1814. THE KING OF PRUSSIA'S PART. 161 to such a measure."—" But, good heavens! you would have seen that resistance could be of no avail against such immense masses."—"You are right, General; but French honour would have been defended to the last."- "I am fully aware of that; but surely you have earned glory enough!" -"Yet our French susceptibility would have made us look upon that glory as tarnished if Paris had been occupied without defence. . . But under present circumstances I am well pleased that you were satisfied with my conduct in Hamburg, for it induces me to hope that you will observe the same moderation in Paris that I exercised there. The days are past when it could be said, Woe to the conquered." "You are right; yet," added he, smiling, "you know we are called the northern barbarians." "Then, General," returned I, "you have a fair opportunity of showing that that designation is a libel." Some days after Blucher's visit I had the honour of being admitted to a private audience of the King of Prussia. Clarke and Berthier were also received in this audience, which took place at the hôtel of Prince Eugène, where the King of Prussia resided in Paris. We waited for some minutes in the salon, and when Frederick William entered from his cabinet I remarked on his countenance an air of embarrassment and austerity which convinced me that he had been studying his part, as great personages are in the habit of doing on similar occasions. The King on entering the salon first noticed Berthier, whom he addressed with much kindness, bestowing praises on the French troops, and complimenting the Marshal on his conduct during the war in Germany. Berthier returned thanks for these well-merited praises, for though he was not remarkable for strength of understanding or energy of mind, yet he was not a bad man, and I have known many proofs of his good conduct in conquered countries. After saluting Berthier the King of Prussia turned towards Clarke, and his countenance immediately assumed an expression of dissatisfaction. He had evidently not forgotten Clarke's conduct in Berlin. He reminded him that he had rendered the Continental system more odious than it was in VOL. III. 78 itself, and that he had shown no moderation in the execution of his orders. "In short," said his Majesty, “if I have any advice to give you, it is that you never again return to Prussia." The King pronounced these words in so loud and decided a tone that Clarke was perfectly confounded. He uttered some unintelligible observations, which, however, Frederick William did not notice, for suddenly turning towards me he said, with an air of affability, "Ah! M. de Bourrienne, I am glad to see you, and I take this opportunity of repeating what I wrote to you from Königsberg. You always extended protection to the Germans, and did all you could to alleviate their condition. I learned with great satisfaction what you did for the Prussians whom the fate of war drove into Hamburg; and I feel pleasure in telling you, in the presence of these two gentlemen, that if all the French agents had acted as you did we should not, probably, be here." I expressed, by a profound bow, how much I was gratified by this complimentary address,' and the king, after saluting us, retired. About the middle of April Bernadotte arrived in Paris. His situation had become equivocal, since circumstances had banished the hopes he might have conceived in his interview with the Emperor Alexander at Abo. Besides, he had been represented in some official pamphlets as a traitor to France, and among certain worshippers of our injured glory there prevailed a feeling of irritation, and which was unjustly directed towards Bernadotte. I even remember that Napoleon, before he had fallen from his power, had a sort of national protest made by the police against the Prince Royal of Sweden. This Prince had reserved an hôtel in the Rue d'Anjou, and the words, "Down with the traitor! down with the perjurer," were shouted there; but this had no result, as it was only considered an outrage caused by a spirit of petty vengeance. While Bernadotte was in Paris I saw him every day. He but faintly disguised from me the hope he had entertained of ruling France; and in the numerous conversations to which our respective occupations led I ascertained, though Berna 1 At the expense of his countryman. 1814 BERNADOTTE AND THE BOURBONS. 163 dotte did not formally tell me so, that he once had strong expectations of succeeding Napoleon. Pressed at last into his final intrenchments he broke through all reserve and confirmed all I knew of the interview of Abo. I asked Bernadotte what he thought of the projects which were attributed to Moreau; whether it was true that he had in him a competitor, and whether Moreau had aspired to the dangerous honour of governing France. "Those reports," replied the Prince Royal of Sweden, "are devoid of foundation at least I can assure you that in the conversations I have had with the Emperor Alexander, that sovereign never said anything which could warrant such a supposition. I know that the Emperor of Russia wished to avail himself of the military talents of Moreau in the great struggle that had commenced, and to enable the exiled general to return to his country, in the hope that, should the war prove fortunate, he would enjoy the honours and privileges due to his past services." Bernadotte expressed to me astonishment at the recall of the Bourbons, and assured me that he had not expected the French people would so readily have consented to the Restoration. I confess I was surprised that Bernadotte, with the intelligence I knew him to possess, should imagine that the will of subjects has any influence in changes of government! During his stay in Paris Bernadotte evinced for me the same sentiments of friendship which he had shown me at Hamburg. One day I received from him a letter, dated Paris, with which he transmitted to me one of the crosses of the Polar Star, which the King of Sweden had left at his disposal. Bernadotte was not very well satisfied with his residence in Paris, in spite of the friendship which the Emperor Alexander constantly manifested towards him. After a few days he set out for Sweden, having first taken leave of the Comte d'Artois. I did not see him after his farewell visit to the Count, so that I know not what was the nature of the conversation which passed between the two Princes.1 1 Metternich (vol. i. p. 208) says, "It does not admit of a doubt that the men !" Even Crown Prince (Bernadotte) had personal designs on the throne of France. if his operations in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 did not furnish the actual proof of the existence of this pretension, the words spoken by him would be equivalent to a confession." Receiving news of the victory of Grosbeeren, "Bernadotte cried out enthusiastically, 'La France au plus digne.'-'Grands Dieux!' answered Pozzo, la France est à moi.' The Crown Prince was silent." Metternich (vol. i. p. 225) says that at Langres, in 1814, Bernadotte was at once suggested if any person except a Bourbon or the son of Napoleon were to hold the crown. De Vitrolles (tome i. p. 462) dates Bernadotte's hopes of the crown from his interview with the Czar at Abo in 1812, when only Lord Cathcart, the English Ambassador, was present. It was this pretension on the part of Bernadotte that made him so anxious to avoid striking any great blow in 1813 with his Swedes against the French. Muffling (p. 82), after describing how Blucher, being informed of the daily progressive measures which the Crown Prince adopted to prove to the French army that he acted not only as their countryman but as their friend, and how far he was from wishing to destroy them by his Swedes, or to shed their blood, says that Blucher marched to his right to obviate all political high treason. "Thus one of the three Frenchmen summoned by the sovereigns to assist them in conquering Napoleon had to be watched by an army of 100,000 "It was to Lord Stewart's threat to withdraw the English subsidy if Bernadotte would not advance to Leipsic that," says Muffling (p. 87), "the plains of Breitenfeld are indebted for the honour of being trodden by a successor of the great King of Sweden." Blucher's suspicions may have had some foundation. See Marmont, tome vii. pp. 26-28, where he says that Bernadotte, in 1814, was in communication with General Maison, commanding a French corps in Flanders (a former aide de camp of his), and offered to disarm the Prussian corps under his orders, and then to pass over to the French. He only required from Napoleon a promise in writing to procure for him another sovereignty if he thus lost his claims to the throne of Sweden. Napoleon refused to sign the engagement himself, offering that it should be signed by his brother Joseph; and the affair thus fell to the ground from want of mutual confidence. Napoleon let Alexander receive Bernadotte's communication, and the Czar informed Bernadotte that he forgave him on account of his previous conduct, but made him engage to leave France at once. So says Marmont, without professing to have seen any proofs, but remarking that the sudden departure of Bernadotte from Paris was thus explained. For the feelings of the Restoration as to Bernadotte's retention of his position in 1815, see Talleyrand's Correspondence, vol. ii. pp. 6, 7, where a distinction is drawn between him and Murat. "It is," says Talleyrand, "an evil, a very great evil, that that man should have been called upon to succeed to the throne of Sweden. But it is an evil which, if ever it can be remedied at all, can only be remedied by time, and the events that time will bring." 1814. 165 CHAPTER XIII. 1814. Unalterable determination of the Allies with respect to Napoleon-Fontainebleau included in the limits to be occupied by the Allies-Alexander's departure from Paris-Napoleon informed of the necessity of his unconditional abdication-Macdonald and Ney again sent to Paris-Alleged attempt of Napoleon to poison himself-Farewell interview between Macdonald and Napoleon -The sabre of Murad Bey-Signature of the act of unconditional abdication -Tranquillity of Paris during the change of Government-Ukase of the Emperor of Russia relative to the Post-office-Religious ceremony on the Place Louis XV.—Arrival of the Comte d'Artois-His entrance into ParisArrival of the Emperor of Austria-Singular assemblage of sovereigns in France-Visit of the Emperor of Austria to Maria Louisa-Her interview with the Emperor Alexander-Her departure for Vienna. WHEN Marmont left Paris on the receipt of the intelligence from Essonne, Marshals Macdonald and Ney and the Duke of Vicenza waited upon the Emperor Alexander to learn his resolution before he could have been informed of the movement of Marmont's troops. I myself went during the morning to the hôtel of M. de Talleyrand, and it was there I learnt how what we had hoped for had become fact: the matter was completely decided. The Emperor Alexander had walked out at six in the morning to the residence of the King of Prussia in the Rue de Bourbon. The two sovereigns afterwards proceeded together to M. de Talleyrand's, where they were when Napoleon's Commissioners arrived. The Commissioners being introduced to the two sovereigns, the Emperor Alexander, in answer to their proposition, replied that the Regency was impossible, as submissions to the Provisional Government were pouring in from all parts, and that if the army had formed contrary wishes those should have been sooner made known. "Sire," observed Macdonald, "that was impossible, as none of the |