CHAPTER XV.

1809-1810.

King Joachim creates me one of his officers of ordnance-Charge entrusted to me by him-The English threaten to land in the kingdom-Rome and the Pope-The States of the Church become provinces of the French empire-The King goes twice to Paris-His return to Naples-He openly speaks of an expedition to Sicily.

KING JOACHIM immediately began to organize the different corps of the army with the utmost solicitude and activity. He promulgated the law of conscription, which did not meet general approbation, because the lower orders, upon whom it more particularly fell, had not entirely discarded their feelings of devotion to the Bourbon dynasty; besides which, the system of the new government was not sufficiently effective to inspire a sense of national patriotism. The prisons were filled with individuals charged with political offences.

My first care was to present myself to King Joachim, who was always easy of access, notwithstanding the self-important airs assumed by the chamberlains on duty. Whilst I was awaiting an interview in a saloon contiguous to that of the courtiers in waiting, the Duke Girella, Prefect of the Palace, related to me all

the dirty intrigues which were practised by many to obtain employment at Court. On being admitted to the presence of King Joachim, I showed him the * authorization he had himself. given me in 1802 to proceed to Egypt. He likewise perused with attention my statement of service, which I handed him, and the charge committed to my care by Massena of organizing a regiment of Calabrians. As soon as he had finished reading these documents, I said that I expected from his justice the rank of Colonel. The King replied, that in appointing me one of his officers of ordnance, he should give me a proof of the favourable opinion he held of me. I recollect that I was so engrossed by admiration of the elegance of his appearance, and the affability of his address, that I omitted expressing my thanks. He talked to me a great deal about the Neapolitan army, and manifested a confidence in us that even exceeded my own; and, God knows that was not small. His conversation filled me with such delight, that had it not been for the fear I entertained lest he should mistake my ardour of patriotism for courtier-like flattery, I could have fallen at his feet and worshipped him. It seemed to me that I beheld in him the Charles XII. of the Neapolitans; and with my mind full of such ideas, I retired amidst the amiable salutations of the courtiers, who had not failed to remark the length of my interview with the King.

In three days I received my brevet of officer of ordnance to the King, and as several French and Neapolitan officers had strained every nerve to secure such an appointment without obtaining it, notwithstanding their Court influence, they could not believe that it had not even entered into my mind to ask for such a favour.

All republican ideas had subsided in the minds of the multitude, and my own patriotism was directed to the national honour and independance, a well disciplined and powerful army, and the departure of the French out of the kingdom. That the latter hope should be realized, was, however, quite out of the question, so long as we were without a powerful and well disciplined army of our own, for the English continued to threaten an invasion, whilst they instigated the provinces to revolt during the time that Napoleon's army was engaged in the wars of Spain and Germany. The intrigues of the English caused two insurrections in the Provinces of Bari and Lecce; the former occurred in the village of St. Eramo, and the latter in that of Oria. The King despatched me to Oria to learn every particular, however minute, of the insurrection. I had likewise orders to tell General Ottavi, a Corsican officer, who commanded that military division, that it was the King's especial injunction to avoid bloodshed as much as possible. I found this General walking up and down an esplanade outside the walls of Doria, surrounded by his small column, contemplating a scaffold upon which twelve men were to be executed, who had been the first to revolt, and who had attacked a French squadron. Convicted by a court-martial, they had been condemned to death. The squadron having been warned in time, had mounted and cut to pieces a great number of the insurgents. I vainly exhorted the General to spare these deluded beings, adding, that the King was much aggrieved at the blood which had been already shed. The General replied, that the execution of the twelve delinquents was a necessary measure, and that had I not arrived, upwards of three hundred would have shared the same fate. What will appear still more

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strange is; that all the citizens of the province, men whose opinions were opposed to the Bourbons and favourable to our party, applauded the conduct of Ottavi. They addressed themselves to me, saying that it was easy enough for me to talk of clemency since I was not destined to remain in those parts; but that they preferred by far the destruction of the lawless defenders of the Anglo-Bourbons to having their own lives and property constantly exposed to their ferocity. This language was held, not by persons of the lower orders, but by good, honest fathers of families; so true is it that in civil wars nothing is more difficult than to blame or to praise with any degree of impartiality and justice. I was more successful in persuading General Ottavi to show some leniency towards the insurgents of St. Eramo, and to act in accordance with the King's desire of avoiding bloodshed. On this occasion Ottavi

approved himself a man of clemency.

The King had acquired such a habit of charging me with the execution of divers affairs, that it appeared as if he had no other officers about his person. Indeed, he allowed me no respite, engaging my services even in matters of trifling import.

The provinces which had continued under the Papal dominion, as well as the Pope himself, were entirely devoted to the British party. Although the Pope openly professed himself in favour of Napoleon, he exerted every secret means of acting as his enemy. Nothing could escape the Emperor's vigilance, and he accordingly decided upon depriving the Pope of all temporal power. He carried this bold determination into effect at the very time when the war with Austria, which ended so gloriously at the battle of Wagram, was still in progress. He invaded the Papal dominions with

an army of only five thousand men, two thousand of whom were French, and the remaining three thousand Neapolitans. Napoleon invested the King of Naples with the dominion of the Papal States, with injunctions to change their form of government. The King ordered me to proceed to Rome with a despatch for General Miollis. This officer was chief of the Junta, which was composed of himself, Saliceti, and three other members. The Junta was to proclaim Rome the second city in the empire, and the States of the Church were declared to be so many dependencies of France.

The King had instructed me to spread a report that he would soon arrive at Rome, and that several corps of Neapolitans were already on their march thither. I myself was fully aware that neither the King nor any portion of his army could quit the kingdom, which was in danger of being invaded by twenty thousand AngloSicilian troops. The King added, that the Junta was to declare Romagna a part of the French empire. My private injunctions were, not to quit Rome till after the execution of these political acts, that I might from time to time acquaint the King with the effect produced upon the people in the capital by such important changes. On reaching Rome, I forthwith sought and saw all the members of the Junta, excepting General Miollis to whom my despatch was directed. I had to await his arrival several days, on account of the delay which had occurred in the transmission to him of the orders of the Emperor, who was then near Vienna, having overtaken the enemy.

I was not long in discovering that the inhabitants of the Roman States loathed the idea of becoming French subjects. For my own part, although on the one hand I regretted to know that that part of Italy was to be called