispatched to the govern- 
xn^it at^Cairo, to prepare illuminations, tri- 
umphal archesi and .a festival for the Conquerors 
of Syria and tf Dgezzar Pacha* The troops, who 
had despondingly anticipated a different recep*^ 
tion, whose murmurs against the m^n who had 
planned their expedition amounted to mutiny, 
whose expressions even menaced death to him, 
as an atonement for their seven thousand com- 
|-ades who had perished, saw with surprise the ho- 
nours paid to them ^ heard their chief and them* 
selves styled conquerors ; and, in the delirium 
of vanity, forgot their injuries and defes^. The 

ntxt 



NAiPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 2^1 

next morning Buonaparte^' assured of the in-' 
toxication still continuing^ assembled the rem- 
nants of his army on parade^ distributed rewards, < 
then moved forward a battalion of grenadiers,' 
whom he upbraided with having refused to make 
another assault on Acre» and sentenced them to 
carry their arms slung behind till their charac- 
ters were retrieved. This extraordinary stroke 
of policy converted many of Buonaparte's de- 
tradVprs into admirers* They confessed his know- ^ 
ledge of the nature and charafter of French 
slaves, when in a few hours he could so improve 
his situation, and re-^ssume his influence, as' 
to disgrace those very men, who the day before 
would, with the applause of their comrades who 
now approved of their dishonour, had he ut- 
tered a word of censure, have instantly assassi- 
nated him. 

From this period, till the time when he added 
desertion to his other crimes, Dessaix continued 
viAorious in Upper Egypt, and Buons^arte him-* 
self defeated 8000 T^rks who had .captured 
Aboukir, of whom, althi^ugh SOOO were saved,' 
with his usual veracity he declared, in his re- 
ports, the number of killed and drowned amount- 
ed to seventeen thousand mm. This achieve-it . 
nent terminated the xiailitary exploits of Buo« 
2 na^artft 



2^ RE\T>LUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

naparte in Egypt. The cflitmtery and ascen- 
dancy of his charaAcr^ the cdebrity of his name, 
and dextrous application of his talents to the 
purpose o£ maintaining his authority, were in- 
sufficient to prevent the formation of a formi- 
dable party in hb own army, who were dissa- 
tisfied at seeing the honour of .France tarnished 
by his wanton barbarities; while the troops 
seemed doomed to be sacrificed to the pursuit of 
a conquest which would never be thoroughly 
achieved, since every new success led only to 
the formation of more extravagant and diffusive 
designs. It has already been said, that on Buo- 
naparte's return from Syria, the ^ysician who 
had refused to administer poison accused the ge- 
neral, ' in a full assembly of the Institute, of 
treason against the honour of France, her chil- 
dren, aiid humanity. The spirit of inquiry and 
resistance thus disclosed, and a conviction, de« 
rived from the cbnduft of the troops at Acre, 
that a time might come when his commands 
would not be sufikient to ensure general obe- 
dience, powerfully stimulated him to the ac- 
complishment of the wishes that he had always 
entertained of returning to France. To these 
motives were added others arising from intelli- 
gence that he had recttvcd^ of the viAorious pro- 
gress 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 2-^ 

gres$ of the Allies in Italy, which totally de- 
stroyed all hopes of succdtr from France for th^ 
army in Egypt. When Bnonaparte had fuilj^ 
resolved to quit his deluded comrades, whom he 
so often and so solemnly had promised never t6 
leave before he carried them back again to 
France, he prepared fbr^hc cacecution of his pro- 
jcfts with the utmost secrecy, knowing thttt the 
slightest sQspicion of'his design must have proved 
fetal to him. He ordered Rear-admiral G;ih- 
theaume to equip, -and keep in readiness for sail* 
ing, the frigates which remained in his possession, 
and to give notice the moment the combined Bri- 
tish and Turkish squadron should quit the coast. 
The desired intelligence reached the General on 
the* 1 8th of August J at six o'clock in the evening t 
at nine he dispatched orders to 'those who were' 
to share in the dishonour of'his desertion, ancf 
to accompany his flight, to hold themselves in 
readiness to set out at midnight to attend him 
on atour in Lower Egypt.' They were to meet 
him on the beach ; and each was furnished with 
sealed instruftions, not to be opened till tlie 
moment of rendezvous, 

Ganthcaume had stationed In the road, atVhe 

distance of a league from the shore, two frigatesl 

and Buonaparte, having secured the military 

o 3 chest 



294 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

chesty and scaled- orders for General Kleber. x^ 
paired on shipboard, attended by a few confiden- 
tial followers, leaving the army enraged, 5ur«- 
prized, and despondent, to lament the miseries of 
their situatIon,and the perfidy of their chief. His 
Toyage was at first retarded by contrary winds, 
and was considerably lengthened by the necessity 
of steering close to the coast of Africa, wluch 
was considered as most likely to be out di the 
track of any Eui^pean vessels, and least exposed 
to t}ic dangers of pursuit. At length, however, 
they reached the port of Ajaccio, in Corsica | 
^nd shortly afterwards Buonaparte landed near 
Frejus, in Provence* 

From ^the next events that attended Buona- 
parte, .it would seem as if Fortune, in the ut- 
most caprice of her reputed divinity, had cndea» 
Youred to exhibit to the world a splendid and ex- 
traordinary specimen of her power to elevate a 
guilty individual, in defiance of circumstances 
and in contempt of merit. It can scarcely be 
si^os^d posrible^ that a General abandoning his 
army without even a pretext of orders, without 
the means of apprizing government of bis views, 
and without any strong party in the state formed 
to favour him, should escape severe animadver-* 
4Son, or avoid personal dfgradation, if not pu- 
nishment I 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. ^igs 

ftishtnent ; but at this period, so abje£l was the 
domestic situatioii of Fnmctr, that the goyet^n* 
snent, possessing neither ponrer, aUlitj, virtue^ 
fior popularity, appeared to await with stapid re- 
signation the new revolotion, which was to ter- 
, initiate its too protraAed existence; white indi- 
viduals were endeavouring^ with cluxnsy eter- 
tions, only to avert the weight of ruin from 
themselves, and establish such a charaAer of 
comparative innocence, as wovrld enable them to 

^ retreat in safety fit>m the approaching sform« 
Whik the det^tation of the DireAcnry was ge<^ 
fieral, accusations, recriminations, smd denunci- 
ations, occupied muteh of the time and of the 
debates in the two Councils. Jacobin dubs 
were already established at Paris and in many of 
the departments. The blood-suckers and tejhror* 
ists of Robespierre and ot his aceonijiiices, com* 
ing forward from their hiding-placesji provoked 
laws' of barbarous severity against seditious nx>ve-^ 
fluents, and the tyrannical enforcement of decrees 
fer a forced loan and levy of conscripts. The 
torch of civil war. was again lighted in many de- 

^ partments, particularly those in the southern and 
western parts of the French Republic. A sense 

" of the inability of govomipent to surmount these 

disasters was universally prevalent ; and General^ 

o 4 Jourdan, 



296 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCIT 

JourdaO) a member of the Council of FWe Hun-^ 
dredy had aitualiy proposed a decree for dcclar* 
ing. the countiy in danger^ in the same manne? 
as it had been decreed after the 10th of Au^ 
gust» 1792j and which had been the indire<£k 
cause and the 4ire& e%cp»e for 9lUbe crimes and 
jborrors commi;tted 4^1% the reignr of the Nz* 
)ional Convention. 

.One of |he dtr^ors^ Siejses^ was iabonring 
9^ith et^eayonxs irhiiA XQidd sciorcely be termed 
^o^ye;rtj far ^c qi^er^iirsow ot the government $ 
he y^9^ ^crfiMy a^ssii^ted t^ TaUe^vand^ vAom 
ihe J^cQbins h^ hUiy forced to resign his piace 
of ISf^lster Kbr thie FQreigu Department. The 
px^ vit^s of th^e crafty intrignevs canool bs 
^velopcd; JbpJi^ it IsjcI^p, that their past crimes^ 
SKith ^ b^tr^d pf %he rigtit heir to die cxtmn, on 
tJbte ,9ne h^i^d ; ai^I ^4r^ of the jacobins, vbaak 
they had rnQctjtlly ip^jide^i aadliicreibrefearedj, 
osi tjb^e QihfiVx waurld iinpdi tkem to avoid the 
fe-c^t^bUshflR^t of wysdty, or the alteration of 
thie exi.M:i^g sj«t.erx> »to a ioun. fawurable to. the 
fcrociou^s bap4 of repui)Kcans. . -Strength as well , 
|s grmujess w^ evidently wauling* to the execu- 
tive po\ver.i and thpt mvii only he given b^ a 
dj^tor, ^r a prOtefliorshif> tjrjidiog in oaie indi* 
fidkx^l, not eoxbanrassed by councils ^ho had 
^ » ' shewi> 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 297 

shewn that they knew neither how to use nor to 
restrain authority, with whom faftion was every 
thing, and virtue and liberty nothing ♦. 

Such is the true, though imperfeftpifture of 
the internal situation of the French common 
wealth ; but if this waaf dreadful, the external 
a6Vions and transaftions of th^ Friench govern- 
ment, and its generals and troops, were as con-* 
temptible, dishonourable, ^nd disastrous. The 
Congress at Rastadt had proved to all the. world 
the bad faith, the dangerous pretensions, and the 
ambitious views of the IXreftory ; and the vk-^ 
tories of the Allies in GCTihany and Italy were 
convincing evidences of the weakness, disafieC'- 
tion, or disorganization of the republican ar- 
mies. The people, therefore, when fortune 
landed Buonaparte in France, far from inquiring 
into the causes of his past conduA, were happy 
to suppose that he brought the means of termi- 
nating their present misfortunes and disgraces ;. 
they flattered themselves that their destinies were 
in his hands, and that the success which had for- 
merly attended his banner in Italy would again 
be extended over the whole country. His arrival 
in Paris was therefore hailed as a great na- 
tional 
-* See Histoire du fiUeOoue Sxeciulf, ao4 DtuaotttMrd's History^ 



^ REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

tioiuil deliverance ; and be becdme the centre of 
those intrigues which seemed to receive their 
final sanation and guarantee frdm the addition of 
his name. The two Councils prostrated them- 
selves at his fett, smd gave a splendid and so- 
lemn banquet in honour of his return, in the 
church of St. Sulpice, called^ since the-Revolu-i 
tion, the Temple of Viftory. At this fete the 
Directory and the members of both Councils at- 
tended ^ but| although the efforts of art and taste 
were exhausted {n rendering the scete illustri* 
oos and s^greeablci and the fraternal banquet 
sumptuous and animating, the general aspect of 
the guests was replete with constraint and em- 
barrassment. Suspicions prevailed on all sides i 
the machinations for the new overthrow of the 
Government and Constitution were ready to be 
carried into execution; Buonaparte appeared 
only for a moment in the hall, and retired i im- 
pressed, perhaps, with die fear which was never 
afterwards absent from his mind, that in some 
morsel or some goblet, to be presented by the 
hand of treachery or vengeance, he might swsJ« 
low his death. 

At lengthy three days after Ibis fete, whicb» 
to please a new-converted Mussulman, had pro- 
ianed a Christian churchy and after many secret^ 

intenrifws 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 2J0 

uiterviews hdd taken place with Sieyes, TallcT- 
rand, Fouche, Volncy, Roedercr, and other con- 
spirators, Buonaparte determined to bury the 
DireAorial Constitutidn amid the ruins of the 
four former ones, which, «nce the Revolution, 
had made France wretched, and troubled Europe ; 
and to ereft from their rubbish' a code of go- 
vernment, which his bayonets should proclaim, 
his bayonets enforce, and his bayonets prbtc£k or 
change, according to his whia>, passion, or ca- 
price. To achieve this, it becam^ indispensably 
necessary to remove the scene of ailion from 
Paris, where both the loyal adhel-ent:* to mo- 
' narchy and religion, and the guilty partisans of 
a Revolution which had annihilated the throne 
with the altar, were still numerous and power- 
fill. The leading members of the Council of 
Ancients were.therefore.gained; and, to conceal 
the real plot, a suppositious one was feigned, in 
consequence of which the Legislature assqrmbled 
at St* CloucU An attempt was then made to^ 
seduce the Council of Five Hundred^ but as 
the majority proved refraAory, the Gorsican 
Buonaparte, imitating theconduA of the Eng- 
lish Cromwell when he dissolved the Long 
Parliam^t, and overturned that, conunon wealth 
i?^.ch;he had sworn to preserve, recurred to vio- 
|0 6 Icncc. 



300 RE^^OLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

lence. The representatives of the Prench people 
were driven from their scat$ by the dcluuled sol- 
diers of a foreigner; three consuls were substi- 
tuted in the place of a directory of five ; and a 
ridiculous Senate, an enslaved Legislative i Bod 7,. 
and a mock Tribunate^ succeeded the Councils 
of Ancients and of Five Hundred. 

Before this usurpation was eE[e£):ed« be had as 
much flattered all parties, as he has since deceiv- 
ed them. By his known connexion with Sieves 
and Volney, the republicans hoped for what he» 
the day before the Revolution i had so solemnly pro- 
mised, a Republic founded on true liberty, on 
civil liberty, on equality, and on national repre- 
. scntation." His intimacy witli Talleyrand and 
Rcederer, and th^ hints that he threw out> 
/caused the constitutional royalists^ to hope for a 
revival of a constitutional monarchy; while his 
past transactions at Toulon in 1793, and at 
Paris in 1 795,. and his present consultations with 
Fouche of Nantes, and other notorious terroristSj. 
made the Jacobins believe in the re-establisk- 
ment of the anarchical conventional code of the 
year 2, and the return of the reign of terror. He 
therefore experienced but little resistance 'evto 
from the Jacobins, who otherwise on all occa- 
sions^ 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. OTf 

rionsT) hate eiliibited more energy and determi-* 
nation than tte rebels of other fadtions. 

But if General Buonaparte had imposed upon 
them all, the First Con^l tried to rQConciic them 
by an equsQ distribution of places and lucrative 
employments^ ^nd by mixing in the same Senate 
and Council8> the royalist and the demagogue ; 
the aristocrat aind the democrat ; the republican 
and the terrorist ; the moderate and passive ad* 
mirer of the Revoltttion, and the extravagant, 
desperate^ and active ^acohiii. Sieyes has said 
more than once, that the whole revolution, or» 
rather, all the revolutions, have been nothing but 
(^bntinUal j^bangf of places ; and tha^ ambiticm, 
plots, and intr^ues for places, have been the first 
aod only movers of French patriotism -, the only 
wish, and call fqr a liberty equ^ly proscribed 
by all the herpes of the d],fierent revolutions for. 
tiiese last fourteen year$. . Thi^ heterogeneous^ 
CQi:]^>osition, of chi^ intrigtiers and pretenders* 
for places, has therefore already preserved the^ 
consular revohitionary.constifutipn longer than 
any of the preceding, opes... ft .has,. besides, by* 
preferripg affluence tpr^k,an4 slavery to liberty 
apd equality, nyide the po^cr of the usurper un* 
Ib&iled; and the a<Stio«s qf ihi^ consular tyrant* 



a02 REVOLUnONARY PLUTARCH. 

tmcontrollable ; so that all French citizens^ whom 
neither places can make cotn-tierS) pensions can 
silence, nor money bribe> the Temple, fhe mili- 
tary commissionsi the guillotine, or Cayenne^ 
remove out of the way, or bury their clamors, 
murmurs, lUsa&ftions, or complaipts. 

Having united all the authorities,, both civil 
and military, in his own person, it only remain- 
ed necessary to adapt the yoke to the necks 
which were to bear k, to prevent discontent at 
first ; and in the early ase of power^ to seem a 
benefactor dispensing blessings, and not a tyrant 
imposing burthens. Yet the First Consul and , 
his principal advisers, Talleyrand and Fouche, 
were not now to learn, that, in order to retain 
uncontrolled ascendancy, it was necessary to 
firttdr thf press. If the unlimited right of pab- 
Ikation remained, no permanent usurpatioiv and 
dominion could be cxpeflfed among a peopk 
|irone t€> changes, disposed \e cavil, and disgust- 
ed with upstart governors and govcroment«w 

'Tht Exi^cutrve Dirieftory, from th€ moment of 
tlwar cstablishmenlf, had severely felt the embar- 
rassment arising £rom this circumstance: their, 
utmost despotism had been exerted in vain; 
presses had been 8ciaed,-}oomals soppressed^ dad 
editors punished with exemplary rigour; ^^^ 



. N AlOLEONE BUONAPARTfi. iM)S 

yet new presses, journal* sinular in scntimeot 
though different in namey and editors of equal 
audacity and abtlityi daily arose. BuonapartCy 
however^ at an early period of his sway, termi-^ 
nated this difficulty, by decreeing that only a 
certain number of newspapers, magazinesj and 
reviews, should be tokrated ; and the new con- 
stitution contained not a syllable ia favour of the 
rights of printing or speaking. It b difficult, 
if not impossible, to find in the pages of histo** 
ry three guilty cbara£lers, such as Buonaparte, 
Talleyrand, and Fouche, who had more to ap- 
prehend from a liberty of th^ press; which might 
alike expose the crimes of the barbarous poison- 
er, of the crafty itnfeeling intriguer, and of the 
ferocious terrorist, drowner, and plunderer. That 
it has been their constant plan, therefore, to en- 
slave and fetter, in the same manner^ the presses 
of the coui^itries where French arms have pene- 
trated, or French intrigues preV^aHed, is neither 
surprising nor unexpefled. 

Having thus paralysed one of the mostibnm- 
dable means of creating an opposition to n revo- 
lutionary government, and knowing, as be did, 
that it was not his viAories, but his pacifica- 
fionsf, not his valour and fortune in the field, but 
his former negotiations and avowed professiolis 

for 



tpi REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

for a peace, that had made him popular with the 
French nation (v^ich now totally disregarded 
pU laurels and trophies of triumph^ and only 
sighed and prayed for the termination of hosti- 
lities! and desired the olive-branch of .peace to 
close the temple of Janus for ever), he deter-* 
noioed to preserve his popularity by the, same 
hypocritical means by which he had obtained it^ 
9n^ to propose the cessation of war. He there- 
fore wrote letters to the Emperors of Germany 
^d Russia, and to the King of Great Britain*, 

con- 

• Lcttredu Ministrc d« relations ExieriSurcs dc France, ^ Lord 
CrenviHe, principal Secretaire d'Etat de sa MajcM^ Britafuiique 
, SM\ d«par(ement dcs Affaires l:(raogeres« 

MILORX>, 

J'cxpedic, par ordre du General Buonaparte, Premier Consul 

dc It Rcpuhlique FraDfaise, un Courier IL Londres ; it est porteur 

d'une lettrc du I'reraier Consul de la Republique pour ta Majette 

Ic \<o\ d'Angkterrc. Je voiis prie de donncr dcs ordres heccs- 

saires pcur qu'il puisse li xemettre sans mtermediaire. Cette de- 

imrchc anneoce d'elle meme I'trnportancc dc ion objet* ReceYex» 

Milord, Tassurance de ma plus haute consideration. 

CH. MAU. TALLEYRAND. 
. Jean's, 5 AVvtfXf, aa, S. 

Lcttre d« Buonaparte ^ sa MajestS Britanni^UTr 
Republique Franfaise, Souverainece du Peupk. 

LIBBRTB. BCALITb!! 

Paris, 5 Nivne^ an. 8> 
A§PeU par I* tttu de la Satiom Fratieaiu % ocvtptt U premiere 
sin^tscrAtUiC dc U Kcpubliaue^yViT^/V coMVcnabict ea entrant en 

* * clursr. 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 9f» 

contsunisg tke usiial bombastic e^cinre^k^^ €^ 
fiic deceitful jrcrvolQtjonary cant, and declaring 
hii abhorrence of vmr ,• tbofigb VJar alone half 
dragged him from lis obscurity^ and made htm 
every tbmg. The &pet wonls: bi tbjs Mter 
which ^tisuck the eyes of lawful Soyeretg^s wcre» 
LiBBierT ftPd Ea^AUTT ! A^: iJM W8*» th^ 
Accustomed etiquetl^ of thf ^MnMr r^fi^c^F 

charge, d'en faire dktEttmtnt p«rt ^ votre Majett^. Li guerre qui . 
depui* huit ani ravtge lei quatre parties da iiionde» dolt eBe ctr» 
l^rnelle? N*«tt il aucun moyen de •'eattudrs f 

Comment let deux nations let plus ecUir^s de I'Europe* puii^* 
santes et fortes plus que ne I'exlgent leur surete et leur indepeii* 
deuce, pejiverit eUes saciifier H d«s idees de vaine gsandewr, k Ideii 
dtt coftixatsUt la ^rosperitd iDttrieiire» ie bonbeur dea £uiiiUea^ 
Comment ne sentent-elles pas que la paix est ie premier des tie« 
'soiss cctoime le premier des gloircs ? 

Ctt ^ptimenta oe peuvent ctre ^traogBrs ao entr it TOCte M** 
jeste, •qui g9^vem9 une nation Ubre» et done Ie |cui bvit^«st4e iU 
rendre hcureuse. . *' * 

Votre MtJMte nQ vtrra dans cette-' ouxeVture, que mom detlh 
shtfere 4« cpntribuer fgUoftmint^ four U tttondfi, JqU% | laffQw 
^cation generale par une demarche prompte, toute dt coufanet^ et 
de^agee de ces'formes, qui, necessaires peut>etie pour deguIseV la 
dependaoce ^tt ccats faibles, nedeceleat, d^% etaulbrUy qutf-to 
desir motvci df st\ tromper. 

La France, I'Angletjrrc^ par l*abui de Uursjorcet^ peuvent lonf^ 
ferns e,ncDre, poiir Ie malheur de tous les peuples» en retard^r 
4'cpuisdment ; mais I'ose le'dire, Ie sbitdfi tomes lea nations citi^ 
]i^£s est attache a la fin d'une guerrct qyi embr^e Ie monde ei^ 
tier. . 

' (SiiBc) BUONAPARTE^^ 



SC6 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

imifpcrs io their correspoficten^e with n^utraf 
Princes^ it would not deserve atny pJbBcrratfoi^ 
feiad not the petty vain-glorteus Buoniparte, oil 
•«U o€ca$ipzMi» with the ferocity of a tiger united 
the canity of a coqtxet ( anfd therefore these 
iWords were neither written by dianee nor by 
€iittoni» but to let all £ttro|>e know, that he 
pretended already to aft e^all^ with its first 
'Myiarths, though he had been only a fortnight 
. an usurper { it proved to them what rigBt and 
ffualitytbtj might expe£k for the future, should 
fortune favour lus vanity and pretensions, and 
fliat his intent and endeavour would be, not oiily 
to insult and dishonour kings, but by such aa 
^^ant^ to undermtne and destroy monarchy it^ 
^df i and as all possible power could never pro*- 
-cttte bim the equal respeflr due to legal princes^ 
^lior the equal regard customary between here- 
ditary Sovereignst his constant plans and plots 
would be to force them to descend to a level 
with him, as he can never ascend to an equal 
elevation, birth, and prerogative with them. 

By addrcsping this letter to our King himseUv 
Buonaparte likewise deserted the regular forms 
ordiplomatic proceedings r Lord GrenviUe there- 
fore very properly answered Talleyrand, by ohh 
^ving, << that the King» seeing no reason for 

departi» 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPART?;. 307 

departing from the forms c^ transafttng affairs 
between foreign states, which prevailed through- 
Cut Europe, had dtreAed him to answer the pro- 
positions of the First Consul by a note to hit 
minister/' He traced the conduft of Franccf 
from the origin of the existing hostilities, and 
noticed the repeated assurances made bj every 
succeeding government of pacific intentions, 
wbiUt ali tbiir oBs were replete nviti aggresshnr. 
"The new government had given no proofs of 
a dispositipn to adopt a different system, hor 
could any certainty be given of its • stability. 
The best assurances which Great Britain could 

^ receive of the formation of a regubo" government 
in France, would be the restoration of that race 
of princes, whichi for so many ages, had pre- 
served the Frenth nation in internal prosperity, 
and in consideration and respeA among foreign 
powers. But although such an event would ob« 
viate every obstacle, his Majesty did not ^coasl^ 
der it indispensaUy necess^y to the attainment 
of a safe and durable peace \ but whenever he 
should be of opinion that the security efhis own 
iiminionti and those rfbts AUUsy and the general 

^ security of Europej could be attained, he would 
eagerly seize the op|>ortunity to concert with 
his Allies the means of an immediate and genend 

pacK 



308 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

pacification. Hitherto m such security existed j 
smd nothing remained for him to do, but to fro* 
3ecute, in.conjundion with the other powers, a . 
just and defensive war/' 

At the very period when Buonaparte held ths 
language of peace to Great Britain, his ministers 
;^t Berlin, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, and hit 
.envssaries at St. Peter^burgbt wene proposing aad 
preparing the plan for that Northerxi Coalitioot 
against the British empire;, which twelve months 
^terwards was concludeidf and whi<^ Lord Nel* 
son^s vi^fcory dissolved* Our nuoistei^s, therefore^ 
judged rightly of the First Coosul's sincerity in jt 
liegptiatipn offered a^d undertalpep only tp shew 
tus f:ws^<^}ikc^ dbros^ to preserve his populait 
rity ^ hornet ian4 4o :1|»1U if possible, JEngfand 
ifitp afatjii H^nrkfj or |<o lessen the vigor^^ rf» 
£arts of the lat^e minisH^^s |o cru^ to pieces the 
JjP^nch revplptio»ary jjaoiKter, as the only cer* 
tain means of terminating with honour, advanc 
ta^e, and safety, a war which it ^lone had pro* 
yokfd and conwiJ^njced. 

' The atientipQ of Bw)nap3irte was nea^t occu- 
lted lay the disturbances ti\at had taken place ift 
the w.estern and soytKern departments, and which 
seemed to augur a renewal of the Vendean conr 
fliit. Not satisfied with preparing an army tp 

subdue 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. mg 

subdue the insurgents^ his natural inclination, 
so well corresponding with the cruel and Ma- 
chiavelian counsels of Fouclie, made him re» 
solve by bribes, threats, intrigues, and murder, 
to finish what ke called an impious war ; and by 
gaining over pr disuniting some of the royalist 
chiefs, he hoped to be enabled bravely to butcher 
the remainder without resistance, when either 
deserted or betrayed. Thus when d'Autichamp, 
Bourmoiit, Chatillon, and Fourmont, received- 
three hundred thousand livres each, the loyal 
and incorruptible Frotte was betrayed and shot,, 
though with a republican safe'<oiiduB in his* 
pocket*. If any doubt should remain of Buona- 
parte's humane, generous, and conciliating mea- 
sures in the insurgent departments, the following 
lines, extradled from . the mandates which he* 
sent to his military commissioners and to his ^a^ 
cifying generals, will dispel it : they were ordered 
** to shoot every royalist ivho should be found iff 
arms, and also every person liable to suspicion^ 
without sparing either qge or sex! — to strike 
those who negotiate — to hill those who hesitate or re^ 
sistl/r ' 

Having 

• The particulars of Frotte 's capture are related in Fouchc'a 
life: as the amhor bad it from the republican General Guidal, it 
snay be depended upon. See vol. i. page 145. 



3(0 REVOLUTION AKY PLUTAECH: 

Having in such a noble manner quieted or 
got rid of the internal enemies to his usurpation^ 
Booqaparti: issued orders for the assembling of 
an army of sixty thousand men near Dijonj in' 
Burgundy, called the Army of Reserve. To 
encourage young men to join and enlist in the 
different corps composing this army, he issued an 
hypocriticad proclamation, addressed to the pas- 
sions of the French youths, and not their rea- 
son, or to that of tlieir parents : — 

** You are desirous of peace," says he : ** your 
government desires it with still greater ardour ; 
its most earnest wishes, its constant soUcitude^ is 
for that, and that alone. But the English mi«- 
• nistry, eager to debase France to the rank of a 
secondary power^ and anxious to keep all the con- 
tinents! states at variance, on purpose to seize 
on their spoils, still rejeft the idea. The go- 
Termnent, however, which was not afraid to 
^er, and ^ven to solicit this blessing, is well 
aware tiat it ielongs to you to command it i and 
to command it, money, steel, and soldiers are 
necessary. 

** Let all, therefore, be eager to participate in 
Ae common defence. Let the young men fly 
to arms \ it is 1^0 hnger for the support of afac* 

tiottf 



NAPQLEONE BUONAPARTE. - ait 

AV/i, it is no ionger for the choice of a tyrant , that 
ihey are calkd upon to take the field ; it is^r 
the safety of all that is dear to them ; it i$for the sa^. 
crei interests of humanity^ for the support of liberty^ 
^nd for the honour of France" 

As, however, many doubted the stability of 
Buonaparte's government, and his solicitude for. 
peacCj while hitherto his only passion and g/ory 
had been war ; and were not quite sure that iii 
fighting for an usurper they should be taking the 
field for the hberty and honour of France ; the 
proclamation had not the desired eSed): : the usual 
revolutionary measures were therefore resorted 
to. All young men, under the appellation of 
conscripts, were again torn from their families 
in the most oppressive manner^ and compelled 
to serve} but as he could not entirely depend 
upon these volunteers^ he united with them the 
veterans who had fought in I-a Vendee ; well 
knowing tha^ soldiers who had not objected tQ 
Stain their hands with the blood of their coun- 
trymen in arms for the throne aad the altar> 
would have no repugnance to force others to. 
fight for and defend the cause of usurpation and 
vebelUon. 

Through the neglcft, ignorance, or treachery 

of 



313 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

of Mdasj it was with an army thus composed 
that Buonaparte was able to disorganize and en^ 
slave the European continent. 
. The different columns which composed the 
Army of Reserve marched early in May. 1800 
towards Geneva, and on the 12th of the same 
month were reviewed by the First Consul in the - 
neighbourhood of Lausanne. They then com- 
tinued their march along the right bank of the 
Rhone, until they reached the confluence of the 
Durance, near to Martinack. Thus far the roads 
had been praAicable ; but before they could ar- 
rive at the valley of Aosta, it hecame necessary 
to traverse twenty Italian miles of the moun- 
tainous regions of the great St. Bemardi si* 
tuated between those of Simplon and Mount 
filanc, nearly inaccessible to man, and over 
which a carriage had never passed. After some, 
dangers and great fatigues, however, the army 
reached Aosta ; which, aftei' a very slight resist'^ 
ance, opened its gates to the invader. Chatillon 
and the castle of Bard surrendered in a few 
days. Master of these places, and the Castle 
of Ivrea, j^ons^arte had before him two roads 
by which he might march to the relief of Ge-« 
noa, then closely {messed by the Austri^ms, and 
bravely defended by Masscna } the on^ by Chi- 

vasso. 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, 31f 

▼asso, Taring Asti> and Alexandria^ and the other 
by Yercetti, Navahr, Milzn, Lodi, and JfUtecaau.'^ 
Th^ first was rather the shortest^ but> in pre* 
ferring* the other, Buonaparte avoided the neces« 
sity of passing under the cannon of Turin and 
Alexandria, and gained the advantage of seizini; 
the principal magazines and stores formed and "t 
cdleAed ify the Austrians on the Tessino, the 
Adda, and the Oglio, and which the fatal secu- * 
rity and negligence of Melas had left almost un- 
protefted. 

Notwithstanding the numerous army that 
Buonaparte carried with him into Ijtaly, and * 
which was far superior to the Austrians, he or- > 
dcred and received reijaforcements from Ceneral ; 
Moreau of twenty-five thousand veterans, cooif .; 
mandcd by General Monceyj and thus his army 
amounted to eighty-five thousand inen> wha&» 
that, of the enemy was only about fbrty^fiveT 
thousand. -Z" ^ 

Although, in a fortnight after his desci^nt from 
the Alpsj Buonaparte was placed in the midst (if. 
his former conquests, yet he. was with his Jivholc. 
army pcrfeAly isolated, and it appealed cJertaw^j 
that a single reverse must expose him to inevit^- » 
ble destruftion i trusting therefore to.f^jrtanct' * 
and to the number of his troops, he w:as very de-j 

•vouii. p / sirous 



314. REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH- 

8ifO|U:4a£l>siiigiiig General Melas to, a decisive 
eapgemcntj/ he did not doubt but that the Em- 
paro^wouULsendmnferceineiits; and had the 
two armies Iteen ei{uai.in numbers^ Buonaparte^ . 
ptebafatji.wotiki. not have .had more reason to 
boost oili&i oampaigirin It% in ISQO, than that 
eCSyria-inr I79d« 

GeBM^ had capitnlated on the 4th .of June, 
and^ the l^ckading army^ under General Ott 
joiHttd the Ghie£ cottps under Melas on the 9th ? 
preparations were made for a pitched battle, 
\)9liich Ott the part of: the Austrians appeared 
oU^'anordincaiy encounter} whilst it was obvi- 
ovrSy that upon the fate of this contest depended 
tlrpocwer^ reputation, and^ perhaps, the life of 
BttOiKapayte. 

Atdaj'-break: oa the 14th of June, the, Aus- 
trians dirkkd into three columns, passed the 
BDmida opMi an equd number of bridges; that 
of the right ascended along the bank ; while the 
cctttne iUiowtd the . great road leading to the 
'vitk^ of Marengo, and .the left advanced to- 
wards CmtA Ceriok). After an ob$tinate con- 
t^tt) whicb lasted siK hours, the Austrians had 
gained possession of Marengo, and compelled 
Gkneral Vidtor, who commanded the. left and^ 
th^ centfQ i« )retaeal) and hb movemcitt foixad ' 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 315 

Lasnes, who commanded the right wing, to 
adopt the same measure. The viftory appeared * 
complete; the republicans, defeated in all direc- 
tions, retired in confusion to the plain of San 
Guilio, where Dessaix Was placed with a chosen 
corps de reserve. With this corjps Dessaix made 
a sudden and desperate charge on the pursuing 
army*, the Austrians were broken in their tumj 
and, after a close engagement of thirteen hours, 
▼iftory remained with the French. The whole ' 
glory of this battle appertains to Dessaix, for 
the laurels of Buonaparte had that day withered 
on his brow ; the First Consul was defeated and 
in full retreat, when this General rushed for- 
ward and devoted himself for the preservation of * 
his countrymen, though, by the caprice of for«- ' 
tune, the honour and advantages of the viftory 
Tcmained - with Buonaparte, while the vi&or 
Dessaix was killed t>n the field of battle. 

Complete as this viftory was, had not Melas 
been awed by the influence of circumstances, his 
judgment dazzled by the supposed ascendancy of 
Buonaparte, or his fiiculties enfeebled by the 
temporary fiulure of his troops, he would Jicver 
hjive consented to sign such a degrading, impoli* 
licy and dishonourable armistice as that concluded 
p2 - and 



Sl6 REVOLUTIONAUy PLUTARCH- 

aod agreed on two days after the battle of Ma- 
rengo ; the Imperial troops were not dispirited ; . 
on the contrary, they called for the renewal of . 
the encounter, because they would not allow 
that the incident which closed the day entitled 
their opponents to claim the honours of vidory. , 
But the intrigues of Buonaparte were more suc- 
cessful than even his armies : the great and ex- 
iperienced General Mdas vanished from view, and . 
nothing remaii^ed. but an abjefb, and dispirited . 
individual, ready to yield to every terror, to pur- . 
chase relaxation by every concession, forgetting 
alilK his honour as a general, and his duty as a 
subject: influenced and blinded by a debasing 
panic alone> he gave up, in one evil hour, what 
had required years of viftpries and rivers of blood 
to conquer; and in ading so, he changed with 
a stroke of the pen the general aspeft of.aflfairs, 
in such a nianner^ that the court of Vienna was 
unable to Irefuse the ratification of this inglorious 
and injudicious compa£l between weakness and 
audacity. 

From this brief account it is evident, that 
the subsequent disasters aiid humiliation of 
Austria, and the slavery of the continent, ori- • 
ginated not from the battle of Marengo, which ' 
the Imperial commander lost to General Des- 

- saix; 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. Si? 

saix^, but from' the convention of Alexandria^ 
which Buonaparte swindled from the trembliiig 
Melas. ' - 

Buonaparte was now again enabled to ravage 
wretched Italy ; and that he did so, surprised 
nobody who had witnessed or sufiered from his ' 
former dominion over that country ; but though 
absent only three years, he had during that pe- 
riod proclaimed liimself an apostate, renounced 
his Saviour, and adored Mahomet. It astonished ' 
even his generals and the Italian patriots, there- 
fore, to see this arch-hyp6crite, after the viftory ^ 
of Marengo, affeft once more to be a Christiany f 
by ordering Te Deum to be sung at the Metro- 
politan Church at Milan, yjr the happy deliverance 
of Italy from heretics and infidels! and dare to pro- 
nounce the name of his Redeemer, whom he, te 
a political Judas, had so frequently deserted. 

At once the sovereign disposer of the immense 
resources of fertile Italy, as well as those of 
France, Switzerland, and Holland, Buon^^arte 
expefted to diftate terms of submission to his 
continental enemy; and to dishonour him, by 
compelling him to desert his British ally before 
his forces had been conquered by French arms. 
But had the Austrian army been as complete as 
P 3 iW 



318 REYOLUTIONARy PLUTARCH. 

its fidelity and spirit were great i and the First 
Consul, instead of Moreau^.had commanded the 
republicans in Germany, where a young prince* 
and not an old woman, headed the brave Impe- 
rtalists, the cowardly blunders of Italy might 
have be^ repaired, and Europe been yet free ; 
because Moreau, though vastly superior to his 
opponents, gained the battle of Hohenlinden only 
by his brilliant and vig<»xxis manceuvres, surpass- 
ing, in the opinion of military men, all tha( Buo- 
naparte ever achieved, or pretended to achieve, by 
force of numbers, perfidy, and blood« 

As the valour of Dessaix had procured Bup- 
napapte Italy, so the successes of Moreau in Sua>- 
bia, Bavariaj and Austria, niade him powerful 
enpugh to oblige Austria, for the first time* to 
^cI^aowle4ge> in sl formal, treaty, the superiority . 
of France, and to resign tp the French republi- 
,^ans the ,fiHit ..place ^tQong- cpntin^tal states, 
- which- it h^d &!* centuries maintained and de- 
.fcn4ed. JSut the Treaty of Luueville, if it be a 
ii^onumcnt of the weakened, situation of Austria, 
is at t]ie same time .an eternal reproach to an 
migcnerousj fortunate. foe,.who by this pacifica<- 
tion told all the world, that an universal repub- 
lict founded upon universal plunder, corruption, 
and overthrow, is the constant plan and determi- 
nation 



NAVOUSONE BUONAPAIHSE; 31^ 

liation oftheCorsican nikrtiTer AeBreacktom- 
iQonirealth $ more so tban an nniiwral'mimani^ 
wasNfbmteriy diat of some of the. hmbd soft* 
rdgtls during tbe French' monarcliy*. 

England being now the oidj affile cnenqr of 
the French Re^ublic» Buonaparte ^employed ^ 
ius arts and mflnence in cxcking such a spirit 
among 'his own sabjdO^ and 'est^Alialikig Jbcb 
.» tystemamong the other powers of Sfirope^ as 
^^imild promote hjb nriews -al criishi2%> and^'if 
.poddblerdatrojin|r tiiB iBffitiik 'nati«n^ Ertxif 
iComfliotion in^FlraAcef %v9liy atfcdmpc rof c^sqni- 
A>g Afticmy ^ct ec y 'fe Hme (bflated by polkkal fed- 
tthanasmroir {tei^ond ^engcaiQce^ was; imptti3sd."iD 
•tibe jrrrifageiicyvdf tihe.'Aatish admin i stiatiom; 
^iOmI eadatod aa jai|i*t]ie¥xeh^;prcss, and peeju- 
.-diced and ign<MBant as were iOyatpciofde* it^wiii 
jnot^lDore difficnk nowy-d^an diiring :di6 imttefc* 
*poriods.of the Rievcthitiony iz>-d»pe ^ifaeir kxsdx>- 
Ji^ jmd ^ctte)their:pasiii|Gtt.^hy ihe grovast tik- 
tSHrcHliies. Theyea]Mlylbeiitned,)tli0Ktt6dife^>ttd)^ 
Jhioiaapartc's .tOKoMjmtax Aaoma^ «nd laetenfl 
Joth^r jacdbinsy in .rerepgeif^r i>eng impoaed 
<i^M>n by his levolutioinrf !iif7pc«isy|.ifnfBspircd9 
<nrfaiaUH»r, xoexr tfccmkijai Jbatnng conspired fai|i 

.t}cHCK|£hoi^ 

f* Sec the Secret History of the battle of Marengo, primed by 
Ktercier %t Paris, i So i , or year ix. page 30, 3 1 , and 32. 

p 4 



3» PSVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCTI. 

dts/tm&icn^ and when some enthusiastic mtw 
repohlicans endeavoured by their infenial ma- 
chine to lid the earth of a rebel who had long dis- 
honoured it by his crimes, before. he oppressed 
it bjr hb tyramnyy that both these plots were 
paid by British gold^ and planned in Ecitish 
councils. To confirm the French people in their 
belief a fabricated narrative, the produftion, and 
• worthy of the genius, veracity, and humanity of 
the regicide Fouche, was published, and made 
use 6f as a pJkical instrument to inflame the re* 
publicans against the British Go^'emment and 
Nation, by imputing to them a des^n totally 
repugnant to xh-^ nature of £nglBhmcn^ that of 
.assassinating ,^1 enemy. They willingly accre- 
dited every fidUoiit however grossi, and not txAf 
gave implicit falith to the tale si^gested by the 
late' transadtois, but were tmvmced by the official 
consular MDnil;cnr, that alHhe horrors and mur- 
ders which had disfigured France in the course 
of the Revolution weve dire£ted and paid by the 
British Government ; that Mirabcau and Brissot^ 
' Marat and Robespierre, Rewbel andBarras^had 
.all obtauned instructions and salaries from Pitt, to * 
i;ttiUotine, to murder, to.shoot, to drown, pr to 
^transport the virtuous French Citizens. 

But 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 321 

' But while Great Britain maintained the indis- 
putable sovereignty of the ocean, the eflfeft of 
French or Corsican hatred was little to be ap- 
prehended. To countervail) therefore, the as- 
cendancy of the British naval power, Buonaparte 
availed himself of some jealousies and disputes 
between Englaqd and two of the Northern 
Powers; and by one of those strange turns of 
politics, which often derange the best prqjeA) of 
human wisdom and foresight, the Emperor of 
'Russia, totally changing those noble principles 
which had entitled him to the greatest share of 
admiration, from a loyal defender of all dirones^ 
was become the zealous partizan of French usur* 
pation, and the soul of a league with Prussia^ 
Sweden, and Denmark, fabricated under the au- 
spices of Buonaparte, for the ruin, as it was 
hoped, of Great Britain.' As success gilded the 
banners of the Corsican, the eyes of the Eiifiperor 
Paul became dazzled; and, seduced by French 
emissaries, he panted to share his friendship. 
Buonaparte easily appreciated the character of 
this unfortunate prince ; and saw that he rather 
admired'what was splendid, than pursued what 
was just; that he as often confounded fortune 
with merit, as caprice with reason: he ther^ore 
flattered the Emperor's vanity, and desire of 
^ 5 being 



322 REVOLtmONARY PLUTARCH. • 

being thought a. model of heroism and virtue^ by 
the most dbjcfX ai;id incessant soothings; but 
such is the blasthig curse of Buonaparte's friead- 
ship^ that the Russian monarch had not been six 
pipnths connected withi or attached to this re- 
Mblican ruler, before a premature death broke 
those ties, which vidlorious. crime had no inten<- 
4ion to respe^ any longer than interest demand- 
•cdi or hyprocrisy continued to dupe capricious 
or imbecile power. Under these circumstances, 
the viftor of the Nile, gathering new laurels be- 
fore Copenhagen, again blighted the hopes of 
Buonapartie, and dissolved in one day a confe- 
deracy which French emissaries and intriguers 
had been o^onths preparing and concluding. 

.Obt;aming at the same time information of the 
vidorie^ and progress of the British arms in 
JEgypt, Buonaparte determined to try to gain by 
^tlie .gunning, sophistry, and Machiavelism of his 
^^egotiatprs, those advantages for which his war- 
riors and those of his allies had in vain been com- 
nbating both in Europe and in Africa, both in the 
\Sound and before Aboukir* For near six months 
^Citizen Otto therefore corresponded, presented 
j>Ian8 and counter-plans, for a pacification be- 
tween Qr^at Jgr^tain and France** but he did 

not 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. $iB 

not sign the preliminaries before iie' htd ascer« 
tained that nkxPrenChmaacooakuuided any longer 
in Egypt, by the surrender of Akxandria to 
Lord Hutdiinson. 

As the per£dy of QucmapaBlejind his repoesciw 
tatrve^ in glving^up Egypt ^/jr iu ovaMt^ju/ipii 
for the restitution of the ,Frenph cofcuie^ at a 
time when they were fully acquainted With the 
fall of Alexandria, has been doubted by many i 
the author jwho, during the^ summer of I80i» was 
a prisoner on parole at MarsciUes, can afinn^- 
that on the 2ist of September a Tcssel auchot'ed 
in Its neighbourhood frfm. Alexandria^ wJbtiob it 
had left on the 1st qf thb sdmc mouthy and 
brought the official account x>f -the capitubtioiit 
of General Mdiou, concUidied two d^yjS bffore^ 
or August dOth. . This, ca^abtipn wa3. )(iio^a 
^^n the jBlxchange at. Marseilks: before thre^ 
o'clock that day; in the cveniag, M $b^ pl^y-^ 
house: both the prefifiTc La Croix, jand<heC<^» 
mandenGeheral Cervoni^ made no scacTQt of iti 
or. that they had expedited conrieJB$'tOlPil^i^ with 
informationitdgonerQmentQf4^t|u»ev^^« Qr4er$ 
were hesides pubti^Iy sent loitbe connmit^ary of' 
marine^ and to the inspo&or of the quarantinei 
CO' prep^ecprcTmidns, I'e&eshnientV) 2^c> for th^ 
g»risaa{of^^SeIsa^dna>.Qf JHkich hnodr^d 

r 6 men 



334 BEVOLUTIONART PLUTARCH. 

arrivodxHi tbc the 1st of Oftobcr in the road of 
Mandlk^ The distsUice between this city and 
Paris is two hundjned leagnesj which a courier 
may easily travel in four days and nights ; no 
doubt therefore can renaitti but that before the 
26th of September, the surrender of Meno» was 
known to Buonaparte, who, in consequence, or«- 
dered Otto to conclude a peace, whichi though 
highly honourable to the good £uth and sincerity 
of the British cabinet^ treachery alone signed on 
the part of France. 

The impolitic eagerness tp applaud Lauriston^ 
who brought over the preliminary treaty, and 
the honours (humiliating to all loyal Britons) 
which were shewn to this emissary of an usurper-, 
causes Buonaparte and his minister TaUeyrand 
to believe that such was the want and desire of 
peace amokigst all classes of ^Brit<ms, that they 
might do» contrary to the interest of England; 
any thing that caprice, passion, or ambition 
should instigate or demand, to gratify humour^ 
avarice, hatred, pretension, or vanity. A peace, 
pr rather, a /rAii^ of peace, was therefose swin- 
dled from the Sublime Porte, and an axmy sent 
to St. Domingo. Buonsqp»te usurped the su.- 
pf erne magistracy in Italy, and added Panns^ %h6 
islaiidlof Elba^ and Louisiana, to his other do^ 

. minions. 



mm 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 325 



fninions. All these indireA threats to Great 
Britain, and real acquisitions for France^ took 
pUkce within six months after the preliminaries 
liad been agreed to, and before the definitive 
treaty between England and France was signed i 
and the very day after its signature, he insulted 
our country by another treaty with Hc^land^ 
which deprived our ancient ally, the Prince of 
Orange (the relative of our beloved Sovereign)^ 
of all his claims in. the Batavian Republic* — 
These repeated and barefaced provocations made 
the most enlightened politicians, both in England 
and upon the Continent, conclude that Buona- 
parte had Jao intention to live in {>eace and amity 
with the British empire, and they,. in conse«» 
quence,. anticipated a speedy renewal of hostili« 
ties. 

And, in fafV, from the beginning to the end 
of this (for the haf^ioess of the world) short- 
lived peace, every z(k at Buonaparte was as inv 

. perious as tfnjust, as humiliating as vexatious tQ 
us: new restraints were laid upon our com^ 
;nerce, the debts due to British subjects were 
never paid, and all British travellers (with some 
itvr politicai or patriate exceptions) were either 
vexed, insulted, plundered, or arrested j the re- 

. presentative of our QiitiQiv^ as well as the lowest 

olF 



326 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

of its members, feft the effcfls of Buonaparte*'^ 
unmanly and ungenerous hatred toward thi* 
country; and, as if afraid that his audacity and 
ill-will should not be sufficiently known through- 
out Europe, the political monster, in his official 
Moniteur, continued to accuse and calumniate 
fereat Britain, and to dilate to its government 
in the manner that he was accustomed to com- 
mand the enslaved nations of Italy, Switzer- 
land, and Holland. When at last, therefore, 
the pati«ice and. moderation of our ministers 
mete exhausted, and we were permitted to call 
a man our enemy who had never been our friend^ 
the unanimity was greater in favour of war, than 
the rejoicing had b^en/or the cessation of hosti- 
iities.. 

Short as the peace was, however, it had been 
useful, by exposing in i:s true Ifght to all de- 
luded, iaAious, or 'sediiced Brkohs, the real 
chara^er of a n\an, in favour of whom many had 
l)een so infatuated; whosd hypocrisy was as 
great as his cruelty, who offered freedom when 
he intended slavery ; and held out equtifity when 
all his^ actions and transa^ions had proved, diat 
he could no more enddre an equal than a supe^ 
rior. 

Wherever Buonaparte was only known by his 

fame 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE, S^ 

fame as a fortunate generali he was admired; but 
people of all countries and climatesj in Americst 
a$ well as in Europe and Africa^ when cursed by 
his presence, or the presence of his armed or dia-^ 
armed slavesj soon changed admiration into de- 
testation — the tyrant has bqeii abhorred « and the 
victor hated or despised* Under pretence of 
encour^gipg commerces and ex^tending his /#- 
terrmi prot^&^oa to the colonies, he duped> ar- 
rested, and murdered Toussaint L'Ouvertur^ 
and violated the plighted bcnour of the nation 4o 
the unhappy, negroes, who had by their arzivs 
preserved St. Domingo as a French colony ; but 
whom his treachery made ferocious, and whose 
valour and despair, assisted by the diseases of an 
unhealthy atmosphere, have annihilated numbers 
of those veteran troops who had escaped the fire^ 
sword, and bayonets of the English, the German, 
the Italian, the Turk, and the Mameluke. Buo- 
n^arte could not trust in France, and theref<M« 
sent to perish in St. Dommgo, near two-thirds of 
that iU-&ted armj, consbting of chosen men^ 
.who had fought and (tistinguished themselv^ 
under Generals Pich^ru and Moreau, but were 
suspedted hf the Gorman, with whom trans- 
portation or. death always and immediately fol- 
low susp^don^ .... 

By 



328 ■ REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

By the religious Concordat, which he put the 
Pope in requisition to approve and sign, Buona- 
parte published his own disbelief in aU religions-, 
and that he was aAuated only by policy and not 
by faith ; and thereforei instead of tranquillizing 
the consciences of the timorous, he troubled 
those of the really devout Christians, who, seeing 
a murderer and a poisoner, an apostate and a 
•blasphemer, sacrilegiously usurp the Hght of 
proclaiming himself the restorer of the worship 
of «ur Saviour, began to doubt whether it was 
possible that a God could exist, and permk 
;such outrages and unheard-of impiety and 
profanation, by suffering this cruel man to aug^ 
ment the mass of his revolutionary crimes, and 
with a revolutionary religion, to profanie the a^ 
tars of his God, as he hstd already done the throne 
of his king. 

In creating a corps called the Legicn of Ho^ 
Mury Bucmaparte^ in a republic of equality, has 
ere£led a revolutionary nobiUty, with rank, pre- 
cedence, and privileges, far superior to those of 
all formev nobles, either in France or in Europe. 
What causcs^ the French people to suffer so 
.much the more from these novi HomNEs, or 
repubUcaoi and upstart patricians, is, that most. 
of themk are men sprung from the very dregs e£« 

the 









V'^^^SS 


:i=:=^:7^i_,_-.=.z 


^^= 


L;^^^^^J 




^H 




S 




^S 



rs$0 REVOLUTIONABY PLUTARCH. 

^plHTties, aifd punished men of all parties; affeci 
«tlMi8, byitiakmg them' by toms his accomplices, 
<davesy or victims, he rules over them all» axui 
*h^ already reigned longer than any of his revo- 
Jttfionary predecessors. 

' With th^ same cunning, impudence^ and au« 
dacity, that he allures, cheats, or oppresses French 
«trtizens, he nnderminies monarchy^ and» in the 
persons of their representatives^ insults smd de^ 
<grades foreign monardis ; shewing th^ he does 
4iot intend to respeft the prerogative of lawful 
^sovereigns more than the riglitft of free people^ 
^he independence c€ States more ^faan the laws 
of nktbns or etiquette of courts. The vulgar 
language of the corps des gardte^ and dbe com^ 
shanding hnguage of the camp, are oftener heard 
in the castles of the Thuilleries and St. Cloudy 
'than the decorous conversation «nd dignified ad^^ 
-dres^ ^ a chief magistrate and commander over 
lOne of the greatest and most civiliaied nations lA ' 
the world. At Buonaparte's diplomatic aiidi^ 
dnces, at *hifi military reviews or levees, ^ tht 
court circle with his wife, the ambassadors rf 
emperors and kings tremble and Wush, not #^ 
themselves, :but for the First Consul, who 96 
4»lten forgets bis rank, and stoops to a behaviour 
««d conversation which hi^ Ic^rest vakt should 
- - \ ^ ^bc 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. $91 

^be asbaxnpd to make u^ of among hts equals in 
the republican servantsVball or in the consular 
kitchen. It is true, the Temple is no longer in 
fashion, to te^ch priviUgeJ diplomatic, agents tbe 
revolutionary laws pf nations j but the First 
Consul, in the audience chamber at the Thuil- 
leries, is often more illibseral, unfeeling, and un- 
generous^ than was formterly the first jailer 
over the official dungepns in. the repuUican 
Tcmple-bastilc. 

.When, in 1786, Louis XVI. went to Che^^ 
bourg, he was eKorted b^ no more than firtjif 
^ l^^gu^rdf .* when Buonaparte, in ISOd, went 
to Ni>nnandy and Bralaant, his escort consisteil 
i9f fwelvt iundrsd horsitnen* AlU the .ezpencc|B 
ibr the journey wbidi Louis XIV. made, did 
SM amount .to a .tmllion of livrssy or forty*two 
thousand pounds ; the dally epcpenas of Buon^ 
•parte and his suite, daring the late journey, were 
(Cakidated by his minister Marbois at the rate of 
tm btmdrtd thousand Jivres^ or tweoty^five tiyoxs^ 
sand pou^ids sterling. Such is the difference, bor 
tween the order and economy of a regular and 
paternal government, and the tyrannical one of 
an upstart and usurper % as extravagant .now, is 
he was formerly poor and distr&sed. 

fiourrienne, Buonaparte's confidential secr% 

tary^ 



332 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARte. 

txtjf was last autumn dismissed with disgrace^ 
and disgraced with ec/at / some indiscreet obscr- 
▼ationS) on what had come to his knowledge 
during the seven years that he shared the confi- 
den€e> and perhaps the crimes, of Buonaparte, 
was the cause of a rupture, which many thoughr 
it impossible, because they believed it impolitic an 
the part of the Corsican. In hopes to regain 
favour, or with a design to revenge wrongs, - 
Bourrienne published a pamphlet, called TJ^e 
Livre-Rouge of the Consular Courts dedicated to^ 
ibi Economists^ and other Modem Reformers. 

Before it contd be offered to the public, the 
police at Paris seized it, and the author and 
printer were both sent' to the Temple. Witli 
.the exception of three copies, the whole* was 
destroyed : from one of these copies we shadl 
present the public with an extrt^i:. 

Bourrienne's pre&ce to this pamphlet con* 
tains no less than twenty^fmir pages, intended to 
prove the near connexion between revohitionarjr 
{jovernment and revolutionary finances \ that the 
confusion of the one is inseparable from the 
'anarchy of the other ; and a decree of the First 
Consul, or a Senatus Consultus of his slavish 
senate,, may as well declare it against the honour 
of the Great Nation to have any iiatiohal debt, 

as 



NAPOLEONE ]^U ONAPARTE. 333 , 

as it has already decreed and declared it political 
to dishonour the Great Nation with a Corsican 
Consul for life. > 

It is a faft, says Bourrienne, which French- 
men and Foreigners have not sufficiently attend- 
ed to, that since our financial quacks, the econo- 
mists, began to put their absurd theories into 
praAice, we have no more order or regularity in 
our finances, than from practising the no. less 
absurd and dangerous theories of our political 
quacks, we have received the blessings of liberty 
for our persons and principles, or the happiness 
.of security fo)r our property and possessions* So 
joog as France continues to have no stable go- 
vernment, it will continue to have no finances ; 
and the French government can never be called 
stable, whilst its stability depends upon the life 
of one individual, and that individual a foreigner, 
or at l^ast no Frenchman, but ^ cruel and vile 
Corsican intriguer.. 



Mella jubes Hyblaea tibi vel Hymettia nasci, 
£c t^ma Cecropiie Corsica ponis api, 



MaHt. 



The 



8S4 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCfT. 

Francs ♦. 

The annual civil list estaUisbment 

of the First Consul, .......«•. •.^••^,.. 24,000^000 

His wardrobe, plate, china, the 
crown jewels that he has appro^ 
priated to his use, those plundered 
or extorted in Italy, Spain, and . 
Portugal, -.•.•...^.•...•..••..•.. 20,00O>O00 

The private jewels, plate, &c. of Ma- * 

dame Buonaparte, ^ •••••^« 8,000,000 

Her pin-money, annually, -. 1,000^000 

For the establishment of Joseph Buo- 
naparte, paid at once, , 2,000,000 

A yearly pension, 1,200,000 

An annuity to four relations of Ma- 
dame Joseph Buonaparte, 200,000 

Presents to Joseph Buonaparte for 
his negotiations at Luneville, 
Amiens, &c. ...«..«* •.^^....•.... 1,500,000 

The establishment of Lucien Buo- 
naparte, ......-...•-— .o-.*..-—.— 2,000,000 

A yearly pension, •.•...••..«.,-»•...•....•.. 1,200,000 

His wardrobe, china, plate, piAures, 
and the diamonds that he exjtort- 
ed from Spain and Portugal, •••-•«• 4,000,000 

Annuities 

* A franc is about teopcsct hal^emy. 



NAPOLEONE BUONATART&. 324.^ 

Annuities to the parents and rela- 
tions of his late wife, daughter , , 
of zx\ inn-keeper at St. Maxi- 
mm^ •••••••«•»•••«•••••••■••••••••••••••••••■••••• mkjk) ]\}\)\j ' 

Debts paid in France and Spain^ .... 3,000,000 

The establishment of Louis Buona- 

parte, ••••••.••.•••••••««»*«*»#*«»««*.*.««*M..f«. ^^i/v/vyvvivr 

A yearly pension, .«....«••- ...^..m. 1,200,000 

Debts paid at Berlin, and in other 
parts of Germany, in 1800, and 

At his marriage, ...m..*.....^.............*. 600,000 

Ditto to his wife. Mademoiselle 

Beauharnois, ,.••••••••.-••• 600,OQO 

At the birth of her child, ..•••.... 600,000 

For an hotel at Paris, and two 
estates in the country, for the fu- 
ture establishment of Jerome Buo- 
naparte, ..,..««M-.....*««..............*...... 1 ,500,000 

A yearly pension until married, ••«••••• 600,000 

Money deposited in foreign banks, 
in the name of Jerome Buona- 
parte^ t««»««Mt*»*fff» ff»ttfff««*#«*«ff««*M*Mttft* IjiOOOjOOV 



THC 



3S6 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

THE FIRST consul's SISTERS. 

]. Madame Bacchiochif «n estaldish- 

mentt ^ »......•..........•• ] ^OOO^OOa 

A yearly pension, 600,000 

Presents in diamonds^ &c. ••••..•••• 600,000 
To several of her husband's rela- 

tions, annuities^ ^•;m.......... 200,000 

St. Madame Santa Cruce, an esta> 

blishment, 1,000,000 

A yearly pension, • 600,000 

Presents in diamonds, &c 600,000 

Annuities to two of her husband's 

reianonS) •••••••••••••••••f ••..«•.••••••••• ii/\i,Ww 

3. Madame Murat, an establish- 
ment, 1,000,000 

A yearly pension, .^ ••••••••• 600,000 

Presents in diamonds, &c. 600,000 

To five of her husband's relations, 

annuities, 200,000 

44 Madame Le Clerc, an establish- 
ment, ..« 1,000,000 

: A yearly pension, 600,000 

Presents in diamonds, &c 600,000 

Ditto for going to St. Domingo, •. 500,000 

To 



lyjAFOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 337 

Framttt 

To some of her husband's cela« 

tions, annuities, •••— •••^•••••..m..— 800,000 

To Madame Buonaparte, the Con« 

sul's mother, m establishment, ... 2,000,000 
A yearly p^sion, •*•—•—•-«*«•••••••—«• 1,000,1000 

Presents^ &c. «..^.^...-*.^-— •—•-«•-.- 6Q0fiO0 
f As she lives mostly with the Con- 
sul, she distributes her pension 
among her other children). 
The Consul's uncle, the Archbishop 

of Lyons, an annuity, 600/)00 

For an establishment, •••••.•••..^ 500,000 

To pay for a Hbrary, ••..•••••— ..^.m... 300,000 
To eight poor cousins, and twelve 
more distant relations of the Con- 
sul, annuities, .•••..••.•« 500,000 

To a butcher, a second cousin of the 
Consul, paid at once on condi- 
tion of his not leaving Corsica, ••••• S00/)00 

Annuities to his wife and childreii, 
on the same condition, •••••••-....•••• 50,000 

To young Beauharnois, an annuity, 600,000 
A present at his sister*s marriage, ^.. 300,000 
An hotel and an estate for his fu- 
ture establishment, ....«.•.....•..«.....• 6,000,000 

Paid for his debts, ......••.••..•...^.•^..«. 1,200,000 

VOL. II. Q. To 



338 KSVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

To Madame La Pagerie (Madame 
Buonaparte's mother) for an esta- 
blishment, ^— ••••.•.••..•.-•..-..••^...*. 1,000,000 

A yearly pension, •••^•.••.•...•«.<.*...«.— 600,000 

To six of her relations, annuities, ..m 300,000 

To fifty private spies of the First 

Consul, yearly, •••m.. ••••.•••••••••••••••• 300,000 

Barrere's name is among them \ but 
he is, besides, in another part of . 
the Livre Rouge, a Censor over 
the Press, with a stipend of 12,000 ^ 
francs* Pensions to 406 other 
persons, either distant relations of 
the Buonaparte family, or fevou- 
rites ; amongst others, Ruostan, 
the favourite Mameluke, of 24,000 
francs ; six women ruined by Lu- 
cien, of 8000 francs each j Ma- , 
dame Louis's dancing-master, of 
3000 francs, &c, &c. ...^ 6,000,0«© 

Secret service money among the 
household troops and in the in- 
terior of the castles of St. Cloud 
and the ThuiUeries, annually, 1,5OO,OQ0 

The Second Consul, yearly, «... 2,000,000 

To his relations, ditto, 20C,OQO 

The 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPABTE.' 38fl 

Francs. 

The Third Consul jcarlf, ^•...^.^. 1^00,000 
To his children^ idittQ) •••««»•..•-«»••««— - ■> 300,000 
To other rcbtions, ditto, «.*.o.m.»..«*« 200,000 

•> 
(private.) 
secret expences of the first consul- ^ 

year viii. 
To the members of the Council 
of Ancients; in Brumaire, year 

viii. „•..•......»....... 1,500,000 

To dhto of the Council of Five Hun- , ^ 

dred, ditto, .«•. 3,000,000 

To the Dircftorial Guard, ditto, 1,000,000 

To General Le Fevre, for the mili- 
tary at and near Paris, .,..*..., 2,500,<K)0 

To the disposal of Fouche, ». 1,200,000 

The Constitutional Committee^ ........ 2^000,000 

For accelerating the acceptation of • 
the Constitution, with addresses, 

' &c A ,. o« ....^..'..... 6,000,000 

The Army ,Qf the West, during 
the negoti^tton with the Royal- 
ists, ^.. ..^ ^ 3,500,000 

For the pacification of the -Ro'^nlists, 2,4jOO,000 
To the Army in Switzerland, .......... 1,200,000 

-To the Army in Germany, ..^m.. • 2,000,000 

Q 2 To 



040 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

FrancM^ 

To the Army oa the War, and in Li- 

cniris^ •••••••••••••••••••«•♦••••••••••••••••••#••# iji/UOjiM-K/ 

Ditto in £g]^-(Vemose), ...^..^.o^..^. 1,500,000 

Ditto of Reserve (Germinal), .^^..m. 600,000 

To Adjutant Duroc at Berlin, 2^000,000 

To Citizen Otto in England, 1,000,000 

Ditto for the inspeOions over the 

Sourbons, ••M..««t.«M.........M«.M.ft»...«*« iuu,viK/ 

For ditto, ditto, in Poland and Hol- 

stein, , 100,000 

For ditto ditto and the Army of Cpnde, 200,000 
Remitted to Madame BonoeiUc„ for 

secret services in Russia, ........•.••.• 800,000 

To the diflfcrent members of the Se- 
nate, •••..•....••.•... ......•—• 600,000 

Ditto of the Legislative Corps,. ...m... 600,000 

Ditto of the Tribunate, 500,000 

To twenty.five generals, .................. 1,800,000 

Distributed at Brest, 1,200,000 

Ditto at Toulon, • 600,000 

Remitted to private agent at Vienna, 

in Floreal and Fruftidor, . .... 3,000,000 

New remittances to the Army of 
Egypt, on account of some cap- 
tures by the English, 1,200,000 

Tp Generals Menou and D'Estaign, 1,000,000 

YEAK 



NAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 341 

YEAR IX. 
•^ T • ■« Franci, 

To Louis Buonaparte at Berlin (Fri- 

Ditto at Konigsbcrg and Dantzig, for 

Mussxa^ •••••••••••••••••••••••••••M*..*... •••••• 3)000j000 

For private information at the Armies 

ofMoreauand Augereau, ••••.M^— 1,^00^000 
Ditto at the ArmjF of Interior) »..;^.^ 900,000 
Ditto at ditto against Portugal, .«••»•- 500»0Q0 
Ditto at ditto in hAj^ SviiMciaad, » 

and Holland^ ^ ^^. dOd^OOO 

To some leading members o£ the Se» 

nate^ 4««—t^»> rt i fcw f ><»»»«»»■■»■■>■«■— #» < ».«» 500,000 
Ditto of the Legblative Bodj^, *..^^. S00,000 
Dkto of the Tribunate^ ^»^.^^^^^. lSl00,0W 
]Rottiitted to Adjvtant Xjmriiton at 
. Q^MSifaagen (Gcrmin;d), •^.•^^. tOO^OOO 
TXlt^ to Acyutaat Dnfoc at Ss. P&« 

tersburg, in Plralrial, .•^^^..^..i...... 9,000,000 

Ditto to Citiam Otto ia E&glandf «v.« lyMO^OOO 
Ditto to General Mene«b .*.m#-...^««, 090,000 
For the inspeAions •vef the S«miu 

bons ih England, P(4and» aitd Car* 

many, ••••M»*»«»»*.»««vtf*..Mtfint«#««.d«t»».«v.. OOO^OOv 
Among the naral armies at Brest 

and Totlonj for secret information^ S00,000 
«S To 



343 REVOLUTIONARY- PLUTARCH. 

fo Sixteen generals, ,_.., 600^000 

For secret influence at the military 
special tribunals, ..• 300,000 

YEAR X* 

For the return of some bishop^ and 

priestSj •.....••••••.M«^^..„„;„»^,^„,^, 2,600^000 

The Consulta at Lyons^ .....••.••....*^.„ 4,a00»000 

To sonac leading Members of the Se- 
nate, on the motion of the Con- 
sulate for, life, •^.....^..^^•^.^««*. 800,000 

Ditto, • ; ^-•••♦•.♦.....,^..^,,..,. 700,000 

Ditto of the-Council of State, ditto, 600,000 

Ditto of the Legislative Body,^ ditto, 500,000 

Ditto of the Tribunate, . ditto^ ...^.^. 500^000 
To the different Prefeas, ditto, .•.^. 12,000i»00a 

To fifty generals, ditto> .^ 5,50(1^000 

To the differeqt armies, ditto, «.....• 3,000^000 

To the navy at Brest and Toulon, 

ditto, ••«•••«••»••••«•••••«•••••••••••«••«.•«•.••,• 600^000 

For accelerating the votes and pro- 
posing addresses at Paris, to 

Fouche and Dubois, ^•-m....^......* SOO,000 

Ditto in the departments, .^.„......«... 3,OCO,000 

For the inspeftion ovei* the Bour- 
bons, .MM.0.M..«.O.MM.,„0....,..,* ♦. V 60©,.000 

Remitted 



NAPOLEONE BUONAP^RIE; 343 

Francs, 

Remitted to Citizen Otto, «... 500,000 

For the private inspcftion over the 

jKiinisters, and at their offices, •••• 100>000 
Among the military at P'aris, per 

. -General Junot, 100,000 

Pitto in the departmental ...** 4,000,000 

To prove with what indifference and profii-* 
sibn millions are squandered away, and with 
what contempt the squandered millions are ac- 
dbuiited for, the budget presented t9 the Legislative 
Body at its last meetings in February 1803, and 
published in the official Monrteur, contains the fol-. 
lowing concise narration^ how nearly three mil- 
lions sterling have been expended. 
TEAR ix» 

S2 millions expended in negotiations (pour 
fires dcs Mgotiations). 

TEARX. 

10 millions unforeseen ezpences (depcnces 
imprevues). / 

15,505,000 francs expended in negotiations 
(pour frais des negotiations}* 

Let those who complain of the shew and pro- 
digality of princes, who libel the expences at-r 
tending monarchical ^pvernments, who prme 
Q 4 the 



344 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

the simplicity and economy of republiean ad- 
ministrators, who speak of the absurdity of he- 
reditary sovereignty, and of the advantage of 
clefting rulers — let them read the above authen- 
tic extraft, and then say what France has gained 
by exchanging an ancient monarchy for a fii- 
shionable commonwealth, a Bourbon 'for a Buo- 
njijJttrte** 

People who bave not resided f6r some time In 
revolutionary France^ can form no idea of the 
disorder. tiiat reigns m hev Buzncet, of the ixom 
certainty apd insecurity of prpp^rty^ of the totai 
waot of ooafidenccy of the scarcity of mocicy^ of 
tbe k]|in0i»iity and. crim«s of her government* 
and of the vicQl apd slavery of her inhabitants,^ 
Of France it may truly be (aid, for these last 
•iewn y«wH tb«l 

Her tlavet are ^tdiers, and h^VsoYa^enrdtm^l: 
Her knaves are rulcif» mi att rulers knaves. 

And, ill feft, any upstart in place or in affluence, 
who is even notoriously l^nown to have com- 
mitted mtjrders and assassinations, to have in- 

"^ ' trigued 

' 4*^ ffteAtftJiofse^t tliis cxtfsA of tfte lUrt U^^tfithfi Witw* 
fittmt >we|f-f^ndui^ed pttpef t tl>e iirh»sh Pmss and (he GJk>U« 
and it appeared in them both^ August 13th, iSo^, 



NAP(»UEONB BUONABilRTE. 345 

trigitedf robbed,' betmyed cor {dundered ever so 
muchi is respeBtd as an irrepftacbsMe thmra^ir. 
Many good and innocent persiMis have, besides^ 
since the Revolption, been su$peQed> accused^ 
judged and coodemiied. by former fadtions as cri- 
minal \ thift has introduced a confusion in ideas, 
advantageous to those really guilty and deservw 
ing of punishment ) the public opinion is there* 
fore ^ways uncertain and hesitating about Tthef 
innocence or guilt of the accused* But the tm« 
naoral indiflference and cowardly baseness of- the 
Jrench republicans would be incredible, were it 
ilot manifest, that notwithstanding they are con« 
vinced of the enormous crimes, both of the First 
Consul »iid of most of his senators, of his coun- 
sellors of state, &c. crimes that, under a regular 
government, and in a country where honour, 
morality, and re%ion were revered, would long 
ago have forced them to descend from powfsr^ 
and to renounce their ranh and riches for a gib- 
bet, the galleys, w a prison^ — they contkineto 
submit to Buonaparte as they did \q Robes- 
pierre, and 5peak of the great vwiues of tfce ^mt^ 
mer in 180^, as they did of the unpa^UeM in^ 
mamty of the fetter in 1793. On a!l others, as 
well as on tfhe present kingof ftiftibnj -the proi 
stJtution of fhwi, atid- e^wy degiw4of^«fritt* 
ft 5 ' iniastic 



Z46 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

mianic Veneration^ faave been bestowed. Terms 
peculiar to the adoration and worship of the 
Supretxie Being have been applied to Marat and 
RQbis9pierrf, as well as to Buonaparte ; wretclxes, 
all, whom it was the reproach of humanity to 
number among men, and whom nothing but 
ri|^hesi and power, fear or meanness, prevented 
those who published or proclaimed their deifica- 
tion from hunting into the toils ^f justice, as 
disturbers of the peace of nations* 

In a pamphlet called ** La Sainte Famille/' 
the following calculation is made and published, 
of the number of persons who had perished by 
the commands of Napoleone Buonaparte, before 
he was firmly seated upon the republican throne 
of France as a First Consul. 

bi December 1793, Brutus Buonaparte com* 
manded the cannons and bayonets which killed, 
or rather murdered, twelve hundred, men, wo- 
men, and children, at Toulon. In Odober 
1795, eight thousand men, women, and childreUi 
were butchered in the streets of Paris^ by Barra% ' 
Buonaparte, and his satellites. During the cam- 
paigns of 1796 and 1797, in Italy and Carinthiaf 
j^ording.to the official report in the war-office, 
twenty-six thousand four hundred and sixty 
French citiaKss titfe l^lhd if «be enemy on 

the 






KAPOLEONE BUONAPARTE. 34S^ 

the £elds of battle^ and nioc thoosaad t|iree 
hundred and 6kj'»iwo perished in the hospitals ; 
of vhoiki the, author of the pamphL^ supposes 
0t least thne thousand to have been strungUd,. 
pomntd^ ,ox ht^rui a/ive, by the orders of Bao* 
naparte, after having been dangerously wounded 
in combating for this atrocious generaL During^^ 
the saipe campaign, according to Berthier's, and 
Other generals' repcnrts, upwards of forty-four 
thousand <i|ie^ies in arms were killed, besides 
fourteen thousand two hundred disarmed inha- . 
bitants/ . Men, women an0 children, who pe- 
rished in cities, towns, and villages given up to 
pillage, taken by storm, put under military exe- 
cution, or who were stabbed and shot, or burned 
alive asinsurgents, as refraftory, or as fanatics. 

Buonaparte's, expedition to Egypt and to 
Syria, and the battle of Aboukir, cost the lives ^ 
of twenty-two thousand Frenchmen, forty thou- 
sand inhabitants in Egypt, and six thousand in 
Syria I and, according to Menou's account, 
thirty.si:^ thousand Turks and English were 
killed by the republicans or by the climate. 
(The number of Frenchmen poisoned in the hos- 
pitals by the orders of Ali Buonaparte, Menou '• 
4oe$ not mention). During the campaign of 
1«00, in Italy> Switzerland, and Germany, arid > 
'':. ft 6^ until 



Mtf REVOLtrridNAItY PLUTARCH. 

^ttffl tht Pe«ct tft Luaevtite ensured Btiona-^ 
part^ tt9urpatiori| hrem^Miie thousand eight 
Kmkh^FFetichm^dkdon the field of battle, 
or in die hdspitaU s ikid, aceordix^ to Mte^eao% 
Bertliier*5|lVIa&^etia*$, ^hd M^KrdonddV aocoonts^ 
xhorc than double that nuikiber KUt enemies pt^^ 
nshed in the ^ame canipatgnsi And thus up- 
ward) of three hundred thousand lives have been 
sfacrificed to procure Buonaparte a tank s^d a 
poller, of which he makes no etb«r use than to 
fonfer an organized wks^j ahd ^very ot^ man-* 
kind, by a continual ep{Mressio»> plunder, and 
tyranny; by his religious and poUtical^ hypo- 
ttisy, as much -as by his revolutionary plots, pfc- 
tensions, intrigues, and agitations. 

Thanks to the courageolis, loyal, and able his* 
tdrian. Sir Robert Wilson, who rehrting in a 
style equally pure, nervous, clevatedj and clear^- 
ihcontrovertible h&s'y has exposed the hitherto 
unheard of, or disbelieved, atrocities of Napo- 
Icone Buonaparte, and made the world mol*e in- 
timately acquainted with the principles and con- 
duft of this fortunate, but miscbrfceivcd inan i 
2(nd proved, that neither 6ommand nor affluence^ 
neither authority nor prosperity, neither a throne 
nor popularity, ^ can wake a viffasft great *^ Suc-^ 
ctss has sometimes meliorated the sanguinary 

dia»^ 



NAPOtBONE BUONAPARTE. Z49 

duraStars of former usurpers*' The Emperor 
Angnstti&ifas very diffareiit from the Triumvir 
OAaviiiff ; but the tjt^xmj wd fowcity of Buo* 
naparte increase* /rnllx hsi pixHperityi si^4 tfa^ 
fortuhate First Ccm^dLn^fer ttd^ |o exhibit 
Ch^ cruel tfaasafter ctf th6adi!enturer a^ad terrrorisi 
Brutus Buonaparte at-Toulon of 17d3i of thif 
jacobin and murderer. Barras Buonaparte at Paris 
of 1795| and'of the poisoner and butcher. All 
Buonaparte, at Jaffa, of 179^. ' 

Future ages, more hspjiy, morte independent^ 
ifxd more impartialj will do the ,Eintish Katioilt 
that jiistice, and besto^v! o«.k!;that adaairatioQ* 
which, terrified by revolutionary threats, and 
gained over by regicide indemnities, some cotem-* 
poraries have refused; and draw an honourable 
conclusion concerning the spirit, patriotism, and 
morality of modern Britons, from the irrecon* 
cileable hatred with which tHey have been dis- 
tinguished by all French rebels and regicides, of 
all faAions, of all parties, and of all constitutions i 
by the Brissot, Danton, Marat, and Robespierre 
of the year one, as \tcll as by the Talleyrand^ 
Roederer, Fouche, and Buonaparte of the year 
twelve. 

As to Napoleone Buonaparte, either consi- 
dered as a powerful usurper or as a private citi- 

zeD| 



^^0 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

zen, either as a warrior or as a pbliticiaiir it ix^^ 
before been justly said, ** That success may» for 

inscrutable purposesi continue to attend him- 

Abjeft senates may decree him a throne, or tlxc 
pantheon; but history shall render injured Hu-- 
manity justice, and an hidignant posterity inscribe 
on his cenotaph: 

■* lUc venena Cokhici, 

£t quicquid uaquam Coocipitur nefas, 

Tradavit/** 

* Some reBcIf and regkidet have lately transformed Napoleone 
BuoQapartc into an £mperor of the French ; and next year wc 
shall proVably hear that these same criminals are building temptrv^ 
and ereAing ahars,lor their worthy idpl! ! ! 



MADAMK 



Dsnx 



I" 



351 



MADAME NAK)LEON? BUONAPARTEi 



** It it the fall degrades her to a whore ; 

Let greatness own her, aad she's mean no raore.*^ 

fOft. 



JOSEPHINE LA PAGERIE w;is ;narrie4 
at the age of twenty-two to Viscount Ak^candcr, 
de Beauharnois, thea second insyor in a regiment 
of infantry J a rank which he owed, not tp his mi- 
litary capacity, but.to his assiduity at Versailles, 
in the ante-jchambers of favourites and ministers ; 
and to his reputation among the courti<^, of 
being an agreeable and able dancer» The mar- 
ris^e of the rich MadeoaoiseUe la Pagcrie with 
the poor Viscount de Be^uharnois, was concluded 
from love and affeAion on one part^ and from 
interest and necessity on the other ; because de 
Beauharnois was both in debt, and some yeastt 
younger than his wife. iBoth were bom a^ 
Martini<yie> and educated in France} and both 
descended from noble iKit obscure or reduced 
families, who had traasplaated themselTes to die 
. X West 



95^2 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

West Indies, in expeAation of making in the 
colonies a fortune, of which they had neither 
a prospeft nor a hope in thm mother couo* 
try- 

Notwithstanding that Monsieur and Madame 
de Beauharnois were, soon after their marriage, 
introduced at court, and presented to the king 
and to the royal family, yet their usual society 
chiefly consisted of persons who, like themselves, 
possessed some property, no claim to eminence, 
but great envy towards those who with riches 
uYihed diSrindtion and favour. Both sexes of 
this society were immoral citizens, ambitious and 
dangerous intriguers, and the principal though 
ihdireft plotters al:id conspirators both agains^ 
the throne and the altar, against the privileges 
of the ti6bilify apd clergy, as well as against the 
happiness* and tranquillity of Frenchmen in ge- 
lieral. Talleyrand, Charles 'and Alexander La 
Methe, Beaiimetz, La Totir Maubeuge, Sillery, 
and Plahault, were sorti^ of the persons most 
visited by Madame de Beauharnois and her hus* 
band J charafters who have; with their ladies, 
more or less figured in the ¥'ren<ih revolutionary 
annaV> and prepared, by their atheistical, dis- 
affeft'edj and 'seditious coiiversatidns dlid Writ- 



ihgV.tHe.sul)versioh6ftWj^^^ govern. 



ment. 



» 

s 




lUin.in.vimnm-V." 



o,r.r^^'^'?,.:;:-.;:t,rer&;„ 



/;u^>U^h-J /'t-./,,(-./ a.trp.T \. Vorlc 



IhrZar/xSZ Faii/. 



MADAME NiVP. BUONAPARTE. nS3t 

sicnt, and Hie wretchedness of France and Ea* 
•ope. Th^yymtl^xuyvni/hmdffursp^tb^ French 
catkd them; or, what h the same, stkkkrt 
agakist the goversMnent^wkhcmt cabse or reason^ 
as well ^A-^AhbutAsLoki grstitude, duty, or p<H 
Key. Among these cotefcrict'of ihib feconJ dsas^ 
or pett^ Bbbilkyf viGe^aifaed:i»i»fiiced» and th€ 
^erc«btkt of tnaCtfimonlf vei« hsfe i le Bp riOad thaat 
jil#& J!rH daiSi otherwise rtf^nii^i^fraihfr uh 
kmniatiJf as the most debauched and anpi IM 
eiftied s though a regard to thieir lianksy and im* 
efae kao^n vxiteotts diaralter . of JLicmis ^^Xk 
fated numy ef them all least to sayb the apr 
yeanmee of.idctue^ or to be discreet in theif 
Tkes^ and teaToid dl scanddr ami pdilicity^ a< 
the onl^ itaans of preselring th^ good opiaioi^ 
and fiurour of their princei This) wsis not th# 
ease wtb Mkmjbmiliar comptnttf of Monsieur m4 
Madane.de. BeanUamocs: burning trith destro 
U} beeonairnptDfiocis^ their constant and crtailial 
eflbu&rtidn was to obtain an infemDus af^ianse^ 
to be fashionable in the immoral French capital^ 
and t6 gain renorwn bjr making the public ac« 
fnainted with their roeiprdoal intrigues^ their 
nnktnal infidelities, and their equal refinements 
in vice and debauchery. The gallants of Ma* 
dame de Be^iAnrnoii Were thdr^fens. as nume* 

rotj* 



$o4 REVOLunONAinr PLUTARCH. 

rous as they were notorious ^ and her vanitj was 
BO doubt flattered^ at hearing that her amours 
were the common topic of oonveisatioti not ecif 
at Versailles, bat at Paris^in the theatres, as irefl 
as in the coffee-houses. In March 1789, at the 
hotel of the Countess de. F*— » (the hnne amit of 
lalleynmd) Madainit de Beauharnois said9 m the 
hrge circle of ladies and gentlemeii assemUed 
dierej and in the i^dsence of Mr. dc Beaahai^ 
aoisy that) ^f bit sever4^ pregnaneies^ sb& cmM 
not nproacb kr husband xutb aay^ etteepi tie 
Jursi^ vfbicb ended in a Mreorriage, . This s^dlf 
was heard, commended^ and envied by aB the 
feididis present; and the next d^y trumpeted aboirt 
Plu*is by tfae^ gentlemen, aad laughed at or ad» 
mired . every where. A few days, a&erwarcby 
when Madame de Beauharnois. appeared la her 
ioa at the opera, she. was saluted with tbers* 
fRSated appdaoses of the goal and vikiumt :Fa** 
^isians,* who then were \ preparing, the monii 
regeneration of France, of Europe^ and of the 
world*. 

Mr. de Beauharnois had about this period beca 
chosen^ by the nobility of the bailiwick of filoisy 

a de# 



• « U Cbrpnitn* Scandaleose, 4e l*«u yj9$9 chu* Parrqe, \ 
f4m%V^l' iSi tnd IS2. 



MaDAMB nap. BUONAPARTE. 355 

a deiftity to the States^Gencral* Dazzkd hj this 
honour, and hy the flattery which bhjriet$ds paid 
to the charms of hi& wife and to. the good din* 
aers ci her a>6k, and convinced of his own i^u* 
po'iority in dstnciog, he thought hioudf a man 
ef consequence \ and^ to prove himself such, de- 
termined, with a degree of impudence, as disho- 
aoiirahle as ineffeAual> in gratitude for all the 
finRMCs and beo^fadioo^i that he had received 
ftom the generous bounty of Louis XVL to de-* 
^Iaim» and to declare his implacable enmity to 
thk S^Yere^ and to the Royal Family. But^ln^ 
th^ astemUy of the States-Gen^^l, afterwards 
c^ed the National AssosMyt when. he aac^ed 
the tribune, he tejud his treachemus speeches 
ivith. an. ostentation which his chilling and un^ 
feeling voi^e made ridiculous.; and the^^ orator 
vat as contemptyble as. the traitor was detettable» 
Hit aoeonqfiliees. La. Fayette and X^ Methe» 
however^ caused him^ cotwithstandiag his want 
ef abilities^ to be ele€led, in June 1791, president 
.of this National Assembly \ and, as such, ht 
signed the proclamation addressed to the French 
people, when Louis XIV, was arrested at Vsn 
w^ei. In Oaobcr of the same year, he made 
his peace with the court, was promoted to the 
rank of^adjutant-general, and served as such 

under 



35d REVOLUTIONARY PLUTAttCtT. 

Gaeral Btron^ wlicn the French t roop s , in 
April ll9'2^ were routed near Mona 

Beaubaioiois was the friend of La Fayettd as 
lemg as he was popular ; but afterwards joined 
his enemy and successor in popularity^ Dunioa- 
rier; and when the latter was proscribed, he 
courted Coscine, whom^ when proGcribed also 
in his turn, he sacetKOf^ i» the cotftawmi over 
mie Army of the Kbine $ whii^hpbee he» comarwy 
t^tht wislies of the jae<>biti6^ derirdd ta ttdgth 
hut WM forced to occufy tMKil Atgust icT^ 
t^ha^ the repi^stmaii^c^ ctf the ptso^ 9uh 
fmdtA him Aom all fiifiMom, and prdend lam 
#0 viliveabaTe twenty leagues frooi the fwiakw# 
He was soon afetrwamis^ with his wiiie^ arrested 
m mitpuRed persons i and oa the SM of Juif> 
1994) he was sent to the guSkitine, as aa ac« 
eoinptice in the imaginary con^nracy cf * da 
ptiscms; The day before baa ei^ectttipsi hewzotd 
a long ktcer to his wife, in which he reefMW 
mended to 6er> in the true repubKoan siyk, ii9> 
^Idren \ and in particular not tp tugle^ to n* 
isiMish Us meffwry ot$d rfft^sti^f hy ptavi^ 
^iiaf «nfl wiiOLK L]t#E bad heen imsecrOted H 
getvi-lUfrtfonfl e^Hty*^*" This reVolutlMiaiy 

' i<nw* 

f Sec L« Ci&ionnaire Biographique, f oU i. art. 'Bcauharnois, 



• MADAME NAR BUONAPABTE. ZS7 

l^ypocrisy of a. man who had been twenty years 
a courttcr, and only four a patript, will not seem 
surprising, when it is considered that at this 
time liberty and equality were very fashionable 
words in republican France, and Mr. de Beau« 
hamois no doubt intended to die as he had lived, 
a fashionable man. It is said, however, that 
when he ascended th6 scaffold of the guillotine, 
he exclaimed, ** If I bad served my King *wtth 
the same zeal and fidelity as I have done his mur» 
dererSf he would have rewarded me in a dtffei'ent 
manner ^"^ It is a consolation "to proscribed and 
suffering loyalty, and an evidence that Provi- 
- dencc does not always permit successful crime to 
remain unpunished, that most of the nobles who 
revolted against their lawful Sovereign, have 
either perished by the hands of their sovereign 
people, or what is worse, and more painful both 
to real patriots, and to patriotic intriguers, arc 
forced to live the abjeft staves of the vilest of all 
tyrants, and to endure, under a foreign usurper, 
a bondage as dishonourable as oppressive, after 
sacrificing the real liberty which they enjoyed 
under the best of all the French kings*. 

During 

tf S«c Le-ReciKlU'ABecdoteSy pag.^iS9. 



$5d REVOLUnONART PLUTARCH. 

' During the revolutionaiy career of General 
Beaohamois, his wife lost many of her fermer 
friends ; either by emigration, as the two bro« 
thers La Methe ; by proscription, as Talleyrand 
and La Fayette ; or by the guillotine, as Bar- 
nave, Sillery, and FlahaulL It vras, therefore, 
when at Strasbur^h in July .17S^S, her intention 
.to emigrate i which her husband prevented, 
however, by sending her back to Paris ; where, 
soon after, she, like him, was immured^ but not 
in the same prison. 

It has been said, and believed every where, 
that in ITS*, to save her life, Madame de Beaa- 
hamois threw herself into the arms of one of the 
indirect murderers both of her husband and of 
her king; and that she had no choice left but the 
impure embraces of the regicide Barras, or death 
from the republican guillotine. That it was not 
from necessity, however, but from a vicious ha- 
bit and scandalous perversity, that she began to 
intrigue with Barras, was at the time well knowM 
at Paris, and may easily be prpved in London. 
General Beauharnois was beheaded on thp 23d 
of July 1794, five days before the death of Ro- 
bespierre, and six days before the guillotine 
ceased to kill en masse. . In the 2^th number of 
Fouquier Thionville's printe«^^ lists {counting 
s from 



MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTE. 359 

the dtty whkli made her a widow) Madame d^ 
Beatthamois's name was inscribed *'i and had not 
Robespierre perished^ she would certainly have 
ascended the scaffold in her turni and Baira^ 
was the last of all the conventional^ regicides wbp 
could have saved her, being himself marked oift 
upon an anterior list, as one of RabespietreV 
first viAims. Besides, when Madame de B&aiir 
faamois, on the 24rth of Thermidw, or li2th 
of August, 1794, recovered her liberty, she 
was released, not by Barras, but by the Pa- 
risian butcher and representative of the French 
people, the regici^le Legendre> viho khidly protr 
te^ed her for some time in his house, ^beijfe 
• she made acquaintance both with Madame^ Ta)» 
lien and with Barras, who, to the great disap- 
pointment of Legendre, in September of the 
same year,- caused the seals to be taken off her 

house 

♦ After the death of R^bespifrrc^ seali were put on ^11 the 
' jpapersoi the Kevulutionary Tribunal, which v*erc deliveiej <o (he 
Committee of Public Safety. Among these papers Were lofuntl .0 
Ijsts otjf persons who wete anested or sucpe£ted» and, in the 36 
following days, were destined for the guillotine. Barras s name 
was upon the ninth list, and Madame de Ceauharnois's naflne upon 
the twentjr-iifth. Some of these lists corttainei! 80 names, nth^s 
60,40, Ac. but no« less than .32 ri:nn s; jlwy wrre ajl pigaed 
Fouquier Thionviile, r-'blic accuser, and primed liurrrg liis 
trial. • •* 



960 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTAECH. 

house in the Rue de ViAoires i and to proieO^ her 
Jn his turn, he occupied an apartment in her 
Ixouse, until he exchanged it in O^ber 1795 
•for the Palace of Luxembourg, and procured 
her, in his accomplice Napoleone Buonaparte^ a 
•husband to cover the efobarrassed state to which 
«he was at that period reduced, by her intimacjr 
-and connexion with him as. her lover ** 

All those ladies of noUe families in France, 
whose licentiousness got the better of their dutjr 
during the Revolution (and to the honomr of the 
sex they arc not many), have made their pre» 
tended dangers an apology for thein real guilt. 
Danger was the excuse of Madame de Fontenay, 
for marrying the regicide Septembrizer Tallien ; 
-of the Duchess of Fleury, for divorcing herself 
to marry a gamester \ of the Marchioness of 
Bourdemont, for matrying her coad^aian i and 
of Madame de Beauhamois, for living in adul- 
tery with the married jacobin Barr^s. But the 
revolutionary crimes of the revolutionary fac- 
tions are manifest, public, and numerous enough, 
without any augmentation from libertinian to 
extenuate private corruption j and if those ladies 
who, like the Princess of Monaco, the«Duchess 
of Biron, and the Marchioness de St. Luc, pre- 
ferred 

• Se« La Sainte FamiUet page 29. 



MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTE. d6l 

ferrcd death to infamy, deserve the warmest ad- 
miration; those who forget themsehres, when 
surrounded by the examples of the martyrs of 
loyalty and religion, and with the scaffolds of 
virtue and innocence, and who, in those dread- 
ful days gave loose to their vile passkmsr ^« 
serve to be exhibited both a$ a diame to them* 
selves, and as a warning to others whom foture 
revolutions may tempt to foture iautation aad 
degradation. 

While Madame de Beaoharnois dras, in com- 
pany with Barras, consoled herself for the losfiT 
^ her husband, Madame Tallien,^ a beautiful 
woman, but whose character is as depraved, as 
her form is perfeA, was the then fashionable idol 
of the gay, corrupt, and giddy Parisians* These 
two female friends of Barras soon became rivals 
in the Scandalous Chronicles, in "v^hich were 
recorded their mutual efforts to outshine each 
other i to make conquests, and to desert the 
conquered 5 to change lovers, as they changed 
their clothes 5 and to exhibit at the theatres, in 
the public walks and assemblies, their new and 
motley suitors, as impudently as their more than 
. *half naked persons *• 

During 

* It is weU known i.v JFrance, tlxat the naked fathtoa was in- 

veocei 
VOL. n. R 



tet REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

Durbig the years 1795 and 1796^ Afadame 
TalUex^ always had tke precedence in tHe Pari- 
sian popularity and favour, and was the most 
fashionable idol of those times. Madame Beau- 
hamois gained no applause or approbation wrlien 
her second marriage was known. Her choice, Na- 
polcone Boanaijnrte^ was the detestation and ab- 
honrence of i^lParis, where he,two months before, 
bud made 99 many widows and orphans; and even 
his brilliant campaign of 17965 in Italy, caused 
the ParisiansL to shudder at the very name of th^ 
viflor Buonaparte^ whom they always remem* 
bored add regarded as a murderer. 

By the, peace of CampaFormio, or rather by 
the rdVbhrtidn of the TSth Fruftidor, or 4-th of 
8eptember| 1797^ Buonaparte siiencedi without 
reconcilifigt his enemies. The flatterers of his 

fortune, 

vented In I794f m consequence of the executioners custom of 
tearing offladies' handkerchiefs and part of iheir gowns, in order 
to uncover their shoulders before they were guillotined ! Madame 
Napoleone and Madame Tallien were the.first who, after the death 
of Robespierre, shewed themselves thus naked to the public, and 
^ho inventtd the red wigs, shawls, and handkerchiefs, in imitation 
of the rpd shirts with which the pretended conspirators agatinst the 
republic of regicides were dressed when carried to ezecation. It 
is hardly possible to invent fashions from more atrocious or cruel 
occurrences. The head-dress, a la 7 /tut, originated from the 
executioners' cuttiog off nhe hair of those condemned t^ be guillo- 
tned* . 



--1 



\ 



^ - t 




MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTE. 3fi$ 

fortune, however, caused his wife to share in hi» 
triumph, and forced Madame Tallien to re* 
nounce, or at least to admit a paa:tner upon, the 
throne of fashion, which for two years she had 
occupied without any rival; and thou^ Ma^ 
dame Napoleone {ci-devant de Beauhamois) was 
advanced in years, and never had been a beauty^ 
the Notre Dame des Vlftoires, as the military 
called her, was more the talk of the day, than 
Notre Dame de Septembre, as the royalists had 
styled Madame Tallien, on account of her mar- 
riage with a regicide, who was, besides, a Scp- 
tembrizer. 

'^^'hen Buonaparte sailpd for Egypt, in May 
179S^ he left his wife in greater affluence than 
he had found her in 1795: in distress at that 
period himself, he had married her for her pro- 
perty, and not from any attachment to her per- 
sor. The amiable and insinuating manners of 
Madame- Napoleone, however, made some im- 
pression upon the mind of an unfeeling, cruel, 
and ambitious man, who, no doubt, took that 
for love which could only be vanity or interest ; 
and he left his wife, if his own letters are to be 
believed, nvitb regrety or probably with fear that 
more riches, more notoriety, and more means to 
attraA the attention of the public^ would make 
r2 an 



364 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTAftCH. 

an already vain and dissolute character still more 
criminal. Buonaparte was not mistaken.. Ac- 
cording to the pamphlet called " La Sainte Fa- 
millc," his mother's letters overtook him at 
Maltai with information, '^ that hi9 wife, the 
same day that she received information of his 
departure from Toulon, had left Paris for Gros* 
boisj and settled herself with her former protec- 
tor Barrais 'i who had caused great complaint, and 
attached great scandal to the other DireAors, by 
having deserted his duty and the Luxembourg 
for his scenes of debauchery at Grosbois ; where, 
besides several noted courtezans, were ISladanic 
Tallien, Madame Napoleone Buonaparte, Ma- 
dame Killmain, Madame Guidal, Madame Grand, 
General Verdier, Talleyrand, &c. &c. all per- 
sons whose examples it was well known might 
ruin -the morals of a republic even more vicious 
than the French*. It was in consequence of 
this maternal information, that Napoleone wrote, 
on the 25th of July, 1798, a letter from Cairo to 
his brother Joseph : in which he said, ** I have 
many domestic troubles and family vexations ; 
the veil is entirely withdrawn : you alone re- 
main to me upon earth 5 your friendship is very 

dear 

^ * See La Sainte Famllk, page 37. 



. MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTE. 96& 

dear to me : nothing is wanting to make me a 
fofnplete tnuaisthrope^ but that I should lose you> 
or that you should betray me. Such is my me- 
lancholy situation \ I possess all poss'thh sentU 
^ menis for this same person^ whilst another reigfis. 
iA her heart! You understand what I mean.'* 
The tender*hesn:ted, humane, unambtttous Na- 
poleone to; become a misanthrope^ because his 
mf9tthy wife intrigued with the same regicide with 
whom «he Uvtd in open adulteirf at the tiiBe 
when he married her I hci who wkh sofig/rM^ 
iSnotwiA pleasure^ had commanded the mur- 
der^ poisoning, &c. of sq mdiiy thouss^d ]Jidi« 
vi<fi]als of both sexesy of all ages ! this Corsica^ 
hypocrisy probably could not dupe ewn his so 
partial Corsicaa brother. A man a the head 
of forty thousftiid drmed banditti, emfi»fsd in 
pltindering the country and butchering the 
sttl^eAs of a /riendlf and a^eJ fowtr, must 
make a \erf novel and qirious misanthrope 
indeed i 

After the issue of the batde of Aboukir be- 
came known in France, the policy of Barras got 
the better of his amour ; and, following the ex- 
ample and conduft of the other Direftors, he ra- 
ther shunned than courted the company of a lady 
R S whoas 



366 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

^ose hnsbaod) by his absurd imprudent orders 
to tlie French admiral, had caused the destruc* 
tion of more than half the remaining French navy : 
which great naticmal loss excited a general clat 
mour and discontent all over France. Even the 
son of the DireAor Rewbel^ who had long been 
dying of love for Mademqiselb Fanny, de Beau- 
harnois . (d^e daughter of, Mf^amc Napoleon^ 
during heat first marrtage),i/^Q4 to^hom he -w^i^ 
b#t^^)]4ldi..b^okie off a match whic)^ l>Qrd ^}elr 
son's viQipry h^np^e^ ^i^Qtis *. -. ToMgnafamt 
i&2^^2ii«kt: ]^9^1i^.i^^ ChagrM ap4 Ji||fmiifttip»« 
J||s^: garsi^ 4e|f^iWl riViil,. ]^adam^ 'JWlw^ 
f^gwk usui|p«^:^.a$puB)e4:lb« r#igQ ikfiigiAimh 
<^as ^^i»/£oUowl^:iit!Tiif^ 9£ Fir^fipfb vs^r^ 
€ith<r s^^ vi9^ <r gar4m9fSi imi^g^iii ^en^b^ 
,sively; adq^iped 9t.t^e-dii«i!£hH^i$yir: ,w4. tniiiislrruil 
af$eml>)l08 ; aiiid Wiis stgaia afqilauded- Ht^ 'this 
opora ^ult ifi Ite.jrtbe^r^ de Etydeaui^} agaia 
l3fr J>iiSbim9 Vtsst^cxptaad m the Palais RiyfdL 
and in the Rue St^ Honore ^ and agda |icr 
.b^a^ty-iKais supg itithe ftotilevardg, and at the 
... • ;. Theatre 

♦ Neither Madame *nor her Napoleone can forgive Barras and 
Rewbe\!bF their. eondu^- ji t thW peridd-j neither of .t3i«^e former 
kings . of *f;^diion w^e tl^erefore ty«r able ip procure « pl;^e in thct 
Consular ScAate, though it became the common receptacle for every 
thing Tile, viciou5» corrupted* knd '|uilg{|k 



MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTa 3fl|t 

Theatre de Vaudeville: To cOofi<^e hevself for 
so many ixusfortunes» whkih the troublesome yL* 
sks of hfir own and her h«iJ}axid'8.creditofft did 
not diminish, Madame Napoleone resigned ths 
pleasures ai^ deUcions pretensiona of her iom 
Aursy ioft the deceitful gdden prospeft. of .die 
|;aming tabk» and for the petites soupee^ of A^ 
gamester^, where Burgundy and Chaii^gne 
made her often forget, with herself^ b<H:fe{Saf3rat 
»ad ]^Is^kone^ and the ronieauft of Louif-tUcaaf 
of which aa unkind foitiuliei lia4^dei^«ited; hlr^ 
la the sfMrlng of I7S% ]|iladamei.N;ipofii^qMfiS» 
reduced to such distress litatnot. <lnly ithcrdiaM^ 
monds and jewek which her Napoleone had! odk 
k&d for her in Italy, were in the hands Q£pawtt4^ 
brokers and jusurto, but an, exectttion jn hqi 
house was only, prevehtod 4^7* tJ^ tiMt^anrnptm/^ 
pecuniary assistaiice of General ]Mbu:Qitt« '* If^thf 
Scandalous Chrosricle can. be bc^iev.ed^.ixid "AA 
reports in the Lnxbrnboui^ circles »are liuei 
Madame Napokone tried a^ sorts of ieKpedies^ 
to extricate herself i^fooi her diificulticfi; .ai^ - 
even to raise succotirs for hex present Mtanta and 
>xtrav^aoce, upon the ruins of her fosmer/ati* 
tractive, but now £ided (Charms*. , . i 

., Whc» 

* Sec La S^inte FamlJlc, page 40. '.! ' . 4* 

R 4 



300 HjBVOLUnONARY PLUTARCH. 

When the spoiled child <^ fortune, Napoledne 
Boonaparte^ from an infiunous deserter became 
a powerful First Consul ; and vdien vidory and 
the peace of Lunevitte and of Amrens- had re- 
spefted the chims of his usurpations^ Madame 
Niq)oleone had not to fear any HVal . upon the 
throne of fashicm, more than het husband had 
upon the rqiuUican throne of France. It was 
now, therefore, no longer a question about the 
petty intrigues of the petty Uttd^s, of the petty 
cabals of the petty mhuHr beauties, such as Ma* 
dams Tallien, Madame Rec«nier, Madame Mar« 
moBt: the First Consul had decreed, " that 
Madame Napoleone, in the castle of queens, in 
the apartments of queens^ with the treasures of 
yeens, and with vices and Taaity above aU 
cpieens, should play in a deaMt mann^ all the 
parts of a queen*'* To begin this tadc, all for- 
mer fanfuUar aequaintances were to be set aside, 
thereby eoiivincing the republican 'World, that at 
the age of forty-six, Madame Napoleone was 
bom to be a queen, to give ^lendour to the 
throne of a queen, and to do honour to the rank 
of a queen. Madame TaOien therefore received^ 
through the prefeft of the pahce> Duroc, orders 
BOt to appear any longer at the castle of the 
Thuilleries i . Madame Napoleone not being able 

to 



MADAME NAP. BUONAPAHTE. i69 

endure the presence of a woman who had two 
childreti during her husband's absence*; any 
more than the First Consul, who had becb apoi-' 
soner and Septembrizcr ottfy at Jafla, could sufl^ 
the fraternity of his friend Tallicn, who had beea 
a regicide and Scptembrizer only at Paris. 

AU oM d«bts and demands of monef , dl ath- 
cifnt jM^etensions to familiarky, a^d ;dl jickl&c 
complaints for iftjmj, negleft, or ingnuitude^ 
were privately settled by Citiaen Fouehe^ in die 
Temple at Paris> or by his sateOites^ in die wyds> 
efCayenne;. 

This done, it yet remained for her to Be in- 
stmAed in the etiquette of queens and bf courts;, 
for Madame Napdlcene hiad only Been four times 
in her Kfc at the Court of Versailles, and notr 
above an hour each time. Napole6he« WmsflT 
had now regular lessons from ftie aftdr Talmai 
to declaim and talk like a king; from VfetrfeV 
to salute and dance -like a feihg ; frbm Behc^t}^, 



* When* Dufot delWered^ his; mtsst^tf^ Mldaiuff' llBl^ltn nridt 
** Tellj'e^ar w/r/rrjj, that if all Parj? knowt thrt. J l>ad f yro ichi^ ' 
dren during TalUen's absence in Fgypt for near four year?, her 
mttcarrkige'durtngGtnerBl^ Bmiia^rro'lr ap^eij^^^WVril^il^t^i 
.wonths, has been admirfid hy,^}^ PiM^i^ir^5V^.*<'«^9il>ir9M^f^'^ 
iiuan old woman,"— Zui Sai/tU Famille, page 44, ^ ' 

Il5> 



^ BBVOLUTICWARY PLUTARCH. 

t^ eat and d^nk ^ike a Jcing; from Talleyrand^ 
t;^.amfcr and negotiate like a king y ai^ from 
S^<gV9 to «mile>. to sneeze, and to sneer like a 
Millgf To instru^ Afadaaie Napoteone,. after 
i^;^ 5:od|$ultat;on witd. M^ame Q^lis, m^ 
with M^aj^-Stft^y all the former €p}itt ladie^ 
wibfiitsc^ftd tharef^AUfsul guifiottne were put 
il>:^a|^ofixqi^i09Di;^ Jtiutto his great dteap-» 
p<iintmettt/ ^riog^at the-Th^ilkries.the con-» 
tjaftjiailce of the language of the^»e.des Vio 
tfiir«(5>a^Q Firit Qsmsok ^iwjoy^cd that those la- 
dies had conspired to make his spousQ tridicu^ 
Ions ^^p^, instead of ^f^^am^ble ^a^ elegant 
i^(^n^ Aft^'Orderf^g,thase fef^al^ conspirators 
ihiity. le^l(e& from the, Thume;iif s, the . fadchful 
ff^mX .of all wor^^. Fouche, «^ :2^a|ff apf^ied 
tr^i^^yJsF liUe/Jpaivity f)f hi% agwfls of police, 
^1^ ^ ^ifSg Jfpupil puf^.ijidf, \yhose;fyatidoi;i$in 
J^ifterye .^bftx^use pf the Reyo^utioPx OJfj ^hat 
^.'i^.saffi^, the^^aup^ qf, BjiOnap^te, could not 
)^ doubted. Madame Campan had, at the be- 
ginning of the Revolution, a place as chamber- 
^»aid .t€V the liite-queai of Frantce; which she 
Ibst'tolune 1Y91, as a persoiji more than s«s- 
jp«4f d of haying given Xwk Fayette and his ac- 
^«Of«fpliiees inforihtfttoft cbiicerning the prepara- 
tions of Loiiis 2EVI, aiid Marie Antoinette for 
^ - their 



MADAME NAB. BUONAPARTE. VI . 

thieix uafortunate journey- to Varieimeg. Since, 
that period, Madame Campaa had xaesidcd at : 
Versailles, where she kept a republkan boards 
ing-scbool, in which the Sunday of the Chris-, 
tians had given way to the revolutionary decade \ 
aad und^r her care Mademoiselle Fanny; de 
Beauhamots had been educated for some.t^me'*< 
The lessons of Madame Campan had a wondqf^ 
ful effeft upon the superannuated genius, to^^i 
ners, and alluremeiits of the superanngated per-, 
son of Madame Napoleonej who, t^d^e visible, 
satisfa<5lion of her Consular husband, was.^ a ^ 
short time as accomplished a queen as l^e was^a^ 
king*. 

In the French republic pf eqf/altty, tp be ;Br^»5 
sei^ted to this» republican queen, ^ t^^ttifi^U.^t, 
pf^esentatiqti at the court of his own §pvereigxi^, 
was as indispensable for a foreigner, ^s it wa?^ 
. for him in the French republic of liberty^ if hc^ 
wished to avoid imprisonment, or interruption; 
on the high roads or in the streets,., to be always 
provided with a pass in bu pocket.. The duty,^ 
djspretion,. and judgment jof the foreign diplo-' 
matic agents were never confided in j cer^ificate«» 

and- 

« SccLaSainte famUIe|.p^g!e4S« .-. ■ 

r6 * 



372 KEVOLUnONARY PLUTARCH. 

and passes must be pfo^oced^ inspefted, revised^ 
and approved at tlic office of TaUe^and, at the 
prefe£hire over the pahce* as well as at the pre-^ 
feAure over the police, before the drawing-room 
of Madame Napoleooe could be- entered. Witb 
such severity was this regulation enforced, that 
when the agents from the finperial cities, Ham-^ 
burgh, Bremen, Lubeck>, Fi'ankfort, and Nu- 
ronberg, demanded to bow before Madame Na- 
poleone, tkej were net acbnitted ti& a^ whole de- 
cade hadpassed inconsnftatibns and deliberations ^ 
an express was sent to Versailles for Madame 
Gampan^ and to the Theatre Fran^tiso for Ma-^ 
dame Rauconrt } the Court SeAion of the Coun- 
cil of State was convoiced, and obl^ed^to give 
their writtei^decision, Aat ^an exception for^ 
producing cotirt certificates was admissible an/y^ 
for the d^tities of the Imperial cities, btcause 
their s^ereign citizens bad no. eourti^ no tingf^ and' 
no^ens"^. 

' It was after the peace oT Amiens that Buona- 
parte first put in requi»ti(Hi the Senate, Coun- 
cil of State, Cardinalf^ Bishops, Judges, Tri- 
bunes, PktfeAs, Legislators, and his whole padt 

o£ 

« See Let Nwellet \ la Mann^ Tlietmi«lor» tn xk Ko. Tiu» 
fait 1% and )3« 



MADAME HAP. BUONAPARTE. 35^3* 

cf revolutionary gentry, to praise the beauty^ 
modestf , and virtue of his wife, as much as his-- 
own humanity, greatness, and generosity. But 
it was between the preliminaries and the definx-^ 
ttve treaty with England, that the Virst Consul,. 
in Ms wifikm, decreed the exhibition of his wife- 
to the best advantage, during hi& joumies to the^ 
' provinces ; he therefore dragged her wi& him to> 
the ItaUan Cotisiilta, at Lyons, in January lBCi2y 
where she was officially complimented. It was> 
however^ iii hi» journey of the yeau* 180S, cm the 
coast, and in Brabatu/ that the most disgusting^ 
and fulsome flattery and adulation were bestow<« 
ed en masse upon the consular coupk, and where* 
revolutionary cardinals and l»sfaops sacrilegiously; 
blasphemed the Creator, by styling an atrocious 
usurper Hts Provuxbmce. They have scan« 
dalized afi Europe, dishonoured their rank ia 
the chtnrch, and debased their chataOers as d^ 
tizens. They have tried to degra4e the whole 
fiemale sac, by repeatedly holding up Madame 
Napolfione as *' the model of her sex, cf 
manners as simple- at her morals were ptsre^ wtB- 
innocence in hen leaks and virtue in. her heart*.* 

Those,. 

♦ These were-the very word* of the BUhoptof Rouen, Aralens, 
Ghent, Mi^inei, BruMcls, Sec, Uc* 



374 IUJVOLUTI0NARY PLUTAHCH. 

. Thostf ^nd.dhcr republican public-AiiiAion-- 
aries th&ir cowardly imitators^ must be consigned 
to infamy without vindicatioiii for havi^ de--. 
serted the cause of religion and virtuey^and com* 
mittody agaiiiist folt convi^on, lhe.c]?if»e of Ql>r 
literating the dis$t4n£kion between gopd. and evil^ 
innocence and guilt.; {uid.in^ead of opposing the* 
encrcochments.of wickedness and vic^ having 
incited their progi;es6, and celebrated their con-^ 
quests.' 

Though Madame Napoloone disposes at pre* 
sient of thousands of Loui^id'orsy :as she did ibr- 
Bierly of Hsrres and shillings, she is^ by her ex-t 
travagabce in dress, and by her gambling, sevo* 
ral millions of Uvres ini debt. Lately at Bras^ 
aels, she lost io six days, at cards and dice, fifty 
thousand Louis*td'ors, paid for her by the minis- 
ter of the national treasury, Marbois. According 
to>tbe peraodical print, Les Nouvelles kJa Main^ 
of Vendcmiaire, year xii.- or Gftober 1803, 
Madame Napoleone never puts on any plain 
gown twice, and she changes her dress four 
or six times every day. In the summer, she 
makes use of four dozen of silk stockings^ 
and three dozen of gloves and shoes ; and in the 
winter three dozen of the best English cotton 
stockings, and two dozea of Fr<n€k silk stocky 

ings^ 



ItfAJJAMB.NAp. BUONAPARTE. 37«^ 

|ngs> evffy vfedk* . Shei nftter wears aay washed 
stpckingsj.noc piit$ ait twke the tame pair of 
gloves or shoips.,' ~ All b<r chgmises are of the 
finest cambric^ with hoi^cCeirs of laoe that Co^t t^i 
j^i^rd'o^s; ^ach. Sn 4.ot^n. of chemisei with 
l^cc. are ma4e up for her, every J||i9ttt;h* £i?ery 
three months §he> >exchas^i^ h^r <jyi^^c^ds ^4 
jew^k, pv.h^^th^p^ mw}j set, ^c^oi^ding to the 
prevajp^t fj^iishioft- ; foijr^times in the y^y: h« 
plate» china, furiutare, tapestry^ hangings, car-j 
pets, &.C. ^e c^uiged. accolc4ing to^ the season^» 
She liaA ordtreda. aft. hl^. i:$!gvdsHr eat^hlishm^nt^ 
two new carriages wd twelve difiqpent. horses 
every month : a^d of the thirty^sxai; horses in her 
private stahle, her* iK)aster !of the. horse has a 
power to dispose of twelve cye^. thr?e decades, 
to be rep)%Q$d hy twelve o^ers Cff a fashionable 
cidour. ' Twelve times Jp the year, all persons 
belonging to her. household receive new accou* 
trements or livprief • Her own wardrobe is di* 
vided every thirty days between her maids of ho-* 
nour. 

Madame Napoleone has four distind esta^ 
blished wardrobes, different diamonds, &c. for 
travelling, for the Thuilleries, for St. Cloudy 
and for Malmaison \ and though she can reside 

but 



S7S REVOLUTIONARY PLOTARCHC; 

ftat in ooe place at the same time, yet in Ac: 
ThoiUerieS) as weitas-at St. Claid aend Malmai* 
son, four changes of fbrnittire, Arc. are always^ 
ordered for the saaie:period. At St. Cloud, she 
bas (at the expence of mh thousancMiOuis-d-ors) 
improved' the bating cabinet of the late unfor- 
tunate queens By touching certain springs, she 
can command what perfumes her capricedevnandi 
to mix with the water i Ac reservoirs always 
containing, for Skf L0uii5*<r<}rs, the finest 
odbursj and best per^Em^ed waters. By touching 
other springs, ^e commandf the appearance of 
drawings Or piAures, etbgant or vokrptuous, gay 
or libertine, as her iancy^ desires. When she 
wishes tO'l^ve the bath, at the signal of a bell». 
she is, by ar mechanical invention, lifted, without 
moving herself frOm the* bathing machine, into 
an elegiant moderately warm and perfumed bed;>^ 
where she is dried in two -minutes; and from 
which she is again lifted and laid down upon a 
splendid elastic sofa^ moved, without her stirring,. 
by another piece of mechanism, into an ad^ 
joining cabinet for her toilet, of which the fur- 
niture and decorations cost 100,000 livres. FOr 
the improvements only of her luxurious, though 
less expensive bathing cabinets^ at theThuilleries 

audi 



MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTE. 377 

ind at Malmaison, the French republic has paid 
200,000 livres. 

To shew her pretensions to equality with 
empresses and queens, Madame Napoleone be- 
spoke at Brussels two magnificent lace gown?, 
made after the pattern of one presented by the 
consistent Belgians to the model of her sex, her 
Consular Majesty. ' One of these gowns was 
destined for the Empress of Russia, and the other ' 
for the Queen of Prussia. The former, report 
says, has, to the great humiliation of Madame 
Napoleone, been declined j the French republi- 
can% however, do not doubt but that the latter 
will be accepted, because they remember per- 
feftlv well, that the Queen of Prussia presented • 
at Berlin, in 1799^ to Buonaparte's emissary Du- 
ibc, a scarfof the Prussian guards} and her Ma- 
jesty cannot therefore refuse a gown of honour 
offered from the atniat/e wife of Duroc's master* 

As no happiness is perfect in this wcHridy t/be» 
dame Napoleone, though equally adored bf her 
husband and by the French Republic, hts nuAC-^ 
rpus and serious femily mi3fbrtunes> to complaitk* 
of. Her raother»in4aw cahunfiiates her innocent 
motives for not going regularly to confession^ 
and her brother-in-Uwj^ Lucien, calls her a hypo* 
crite when she talks of confessing. Her sister-in-^ 



3/8 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

law, Madame Murat, is a dangerous rival in es^ 
travagance and in the fashions .of the day ^ and 
another sistcr-in-kw, the Princess Borghese, «- 
devant Madame Le Clerc, is an intolerable mimic 
of her juvenile airs, gait^ and dress, contrasted 
with her antique wrinkles, plump person, and 
worn-out voice* Sometimes, in hi3 moments of 
frenzy, when he doubts of being soon proclaimed 
the English First Consul^ even her Nappleone 
himself does not use her \n the most tender 
xoanoer» But instead of imita^g her mother- 
in-law| who in her trouUes calU her confes- 
sor and conjkirors to hxx: sesistancq, Madsunc 
Napoleone sends for her cup-bearer, vulgarly 
called l>utler, to strengthen her nerves and invi* 
gorate her courage with hisall-powerfid cordials^ 
with hisr delicious wines, and witb his no less, 
ddicious liqueurs r and whik one Madame Buo* 
napai^ in her calamities looks up £or relief to 
he^iU the other, more timid, SK>re modesty 
with ^r downcast regards, seeks for, and im- 
ploA^ tb^ consolation of hear cellar and of her 

hums , ' \ 

' Of the children that Madame Nlapcfeoneihad 

• Sec Lcs NouvcUes iU Main, Fruftidor» tnxi. No. Ui. pag^« 



MADAME NAP. BUONAPARTE. 379 

during her first marriage, two only are liTing. 
Eugenius de Beauharnois, who is a consular co- 
lonel of the guides in the consular guard ; and 
Fanny de Beauharnois, married to Louis Buona* 
parte, the brother of Napoleone, a consular colo- 
nel of a consular regiment of dragoons*. 

* During the late emperor-making, Madame Napoleone hu 
been metamorpboted into an •mprest of the French cjopire ! I { 



EUGENIUS. 



38a 



EUGENIUS DE BEAUHARNOIS. 



EUGENIUS DE BEAUHARNOIS Is x 
brutal) unfeeling) debauched young man, wboni 
neither brilliant regimentals, the rank o( his pa*^ 
rents, nor the endeavours of his tutors, could 
ever change, or prevent from being considered 
(as Madame de P — said) <* a real sans-culottes, 
with the ilUfitted mask of a gentleman i possess-^ 
ing the vulgar manners of one of the sovereign 
mob, with the pretensions to be respeAed as a 
man of consequence/* At the age of twenty 
two, he modestly prides himself on keeping n^^ 
niQre than six mistresses \ one of them, Made- 
moiselle Chameroy, an aAress at the opera, was 
killed last year when in a state of pregnancy by 
his brutality. He boasts, that when his mother 
refuses to furnish money for his profusion and 
licentiousness, by threatening her with the dtli-- 
cafe appellation la vieille p — (an old w — ), hb 
can command whatever sums he wants. He- 
tately presented Madame Clotilde, of the opera, 
with a watch set in diamonds, worth 30,000 
Uyrcs^i to pass the night in her company, only to, 

pattfy 



V 



y 




EUGENIUS DE BEAUHARNOIS. 381 

gratify the childish vanity of disappointing a 
Russian Prince, who (according to Les Nou- 
velks a b Main, from which this anecdote is 
taken) had already paid her two hundred Louis 
for the same^ night. In ISOO he went with his 
regiment through Besangon 5 and at the Hotel 
Natiouale was detected in the bed of the landlady 
by her husband^ who, after giving him a sound 
horse-whipping, and receiving his ecrin, or 
jeweUbox, as a security for a bond of two thou- 
sand Louis-d'ors, permitted him to escape with- 
out broken limbs. The next day the national 
tolle^or and departmental treasurer paid these 
two thousand Louis, and the jewels Were re- 
stored. In this manner the economical govern- 
ment of the French Republic employs the plun- 
der of foreign nations, and the money extorted 
from the enslaved and beggared French citizeps*. 

♦ Set LcR Nouvellts ^ la Main, Brumaiie, an xit. Ko, W, page 9, 



PANNV 

J 



882 



FANNY DE BEAUHARNOIS. 



FANNY DE BEAUHARNOIS is the very 
reverse of her {Barents and her brother : amiable^ 
unassuming, loyal, and liberal. She was the 
viAim of her mother*s vanity and her father's 
ambition, when she married the stupid libertine, 
and ilUbred Louis Buonaparte. She had nume-» 
rous suitors ; but her he^rt wa^ betrothed to a 
chief of the royalists, who, if alive, endures 
wretchedness in the wilds of Cayenne, as a con- 
sular chastisement for this preference. Even 
Napoleone himself,- if he ever loved a woman^ 
loved Fanny de Beauharnois, or at least proved 
more th«in once that he was sensible of her 
beauty, ingenuousness, and innocenc-e 5 but scan- 
dal, as busy in France as every where else, dared 
not only to investigate, but to attack her pru- 
dence. She is a royalist from principle, and has 
often told her father-in-law how happy he would 
make her by recalling Louis XVIIh and re^ 
tstahlishing him as king of France and Navarre: 
and the ferocious usurper has smiled at a sally 

from 



FANNY DE BEAtFHARNOIS. 383 

from her, which would have been instant death 
to anyone else. Napoleone yet calls her. his 
petite chouannei and he does not conceal, that he 
intends in his will to declare her son by his bro- 
their the consular successor of his republican 
throne. 

Instead of squandering away upon dress, feasts, 
or gaming, the immcn^ sums with which the 
First Consul presents her, ' she allows annuities 
,to several distressed families ruined by the Revo- 
lution, and maintains and pays for the education 
^f numbers of deserted children, who, like her- 
self, have been made orphans by the republican 
guillotine. 

, Madame Fanny de Beauharnois, or, as she*fe 
commonly called, Madame Louis Buonaparte, is 
as modest in her dress and her language, as beau- 
tiful in her person and accomplished in her man- ' 
ners ; and in a vicious corrupted country, and 
at a still more vicious and corrupted court, she 
has the courage to remain unpolluted and pure, 
and not to be ashamed either of her virtue or 
her loyalty. 

According to the Livre Rouge, by Bourrienne, 
Madame Napoleone has, besides payment of all 
the expences of her wardrobe, &c. one milNon 
of livres yearly in pin-money j and her jewels, 

&c. 



084 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

&c. are valued at only three millions^ though it 
is well known they are of more than double that' 
value. 

Eugenius de Beauharnois has an annuity of six 
hundred thousand livres. At the marriage of his 
sister he received a present, of three hundred 
thousand livresi six hundred thousand livres for 
his future establishment! and his debts were paid 
with one million two hundred thousand livres. 

Fanny dc Beauharnois rieceived at her marriage 
six hundred thousand livres ; at the birth of her 
child the same sum ; and the same sum is allow* 
ed her as an annuity^ besides presents from the 
First Consul, estimated j at least ^ at one million 
of livres per annum*. 

♦ Mnny of the particulars mentioiud in these Sketfchf s of Mn* 
daneNafioleone, and of her son and daughter, are found in Le 
Diflionnaii'e l)t<^raphkiue, in a pamphlet called l.a Sainte Fa- 
mille, in a periodical paper called Lcs Nouvelies u la Main, and 
in the pamplilet called I.e Livre Rouge, by Oouriienne, formeily 
Ffivate Secretary to the First Consul. 



LUCIEN 



' 'l 

LUCIEN BUONAPAitTE./ ' 



Pone »«/^7»//i ©St rcretu . . 

Dir»rit-on pas que la fortune ' " ' ■ 

Vcut ftire eol«g«t U'fcrui ^ ' • ' * . -, ^ . 

LET those whp GGni^plain of the exp€nces\of 
royalty, who make ^<;Qiio9iy-an argimwalt for in- 
novation, and rank a rba^^olxfor revoljatio.n v^yho 
pretend that liberty is. enly found . in^ r^HlblicSf 
and, morality and virtue hereditary in a cfHinnoh- 
wealth; let such read, the following sb^t.fck^^tDh 
of the life of a fashionable, citlis^ in:a,«K>i^ertt 
republic; and then say; what Fronce has gained 
by a rebellion against its legal-sovefeigf^. and by 
changing an ancient monarchy iato %. ftwlitary 
tyranny, under th^-appellation of a repuWic*. r 

Lucien Buonaparte, the. next yoiH^nbixHhpr 
' to Napoleone, the First Consul of France, was, 
in 1790, bound apprentice to a petty retail gro- 
cer at Bastia : for some pilferings, he yniS: turn- 
ed away, and joined the Marseillois Brig^&dS| 
who, en the lOtK of August, 1792, took and 

VOL. II. 8 plundered 



ase REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

plundered the Castle of theThuilleries, and mur- 
dered the Swiss .guards^ after treason had forced 
the unfortuqate Louis XVI. and ' his family to 
leave their habitations^ and seek refuge in an as- 
sembly of rebels and regicides '*''• 

As a reward for those civic transa£tions, Lu- 
cien was admitted a member in the clubs of the 
jacobins and of the cordeliers ; and on the Qd, 
3d, and 4th of September following, assisted 
Marat's and Danton's patriots to purge the land 
of liberty ff those aristocrats ivbo tvere confined in 
-^the d^eineffi prisons, in Paris. However young 
as to years, he was already so old in cfime, that 
on the S-lst of January, 1793, he was one of 
Santcrrc's chosen men, to guard the scaffold on 
^vliich his King was butchered. He was no less 
a favourite with Santerre's successor, Henriot, 
who had distinguished him at the plunders of the 
aristocratical grocers* shops in March 1793, and 
therefore enrolled him among those of Robes- 
pierre^fe sans-culatteSf who forced the - National 
* Convention, on the 1st oi June in the same year, 
. to 



\* See La Sainte Famjlle, page $^, and R«cueil ^'Anecdotes* 



to deprqe • the. arrest ^f xheir rivai rebels of the 
^rissot faction*. • - 

When the virtuous, the loyal, and religious, 
w^e confined in-.the tiungeons of regicides and 

■atheists, it was a profitable po$t for the vicious 
to guard them,, and see ^hem to. the scaflFold. 
Henriot, therefore) made Lucien Buonaparte one 
of tho gefis-cl'arm^Si who, during the reign of Ro- 
bespierre, watched his imprisoned viftims des- 
tined tq destrudlion, and who escorted them, af- 
ter a mock trial, to the guillotine. , At this time 
Lucien had married a strumpet of the corps call- 
ed the Furies of the Guillotine; women who were 
paid forty sous a-day to frequent the galleries of 
the Convention, of the club>, and of the Revo- 

^ lutionary Tribunal, to apfrfaud, hiss, or hoot, a$ 
ordered by Robespiern^ and his band of assassins; 
and finally, to follpf^, abuse, and insult the per- 
sons sent every ;c3ay, en masse^ from the Cornier'- 
gerie prison to be butchered on the Place de la 
Revolution. What has become of this Madame 

' Lucien y is the family secret of the Buonapartes, 
Some say that she died in La Salpetriere (a 

'bridewell) \ others, that she is there still in con- 
finement J 

• See (he Ust-meiBtion^3 work, 'and Lcs Annales du Terrorism«, 
pagoiOi. 

s2 



388 REVOLUTIONARY FLUTAftCH. 

fincmcift ; and others, that she owed a prcma* 
ture death to the irregularities of her debauched 
liihband*. 

After the execution of Robespierre, Lucien, 
<freading a'welWeserved punishment as one of 
his subaltern accomplices, fled from Paris to 
^ice, where his nvorthy brother Napolcone was 
under arrest as a terrorist. Here the Toulon as- 
sassin and the Paris Septembrizcr fraternized to- 
gether, until the general amnesty of the Na- 
tional Convention for all revolutionary crimes 
permitted the two hopeful brothers to return to 
Paris, the grand revolutionary theatre for ambi- 
tion, intrigue, and guilt, to plot, to plunder, and 
to murder. 

Ever since thcRevolufion, amnesties have en- 
couraged crimes by affording impunity, and new 
-crimes have repeatedly made new amnesties ne- 
cessary J there is not one of the Corsican sena- 
tors, counsellors, tribunes, and other rebel func- 
tioharies, who are not indebted for their lives to 
one amnesty or other ; who have not been in 
"prison as criminals, denounced, as plunderers, 

proscribed 

♦ TbeM snd other particulars; ^re fojHjd jn a pampj^l^t, printed 
at^Parii by Desenne, year vii. having for title Lucien Bue^^purU ' 
toujoun U m<me. See beside*, ia Saintc Famillc, p.^gc 53. 



LUCIEN BUONAPARTE. 389 

proscribed as assassins^ or outlawed as conspi- 
ratorsi by their viAorious and fa^^)us accom« 
plices. 

When Napoleone and Lucien, in the spring of 
1795, went.toParis, such was their poverty, that 
they were obliged to make nearly the whole jour- 
ney from Nice to Paris, 700 niiles, on fbot ; and 
when at Paris, they occupied together a miserable 
^ garret in Riis de Mmffetardt^ for fifty sous 
(twenty-five pence) per week. In revolutionary 
times, and in revolutionary countries, the dis- 
tance is often the same from a garret to a throne 
03. from a thrpi)e to a scaffold*. 

.'By NapoleoDe*s revolutionary connexions with 
!Bt;irraSj Tallien^ and Freron, Lucien got a place, 
with an aimpal salary of 600 livres (25 pounds), 
as ckrk to a store-keeper at St. Maxitnin, in 
ihe Soifth of France \ where he married, against 
the consent of 'her parents, the daughter of aii 
innkeeper, with a fortune of one hundred Louis^ 
d'orsf. 

For marrying the mistress of Barras^ Napo* 
leone had been promoted by him to the rank 6£ 

General^ 

• S«e Ca Sarinte Familicy page 54^. 

i $te the last •men (ioned panaphlct aftd page* 

83 



390 REVOLUTIONARY PLDTARCII. 

General ; and for the* murder of the Parisians on 
the 6th of Oftobcr, 1795, he got the command 
of the Army of the Interior. Lucien was now 
appointed a war-commissary at Antwerp y from 
which place he wrote a letter to another commis- 
sary at Cleve' (published as a (Curiosity in the 
Gazette de Bas Rhine, May 1796), containing 
a most ridiculous account of Napolcone's first 
viftory in Piedmont. In this- stupid perform* 
ance the jargon is revolutionary, the principles 
Jacobinical, and the sense, spelling, and orthb- 
graphy, that of a sans-cuhttes^ without educa- 
tion and without genius. How ^tieh a tban could^ 
in four years afterwards, be chosen a member 
of the National Institute, would be inexplica- 
ble, had not Frenchmen of letters, <kiring thfe 
whole French Revolution, been the "ftst to dei 
grade learning by their base condu^l, and to dis- 
honour literary societies by ^lefttng for a8iociate$ 
rebels, traitors, regicides, and Qth€r ignorant and 
guilty upstarts. 

- When thcviftories of Na^olcoije bad^made ' 
hini powerful^ and the pillage .of Italy enriched 
iiina^.beJby degrees dragged foj-ward the different 
members of his obscure, unknown, and despi- 
cable family. In the winter af 1796, Lucien ^ 
for the fJf st time appeared in Paris in' other com- 
pany 



LUClW BUONAPARTE. Vi;1 3^1 

pany thaft that of SMfis-^ulmesh btttf^ wiA i true 
Corsican impttdence, he soon caussdBdbmisdtf to! 
be remarked for his extravagancies,, mine not kedi 
as an unprincipled gamester,, and despt98d:a&a/ 
debauchee. Such wasv.howq«6f,7hisJ5:rfOwniig- 
Rorance, that, notwithstanding all his preaimnp-'. 
tio», and all the services of.Na^oone^ thsDi-^ 
reftory, in 17 J?, was under the uooesisity of re-* 
fusing him the phice of secretary: to 'the' Frexlch 
f^nbassy at the Congress at Rastadt ** : " . » . 
. The I'tevolution of the 4th. of ,Sfijf>tember, 
4797> made the jacobin faSlon again poii^erfiili 
and l^ its influence. Luciea^ was,, ja l7S8j. *ifilQ£t-t 
ei akfc&nbcr t)f: ite Cdunlilrof five Hundreds 
During the absence of.NapolQQsfc^in Egyptj.Lu- 
cie» asaocisited onjy.wi^h /ac^bin^j pijofcssed 
«nly their pnnciptes, ^xAr afled in ;fVpry, thing, 
and on all occasio;ii3, as oq§ of ^^feeir a^jc/^mplices^ 
He published an account of his revolutionary 
life, beginning with these words : Et mot aussi 
ye suis jacobifh ^ ^^ ^^^^ f^^ fa^^ wi^-f preuves 
cmnme jacckin^ camme q^oyen ^anS'Cuhttes\. ^ His 

/ . . '. \'" ' ^absmd 

* Recueil d*Anecdotes, page 546. ' j'\ •'** \ 

t XhU'fanphiet, ^* La Vie RevolutionaimifciyCil^ Lucien Btif- 

naparte, publie par Luimeine» chez le Norroant, -an vii.*' was, 

after the usurpation oi hi« brother, bouglit'up ily^tiie police agen^ 

vr&e»ed by them, ^f rtliised to^to sold. ''^' '-J*^ 

S 4^ 



39^ HEVQLUnONARY PttTTARCH. 

abf tird qieecl^fis^ v a deputf >. ^dn; 49 violent m. 
Iris a880cntbbwsne vile; anil yrlma « new jacobin 
dob was Ustitittsdy in the summer of I799> he 
was chomi one of its 6tst presldenta. 

The flight of Napolcon^'fbom Egypt, and hi^ 
return to France^ neither changed Lucien's Ian- 
|;uage'nor hts be)mioor $ he was theref6re nomi- 
nated {»*e$ide&t of the Council qf five Hundred; 
au4 at the Revolution of the l-^th of Bnimaire» 
or 9th of November, 1799, by deserting the ja# 
cobinsy be added treachery to his other crimes. 
It is well knowAj fhattht pnunce^ tf.mwd ofLu* 
den ibat day nfuu. grttOir thkn : tbt 4ifutag» ff N^^^ 
f9U$n€i and that if Lucien had' not called but 
to the grenadiers attending Napo)eosie> not to 
disepii tifir Generaly the dagger of Arenaj or z 
decree et eutbwryy ^i^duld have pot a stop to 
the |;rcatness and crimes of the Buonaparte 
family. 

When Napbleone had usurped the reins of 
government, he appointed Lucien minister for 
the home department, and recalled Fontanes, 
-trho in 1797 had been condemned to transporta- 
tion, to be his secretsg-y i and it was this yon- 
fanes whd( ^'Tote all his eloquent speeches and 
proclamations dtiring hjis ministry. 

Ludch was nowlin U» eleoi^nti possessing 

the 



LUCIEN BUONA»4gTE. $93 

ti^e means of gratifying all bis deg^a^i^g acid 
' cruel passions. Not a wooian who^i c];iance tXft 
posed to his view, or caprice to Jus, fane j| ap4 
whom money, power, violence, or intrigue, C05I4 
procure, but was. seduced, dishonoured, and ruin- 
ed by hiixi : neither thcN innocence ojf youth, tbj 
misfortunes of be^iUty, the san£tity of marriage, 
nor the sacredness of consanguinity, were respeft- 
cd by him. In six m9nths, he was guilty of 
more crimes than all the Princes of the house of 
Bourbon have been accused of in six centuries. 
At a ball in April ISOOj at the hotel de Riche- • 
liqu, w"[>pre i^pwards of two hundred women 
of fashion w€;re present (jimongat othqris, two of 
J^js own sisters*) f hfe often aaid loudly repeated. 
Here is not. a woman with %vbotn I l^a^e n(^ iti'- 
Iriguedl 

After^ the b^tle .of ^^anengo, ambition, for 
some tinpe^.^ot the better of debauchery: * Lu- 
cien ima^ned, because his brqther could diftat.e 
.jp.iBipBe^rs, -an^ Sf^te Jfmg^, that ,he ipigljt 
j^ily.,i^$ir^y Jjito^onje. i^pgri^ pr ypyal.faiiiiljr ; 
. .... .- '■".• :...-:•/ ./:. ... ;^4i 

*" • General Murat atWays sosp^fted the incestuous profligacy of 

His brother-in-law; and this is- one of Buonaparte's reasons for 

; keepinp Murat' in Italy. ''M^irat >hi» l^ught» aod .wpy^;lcd Lucieni 

in two duels. See Les Nouvellesl la MaiU| Messidor^ aa viii.. 

N«.?,pagc«. .. ';:,•:• * * , :.'j ; •••;•'' I 



394 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

andi as his wife was an obstacle^ he gare her 
tome ice-cream, which she ate, and died J — that 
she was poisoned, not only her relations, but al^ 
Paris, proclaimed*. 

Two days after his wife's death, five of Lu-* 
den's armed spies carried away to his country- 
house, against her consent, the beautiful wife of 
a rich banker ; she was confined there several 
days to console him, not for the loss of his wife, 
but for the refusal of his brother to marry him ta 
som« German Princessf* 

Lucien had long intrigued to get Fouche dis- 
graced, and to unite the ministry of the police with 
the home department ; but here he met with an 
equat, if hot a superior, as well in plots as in 
guilt. Fouche informed Napoleone not only ctf 
Lucien's scandalous conduct, and of the public 
clamour against hiiii} of his esttravagant cxpencesu 
and of his numerous debts ; but also toM him-, 
that Lucien had spoken of him (Napoleone) 
with contempt, and dared his fower, for which, 
he said, Napoleone was indebted to ham.: the 
reports of Fouche -s spies proved his assertion, 

* See Let NouveUes i la Maini ycnclcttaire» ai\U, Ke».u. 
i See the Istft-mentionc^ |ubli€«ti«0) pace ik% 



LUCIEN BUONAPARTE. . • 0£5 

and X^uciea was forbidden the presdnce^df Jbb 
consular brother^ and ordered to resign^ bis mi^ 
nistry; not for his vices and crimes^ for they 
had been long known, but because he had been 
indiscreet \ and, besides, by ctrciilating a p^m* 
phlet, written under his orders by Fontanes,had 
discovered some family secrets ; a^; sjimpng tl^e 
rest, the arriere pense of Napoleone, one.,d^y to 
assume the imperial crown of the Qaate- (By 
the mediation of his mother, and the advice pf 
Talleyrand, his disgrace was changed fi|>^ a lu- 
crative embassy to Spain,, to sellTusbafiys and to 
plunder Portugal*. f l ' f .v : 

Lucien left Paris with a debt of (^ij^ mUUpn^ 
of livres ; which Napoleone promised to pay, 
but which is yet unpaid* Soh^ of'^hijJ creditors 
have died after being ruined 5 the Tepa]^ and 
Cayenne have silenced the. complaints of the 
bthersf. - ,,.. . 

In Spain, and chiefly at Madrid, Lucien <con* 

tinned his debauched and vicipus life : his prodi* 

gality there surprised every one 5 his irregula- 

^ rity gave offence, and his impudence d-sgust* 

He treated the king and royal; family as hi9 

equa's, 

^ * La Sainte Famtlle, page j;S. 

i' See page 59 of the last-incnUoned FamphleC 

s6 



Sgtf REVTJLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

ci^abjsndtlte miiiisterfcaml grandees as his ser* 
^nnts I but nchis the d^aded situation of the 
Cbntiaetitt the deje£led or at9e<fl state of fn^oy 
irf its- sovereigasy aiid die wnfaicsa, ignoraace« 
&t treachfsry of their ministers, and counsellors^ 
that ti^k ren)lutioaair7 sam^adotte was not onl^r 
toffereS) hoi Isribed, entertained, and compru 
iBieDted. ' 

By his negotiations at Madrid and with Porttu 
gil,, LlicieA- added twenty millions of livres to 
the forHmeof his brother, and ten to his own ; 
he d^^aded^ royalty by creating a kingdom in 
Tuscany, and insulted loyalty by swindlix^ a 

AS^ ii^ ^ce with England, when Lucien 
^etuWied W Pa!ris> he was made a Senator, and 
tyne <MF'the grand oiBcers of the Legion of 
Honour; a|p4 he now shows away in a. style to 
which the most extravagant manner of living of 
-any mbdcS*n prince, brother or son to any empe* 
ror^or king, cannot be compared: his^wdsand 
diamonds are valued at upwards of three mil* 
Ubus of l^es s his cabinet of pi^hrres cost him 
more than tha^- isums and his seraglio smd de* 
balMfherics more than both thos« nuns toge^ 

ther*. 



LUCIIK BUONAPARTE. $97; 

ther*» The miUions that he caified wkh hinr 
from Spain and Portugal are expenxted ; and ik>t« 
withstanding that bis brother allows him an axir 
auky of 1,200^000 livres, besides what he re»- 
cdves from his lucrative placesi he is said to br 
four millions in debtf . 

Lucien is as insolent and despotic in hi» 
present elevation^ as he was formerly vile 
and cruel ; illiberal, ungenerous and unfeeling, > 
he uses his mistresses as if they were his slaves— 
and his friends as his mistresses / he is a tyrant to. 
his domestics, and a terror to all who approach 
him* 

The glitter of affluence may dazzle the, un- 
thinking, 

* To vice. Lucien refuses nothing : he bought of Madame d^ 
C— , an emigrant lady, her only daughter, a girl of fourteen, for 
300,090 livres, or 12,000 /. sterling. The girl died in three week»> 
the victim of his brutal cruelties : her mother's infamy war the 
consequence of ntiscry and distress, caused by the revolution which 
seated ^apoleone Buonaparte on the throne of the Bourbons. 

f In a late publication translated from the German, called 
" Buonaparte and the French People under his Consulate,** it W 
said, page 71, that lAicien returned from Spain in iSoi with a ca- 
pital of thirteen millions of livres. In Les Nouvelles ^ la Main 
Ventoie,-an xii. No xvii. page 16, it is said that he possessed a 
fortune of forty millions of livres* He has been lately exiled to 
Rome by Napoleoue, and is not yet a revolutionary imperial 
highness^ haviog quarrelled ' with hia elder brother. 



39S REVOLtJTIONARY PLUTMRCtt. 

thinkingi and the renown of prosperity puzzle 
the weak; but Locien's greatness can neither 
cover the infiuny of the guiky, nor the guilt of 
the infamovs ; and his rank is unable to conceal 
the ignoble and base sentiments of a base and 
ignoble mind. 



touis 



^9d 



LOUIS BUONAPARTE. 



Et I'on voit des commi* 

mis 
C^omme des pnncet 
Qui d'hier sont venus 

nus ^ ) 

De lews province*. 

WHEN, in 1795, throtigh a medley of suc- 
cessful crimes, and of foul forgotten deeSis, l^or- 
tune was wantonly pleased to raise Napoleonc 
Buonaparte from the dregs of obscurity; his 
brother Louis was a petty cterfc, with a salary of 
twenty pounds a year j at the petty police com-» 
tnissary Pierre Pierre*s office at Marseilles; a no- 
torious terrorist, married to the daughter of ah 
innkeeper, and brother-in-law to Lucien fiuonar- 
-parte ; who, when a minister of the home de- 
partment, promoted him to the lucrative offide 
of general-commissary of police at Bourdcaui*. 
In the autumn of 1796, Louis left Marseilles 

f Sec La Saintc Famille, pagit 165* 



«0 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

for Italy, and began his military career at the 
age of eighteen, as a chief of battalion, or lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and aid*de*camp to his brother 
Napoleone. In this capacity he Allowed him ta- 
Egypt in 1798; but suflFcring in Africa the con- 
sequences of his dcbaffeherks in Europe, hi^ 
stay there was but short ; and he returned to 
France in OAober of the same year, with dis* 
patches from Gener^ Buonaparte for the Direc-.* 
tory. ^ 

Of all the Buonapartes (not excepting either 
Joseph the negotiator^, or Napoleone the war- 
rior) Louis isth^ .qnly one who can- correftly 
write ^d spell the -F^ppch Janguage. A lettef 
^iy^.^Q ^lis Ji?roth«r . Icwcph, j^jtje^ J^l^a^ndria^. 
Jgly 6tfa, 1798, vras xntprc^Qted l)y our cruize,rs,. 
^d contains some accounts of the operations of 
jJUe jPrAOch Army of th^eE^st, and somerema5)^^ 
jp^ tjhe .^il^abitantf of fgypt^. In speajqng of thf 
^dguip Ar^bs, .be s^ys — *^ Tbey are a^p i/^vi^i- 
J^^cpj^e, inb^b^tiiag ^ burning 4fi«4rt? ?\B99^^ 
jQfl ^ .ge^tcfit jio^^e? ip tl^ jpor|d, a^' ij^Jl ^gf 
.cfw^r^jge. W'e hflnj^e trf^fed' ,tjbm ^ipdLy.-^ Y-fe^ 
"H^ wjth tjiaj^ -Wies ^nd.^ cl^ijf|r^ ip ^^ 

■fffrthe same place. They are hcrrible savages ^ and 
yet they have some nothn of ^old and silver ! a 

small 



— ^ 



iLOUIS BUONAPARTE. 401 

stttall quantity of it serves to etcite their admi«^ 
ration.' Yes, my dear brother, they love goli 
. (not m^e than the French); they p^^s their liver, 
in extorting it from such European^ as fall intc^ 
their hands.: and&r what purpose? for conti*. 
nuing the course of life which I Iwyc described^, 
and for teaching it to their chiklrenu O, Jean 
Jacques! (Rousseau), why was it not thy fete 
to see these men, whom thou calkst ^rthe mezl 
of nature ? thou wotildst sink with shames thoa 
wouldst startle with horror, at the thought o£ 
having once admiid^d themP' Speaking of the 
city of Alexandrilylie jcontinws^ *^ Ihesepaark^ 
able objeAs heref^atc Pompey^s cidiima, tha obe«t 
lisks of GleopatQft, the ^yxit where her batfas^nca 
stood, a numh(6r of ruins, a siibtetraiifMius. tem-«: 
ple^ some cdltacomhs) mosques^ ^and a &«t 
churches. Bpt tiiat fWhich is- still more remarket 
aUe, is the chara^er and manners of the iniisbU 
tants. They are of « sang-fmoid absolutely, asto*. 
nishing. Nothing agitates them ; and. d$i$A^ it 
tt> them what a voyage t(x America is to the MngRsiu, 
Their interior is invposing. The moot mariced 
physiognomies amongst us are mere children's 
countenances, compared to theirs/' He finishes 
his letter with an observation t^at. shews ,bo|h 
the difficulty and' hottl>ur d£ Che <(mque$t .fi€ 

' ' ^' ^ ■ * Egypt 



401 REVOLXrriONARY PLUTARCH. 

Egypt by General Buonaparte, and of his boasted 
viftorics: " Their jftrf/ (say» Louis) and their 
artiHery are the tmst ridictdous things in nature / 
they have not even a lock nor a windo«r to their 
houses ; in a word| they are still involved- in tie- 
kfittdnejs of the earliest ages J* 

• Lucien Buonaparte often repeats, that his bro** 
dier Louis est ie seul bite de lafamille (the only 
fool of the £iinily): but when at the age of 
twenty he was able to make suck observations as 
^osccontsiifsedia this letter» his sense was cer-^ 
tainly as good^ and his instruction and judgment 
better^i^tfamltllli^Qf Lucten himsdfr wh6,.Jiot 

. kmf agO) maim -mirtisfer of tit^ktme department ^ 
wrote' to Citnen Ldlande, ^.to stt^ the ecfyse of 
tbewfoonfum^iasiarrival^'J^ Ibis true» that, since 
l^dd 9n hnmofierate use oBtmesxmsy has^ rather 
impaired '.Lonisfs. intellcAi^iadftd: pievected his; 
advsuonement to thenrnk^of nigexbcral,. and per^- 
haps: to that >of a constabfe' of Franc<efi but 
thoiigh a U]Ki;tiii%in^.GQaiinoh with his l^rothers 
ahdlsisters^. he has neither the crimes of Napo« 
leoneand'Lucien»mor .the ^^chery of Joseph^ 
i . .. : '- • . , • ,. . ta 

*■ See Les Nouvelles & la Main, Germinal,, an in. No. lil. p. 9. 

* + The aT>ove was written in 1803." In May 1804, Louis was 
Sude^ a c<AtUl)te of Fraite, iui4 M f ' srtatsr f^ouritt than evc» 
vltb his biother Na^leooe } thanks to the charn^of his wife«. 



LOUIS BUONAPARTE. 403 

to reproach himself with, srnd is therefore less 
disliked in France than cither of them* 

In December 1799, after Napoleone had pro- 
claimed himself the First Consul of France, 
Louis was nominated colonel of a regiment of 
dragoons; and in Oftober 1800 was entrusted 
with a political mission to the courts of Berlin 
and St. Petersburg. His reception at the for- 
mer was brilliant, and he was honoured by the 
Condescension of the King and Queen to frater- 
nfzc'with him, as If he had been the brother of 
a lawful King of France \ so much lo, that it 
was not only a real -scandal to a number of loyal 
foreigners wh* passed that winter at Berlin, but^ 
even to those Prussian generals^ princes, and 
courtiers, who had witnessed 'the etiqtrttte vif 
tTic courts of former kings and queens, Thtf 
rmp<irtinent and unbecoming femiliaritfy of the 
ill-bred Louis Buonaparte, was only surpassed by 
the impolitic, but patient endurance of the royal 
family; from which this- sarts-cuhtte hrothct of 
a' guilty fam^alottb • ustirper, toot the opportu-' 
nity to insult, ff ndt to dSgJradc rfibitttrfchy, by his 
ridiculous, vulgar, and audacious conversation at 
the table of a raoAarch; and by his tot> familiar^ 
if hot indecent behaviour before the puWBc when 
in the Kiflg's bibt^t the opera j wlft^ hi-jniW 



404 REVOLUnONABY PLUTARCH. 

Ijcly and boldly dared to converse with the young, 
and beautiful Queen, as if he had been with the 
old paipted wife of the First Consul. Infe^d 
by a known infamous disease^ which kept hinx 
for weeks in his lodgings at the Hotel de Paris^ 
he fortunately did not often repeat those scenesj^ 
which excited so much the astonishment, ani- 
m^version, and complaint of birthj ra^kj and 
loyalty. Many persom are yet of opinion, that 
nothing can -ever ipdemnifj legal and hereditary 
sovereignty for the sufferance of so many hupi-^ 
Cations. ' . 

. Before he left Beirlin for the ^^ssian fi*ontier»^ 
I^uiS'Wa^ infprmedhj the Ru^^an a^bassador^. 
y^ffBk, ^^udner, that he had iu>t y^ obtained 
a^ Qfdjei^ |rom his Sovereign U invite the con.« 
&(|hr brother .to St. Petersburg. The Etngerprs; 
Fai|l, t^c^gh seduf ed< by French intriguers,, daz-^ 
sled by the yiAories of the First CoQsul, o^Sended 
^ith Au&tria, and embroiled wifh England, did 
i}pt ^rget what hcoife4 to )u0)s#> (o his ran]c# 
tphjis {a^iUy, to.)^is cojun^rjy or to his &ub}e&s, 
J^ouis fiuop^a^^'^ Qur£i»,s^^ ¥>^^^J ^ Russia^ 
tj^refbre- ended 2^ J^eo^^berg in Fcussia, only 
on the Russian frojatiers; ko^ which place h& 
ill^peditfd Remittances and smuggled instruc- 
two* ya $tft;€njigsafi^s..of l);^lcone at St^ 

Petersburg^ 



^ LOUIS BUONAPARTET. . "40$ 

Pete^^bWi'g *; and, to the great satisfaflJdn'bf all 
loyal meni he returned to Berlin writhout being 
able to dishonour Another sovereign* 

After a few more Weeks residence in the capi- 
tal of Prussia, he was recalled to draftee 'by Na- 
polcone, afid s'ettt to MoiltpelHer, as Lucien said, 
on a mercuricd {^XiA hot on a political or ijiiHtary) 
mission, preparatory "^to receiving the hand of 
the lovely Fanny de Bfeauharnois. His marriage 
with this lady Is a convincing proof that he is a 
greater favourite with the First 'Consul than 
Lucien, who was one of the pretenders to this 
accomplished beauty. The declared promise of 
Napoleone to bequeath to the son of Louts. his 
Consulate, and the sovereignty over the French 
Republic, has displeased all the other members 
of the Buonaparte family ; and hi^ numerous and 
valuable presents, both to Madame Lohis and 
her husband, have excited the envy of all the 
Corsican relatives, who are plotting to diminish 
the increasing consideration of this younger bro- ' 
ther, or rather the repeated donations to his wife* 
" Surrounded by every thing that can make 
existence desirable, Louis is an invalid at the age 
of twenty-three ; and with ruined health, and a 
broken constitution, he cannot enjoy the bless* 
ijjgs which Providence has so liberally poured 

down 



406 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH, 

down upon him j he suffers, therefor^* in the 
midst of bis prosperity, pains and p.angs unknown 
even to wretchedness itself when accompanied 
with innocence and virtue. 

According to the Livre Rouge* by Bo.urrienne, 
Louis Buonaparte received a$ ^n ^sjfablishment 
two millions of Jivres 5 he has a yearly pension 
of one million two hundred thousand livres. One 
million of debts were paid for him in 1800 and 
1801, at Berlin and in Germany; at his marriage 
Napoleone presented him with six hundred thou- 
sand livres, and the same sum at the birth of his 
son *. 

* See Livre Rouge, by BoiifrienQe ; LaSainte Famille, and Les 
Nouvelles ^ la Main. As to the particulars of his residence ar Ber- 
lin, the author was there, and lodged in (he same hotel with hi^a, 
in December 1800. ^ 

. Louis has btely been, by the rebels aod reg^ldfes of the French 
Senate, saluted an imperial highness, and by his ferocious brotlier 
Napoleone made a Constable of the French empire. What a cou- 
•table ! what an empire ! and what an emperor ! 



JEROKE 



.. . ;> 



m*-.. 








D 

I'D 



nco Vi^^y 




'laiefi. 



407 

JEROME BUONAPARTE. 



— U tire de la'^tissftre 
ITne race d'affreuz brigandt, 
D'esclaves saas bonneur, et de cruels tyrans,^ 
riuf mechante que les Robespierre. 

IT IS a disgrace to France in particular, 
and to Europe in general, to be condemned to 
know, that such low, insignificant personages as 
the different /^//y members of the petty. Buona- 
parte family, are really in existence ; but such, 
unfortunately, is the present degraded situation 
of the civilized world, that every thing con- 
cerning the race of the Corsican usurper is in- 
quired after with an impolitic curiosity, and read 
with an avidity almost culpable. The disgusting 
task, therefore, of exposing the native infamy 
of the Buonapartes, from the eldest of them 
down to the youngest, must be undertaken ty 
loyalty, to prevent disaffeftion from profiting 
by a fashionable inquisitiveness, and augmenting 
the number of its former misrepresentations, 
concerning the many guilty upstarts whom the 
French rebellion lias brought into an atrocious 
notoriety. ' . 

Je tcvcx 



409 REVOLUTIONARY PLUl^ARCH. 

Jerome Buonaparte, the younger brother of 
the First Consul, was born in 1785. When, 
in 1 795, Napoleone's crimes were rewarded with 
rank and riches, Jerome was an errand-boy in 
a small inn frequented by waggoners, at Mar- 
seilles ; and such was the poverty of his mother 
and family, that she was unable to pay for his 
instruftion, and at the age of ten h€ could nei- 
ther, write nor read. In 1796, when success 
crowned the uiidertsakings of the numerous army 
commanded by General Buonaparte in Italy, he 
ordered Jerome to be sent, at his cxpence, to a 
public school at Basle, in Switzerland, under the 
care of his sister and brother-in-law, Bacchioci, 
then settled in that city in a petty chocolate ma- 
nufa£lure *. 

When seated upon the throne of the Bour- 
bons, Napoleone, having made one of his bro- 
thers a negotiator, another a minister, and a 
third a colonel, determined that Jerome should 
be advanced in the navy, the only department 
wherein none of his r.elatives could yet pretend 
to shine, or to govern. Jerome was therefore 
put under the particular care of Admiral Gan- 
theaumc, who considered himself greatly ho^ 

notired 
* Sec La Sitinte Famille, pa[p jyr. 



JEROME iBUONAPABTB. 4Q» 

fmfrtd by being prantoted to the tutorsh^ of sudi 
a hopeful and disiingmshd youth. Jerome ac- 
comp^ed this admiral during his voy^ from 
Brest to Toulon in the spring of 1801» and in Us 
attempt during the summer of the same yea^ to 
land some troops on the African shore^ as sue* 
cou» to General Menou in Egypt. Not being 
able to glorify himself with any success in thi& 
undertaking, Gantheaume tried, by showering 
flattery on one brother, to extenuate his own 
fault or misfortune, and to lessen the consular 
anger of another brother. In his dispatches, the 
illustrious pupil, Jerome Buonaparte, was men« 
tioned " as a young sea officer who pr&msed to 
be an ornament to his profession, and whose great 
talents and undaunted tourage would refleft ^reai 
honour on the French navy." 

To the shame of this republican courtier, it i^ 
to be mentioned, as a fadl known in 1801, at 
Foulon, as well as 'at Marseilles, tbat^ during 
Ganthcaume's cruize this year" in the Mediter*- 
raneap, the boy Jerome Buonaparte underwent 
,nn operation rendered necessary by an infamous 
disease, and which probably will prevent his 
progeny from being first consuls or admirals in. 
France. At the early age of 16, Jerome wj(s 
' plunged .into vice, and exhibited -ignoniinious 

VOL. ij. T proofs 



410 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCir. 

proofi of early depravity ; and this Corsican or-' 
nament to his profession shewed his undaunUJ cou^ 
rage^ by bravely keeping his bed during the 
whole voyage* 

' When, after the preliminaries with England 
had been' signed^ Admiral Villaret-Joyeuse was 
sent with a fleet and an army to St. Domingo^ 
Jeromei then promoted to the rank of a lieu- 
tenant, accompanied him as one of his aid-de- 
camps. When safely arrived at his destination, 
this republican admiral^ to outdo even Gan- 
theaume in meanness, sent his £rst dispatches 
from St. Domingo to France by this boy Jerome 
Buonaparte, **to whose untonunon skilly both. as 
« naval and military ^cer^ he confidently re- 
ferred for whatever the government (Napoleone) 
should think proper to know concerning the ex- 
pedition to St. Domingo." By such absurd bom« 
bast, and by such dishonourable debasement, did 
this admiral please the First. Consul so much, that 
he obtained the appointment of captain-general 
of Martinique. 

, After a short stay in France, Jerome, now 
sndde a captain, obtained the command of a cor* 
.vette, and was sent again with confidential di$<^ 
patches to his brother-inrlaw, General Le Clerc, 
at Cape Fran5ois, He had now an opportunity 

to 



• "JEROME BUONAPAftTE. 411 

to demonstrate his natural fratcrnity.to a Napa- 
leozie and a Lucien Buonaparte. On his arrival 
at the Capej daily torments and executions of 
the unfortunate negroes were the orders of the 
day; and he found so much delight in the im* 
provements Invented by the hellish genius of a 
republican officer, Grenierj to prolong their suf- 
ferings« that he presented him widi a ring worth 
twelve thousand livres ; while he sent to prison 
another officer, who forgot to call him up one 
morning when 262 of the negroes were half 
burnt before they were sawied to pieces. On his 
nrrival, kis virtuous sister, Madame Le Clecc^ 
had presented him with a beautiful mulatto wo«> 
man for a mistress, to keep him j^^^, as she said: 
this girl was descended from respe&able parents, 
and had received a better cducatioii than was 
common in St. Domingo since the Revolution. 
One afternoon, in a fit of jealousy, Jerome or- 
dered her tp be devoured alive by .some famished 
blooA-hounds, which he always kept for bis en- 
tertainment, and \fras present to see his atrocious 
orders executed t!!' This abomination surprised 
even Madame Lb Qerc, who, as a ptmishnienfj 
did not admit her brother to hr ' tabl^- the day foU 
htving. A brother of this unfortunate girl, |i 
lieutenant in the republican service, being re- 
T 2 . fused 



mit MTVcavnoNAffr hutarch. 

fiised the satisfaAion that he demanded for this 
crime> in despair deserted to the Blacks ; hui 
Was recaptured, and condemned by General i»c 
Clerc to be shot from the month a canmn^ — ^ 
Every thing that the fancy or passion of Jerome 
£xed upon, he put into Tequisxtion' for his use. 
The day after the murder of one mistress, he 
4mt trders to the daughter of a^hite planter to 
JiU up the vacant placet she, however, preferred 
poison to the embraces of such a young monster; 
but by disappointing his vile passion, she caused 
the death of her father, and the ruin of her fa- 
mily J the former being shot upon the denun- 
ciation of Jerome, who accused him of corre- 
sponding with the negroes \ and. his property was 
confiscated for the use of the Republic, or rather 
of the Buonaparte family. Another day, when 
he obser?ed an American merchant in an ele- 
gant English phaeton, drawn by four English 
horses, he ordered him to descend j. and when 
he refused, four of General Le Clerc's guides 
dragged the American from "his carriage, which . 
Jerome afterwards appropriated to, his own ase;^ 
After the war wi^h England, when Jerome 
bravely deserted' over to the American contir 
ncnt, this merchant cited him before the Ame- 

ricam 



— ^ 



MROMSi BVOKAPASTE. 4U 

rfcan^tribuoalsj tobeptid for hit plundered pro* 
BCrty*. 

Jeromr'Biionapvte.xiow raidef at Baltinore^ 
with. an. American named^ XodMia Bamcft vlu>». 
by {MYacy andfteate trnderthe fiMncmt Santho^ 
MX, has aocmauhaei. umai mDliona' of. lii«es*. 
This III the WBoaut tMOfff^ wha commandgd, dqsw^ 
ing the last^ mar^, an» Amodcan wkagt aSkd tikt 
Sampson, with.irihiokhgyi^awrriil wMMMtany 
cxMumsfitca, aai JhfciihirK^ir wi^ tPtttyi4icoa)»^ 
dcmwedat teHiea.as..abiMnti^ , baft cacaipd tAie 
gaHom bgr fligiit., iin>tM^aAeni1Ml^laadtftr 
labmmodore in.th&Ex«udh strvkei and'kape aft 
t^aj^iufi^" 9\taktDesSf a coofin of. Madataie Btio^ 
naparte, bf whom he had two childrai, but 
whotti he afierwnrds leftm diatreas, whidt cansad 
&tn to be dismissed Aem the KMnbh iiav.]!^ rft 
b therefore hardly po8s2>)e that Jerome can- te 
ln.m(»e swtabla comjjiaay than that of CMaedl 
Barnof. : 

' Hie official ^Moniteur latdiy published the 

ojfflcial 

• Som«*of the particulars of Jerome's condit^ at St. Domingo, 

the Author has from a respedable American gentleman, who wa» 

was an eye tvltness to what is related, and which he said had al« 

ready been puj^lished in the American Papers. For Jerome's ear^ 

y^tx edKcatiGHy see La Sainte Famillc ; and for hit ifa eiped^ti9%~ 

see Les NouveTle^ ii'Ja Main, and the Moniteur. 
t • ' 

T 3 , 



414 REVOLCtlOXAHY PhUTARCH. 

official repMuan truthy thatChlzen Jerome, in liis 
retreat to America, sunk an English ship of s%x^ 
pcrior force. Msttiy thkrk itv^ry modeit of the 
editor not to let^^chU'. /wMf youth sink a whole 
English^uadron'intiieMofeitfcur'} wkichinighe 
bsive prixuscd the Fint-CJotBLian occasion o£ 
•f^iiitiag ia% .wort fa^b r o di efi at onoei. a iord 
y|gh' wiaakni of Ac Fratkh Repdilic;. 
^ AbcDvdfaij^ to-tlie Lme'Rougei Jerome has & 
ifeailjr^ pdttktn, «oriL xaamcc^ vfi!^ huadred 
liion«ii Ijyiti j ^M*- whotelaadrtaiorestatcs ia 
tiie 4»iinti9r^:ar4tt»?f«fiareDttahlt^^ cueitttlf 
IkndUfBiB !viia^:iare allottmhj^ and one sUUion is 
deposited m^rtign^Mrnksibrhtftuse*'. £lf#hat 
aralurthe pfesem& are- -which hc/<recdti^ from 
bis combla^ liirother, wAf he coschided frcMD the 
inovn sBeodot^ of hi^J^vlUiig. shewn an Eogtidi 
officer at Jams&c&a w^ch set with jij^wek^ «hicii 
lie> widi'/ri«r> Cprsiean in^ctteeg.' s^^ cmt ti^ 
-bagatelle of ten thousand Louis-d'ors only** 
r, * . : ' •.■••• •'..;.: •.: • ■— ' "^HADh. 



. * Having. married into a respectable American Um\ix% Jerqme 
tias the honour of being disgraced wiih his brother Napoleone, and 
is, therefore, not yet a revolutionary highness. A Senatus Con* 
Vultus. may, however, easily make him one, should he, by dispatch. 
li)g his republican wife, prove himself itill worthy to fraternise vri^^ 
^ N'apoleone Buonaparte. Letters from Americ) state, that Nap^ 
leone'is suspeded of an intent of proclaiming Jerome a grandlnc^. 
•f the American Continent. % 



--^ 



415 



MAD. BACCHIOCHI, or BACIOCHL 



THIS eldttt ahter of the First Consul mar* 

tied in 1788 a count^Trntn aihtx^h Btccliiochi^ 

^IxOi with a: capital of :tirdTe'tlidtisaiid Hnes 

^5(M. sterling^ had estafalisted ktnMdf as a ma- 

imfii&urer-of dioeottile at* Baale in : Switawrland. 

^The'iinitdi^was at'^lilat j^od r^thkd<& her 

Mfbtktrf as a brfHkml: mhc for the petty aild poor 

Buonaparte family; 'Bl^fore- her mar^ftge^ ^he 

had done all the dfiiSgery of a <£ury-nia!d on the 

^amaU frrm wnted by her parents near Ajaccio^ 

inCorttca*;/ i • . 

' Mr. BacdiiocH%^a good^ honest mani more 

fit to head the mechanics of a manufaAory^ than 

to shine in the revolutionary mahnfaAory go- 

-vemed by Nap(4eone Buonaparte; and as Be has 

hitherto committed no crime to acquire celei^ 

brity, he is despised by all the Buonapartes, 

^cn his own wife not excepted % and it sur* 

prises 

^ 8ec L« Saiote Faautle, page 1^4^ ■ ■ - * 
X 4f ' ' ^ 



416 RBVOLUnOJSTAKr PLUTARCH. 

prices all France that a dose of the same prep^ 
ratioa which made Luciea in 1800, a widowdv 
has not before now made Madame Bacchiochi » 
widow and a princess*. 

Madame Bacchiochi^s cSara£ler bears great 
resemblance to that* of her mother ^ she is botk 
superstitious and devoot; both Hcentious and 
jKligioiiss she intrigvcs a9ii €OBfes•es^ wears the 
hair of her loveWf aa^ Ac sdiea of paistts; she 
jEaeds bcfipiie ^ holf pi&irc oi ISc IrmoH 
and ogies th«,pfo£uw?pOilMkof kcrk^wroAlMr 
]k)iom all bar agpmntiaciila afe ift duarches^ 
mhet^ in adanm Ut QicMo ske pmm wkI 
niika ai het adnriver. Hqrl i » »kt lcw aie ^ 
CQBuaoB talk of Paiiti bteMHc die BfvadMt m 

^ BefiurethftforUHie as^SWMknrff MifoiMne; 

toned her kead, she Was the beK ^daBg^cs^ 

jisters^.wiTes^aadmotfattti aad die still fUfila 

these sererd duties better than any of her si»> 

ters^ and in Corsica she ia respcfted as the most 

virtuouaof theia,all» beeai»e> like her mother^ 

jbcbadoMfyctu ^lU&tbci&reheraaiTiagcw 

According tothq Liinre |loiige> by Bourriena^ 

^die has received from |he First Co^sttln 9». ^ 

establish- 

• MMlame PjKcbiochi bat lately bctn cfffptai « Priocett ef 
Fioflibiiio. « 



MADAME BACCHIOCHI. 4ir 

establishment, one millioa of livrtn^ jeirels, &c* 
to the amount of six hundred thousand Jivres, 
two. .hundred thousand livres in annuities for' 
several of her husband's relations ; and she en- 
joys besides a x^^fy P^i^<on of sis faiiniked 
thousand livres *• 

* Se^ La Sjunu FainUk»«i4i.M Kontelles a U Main, with 
\bc Livr« Roug«^ by EourricnBc. 



T 5 THi 



416 



THE PRINCESS S4NTA CRUCE. 



WHEN) in 1796« success crowned Boona*^ 
parte's army in Italy, the Princess Santa Cnice 
was an as»stant to Madame Rambaod, a man- 
tua-maker at Marseilles (with whom she had for 
six years been an apprentice), and at the same 
time in the keeping of a soap-mannfadurer, & 
married man, in that city, of the name of Julien^ 
■by whom she had two chiWrcn. In 1797, she 
and the present Madame Murat accompanied 
their brother Joseph to Remcj where he was ap- 
pointed by the Directory ambassador of theFrench 
Republic. The irresistible arms of Napoleone 
convinced the patriotic Rotnan prince, Santa 
Cruce, of the all-subduing and irresistible aftrac* 
tions of his sister; and she was made a prin- 
cess within twelve months after she had been a 
tnantua-makier^ and commanded in an elegant 
' " hotel 



PRINCESS SAMTA CRUeS. 41» 

hotel in a short tins after sheltadlcft 43(flrserniig 
in a shop*. ^ • ^ 

Married into this revoliatibattiy^milyy A^ 
Prince Santa Cruce tried to become a revdttf 
tionary hero : and when the' plots and Intripies 
ef Joseph Buonaparte had effeded a revolution 
at Rome in 1798, he was made a^ Roman ge* 
neral, and commander of the Roman National 
Guard ; but in fighting against the Neapolitan 
troops under General Mack, in 1799, he had 
his leg shot off. This weak and rebeUioua 
prince is as ignorant as he is disloyal ; and not« 
withstanding his name and his riches, iMcrowneJ 
head and his wooden leg, his rank and patriot- 
ism, he is the contihual objed of the jokes of the 
consular courtiers, of the epigrams of tl^ repiib* 
litan wits, and is as much despised as he is really 
despicable. 

Madame Santa Cruce, when she is in health, 
laughs at her mother's devotion; but on the 
least symptom of illness she sends sooner for 
her mother's confessor than for her husband's 
physician : when well, her conversation is bias* 
phemous ; when ill, edifying : prosperity makes 
her an atheist; wretchedness would probably 

make 

• ^ « W * Sec La Ssuatt FmbiUc, pfi£C 197^ 
T6 



«t REVQLimONAET FLtrrAKCH. 

inke ker a Ghntitii, if not a aaint. M^r xno^ 
ther often repeat^ that the Princese Santa Cruce 
viH ncVcr keMitd if she does not die in an hos- 
pital*. 

. Boornetiae« in the Livre RoQge» says, that 
MadMsr Santa Grace has obtained^ as • an esta^ 
UishfliCttt, from her bsothcr Napokone, > one mH* 
ficm of livres^ pcesents in jeweb» &c. worth six 
hnndxed thousand lines, one hundred thousand 
finses as anntiities to two of her hnsband's rda-^ 
lions y and Ahat she has besides a yearly pmsioii 
of six hnniffreA thottta»d Uvres. 

» S«c tH«» IvsumcntioQfd Publication. and page. 



MIDAMS 



421 



MADAME MURAT. 



WHEN, in Dccftmber 1797, ^ honest mam 
^fthe Corsican family^ Jo9q>h Buonaparte, had in»- 
tegrity and loyalty enongb to cause General Du* 
phot to be murdered^ kot order to famish a pre- 
text for the pillage of Rome, and for the subvefx 
sion (^ the Papal govermaem,. haȴister,. the pre(- 
sent Madame Murat, was betrodbed to this ge- 
neral, then one of the most frantic jaccdsins, and 
the ccmfideatial frknd of Napokone. , 

Madame Murat had been an ap^entkc to the 
xnantua-nuker Madacie Rambaud at MarsetUes, 
as well M her atter the Princes Santa Cruce % 
bot, in 1794, she l^ft that cicy^Ath an a^r 
from Paris, Baptist, who, not beii^;^ to pr<K 
vide for her wants, recommendtd licr «o a 
mantud'-maker in the Rue de Montmarti:e. She 
)ud Iqr this ^dor two cHul^i^ of M()^om one ia 

^ , yet 



4a» REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCHT^ 

yet aliye, and' educated by the father, formerly 
an intimate friend of Napoleone*. 

In 1800 the First Consul presented the band, 
of this his fBodest «srer to the vtrtwus General 
Murat, who had accompanied him to Egypt^ de^ 
serted with him from Egypt, assisted him to de-^ 
throne his benefaAors the diredors^ andcom«- 
manded his guard when arconsuL 

During Buonaparte's campaign in Egypt, the, 
Scandalous Chronicle of Paris said, that the pre*^ 
aeat Madame Murat cohabited with h^r Mother 
Lucien, and had a dnU.by him; and as the^ 
depraved Lucienhad himself poUicly boasted of 
thia infamy,, he has bee» thvee times eliallenged 
bj General Murat, and twke^ wounded by hinn 
^withoat disavowing or apologising for hi» cHrime*- 
. .Madame Murat is vanity and aflfe£bati<m ir- 
3elf. All rebels o£ aH countries are her heroes ^ 
and a republic 'her wishes during the day, andi 
iier breams in the night. Liberty is in her 
zn6uthf. equality in her heart, and fraternity on 
lier garters^ A. cap fif Kbeity decofutes her 
-hotel, ra;nd artree of liberty her court^yard. In 
Jieri draff i)»g«rooiia: are the busts of Gracchu% 
3jmm$ CttOp fir3Siof;^.Ma^j and Robespierre. 
::.',:. ..: ^ ■ ' -^ 

** SeeU^alfiuTimIllc,'pq[ei95« '' * 



MADAME MURAT. , vt3^ 

in her bed^room those of Machiayel^ Cromwell^ 
and Napoleone* Whik talking of lUserty anft 
eqnaltt J, however* she b a despot in her house ; 
,^ is arrogant with her friends^ oTO^bearihg 
with her companions, and a tyisoit over her Ip* 
vers. \n her dress,, manners, and pretensions^, 
she is an aristocrat, and often a. successful rivai 
to her sister-in-Jaw Madame Napoleone* 

To prevent the probably fotal consequences, 
of the jealousy of General Murat against his 
"brother-in-law JLncien, Napoleon^ sent Madlme 
Murat to reside Vrith her husband at Milaii<; 
where, notwithstan^ng the gce^ honours shewa 
her by the Italians, she regretted Paris, andeoi»- 
sidered herself, as she wrote to the First Consul^ 
** as irmnsported ta the European Cmyemm^ and 
therefore tormented him with her letters untfl 
he recalled her, " to her deary dear Paris** As 
General Murat does not inspeft his wife's ixnf- 
duA so much as formerly, many think that in- 
difierence has succeeded to jealousy, and that he 
prq>erLy appreciates the real value of -her pre-^ 
cious person and honourabfe ^ntilnents. Her 
suitors are now voy numerous } and in their 
number the most ridiculous of all is the old de- 
bauched senator Roederer, who, according to 
Les Nouvelles i la Maio^ by turns^ sighs and 

laughj^ 



4M REVOLOnONAHY PLUTARCH. 

Iflt^hvi slugs and cries> writes love letters^ vaaH 
prints touler or flattdriag vdtse^\ 
. In his Journal de Paris of the Slst ofOStobcvy 
1803, ReeJerer, in despair^ wrote the foUowiPj: 
^uatrainj addressed to her hnaband: 

VEKI ADR ESSES AU G E N £ R A L M U R AT • 

Adore Caroline t, et regnc sur son ccur 
L*Awt»nr f«ec orgueil peut dire \ U vt^ire, 

Qu'il sur fa ire pour ton Hnbtur 

AuCant qu'clle lit pour U gloire. 

Bi^ides a thousand Loub-d'of s pin^nioney al^ 
lowed her per nmith\ by her husband, or rather 
kj the Jta/ian RepuUicy she has, according to* 
JBobrrienne's Livre Rouge, received for an esta^ 
Jbhshmenty one onllion of livfes; in presi^nts,. 
jewels, &e.. she hundred thoiwand Uvres i annni-r 
ties to fite of her hnsband's relationsi two hun- 
iked "thousand iivres ; and she enj<)ys besides, ^ 
lenYf pension of sjx hundred thousand Iivres X^ 

*^ Sec L^ Nouvellcs i U Matn» Brum8ire,,»n xii. No-, iv. page^^ 
• t^irolina is the name of Madame Murat. 
^ t Sep Ihi foimc FamiBe, Lcs NDUviKes i U Maio, ii)|i>di^ 



THE 



425 

THE PRINCESS BOllGHESE, 

CI-DEVANT MADAME LB CI*ERC» 



Kaisortfler e»t l^cmploi de tovite lA»r maison^ 

£f le raMonntniexilcfl l>iM)mt U rafstts* - M (hfc i ft ft #• 



*< I DO noe want a. God jowre tba» a 0(4 
mnu xoc t*^ these, bbqdipn^pof^ wo^ sir^ o&iy 
ia the prettj iMifth of thft prefttot Pf9»^ 
ghesi^ the youi^gest sister of the Fisst Comiik 
Instead ofacknowledgpog vkh/gmitDde the^uAr 
deserved goodness of a Provi^g^ ^hiql^ ^Q«p 
^ prostitute has. fiiade hev a {vriac^sst. iml op^ii 
jtbe pianack qf Sonm^^ tcroj^rcyw c i i^ y jft ii p 
ji|u|h rqpent^ace and. sb^ipe.the ansfpn^of-tl^ 
.^ht^-ceUar; alike tticiyuf^ iivifNQi&3^ and. scai)*' 
<dalizmg in affluence as ii^ .vrj^chednessi she bid(^ 
defiance to the power o^b^r Creator ; she vpt 
suits the hope of the reUgioiis^ as well as th^ 
consolation of the.aKMrali#t|.aii4ai^psieots Ibf 
aflSi^ns of suffering ii^oceM^hj ei»c#iinipi^ 
or extenuating; the infiunfD^ pvo^n^ous criooc^ 
liypocrisy of every kind is bad I. but the hsj[i 
fff^crisif of l^Tapoleone's atheism is monstrous^ 
.*. - ••.,:.* because 



420 REVOLUTIONARY PLUTARCH. 

because it adds cowardice to guilt. It is difficulty 
howevtr, tosay whkh is'thc mQSt'dai:^ercms in 
» corrupt nation^ an atheist upcHi an usurj>e<l 
throng preaching Christianity ) or an amiable, 
fashionable^ and popular wonwn, spreading about^ 
almost by his side^ the desolating and dangeroua * 
teftett of atheism, particularly as thia woman it 
known to be i^frvHtriti sister. 

At the age of fourteen^ the PrincesaBorgheset 
then FtiuUtte Boonapartey ran away from her 
wodief^ house mth a Sardinian corporal and 
^teserter^ Cenrom \ and, uatH Napoleone's usura* 
^tiott^ in 1799> when Ac (according to the 
|Ni6)iAilet La Saint Familfo) was founds coTere<i 
with rags and disease, in a bouse of ill fame itt 
fl^RieStk Honote^^ her rriations were entirely 
%iiOfWt of wki^ Was become of -lier .*^. T6 
leward Ae^aArfoexrsenricei of an accomplice at 
Tdldbn, a» wtM as: in Icsly and at ]a£^ Napo^ 
leone permitted the notorbus terrorist Gencrat 
fie Qere, son of a miller, tamaary this worthy 
ff^ictss ^ tit bUod. Le Clerc, besides the ususA 
auAis of idMey a^Hdtted to each eonsolar sister^ 
Ireceiyed itt ^. poettoot first the command over 
(he army in F^riugali. and thie plunder of that 
1an|[dbmi and aAerwai4» the command of the 
< expeditioil. 

a See LaStiato F«8illkw.|i«e ttg* 



• PMNCESS BORGEFIESE; 4ar 

txpedxtion ta St* Dofmkigo, and a. colony to {uIp 
lagc^ enslave^ and rain*. '.» v 

Itf December 1801, Madame Le Clerc sailc4 
%ith her husband for St. Dommgo^ and witr 
nesscd adl the airocitiespf that rrpublican : prot* 
consul. Though she possessed an uticonwQOft 
•influence over thit> &r6ciattsi^&araifter9 ndther 
Itts treason aganut tlie unfoniinate To«Siaiii% 
aor the; shocking tecxacDtt and ,pitsufibMnl» 
lAkli heiidfliAsiL cm those oegirqid ftoaJw 
^oisduftJuHl made^deaper^c^* fyoMprtv^^d If 
vber % on the contrary^ if the 9i3oe94jttqf9€H^kf^ 
<fblit be to be beUev9ed,Qsbe;<dft08tt enjoyed^ Md 
even coounand^daaaa 9idus«sNint) 'th« dji^g^t^ 
ing sight of natflilated. I>)adi3 nested .aU«^. lar 
devoured 9^1^ byiher im^Mtfidr^ feitUiil alUo^ 
the Sipanish bloodohfifwd** Her <Hdj ^Mp«BK* 
.tion beside^ was to gathar und l^pfp iq> aear 
treasures^ from the daSy, if. not hourly fttoiw 
tions> requisitions, and confiscationa of her hm^ 
band ; and after hisdotth^^she accompaixicd her 
ill-gottea richer to France. Duriag her vopigcb 
ahe^condescendddto accept the consolation itf 
a colonel, for the lo$3f of a general} and to pe%> 
mit the continuAiice of the services of one of 
Le Qerc's former aids-de-camp, which obliged^ 
dicr to put off fin: near sis months her nnptialp 



4M REVOLUTIONARY PLDTARCIi. 

^ih the patriciic Romtti Prince Borgheae^f^- 
wboi ao doubt, obtained her cbeste band from 
Ibc Fim Cenasl fiikms^arte in FraiMfe» an an 
mUmmty lor tlMS propertyr which the Borgbese 
flunily had lost by the pbtnder «f Gfioeralc%Biua-r 
MpMTlC |ft Ifaljf* 

' TbooghilM GtomiaaP>incQf are loorii muxio* 
9mmp kitikhy ttida5.8eififch.aiLtkcItaliaa; ]ie^ 
UMir prMt.kat got the bcttqs^ of tkakv-^gBtwu^ 
Md Acy iMKV« «Bt difehonoriMd Hnets raafc Jbr 
VMHtlig « flonvipg difr indMni 'mtUA oC a. 
iNBggpif mmjftu Mac^ Boighfa%r Uhr hi^ 
igMotvywai Ike Mmc Santa Csuce^ had i^ 
vOM^teteta-'iifef^ hetaMehe-hadprodaimeil: 
llb^ patriotkf tveutevy tMfb» the;' baimi, o£ bk 

ik.lT96 Hid nd#, all' oAtee ckiaen< mnfdr the 
KtortJived Roman «epiihli^5 and #oi.prove hk^ 
-prifldpl^ etf l^^kj) ixmdcst£itd)9d^ vith the 
ttinte OdoMa)' the Duke di Moi^eitibretto,^ 
tad oti^i^r Ronlan' nol^(% ^ to serine as a coi^^ 
toon aofilks ki a. copps, ef «A)kh the ea{|Kr^ 
was a man who soldti^ atididbg's .m«* in die 
a;)reet9.'^ He was;. Iii l79Sy a me^ptbar'of a. 
jacobiti chibi whkh the^Fce9tbieon&rFed.Qpoa 
the Romans in edrnpensatdoafor the loss of 
^hexr Ubert j^^ religtoii^ ttn:d property^ T^ dub 



. I>RINCE6S BORGHESE. 4^ 

was established m the palace of the Dufce of 
Aitcmps, where, as in France^ the swis de- 
nounced their parents : noyades were recom-^ 
mended^ priests prdscrtbod* and a proposition 
made, ** to hegin the regeai^ati^ of Kome by 
putting to deMi& dU\peo^i etgid ahrue jwty^ as in-* 
capable^ through.' the obninacy of eld age> of 
renotincir^ their ancieat prejudices*" 

Persons who were present at the nuptials of 
the Prince Borghcse and Madame Lie Clerc>' 
affirni, that then* behaviour during the religi* 
ous ceremony, when Cardinal CafM-ara gav^ 
the marriage blessing, was such 'as to causq 
even this tool of Napolcone to blush, notwith* 
standing all the former hypocritical and sacrl* 
legions scenes wKich he had witnessed, sinc^ 
he began to assist the First Consul in organizing 
a revolutionary religion in the Flrcnch common-^ 
wealth. 

In Les Nouvelles a la Main, of Brumaire, year 
xii. it is said, that the First Consul declared, in 
publicy that considering the situation of the repub- 
lican treasury, he could not do, what he wished 
for ^he ^yv//.of his sisters; to whom, and to 
whose husband, when surrounded by courtiers 
in the drawing-room, he offered presents of lit- 
tle value ; but in jevreti when enfamdUy the new 

marrie^j 



430 REVOLUTIONARYs PLUTARCH. 

married couple received from hitn in drafts upon 
Spain and Portugal, in jewels, &c« to the amount 
of four millions of livres, besides an ecriny or 
jewel box> presented b^ Madame Napoleone^ 
containing jewels worth half a million* The for«» 
tune which General Le Qerc left his widow wa^ 
calculated to be at least six millions ; so that this 
daughter of a sans-culotte brought ho* princely 
husband a princelf fortune* 
t At lier former marriage, gtccording to tht 
Livre Rouge by Bourriennc, the now Princess 
Borghese obtained one million of livres for an 
establishment, half a million for going to St. 
Domingo, three hundred thousand livres as 
annuities for some of her husband's relations, 
presents, jewels, &c. for six hundred thousand 
livres 5 and she enjoys the same sum of six hun- 
dred thousand livres as a yearly pension during 
her life *. 

* S«<» la Sainte FamUle ; Les Crimes des Republicains en Italic { 
t.es Nouvelles ^ U Main, aad Le Livre Rouge by Bdurricnne% 



EXD OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 



Printed b»B. M'MiUan, 
Bcw*Strccty CoYeiu^ardea. 



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aBSSbtaSha 



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