(JOS 



BONAPARTK. 



secret articles, agreed on between Uie {>owers, and 

 providing that Lyons slunild l>c given to the king of 

 Sardinia, and that Belgium should In- ]>lantl in die 

 Stone relations in which it \v;is placed in 1815. 



Napoleon, though well informed of ull these trans- 

 actions, continued, apparently with the greatest teal, 

 the preparations for an invasion of Britain. He 

 (poke the language of peace to Austria ; but the 

 Austriaus had already marched, September, 14, into 

 Munich. Napoleon called his nnny the grand army. 

 The plan of the campaign, with its various combina- 

 tions and provisions, is a striking exhibition of genius ; 

 and the sagacity with which he made his victories 

 conduce to his political objects, shows his great quali- 

 fications for ruling. September 25 and 26, he crossed 

 the Rhine. October 2, he concluded a treaty, in 

 Ludwin-sburg, with the elector of Wnrtemberg, which 



liiin a new accession of troops: on the same 

 y, the Bavarians formed a junction with the French 

 army. On the :>d, Bernadotte, who had superseded 

 Mortier in Hanover, marched with his corps through 

 the neutral Prussian possessions in Franconia. Tims, 

 on the 4th, the Austrians were menaced on the flank 

 and rear. On the 8th, Mural gained an important 

 victory at Wcrtingen. On the 10th, Napoleon con- 

 cluded a treaty with Baden, at Esslingen. On the 

 14th. the Austrians were partially defeated at Urn. 

 On the 17th, Mack capitulated in Ulm ; and on the 

 next day, another Austrian corps at Troclitelfingen 

 and another at Bopfingen. Napoleon's fortune seemed 

 nevertheless, to waver. On the 21st, the French and 

 Spanish fleet was annihilated by Nelson at Trafalgar; 

 the archduke Charles entered Italy ; Prussia put its 

 troops in motion ; the Russian emperor appeared 

 himself in Berlin, and persuaded Frederic William to 

 take part in the war : but the French advanced with- 

 out delay into Austria ; and, November 13, Murat 

 entered Vienna, and Napoleon, Schonbrunn. Heavy 

 contributions were imposed upon the country (among 

 other things, for the support of the orphans and 

 widows of French soldiers who had died in the cam- 

 paign) ; and after the (so called) battle of the three 

 emperors, at Austerlitz (q. v.), December 2, the em- 

 peror Francis had an interview with Napoleon on the 

 4th, and on the 6th concluded an armistice. This 

 was followed, December 26th, by the peace of Pres- 

 burg, which deprived Austria of some fine provinces, 

 and aggrandized Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Baden. 

 (See the article Presburg, Peace of.) 



Such a series of rapid and decisive victories was 

 almost unexampled. A convention had been pre- 

 viously concluded with Prussia, at Vienna, December 

 15, giving to that country Hanover, and thereby 

 severing Prussia from England The new king of 

 Bavaria gave his daughter in marriage to the step- 

 son of Napoleon ; Stephanie Beauharnais, niece of 

 the empress Josephine, was married to the crown- 

 prince of Baden. A decree of the senate conferred 

 on the emperor the title of Great. Pitt, his implac- 

 able enemy, had died, January 23, 1806. March 2, 

 Napoleon proclaimed to the legislative body the 

 dominion of France over Italy. March 16, Napoleon 

 created his brother-in-law Murat duke of Cleves and 

 Berg, and, on the 30th, his brother Joseph king of 

 Naples and Sicily, after the latter had occupied that 

 kingdom with French troops, because Ferdinand, 

 king of Naples, had allowed 20,000 British and Rus- 

 sian soldiers to land, contrary to his engagements 

 with France. Venice was united with France ; 

 Guastalla was given to Pauline, the sister of Napo- 

 leon ; Neufchatel to Berthier, the minister of war. 

 The family law of March 31 closely connected all 

 the members of the imperial family, with all their 

 dominions, to the emperor, who saw no other way ot 

 overcoming Britain, and forcing her to conclude 

 peace, tlian by depriving her of all influence on the 



continent; and this he intended to effect by extend- 

 ing his power as far as possible. Besides, lie hud 

 seen that the other powers of the continent would 

 not fulfill their promises without the compulsion of 

 fear. This family law, however, could never have 

 continued, if a successor of less military and political 

 talent had followed him, as was to be expected. 

 May 24, his brother Louis also received a crown, 

 Napoleon transmuting the Batavian republic into the 

 kingdom of Holland. Talleyrand and Bernadotte 

 were created dukes. Domains in the conquered coun- 

 tries were the rewards of the generals and mii; 



July 12, 1806, the confederacy of the Rhine (q. v.) 

 was formed in Paris, and Napoleon, ns its protector, 

 became the ruler of the greater part of Germany ; 

 and the emperor Francis renounced, August 6, the 

 imperial throne of Germany ; and, without a struggle, 

 the ancient empire was dissolved, after it had long 

 ceased to be an empire in effect, and for all the pur- 

 poses for which governments are established. What- 

 ever the dreams of some fanciful politicians may have, 

 been, and continue to be, every unprejudiced observer 

 must confess that the destruction of the German 

 empire was necessary. A few notes were written, 

 and the empire fell to dust, like those bodies which 

 retain their form for a long time when undisturbed, 

 but crumble as soon as touched. At the beginning 

 of 1806, Britain declared war against Prussia, for 

 having taken possession of Hanover ; yet Fox, now 

 prime minister of Great Britain, showed himself -will- 

 ing to treat respecting peace with France ; but when 

 the Prussian ambassador learned that the restitution 

 of Hanover was spoken of as one of the conditions of 

 a peace between France and Britain, it may be said 

 that war between Prussia and France was certain ; 

 and when Napoleon established the confederacy of 

 the Rhine, Prussia thought it her duty to endeavour 

 to check his growing power in Germany. She de- 

 clared war, and the combined Prussian and Saxon 

 army, consisting half of foreigners, was totally routed, 

 October 14, 1806, in a double battle at Auerstadt and 

 Jena, a long description of which is given under the 

 head of Jena. Before the battle of Jena, Napoleon 

 directed a letter to the king of Prussia, in order to 

 try to stop the effusion of blood, dated Gera, October 

 12. Saxony was separated from the alliance with 

 Prussia, and the scattered portions of the army of the 

 latter submitted to the enemy, whilst almost all her 

 fortresses fell by treachery or cowardice. October 

 27, Napoleon made his entry into Berlin, and organ- 

 ized a government for the conquered Prussian terri- 

 tories.* General Mortier had occupied the principality 

 of Fulda, and driven the elector of Hesse out of his 

 country. The house of Brunswick was declared to 

 have ceased to reign, on account of the celebrated 

 manifesto issued by the duke, which, however, was 

 drawn up by French emigrants. Some negotiations 

 for peace, which took place at Charlottenburg, near 

 Berlin, were fruitless. 



November 21, Napoleon issued the famous Berlin 

 decree, declaring Great Britain in a state of blockade, 

 and strictly prohibiting all intercourse with her. (See 

 Continetital Systetn.) The French armies continued 

 to advance. At Posen, Napoleon promised to the 

 long-wronged Poles the restoration of their kingdom. 

 A Russian army hastened, indeed, to aid the king of 

 Prussia ; but the battle of Pultusk, December 26 ; 

 the bloody battle of Eylau, February 7 and 8, 1807, 

 (see Eylau); the capitulation of Dantzic; the divi- 



* The pardon of prince Hatzfeld, at this time, is a pleasing 

 incident in Napoleon's life. In the heat of political excite- 

 ment, whose effect is always to exaggerate or distort, this 

 pardon of Hatzfeld was called a theatrical display ; as if, at 

 that moment, Napoleon either needed, or could expect, to 

 conciliate the Prussians. Similar censures were also often 

 cast on his offers of peace, to stop the effusion of blood. 



