Napoleon's Addresses/Part III
PART III.
NAPOLEON, FIRST CONSUL.
Proclamation to the French People, Nov. 10, 1799.
"Frenchmen: On my return to France I found division reigning amongst all the authorities. They agreed only on this single point, that the Constitution was half destroyed, and was unable to protect liberty.
"Each party in turn came to me, confided to me their designs, imparted their secrets, and requested my support. I refused to be the man of a party.
"The Council of the Ancients appealed to me. I answered their appeal. A plan of general restoration had been concerted by men whom the nation has been accustomed to regard as the defenders of liberty, equality, and property. This plan required calm and free deliberation, exempt from all influence and all fear. The Ancients resolved, therefore, upon the removal of the legislative bodies to St. Cloud. They placed at my disposal the force necessary to secure their independence. I was bound, in duty to my fellow citizens, to the soldiers perishing in our armies, and to the national glory, acquired at the cost of so much blood, to accept the command.
"The councils assembled at St. Cloud. Republican troops guaranteed their safety from without, but assassins created terror within. Many members of the Council of the Five Hundred, armed with stilettos and pistols, spread menaces of death around them.
"The plans which ought to have been developed were withheld. The majority of the council was rendered inefficient; the boldest orators were disconcerted, and the inutility of submitting any salutary proposition was quite evident.
"I proceeded, filled with indignation and grief, to the Council of the Ancients. I besought them to carry their noble designs into execution. I directed their attention to the evils of the nation, which were their motives for conceiving those designs. They concurred in giving me new proofs of their uniform good-will.
"I presented myself before the Council of the Five Hundred, alone, unarmed, my head uncovered, just as the Ancients had received and applauded me. My object was to restore to the majority the expression of its will, and to secure to it its power.
"The stilettos which had menaced the deputies were instantly raised against their deliverer. Twenty assassins rushed upon me, and aimed at my breast. The grenadiers of the legislative body, whom I had left at the door of the hall, ran forward, and placed themselves between me and the assassins. One of these brave grenadiers (Thomé) had his clothes pierced by a stiletto. They bore me off.
"At the same moment cries of 'Outlaw him' were raised against the defender of the law. It was the horrid cry of assassins against the power destined to repress them.
"They crowded around the President, uttering threats. With arms in their hands they commanded him to declare 'the outlawry.' I was informed of this. I ordered him to be rescued from their fury, and six grenadiers of the legislative body brought him out. Immediately afterwards some grenadiers of the legislative body charged into the hall and cleared it.
"The factions, intimidated, dispersed and fled. The majority, freed from their assaults, returned freely and peaceably into the hall, listened to the propositions made for the public safety, deliberated, and drew up the salutary resolution which will become the new and provisional law of the Republic.
"Frenchmen, you doubtless recognize in this conduct the zeal of a soldier of liberty, of a citizen devoted to the Republic. Conservative, tutelary, and liberal ideas resumed their authority upon the dispersion of the factions, who domineered in the councils, and who, in rendering themselves the most odious of men, did not cease to be the most contemptible."
Proclamation to the Army of the East, November, 1799.
"Soldiers: The Consuls of the French Republic frequently direct their attention to the Army of the East.
"France acknowledged all the influence of your conquests on the restoration of her trade and civilization of the world.
"The eyes of all Europe are upon you, and in thought I am often with you.
"In whatsoever situation the chances of war may place you, prove yourselves still the soldiers of Rivoli and Aboukir—you will be invincible.
"Place in Kléber the boundless confidence you placed in me. He deserves it.
"Soldiers, think of the day when you will return victorious to the sacred territory of France. That will be a glorious day for this whole nation."
Proclamation to the French before the Second Italian Campaign.
"Frenchmen: You have been anxious for peace. Your Government has desired it with still greater ardor. Its first efforts, its constant wishes, have been for its attainment. The English Ministry has exposed the secret of its iniquitous policy. It wishes to dismember France, to destroy its commerce, and either to erase it from the map of Europe, or to degrade it to a secondary power. England is willing to embroil all the nations of the Continent in hostility with each other, that she may enrich herself with the spoils, and gain possession of the trade of the world. For the attainment of this object she scatters her gold, becomes prodigal of her promises, and multiplies her intrigues."
Proclamation to the Soldiers before the Battle of Marengo, June, 1800.
"Soldiers: When we began our march, one department of France was in the hands of the enemy. Consternation pervaded the south of the Republic. You advanced. Joy and hope in our country have succeeded to consternation and fear. The enemy, terror-struck, seeks only to regain his frontiers. You have taken his hospitals, his magazines, his reserve parks. The first act of the campaign is finished. Millions of men address you in strains of praise. But shall we allow our audacious enemies to violate with impunity the territory of the Republic? Will you permit the army to escape which has carried terror into your families? You will not. March, then, to meet him. Tear from his brows the laurels he has won. Teach the world that a malediction attends those that violate the territory of the Great People. The result of our efforts will be unclouded glory, and a durable peace."
Letter to the Emperor of Austria, on the Field of Marengo, June, 1800.
"Sire:—It is on the field of battle, amid the sufferings of a multitude of wounded, and surrounded by fifteen thousand corpses, that I beseech your Majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, and not to suffer two brave nations to cut each other's throats for interests not their own. It is my part to press this upon your Majesty, being upon the very theatre of war. Your Majesty's heart can not feel it so keenly as does mine.
"For what are you fighting? For religion? Then make war on the Russians and the English, who are the enemies of your faith. Do you wish to guard against revolutionary principles? It is this very war which has extended them over half the continent, by extending the conquests of France. The continuance of the war can not fail to diffuse them still further. Is it for the balance of Europe? The English threaten that balance far more than does France, for they have become the masters and the tyrants of commerce, and are beyond the reach of resistance. Is it to secure the interests of the House of Austria? Let us then execute the Treaty of Campo Formio, which secures to your Majesty large indemnities in compensation for the provinces lost in the Netherlands, and secures them to you where you most wish to obtain them, that is, in Italy. Your Majesty may send negotiators whither you will, and we will add to the Treaty of Campo Formio stipulations calculated to assure you of the continued existence of the secondary States, all of which the French Republic is accused of having shapen. Upon these conditions peace is made if you will. Let us make the armistice general for all the armies, and enter into negotiations instantly."
Order to Seize all English in France, Announced in the Moniteur, May, 1803.
"The Government of the Republic, having heard read, by the Minister of Marine and Colonies, a despatch from the maritime prefect at Brest, announcing that two English frigates had taken two merchant vessels in the Bay of Andrieu, without any previous declaration of war, and in manifest violation of the law of nations,—
"All the English, from the ages of eighteen to sixty, or holding any commission from his Britannic Majesty, who are at present in France, shall immediately be constituted prisoners of war, to answer for those citizens of the Republic who may have been arrested and made prisoners by the vessels or subjects of his Britannic Majesty previous to any declaration of hostilities."