LXIII. 1810. English fleet, and charged with the reduction of North America to the government of Great Britain, and of South America to that of France. Extravagant as these propositions may appear, it is proved by a holograph note of Napoleon himself, that they had been made by the minister of police to the English government. "What was M. Ouvrard commissioned to do in England?" said Napoleon to Fouché, when examined before the council. "To ascertain," replied he, "the disposition of the new minister for foreign affairs in Great Britain, according to the views which I have had the honour of submitting to your majesty." "Thus, then," replied Napoleon, "you take upon yourself to make peace or war without my knowledge. 130, 135. Duke of Otranto, your head should fall upon the scaffold."1 Note of Nap. 8th July 1810. Mem. de 417, 418. Fouché, i. Thib. viii. Fouché. Upon consideration, however, Napoleon was inclined 23. to adopt less rigorous measures. He was fearful of Disgrace of exhibiting to the world any instance of treachery in the imperial government, and perhaps not altogether at ease concerning the revelations which Fouché, if driven to extremities, might make regarding his own administration. He limited the punishment of the fallen minister, therefore, to deprivation of his office of minister of police, which was immediately bestowed on Savary, Duke of Rovigo. To break his fall, Fouché was, in the first instance, declared governor of Rome, and he set out from Paris shortly after for that destination. But the recall of his appointment overtook him before he arrived at the Eternal City he stopped short at Leghorn, and, in despair, took his place in a vessel with a view to seek for refuge in America. The sufferings he had undergone, * * The Emperor said to Savary, on appointing him minister of police, "I have put you in Fouché's place, because I found I could no longer rely upon him. He was taking precautions against me when I had no designs against him, and attempting to establish consideration for himself at my expense. He was constantly endeavouring to divine my intentions, in order to appear to lead me and as I have become reserved towards him, he became the dupe of intrigues, and was often getting into scrapes. You will soon see that it was in that spirit that he undertook, without my knowledge, to make peace between France and England.-SAVARY, iv. 315. LXIII. 1810. CHAP. however, from sea-sickness, in the outset of his passage, ultimately deterred him from carrying that intention into effect. He remained in Tuscany, determined to take his chance of Napoleon's vengeance, rather than incur the certain misery of a voyage across the Atlantic. He obtained, soon after, permission to return to Aix, in Provence, where he lived for some time in retirement. But at length the necessities of his situation obliged Napoleon again to have recourse to his assistance; and he took a prominent part in the subsequent course of events which ultimately brought about the overthrow of the empire.1 1 Mem. de Fouché, i. 417, 418; ii. 13, 38. Thib. viii. 130, 138. Bign. ix. 136, 142. A still more important consequence resulted from the journey of Napoleon to the Low Countries, in the resignation of Louis, and the annexation of Holland and the Hanse Towns to the French empire. Napoleon had long been dissatisfied with his brother's government of the Dutch provinces; for that sovereign, sensible that his subjects' existence depended on their commerce, had done all in his power to soften the hardships of their situation, and had not enforced the imperial decrees against English trade with the rigour which the impatient disposition of the Emperor deemed necessary. The displeasure arising from this cause was much increased by the immense importations of English merchandise and colonial produce which took place into the north of Germany and the States of Holland, in consequence of the absence of the French guards from the coast during the campaign of Wagram and the Walcheren expedition; an importation so enormous, that, chiefly owing to its influence, the British exports, which in 1808 had been only £30,387,990, were raised in the succeeding year to £46,292,632.2 termined to put an end to such a state of matters, which he deemed entirely subversive of his continental policy, so far at least as Holland was concerned, as well as with a view to prepare the minds of the Dutch for the general incorporation which he meditated, Napoleon compelled De CHAP. 1810. Louis, by a treaty concluded in the middle of March, to cede to France his whole territories on the left bank of the Rhine, including the isles of Walcheren, South Beveland, March 16. Cadsand, and the adjacent territory on the continent to the left of that river, which was formed into a department under the name of that of the mouth of the Scheldt. At Treaty with Louis, the same time, it was intimated to the King of Holland Mart.v. 327. that he must relinquish all intercourse, direct or indirect, ix. 132, 133. with England, and consent to his coast being entirely 139. guarded by French soldiers.1 1 Sup. Bign. Thib. viii. tion of Hol empire. This cession, however, was but the prelude to more 25. important demands. During the Emperor's visit to Ant- Incorporawerp, he became more than ever convinced of the expe- land with dience of incorporating the whole of Holland with the the French French empire; and many letters, in the most haughty style, were written by him to the unfortunate King of Holland in the course of his journey back to Paris, evidently intended to make him in despair resign the crown. The last, from Lille, on the 16th May, concluded with May 16. these words:"It is high time that I should know definitively whether you are determined to occasion the ruin of Holland: write no more to me in your accustomed phrases; for three years you have been constantly repeating them, and every successive day has proved their falsehood. This is the last letter in my life I shall ever write to you." Matters soon after came to a crisis: Oudinot, with a French army twenty thousand strong, crossed the frontier, and rapidly advanced towards Amsterdam. Louis, who had a thorough reliance on the affection of his Dutch subjects, who knew what mortifications he had undergone on their account, at first thought seriously of resistance; but upon the assurance of his generals that it was hopeless, he abandoned the attempt. It was next proposed to imitate the conduct of the prince-royal of Portugal, and fly to Java, as he had done to Brazil. But this July 1. project was relinquished as impracticable; and at length the unhappy monarch came to the determination of VOL. IX. 2 H LXIII. 1810. July 9. 1 Hard. xi. Mart. Sup. CHAP. resigning in favour of his son, the prince-royal, Napoleon Louis. Having executed this deed, he set out in the night from Haarlem for Töplitz in Bohemia, having first taken the precaution to order that the resignation should not be published till he had quitted the kingdom. The publication of this unexpected resolution excited universal consternation in Holland; but every one foresaw what soon after proved the denouement of the tragedy. On the 9th July, a decree appeared, incorporating the whole kingdom of Holland with the French empire.1 86, 90. v. 338. Thib. viii. 137, 141. Bign. iv. 189, 196. 26. "Obliged," as the report preceding the decree set forth, Napoleon's "to make common cause with France, Holland bore the public and private charges of such an association without experiencing any motives for this step. of its advantages. Its debt, fixed on so inconsiderable a territory, was above a fourth of that of the whole empire. Its taxes were triple what they were in France. In such a state of matters, the interest of Holland loudly called for its annexation to the Empire: nor was the interest of France less obvious in the transaction. To leave in foreign hands the mouths of the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, would be to render the French commerce and manufactures tributary to the possessor of those estuaries. The present incorporation, on the other hand, completes the empire of Napoleon, and his system of war, policy, and commerce. It is a step necessary to the restoration of his marine; in fine, it is the most decisive stroke which he could deliver against England." Louis protested against the measure as destructive alike of the interests of Holland and the rights of his son; and with much dignity refused the provision of two millions of francs a-year (£80,000) fixed on him by a supplemental decree of the senate in December following. Prince Louis, his son,* repaired to Paris, where he was kindly received by the Emperor, who had been much annoyed Aug. 1. Dec. 13. * The same person who was subsequently imprisoned for several years at Ham by order of Louis Philippe, and afterwards was the first President of the French Republic. CHAP. LXIII. 1810. by the scandal which this family rupture would occasion in the world. His words, at his first interview with his discrowned nephew, were as characteristic of his private feelings, as his public declaration on the subject was descriptive of the ruling principles of his policy. "Come, my son, I will be your father: you will lose nothing by the exchange. The conduct of your father has wounded my heart. When you are grown up, you will discharge his debt and your own. Never forget, in whatever position 1 Bign. ix. you may be placed by my policy and the interest of my 197,199. empire, that your first duties are towards me, your second 139, 146. towards France; all your other duties, even to the people 338, 310. whom I may confide to your care, must be postponed to xi. 89, 90. these."1 Mart. v. Sup. Hard. 27. Flight of naparte to Lucien Buo America. The resignation of Louis was the source of great distress to Napoleon, on which he forcibly enlarged even in the solitude of St Helena. But it was soon followed by an event which still more nearly affected him. For some years past, his brother Lucien and he had been on distant terms; and he could ill brook the sturdy but honest feeling which induced that disinterested republican to refuse honours and royalty when bestowed by the imperial hand. Their rupture became irreconcilable by the refusal of Lucien to divorce his wife, an American by birth, to whom he was tenderly attached, in order to receive a princess suggested by the political views of the Emperor. He withdrew first to Rome, where he lived March. several years in privacy, devoted to poetry and the arts; and when the Roman States were incorporated with the French empire, he resolved to take refuge in the United States, in order to be altogether beyond the reach of his brother's imperious temper. He set sail, accordingly, for Aug. 5. America but was taken prisoner by two English frigates, and conducted to Malta, from whence he obtained liberty to reside on his parole in the British dominions. He fixed his residence in the first instance at Ludlow in Shropshire, where he continued to devote his whole time. |