606 



BONAPARTK. 



acted on the high principle of pacifying ami uniting 

 all France, he at least reaped little gratitude (mm 

 the ancient nubility. They could nut be reconciled 

 to the new order of things till afuT the lapse of 

 generations. George III. refused to ratify the treaty 

 of Suhlingcn, but could not prevent the occupation 

 of Hanover. 



Now began the development of that project which 

 exerted so momentous an influence throughout the 

 reign of Napoleon the continental system, which ii 

 treated of in a separate article, ami which Napoleon 

 considered as the only way to force Britain into a 

 lasting peace with revolutionized France. It was the 

 most gigantic political project ever attempted, to ob- 

 tain which many wars were waged and thrones over- 

 turned and established, and which finally brought 

 niin on the contriver. June 20, 1803, he prohibited 

 the importation of British commodities into France ; 

 but lie also resolved to encounter Britain on British 

 ground, and ih all the French ports, from Havre to 

 Ostend, immense preparations were made for an in- 

 vasion of the island. The plan of attacking the Bri- 

 tish on their own side of the channel, was not con- 

 ceived of then for the first time since the revolution, 

 as llodie sailed in 1796 for Ireland, to assist the 

 Irish insurgents. (See HocAe.) (A work lately ap- 

 peared, which contains some interesting information 

 on this subject the Life of Lord Fitzgerald, by 

 Moore). Meanwhile the British fleet blockaded 

 several French and German ports, together with the 

 EH be and Weser. 



A conspiracy was soon afterwards discovered, Feb. 

 15, 1804, against the life and government of the 

 first consul, and for the restoration of the Bourbons, 

 the heads of which were Pichegru and George Ca- 

 doudal. Both were imprisoned, and, at different 

 times, forty- five other participators or strongly sus- 

 pected persons, among whom was Moreau. At the 

 beginning of the process an event took place which 

 seemed to be connected with this process, and which 

 amazed France and all Europe the arrest and exe- 

 cution of the duke of Enghien. (A full account of 

 the latter, and the explanation of some important 

 points of this tragic affair, are given in the ar- 

 ticle Enghien. Under Pichegru, and George Ca- 

 doudal, the reader will find more particulars relat- 

 ing to the conspiracy.) The protests of Russia and 

 Sweden against the execution of the duke of Enghien, 

 were answered by pointing out the secret artifices by 

 which the British ministers, Drake, at Munich, and 

 Spencer Smith, at Stuttgart, had sought to introduce 

 reb ?llion into France, a charge which was pronounced 

 a calumny in Britain, where Drake and Smith had 

 returned, but which was not disproved. 



These new attempts against the favourite of the 

 nation, as well as against the internal peace of 

 France, brought on the decision of the question Is 

 it necessary to re-establish hereditary power in 

 France? much sooner than would otherwise have 

 been possible. March 27, 1804, the senate first dis- 

 cussed the subject of confirming the government by 

 the establishment of hereditary power ; and, April 

 30, a proposal was made in the tribunate, to commit 

 the government to an emperor, and make it heredi- 

 tary in Bonaparte's family. Carnot was the only 

 member who opposed this proposal. Addresses from 

 all the departments came in, expressing the wish to 

 see the benefits of the revolution secured by a heredi- 

 tary monarchy. These proceedings were followed, 

 May 18, by a senatus-consulte, presented to the first 

 consul by a deputation of the senate, at the head of 

 which was the second consul, Cainbaceres, who ad- 

 dressed him, for the first time, with the t6rms tire and 

 your majesty. The senatus-consulte consisted of sixteen 

 divisions, in which provision was made for the succes- 



sion, guardianship of a minor heir, the dignities of tha 

 empire, the oath to be taken by each emperor, two 

 senatorial committees for the protection of individual 

 liberty, and the liberty of the press, a superior impe- 

 rial court, c. Immediately after the publication of 

 the senatiis-consulte, Napoleon as he was now called, 

 in the usual style of monarchs appointed his brother-. 

 Joseph and Louis (the only ones who had been ele- 

 vated to the rank of princes by the senatvs-consulti), 

 the former grand-elector, the latter, constable of the 

 empire. The second consul, Cambacen s was made 

 arch- chancellor of the empire ; the third consul, Lc- 

 brun, arch-treasurer of the empire. The dignity of 

 marshal of the empire was conferred on Berthier, 

 Mnnit. Moncey, Jourdan, Masscna, Augereau, ller- 

 nadotte, Soult, Brune, Lannes, Mortier, Ney, Da, 

 voust, Bessieres, c. Seven days after, the emperor 

 received the oath of fidelity from the senate, tin- tri- 

 bunate, and the legislative body. The other autho- 

 rities did not remain behindhand, and the clergy 

 called Napoleon a Mattathias, a pious Onias, a second 

 Jehoshaphat, &c. Meanwhile, the process against 

 George, and the others mentioned above, was con- 

 cluded. Pichegru had been found dead in prison. 

 April 6. The enemies of Napoleon accused him of 

 the murder of Pichegru, as well as of that of the British 

 captain, Wright (see /t'righf) ; but against all pro- 

 bability, as is now generally acknowledged. Savary, 

 duke of Rovigo, has also satisfactorily defended him 

 self against this charge. (Respecting Pichegru's 

 death, see also the article Otranto.) Moreau. who 

 was privy to the conspiracy, without being precisely 

 an accessory, was adjudged to die ; but public opi- 

 nion, as well as Napoleon's reluctance to sign the 

 death-warrant of the victor of Hohenlinden, saved him. 

 (See Moreau.) George and nine others were executed. 

 Of the rest, part were pardoned by the emperor of 

 whom even Bourrienne says, that he took a real 

 pleasure in pardoning part sentenced to imprison- 

 ment. 



Louis XVIII. was at Warsaw when the news of 

 Napoleon's elevation to the imperial dignity reach- 

 ed him, and he issued a protestation against it, June 

 6, 1804. Napoleon had taken the title of emperor 

 undoubtedly for several reasons: 1. If hereditary 

 monarchy was required in France, it was certainly a 

 monarchy totally different from the former one, and, 

 therefore, it was advisable to choose a name which 

 would not recall the ideas of ancient royalty, and 

 offend the people's ear. 2. Napoleon wished for a 

 transition from the republic to monarchy ; he could 

 call himself emperor of the republic, and did so (for 

 instance, on the first coins of the empire) ; he never 

 could have called himself king of the republic. 3. It 

 comported better with the vastness of his views, and 

 he was gratified to call to mind, in his actions or in- 

 stitutions, the Western empire of Charlemagne.* 



The title of emperor of the French, and not emperor oj 

 France, was given to Napoleon, as the first constitution < t 

 the revolution gave to Louis. XVI. the title kin% of the 

 French, which was again conferred on Louis Philip, to in- 

 dicate that the sovereign is merely the head of the govern- 

 ment, and not the owner of the country ; so that his power 

 is limited to controlling the actions of men, and does not 

 extend to the disposition of their property. Defenders of 

 the " right divine " frequently ridicule this title, which ex- 

 presses what Frederic the Great said of himself, " I am but 

 the highest officer of the state ;" and philosophers lite He- 

 gel, have attempted to prove that it dos not express tho 

 true relations of a sovereign, which they consider essen- 

 tially different from those of a chief magistrate. This form, 

 however, of referring to the people instead of the country, 

 in the royal title, is very old, and was used in feudal 

 times, when the king was but primus inter pares, and 

 could not claim any right to interfere with the land or 

 property of the other nobles. Among other instances are 

 the following : An engagement between Philip II. of 

 France, arid Richard of England, was signed thus: Itloi 



