CHAPTER XXI. THE SCHEDULE OF THE DIRECTORY
We have said that Moreau, furnished no doubt with instructions, left thelittle house in the Rue de la Victoire, while Bonaparte returned aloneto the salon. Everything furnished an object of comment in such acompany as was there assembled; the absence of Moreau, the return ofBonaparte unaccompanied, and the visible good humor which animated hiscountenance, were all remarked upon.
The eyes which fastened upon him most ardently were those of Josephineand Roland. Moreau for Bonaparte added twenty chances to the success ofthe plot; Moreau against Bonaparte robbed him of fifty. Josephine'seyes were so supplicating that, on leaving Lucien, Bonaparte pushed hisbrother toward his wife. Lucien understood, and approached Josephine,saying: "All is well."
"Moreau?"
"With us."
"I thought he was a Republican."
"He has been made to see that we are acting for the good of theRepublic."
"I should have thought him ambitious," said Roland.
Lucien started and looked at the young man.
"You are right," said he.
"Then," remarked Josephine, "if he is ambitious he will not letBonaparte seize the power."
"Why not?"
"Because he will want it himself."
"Yes; but he will wait till it comes to him ready-made, inasmuch as hedoesn't know how to create it, and is afraid to seize it."
During this time Bonaparte had joined the group which had formed aroundTalma after dinner, as well as before. Remarkable men are always thecentre of attraction.
"What are you saying, Talma?" demanded Bonaparte. "It seems to me theyare listening to you very attentively."
"Yes, but my reign is over," replied the artist.
"Why so?"
"I do as citizen Barras has done; I abdicate?"
"So citizen Barras has abdicated?"
"So rumor says."
"Is it known who will take his place?"
"It is surmised."
"Is it one of your friends, Talma?"
"Time was," said Talma, bowing, "when he did me the honor to say I washis."
"Well, in that case, Talma, I shall ask for your influence."
"Granted," said Talma, laughing; "it only remains to ask how it canserve you."
"Get me sent back to Italy; Barras would not let me go."
"The deuce!" said Talma; "don't you know the song, general, 'We won't goback to the woods when the laurels are clipped'?"
"Oh! Roscius, Roscius!" said Bonaparte, smiling, "have you grown aflatterer during my absence?"
"Roscius was the friend of Caesar, general, and when the conquerorreturned from Gaul he probably said to him about the same thing I havesaid to you."
Bonaparte laid his band on Talma's shoulder.
"Would he have said the same words after crossing the Rubicon?"
Talma looked Bonaparte straight in the face.
"No," he replied; "he would have said, like the augur, 'Caesar, beware ofthe Ides of March!'"
Bonaparte slipped his hand into his breast as if in search ofsomething; finding the dagger of the Companions of Jehu, he graspedit convulsively. Had he a presentiment of the conspiracies of Arena,Saint-Regent, and Cadoudal?
Just then the door opened and a servant announced: "General Bernadotte!"
"Bernadotte," muttered Bonaparte, involuntarily. "What does he wanthere?"
Since Bonaparte's return, Bernadotte had held aloof from him, refusingall the advances which the general-in-chief and his friends had madehim. The fact is, Bernadotte had long since discerned the politicianbeneath the soldier's greatcoat, the dictator beneath the general, andBernadotte, for all that he became king in later years, was at that timea very different Republican from Moreau. Moreover, Bernadotte believedhe had reason to complain of Bonaparte. His military career had notbeen less brilliant than that of the young general; his fortunes weredestined to run parallel with his to the end, only, more fortunate thanthat other--Bernadotte was to die on his throne. It is true, he did notconquer that throne; he was called to it.
Son of a lawyer at Pau, Bernadotte, born in 1764--that is to say, fiveyears before Bonaparte--was in the ranks as a private soldier when onlyeighteen. In 1789 he was only a sergeant-major. But those were the daysof rapid promotion. In 1794, Kleber created him brigadier-general on thefield of battle, where he had decided the fortunes of the day. Becominga general of division, he played a brilliant part at Fleurus andJuliers, forced Maestricht to capitulate, took Altdorf, and protected,against an army twice as numerous as his own, the retreat of Joubert.In 1797 the Directory ordered him to take seventeen thousand men toBonaparte. These seventeen thousand men were his old soldiers, veteransof Kleber, Marceau and Hoche, soldiers of the Sambre-et-Meuse; and yetBernadotte forgot all rivalry and seconded Bonaparte with all his might,taking part in the passage of the Tagliamento, capturing Gradiska,Trieste, Laybach, Idria, bringing back to the Directory, afterthe campaign, the flags of the enemy, and accepting, possibly withreluctance, an embassy to Vienna, while Bonaparte secured the command ofthe army of Egypt.
At Vienna, a riot, excited by the tri-color flag hoisted above theFrench embassy, for which the ambassador was unable to obtain redress,forced him to demand his passports. On his return to Paris, theDirectory appointed him Minister of War. An underhand proceeding ofSieyes, who was offended by Bernadotte's republicanism, induced thelatter to send in his resignation. It was accepted, and when Bonapartelanded at Frejus the late minister had been three months out of office.Since Bonaparte's return, some of Bernadotte's friends had sought tobring about his reinstatement; but Bonaparte had opposed it. The resultwas a hostility between the two generals, none the less real because notopenly avowed.
Bernadotte's appearance in Bonaparte's salon was therefore an eventalmost as extraordinary as the presence of Moreau. And the entrance ofthe conqueror of Maestricht caused as many heads to turn as had that ofthe conqueror of Rastadt. Only, instead of going forward to meet him, ashe had Moreau, Bonaparte merely turned round and awaited him.
Bernadotte, from the threshold of the door, cast a rapid glance aroundthe salon. He divided and analyzed the groups, and although he must haveperceived Bonaparte in the midst of the principal one, he went up toJosephine, who was reclining on a couch at the corner of the fireplace,like the statue of Agrippina in the Pitti, and, addressing her withchivalric courtesy, inquired for her health; then only did he raise hishead as if to look for Bonaparte. At such a time everything was of toomuch importance for those present not to remark this affectation ofcourtesy on Bernadotte's part.
Bonaparte, with his rapid, comprehensive intellect, was not the lastto notice this; he was seized with impatience, and, instead of awaitingBernadotte in the midst of the group where he happened to be, heturned abruptly to the embrasure of a window, as if to challenge theex-minister of war to follow him. Bernadotte bowed graciously to rightand left, and controlling his usually mobile face to an expressionof perfect calmness, he walked toward Bonaparte, who awaited him asa wrestler awaits his antagonist, the right foot forward and his lipscompressed. The two men bowed, but Bonaparte made no movement to extendhis hand to Bernadotte, nor did the latter offer to take it.
"Is it you?" asked Bonaparte. "I am glad to see you."
"Thank you, general," replied Bernadotte. "I have come because I wish togive you a few explanations."
"I did not recognize you at first."
"Yet I think, general, that my name was announced by your servant in avoice loud enough to prevent any doubt as to my identity."
"Yes, but he announced General Bernadotte."
"Well?"
"Well, I saw a man in civilian's dress, and though I recognized you, Idoubted if it were really you."
For some time past Bernadotte had affected to wear civilian's dress inpreference to his uniform.
"You know," said he, laughing, "that I am only half a soldier now. I wasretired by citizen Sieyes."
"It seems that it was lucky for me that yo
u were no longer minister ofwar when I landed at Frejus."
"How so?"
"You said, so I was told, that had you received the order to arrest mefor violating quarantine you would have done so."
"I said it, and I repeat it, general. As a soldier I was always afaithful observer of discipline. As a minister I was a slave to law."
Bonaparte bit his lips. "And will you say, after that, that you have nota personal enmity to me?"
"A personal enmity to you, general?" replied Bernadotte. "Why shouldI have? We have always gone together, almost in the same stride; I waseven made general before you. While my campaigns on the Rhine were lessbrilliant than yours on the Adige, they were not less profitable for theRepublic; and when I had the honor to serve under you, you found inme, I hope, a subordinate devoted, if not to the man, at least to thecountry which he served. It is true that since your departure, general,I have been more fortunate than you in not having the responsibility ofa great army, which, if one may believe Kleber's despatches, you haveleft in a disastrous position."
"What do you mean? Kleber's last despatches? Has Kleber written?"
"Are you ignorant of that, general? Has the Directory not informed youof the complaints of your successor? That would be a great weakness ontheir part, and I congratulate myself to have come here, not only tocorrect in your mind what has been said of me, but to tell you what isbeing said of you."
Bonaparte fixed an eye, darkling as an eagle's, on Bernadotte. "And whatare they saying of me?" he asked.
"They say that, as you must come back, you should have brought the armywith you."
"Had I a fleet? Are you unaware that De Brueys allowed his to beburned?"
"They also say, general, that, being unable to bring back the army, itwould have been better for your renown had you remained with it."
"That is what I should have done, monsieur, if events had not recalledme to France."
"What events, general?"
"Your defeats."
"Pardon me, general; you mean to say Scherer's defeats.
"Yours as well."
"I was not answerable for the generals commanding our armies on theRhine and in Italy until I was minister of war. If you will enumeratethe victories and defeats since that time you will see on which side thescale turns."
"You certainly do not intend to tell me that matters are in a goodcondition?"
"No, but I do say that they are not in so desperate state as you affectto believe."
"As I affect!--Truly, general, to hear you one would think I had someinterest in lowering France in the eyes of foreigners.
"I don't say that; I say that I wish to settle the balance of ourvictories and defeats for the last three months; and as I came for that,and am now in your house, and in the position of an accused person--"
"Or an accuser."
"As the accused, in the first instance--I begin."
"And I listen," said Bonaparte, visibly on thorns.
"My ministry dates from the 30th Prairial, the 8th of June if youprefer; we will not quarrel over words."
"Which means that we shall quarrel about things."
Bernadotte continued without replying.
"I became minister, as I said, the 8th of June; that is, a short timeafter the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre was raised."
Bonaparte bit his lips. "I did not raise the siege until after I hadruined the fortifications," he replied.
"That is not what Kleber wrote; but that does not concern me." Then headded, smiling: "It happened while Clark was minister."
There was a moment's silence, during which Bonaparte endeavored to makeBernadotte lower his eyes. Not succeeding, he said: "Go on."
Bernadotte bowed and continued: "Perhaps no minister of war--and thearchives of the ministry are there for reference--ever received theportfolio under more critical circumstances: civil war within, a foreignenemy at our doors, discouragement rife among our veteran armies,absolute destitution of means to equip new ones. That was what I hadto face on the 8th of June, when I entered upon my duties. An activecorrespondence, dating from the 8th of June, between the civil andmilitary authorities, revived their courage and their hopes. Myaddresses to the armies--this may have been a mistake--were those, notof a minister to his soldiers, but of a comrade among comrades, justas my addresses to the administrators were those of a citizen to hisfellow-citizens. I appealed to the courage of the army, and the heart ofthe French people; I obtained all that I had asked. The National Guardreorganized with renewed zeal; legions were formed upon the Rhine, onthe Moselle. Battalions of veterans took the place of old regimentsto reinforce the troops that were guarding our frontiers; to-day ourcavalry is recruited by a remount of forty thousand horses, and onehundred thousand conscripts, armed and equipped, have received withcries of 'Vive la Republique!' the flags under which they will fight andconquer--"
"But," interrupted Bonaparte bitterly, "this is an apology you aremaking for yourself."
"Be it so. I will divide my discourse into two parts. The first willbe a contestable apology; the second an array of incontestable facts.I will set aside the apology and proceed to facts. June 17 and 18, thebattle of the Trebbia. Macdonald wished to fight without Moreau; hecrossed the Trebbia, attacked the enemy, was defeated and retreatedto Modena. June 20, battle of Tortona; Moreau defeated the AustrianBellegarde. July 22, surrender of the citadel of Alexandria to theAustro-Russians. So far the scale turns to defeat. July 30, surrender ofMantua, another check. August 15, battle of Novi; this time it was morethan a check, it was a defeat. Take note of it, general, for it isthe last. At the very moment we were fighting at Novi, Massena wasmaintaining his position at Zug and Lucerne, and strengthening himselfon the Aar and on the Rhine; while Lecourbe, on August 14 and 15, tookthe Saint-Gothard. August 19, battle of Bergen; Brune defeated theAnglo-Russian army, forty thousand strong, and captured the Russiangeneral, Hermann. On the 25th, 26th and 27th of the same month, thebattles of Zurich, where Massena defeated the Austro-Russians underKorsakoff. Hotze and three other generals are taken prisoners. The enemylost twelve thousand men, a hundred cannon, and all its baggage; theAustrians, separated from the Russians, could not rejoin them untilafter they were driven beyond Lake Constance. That series of victoriesstopped the progress the enemy had been making since the beginning ofthe campaign; from the time Zurich was retaken, France was secure frominvasion. August 30, Molitor defeated the Austrian generals, Jellachichand Luiken, and drove them back into the Grisons. September 1, Molitorattacked and defeated General Rosenberg in the Mutterthal. On the 2d,Molitor forced Souvaroff to evacuate Glarus, to abandon his wounded,his cannon, and sixteen hundred prisoners. The 6th, General Brune againdefeated the Anglo-Russians, under the command of the Duke of York.On the 7th, General Gazan took possession of Constance. On the 8th youlanded at Frejus.--Well, general," continued Bernadotte, "as France willprobably pass into your hands, it is well that you should know the statein which you find her, and in place of receipt, our possessions bearwitness to what we are giving you. What we are now doing, general,is history, and it is important that those who may some day have aninterest in falsifying history shall find in their path the denial ofBernadotte."
"Is that said for my benefit, general?"
"I say that for flatterers. You have pretended, it is said, that youreturned to France because our armies were destroyed, because France wasthreatened, the Republic at bay. You may have left Egypt with that fear;but once in France, all such fears must have given way to a totallydifferent belief."
"I ask no better than to believe as you do," replied Bonaparte, withsovereign dignity; "and the more grand and powerful you prove France tobe, the more grateful am I to those who have secured her grandeur andher power."
"Oh, the result is plain, general! Three armies defeated; the Russiansexterminated, the Austrians defeated and forced to fly, twenty thousandprisoners, a hundred pieces of cannon, fifteen flags, all the baggage ofthe enemy in our possession, nine generals taken or killed, Switzerlandfree
, our frontiers safe, the Rhine our limit--so much for Massena'scontingent and the situation of Helvetia. The Anglo-Russian army twicedefeated, utterly discouraged, abandoning its artillery, baggage,munitions of war and commissariat, even to the women and children whocame with the British; eight thousand French prisoners; effective men,returned to France; Holland completely evacuated--so much for Brune'scontingent and the situation in Holland. The rearguard of General Klenauforced to lay down its arms at Villanova; a thousand prisoners and threepieces of cannon fallen into our hands, and the Austrians driven backbeyond Bormida; in all, counting the combats at la Stura and Pignerol,four thousand prisoners, sixteen cannon, Mondovi, and the occupation ofthe whole region between la Stura and Tanaro--so much for Championnet'scontingent and the situation in Italy. Two hundred thousand men underarms, forty thousand mounted cavalry; that is my contingent, mine, andthe situation in France."
"But," asked Bonaparte satirically, "if you have, as you say, twohundred thousand soldiers under arms, why do you want me to bring backthe fifteen or twenty thousand men I have in Egypt, who are useful thereas colonizers?"
"If I ask you for them, general, it is not for any need we may have ofthem, but in the fear of some disaster over taking them."
"What disaster do you expect to befall them, commanded by Kleber?"
"Kleber may be killed, general; and who is there behind Kleber? Menou.Kleber and your twenty thousand men are doomed, general!"
"How doomed?"
"Yes, the Sultan will send troops; he controls by land. The English willsend their fleet; they control by sea. We, who have neither land norsea, will be compelled to take part from here in the evacuation of Egyptand the capitulation of our army.
"You take a gloomy view of things, general!"
"The future will show which of us two have seen things as they are."
"What would you have done in my place?"
"I don't know. But, even had I been forced to bring them back by wayof Constantinople, I should never have abandoned those whom France hadintrusted to me. Xenophon, on the banks of the Tigris, was in a muchmore desperate situation than you on the banks of the Nile. He broughthis ten thousand back to Ionia, and they were not the children ofAthens, not his fellow citizens; they were mercenaries!"
From the instant Bernadotte uttered the word Constantinople, Bonapartelistened no longer; the name seemed to rouse a new train of ideas in hismind, which he followed in solitary thought. He laid his hand on the armof the astonished Bernadotte, and, with eyes fixed on space, like a manwho pursues through space the phantom of a vanished project, he said:"Yes, yes! I thought of it. That is why I persisted in taking thathovel, Saint-Jean-d'Acre. Here you only thought it obstinacy, a uselesswaste of men sacrificed to the self-love of a mediocre general whofeared that he might be blamed for a defeat. What should I have caredfor the raising of the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Acre, if Saint-Jean-d'Acrehad not been the barrier in the way of the grandest project everconceived. Cities! Why, good God! I could take as many as ever didAlexander or Caesar, but it was Saint-Jean-d'Acre that had to be taken!If I had taken Saint-Jean-d'Acre, do you know what I should have done?"
And he fixed his burning eyes upon Bernadotte, who, this time, loweredhis under the flame of this genius.
"What I should have done," repeated Bonaparte, and, like Ajax, heseemed to threaten Heaven with his clinched fist; "if I had takenSaint-Jean-d'Acre, I should have found the treasures of the pasha in thecity and three thousand stands of arms. With that I should have raisedand armed all Syria, so maddened by the ferocity of Djezzar that eachtime I attacked him the population prayed to God for his overthrow. Ishould have marched upon Damascus and Aleppo; I should have swelled myarmy with the malcontents. Advancing into the country, I should, step bystep, have proclaimed the abolition of slavery, and the annihilation ofthe tyrannical government of the pashas. I should have overthrown theTurkish empire, and founded a great empire at Constantinople, whichwould have fixed my place in history higher than Constantine andMohammed II. Perhaps I should have returned to Paris by way ofAdrianople and Vienna, after annihilating the house of Austria. Well,my dear general, that is the project which that little hovel of aSaint-Jean-d'Acre rendered abortive!"
And he so far forgot to whom he was speaking, as he followed the shadowsof his vanished dream, that he called Bernadotte "my dear general." Thelatter, almost appalled by the magnitude of the project which Bonapartehad unfolded to him, made a step backward.
"Yes," said Bernadotte, "I perceive what you want, for you have justbetrayed yourself. Orient or Occident, a throne! A throne? So be it; whynot? Count upon me to help you conquer it, but elsewhere than in France.I am a Republican, and I will die a Republican."
Bonaparte shook his head as if to disperse the thoughts which held himin the clouds.
"I, too, am a Republican," said he, "but see what has come of yourRepublic!"
"What matter!" cried Bernadotte. "It is not to a word or a form that Iam faithful, but to the principle. Let the Directors but yield me thepower, and I would know how to defend the Republic against her internalenemies, even as I defended her from her foreign enemies."
As he said these words, Bernadotte raised his eyes, and his glanceencountered that of Bonaparte. Two naked blades clashing together neversent forth lightning more vivid, more terrible.
Josephine had watched the two men for some time past with anxiousattention. She saw the dual glance teeming with reciprocal menace. Sherose hastily and went to Bernadotte.
"General," said she.
Bernadotte bowed.
"You are intimate with Gohier, are you not?" she continued.
"He is one of my best friends, madame," said Bernadotte.
"Well, we dine with him the day after to-morrow, the 18th Brumaire; dinethere yourself and bring Madame Bernadotte. I should be so glad to knowher better."
"Madame," said Bernadotte, "in the days of the Greeks you would havebeen one of the three graces; in the Middle Ages you would have been afairy; to-day you are the most adorable woman I know."
And making three steps backward, and bowing, he contrived to retirepolitely without including Bonaparte in his bow. Josephine followed himwith her eyes until he had left the room. Then, turning to her husband,she said: "Well, it seems that it was not as successful with Bernadotteas with Moreau, was it?"
"Bold, adventurous, disinterested, sincere republican, inaccessibleto seduction, he is a human obstacle. We must make our way around him,since we cannot overthrow him."
And leaving the salon without taking leave of any one, he went to hisstudy, whither Roland and Bourrienne followed. They had hardly beenthere a quarter of an hour when the handle of the lock turned softly,the door opened, and Lucien appeared.