BONAPARTE. 



view, and sagacity, with a sense of justice unbiased by 

 libels, or panegyric, or even by the accusations of real 

 and heart-rending suffering, which must often mis- 

 take its own true causes. It must be left to time to 

 determine the truth in regard to the character of 

 Napoleon. At present, this point is still in some mea- 

 sure a party question, and therefore subject to the 

 influence of prejudice. A mere biographical sketch, 

 like the present, cannot go into a minute analysis of 

 it. One remark, however, we may be permitted to 

 make that Napoleon cannot be said to have abolish- 

 ed republican liberty, as it did not, in fact, exist when 

 he took the reins of government. Republican forms, 

 indeed, had been presented in abundance ; but they 

 had no living principle. The government had al- 

 ways been essentially concentrated in Paris. Equa- 

 lity had been effected, but liberty remained to be es- 

 tablished : until the former was properly secured, the 

 latter could have no sufficient basis. It was expected, 

 and is still insisted on by some writers, that he should 

 have beaten foreign enemies, quelled civil dissensions, 

 put a stop to anarchy, established justice and public 

 confidence, counteracted conspiracies, recalled the 

 emigrants, re-established the church, and yet have 

 left perfect liberty to all ! After the military spirit 

 had been inflamed to the highest pitch, and the milita- 

 ry establishment had acquired a gigantic extent ; after 

 the government had become absolute, and the ambi- 

 tion of Napoleon, " the last infirmity of noble minds," 

 had received so much excitement that he then, and 

 especially towards the end of his reign, mistook 

 sometimes the means for the end, cannot be denied 

 (he himself acknowledged the fact, after his return 

 from Elba), and cannot much surprise us. (For the 

 legion of honour, so powerful an engine in the hands 

 of Napoleon, see the article Legion of Honour.) 



The concordate, concluded as before stated, with 

 the pope, was declared a law of the land, in April, 

 1802, and thus the Catholic worship was re-estab- 

 lished in France. (See the article Concordate.) The 

 question, " Shall Napoleon Bonaparte be consul for 

 life?" was now proposed to the nation. A senatus- 

 consulte of August 2, declared the result of the elec- 

 tion : 3,577,885 votes were given, of which 3,308,259 

 were in the affirmative. 



The constitution soon after underwent some impor- 

 tant changes. The civil list was increased ; a court 

 established at St Cloud ; the power of the first con- 

 sul, as to all domestic affairs, was made very exten- 

 sive ; and he received the right to nominate a 

 successor. When the definitive treaty with the Porte 

 was concluded, June 26, he could say to the republic, 

 that he had established a general peace, and aug- 

 mented its territory by the addition of 42,000 square 

 miles. This circumstance, doubtless, powerfully 

 influenced the vote on the consulship for life. Aug. 

 27, the senate took the oath of allegiance to him. 

 The consul could now act more freely towards fo- 

 reign countries. The protracted and perplexing 

 subject of indemnification in Germany required his 

 attention. Even German princes supplicated the 

 favour and mediation of the consul, which resulted, 

 Feb. 25, 1803, in the new decree of the deputation 

 of the German empire. The disturbances in Swit- 

 zerland occasioned his interference in Swiss affairs. 

 August 26, the island of Elba was united with the 

 republic, and, Sept. 11, the incorporation of Piedmont 

 took place. White French troops were stationed 

 in Switzerland and on the frontiers, the depu- 

 ties of the Swiss confederacy repaired to Paris, 

 to confer with the first consul, who showed, in these 

 transactions, great skill, and great acquaintance with 

 foreign relations. Jan. 24, 1803, the scheme of the 

 system of mediation was laid before them, and Feb. 

 19, they received it as the constitution of the state. 



(See Switzerland.) Jan. 4, 1803, thirty-one senator- 

 ships were created within the republic; and, Jan. 

 23, the national institute received a new organization. 

 The report on the state of the republic, of Feb. 23, and 

 that on the state of finances, March 12, were highly 

 satisfactory to the nation, so short a time previously 

 without money and without credit. The construction 

 of new roads and canals, and the foundation of prizes 

 and splendid institutions, occupied the attention of all 

 classes. 



It is generally, perhaps universally, stated, that 

 Britain saw an infraction of the treaty of Amiens in 

 the incorporation of Piedmont, the island of Elba, 

 and the states of Parma, with the French empire, and 

 in the armed mediation in the affairs of Switzerland ; 

 and these circumstances are alleged as strong in- 

 stances to prove that Napoleon did not, in spite of his 

 protestations, wish for peace, because he committed 

 acts that would inevitably lead to war, and which 

 Britain could not allow ; but we have it from the chier 

 of the French delegation for the conclusion of the peace 

 of Amiens, that he informed lord Cornwallis, on several 

 occasions of the changes which would take place in 

 the relations of France and Italy. The British 

 government was therefore instructed of these changes, 

 and they were not the cause of the rupture of peace. 

 When Mr Pitt regained power in Britain, lord 

 Whitworth was sent to Paris, charged to demand the 

 evacuation of Holland by France, and the surrender 

 of Malta, which had been declared independent by 

 the treaty. The first consul felt great indignation at 

 this demand, and declared, when first informed of it 

 by his brother Joseph, that " the tunes of the Pom- 

 padours and Du Barrys were over, that the French 

 wished sincerely for peace, but for a peace becoming 

 honourable men." Complaints accumulated on both 

 sides, without ever being adjusted ; and as matters 

 then stood, the minds of men, rather exhausted than 

 calmed, and the principles of the French revolution, 

 and the old order of things, still in active opposition, 

 lasting quiet was hardly to be expected from the peac e 

 of Amiens. March 13, Bonaparte announced, in a so- 

 lemn audience of foreign ministers, the approaching 

 rupture with Britain. He attempted, however, new ne- 

 gotiations, even when the British ambassador had de- 

 manded his passports. But after he had left Paris, 

 Bonaparte laid an embargo (May 15) on all foreign 

 vessels in the French harbours ; the same was done 

 by Great Britain on the 16th, and on the 18th she 

 declared war. 



France was at peace with the German empire ; but 

 as the electorate of Hanover, part of the empire, 

 belonged to George III., king of England, Mortier 

 occupied it, June 3, and that country, by the treaty 

 of Suhlingen, fell, without resistance, into the 

 power of the French. All the arms, artillery stores, 

 and horses of the Hanoverian army were delivered 

 to the French, who found in Hanover, such ample 

 resources, that the French forces provided themselves 

 there with almost every thing necessary for prose- 

 cuting a war against Britain. At this period, the 

 extensive works of defence on the French, Belgian, 

 and Dutch coasts were begun, and the canals which 

 were to unite the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt. A 

 circumstance which will not fail to interest the stu- 

 dent of Napoleon's life, is, that, through madame 

 Bonaparte, herself the daughter of a nobleman (see 

 Josephine), who was pleased with the society of the 

 emigrants, because their manners corresponded to 

 those of her former life, the consul became more dispos- 

 ed, perhaps, to connect the faubourg St Germain with 

 himself, than the principle which had elevated him 

 would have led him to be. The ancient nobility 

 were ready to accept any thing from him, but still 

 never considered him legitimate ; and if Noooleon 



