Chapter 13

In fine, after a long debate, it was agreed, conformably to the conclusions of the message, that a committee of five members, consisting of the president and vice-presidents of the chamber, Monsieur Lanjuinais, and MM. de la Fayette, Dupont de l'Eure, Flaugergues, and Grenier, should concert measures with the council of ministers, and with a committee of the chamber of peers (if this chamber should think proper to appoint one), to collect every information respecting the state of France, and propose every means that might be conducive to the public safety.

Prince Lucien, in the same capacity of commissioner extraordinary, repaired immediately to the chamber of peers; and this chamber, after having heard the imperial message, hastened also to appoint a committee; which was composed of Generals Drouot, Dejean, and Andréossy, and MM. Boissy d'Anglas, and Thibaudeau.

On his return to the Elyseum, the prince did not conceal from the Emperor, that the chamber had declared itself too strongly, to allow any hope of ever reclaiming it: _and that it was necessary, either to dissolve it immediately, or submit to an abdication._ Two of the ministers present, the Duke of Vicenza and the Duke of Bassano, remonstrated, that the chamber had acquired too great hold of the public opinion, for an act of authority to be attempted against it. They respectfully hinted to Napoleon, that it was more prudent to submit: that, if he hesitated, the chamber would indubitably decree his deposition, and perhaps he would not have it in his power, to abdicate in favour of his son.

Napoleon, without promising, without refusing, without giving any indication of his resolves, contented himself with the answer of the Duke of Guise: "They dare not." But it was easy to perceive, that he stood in fear of the chamber; that he thought his abdication inevitable; and that he only sought, in the hope of some favourable event, to put off the catastrophe as long as possible.

The committees of the two chambers, the ministers, and the ministers of state, met the same day at eleven in the evening, Prince Lucien being present.

It was decided by a majority of sixteen against five:

1st, That the safety of the country required the Emperor to consent, that the two chambers should appoint a committee, to negotiate directly with the combined powers, on the condition of their respecting the independence of the nation, and the right every people have, to give themselves such a constitution, as they may deem proper.

2dly, That it was advisable, to back these negotiations by the complete display of the national force.

3dly, That the ministers of state should propose suitable measures for supplying men, horses, and money; as well as those necessary for curbing and repressing domestic enemies.

This resolution was combated by M. de la Fayette. He stated, that it did not answer the general expectation; that the most certain, the most speedy means of putting an end to the state of crisis, in which France found itself, rested solely and exclusively in the abdication of Napoleon; and that it was necessary to call upon him, in the name of the country, to lay down the crown.

Prince Lucien declared, that the Emperor was ready, to make any sacrifice, which the safety of France might require: but that the time for recurring to this desperate resource was not yet arrived; and that it was advisable, with a view to the interests of France itself, to wait the result of the overtures, that should be made to the allied powers.

The assembly agreed in this opinion, and broke up from weariness at three o'clock in the morning.

General Grenier was appointed by his colleagues, to give the chamber an account of the result of this conference: an embarrassing mission, since the principal object of the conference, which, in the opinion of the representatives, ought to have been, to determine on the abdication of Napoleon, had been eluded, and left out of sight. M. ***, whom I refrain from naming, advised him, to speak out plainly, and to declare, that the committee, though it had not formally declared it, felt the necessity of desiring the Emperor to abdicate. But the inflexible and virtuous Dupont de l'Eure, always the friend of rectitude and sincerity, raised his voice like a man of honour against this shameful suggestion; and protested, that he would ascend the tribune, to declare the truth, if the reporter dared to disregard or falsify it. Accordingly General Grenier confined himself, to giving a faithful account of the sitting of the committee: but he added, from instructions just given him by the ministers of state, that the chamber would presently receive a message, by which the Emperor would declare, that he approved of the assembly's appointing ambassadors, to send to the allies; and that, if he were an insuperable obstacle to the nation's being admitted to treat of its independence, he should always be ready, to make the sacrifice required of him.

This explanation answered every end: but, instead of calming the minds of the representatives, it excited the irascibility of all those, who, from fear of the enemy, from ambition, or from a mistaken patriotism, considered Napoleon's immediate abdication necessary. They did not perceive, that on the contrary it was of importance, to leave Napoleon nominally on the throne, in order to give the negotiators an opportunity of bartering with the foreign powers his abdication in exchange for peace.

M. Regnault, witnessing the irritation that prevailed, went to acquaint the Emperor, that the chamber appeared disposed, to pronounce his deposition, if he did not abdicate immediately. The Emperor, not accustomed to receive the law, was indignant at the force attempted to be put upon him: "Since this is the case," said he, "I will not abdicate. The chamber is composed of Jacobins, fanatics, and ambitious men, who thirst after places and disturbance. I ought to have denounced them to the nation, and expelled them: the time lost may be repaired...."

The Emperor's agitation was extreme. He strode about his closet, and muttered broken phrases, that it was impossible to comprehend. "Sire," at length answered M. Regnault, "do not endeavour, I conjure you, to struggle any longer against the stream of events. Time passes on: the enemy is advancing. Do not give the chamber, do not give the nation, room to accuse you of having prevented it from obtaining peace. In 1814 you sacrificed yourself for the common safety; repeat to-day this great, this generous sacrifice."

The Emperor pettishly replied: "I shall see: it has never been my intention, to refuse to abdicate. I was a soldier; I will become one again: but I want to be allowed, to think of it calmly, with a view to the interests of France and of my son: tell them to wait."

During this conversation, the chamber was extremely agitated. The president, informed by M. Regnier of the disposition of the Emperor, announced, that a message would presently satisfy the wishes of all. But, impatient to enjoy its work, it was unwilling, even to leave Napoleon the merit of sacrificing himself freely for the safety of his country.

M. Duchène, who was the first to interrupt General Grenier's report by his murmurs, moved, that the Emperor should be desired, in the name of the safety of the state, to declare his abdication.

General Solignac proposed, to send a deputation to him, to express the urgency of his decision.

M. de la Fayette, who seems called by fate to be the scourge of kings, exclaimed, that, if Napoleon did not decide, he would move for his deposition.

A number of members, among whom General Sébastiani rendered himself conspicuous by his violence, insisted, that Napoleon should be compelled, to abdicate immediately.

At length it was agreed, "in order to save the honour of the head of the state," to grant him an hour's grace; and the sitting was suspended.

Fresh importunities immediately assailed the Emperor. General Solignac, I believe, and other deputies, came to summon him to abdicate. Prince Lucien, who had never ceased to conjure the Emperor, to make head against the storm, now thought the time was passed, and that it was necessary to submit. Prince Joseph united with him, and their joint advice at length overcame the resistance of the Emperor. This determination he announced to the ministers, and said to the Duke of Otranto with an ironical smile, "Write to those gentlemen, to make themselves easy: they shall soon be satisfied[63]."

[Footnote 63: In fact, the Duke of Otranto did write to M. Manuel.]

Prince Lucien then took up the pen, and wrote, from the dictation of his august brother, the following declaration.

"_Declaration to the French People._

"In commencing a war, to maintain the independence of the nation, I reckoned on the joint efforts of all, the unanimity of all, and the concurrence of all the national authorities. From these I had reason, to hope for success; and I set at defiance all the declarations of foreign powers against me.

"Circumstances appear to me to be changed: I offer up myself as a sacrifice to the animosity of the enemies of France: may they prove themselves sincere in their declarations, and that they really aimed at me personally alone! My political life is at an end: and I proclaim my son, under the title of Napoleon II., Emperor of the French.

"The present ministers will form provisionally the council of government. The interest I feel in what concerns my son induces me, to desire the chambers, to form a regency without delay by a law.

"Unite, all of you, for the public safety, and to remain an independent nation.

(Signed) "NAPOLEON."

"Palace of the Elyseum, June the 22d, 1815."

The minute of Prince Lucien was put into my hands by the Duke of Bassano, to make two copies of it. When they were presented to the Emperor, they still exhibited traces of my sorrow. He perceived them, and said to me, with a very expressive look, "They would have it so."

The Duke of Bassano observed to him, that he made a great sacrifice to peace; but that perhaps the allies would not deem it sufficiently complete.--"What do you mean?" asked the Emperor.--"It is possible, they may require the renunciation of the crown by your Majesty's brothers."--"What! by my brothers Ah, Maret, then you would dishonour us all!"

The Duke of Otranto, the Duke of Vicenza, the Duke Decrès, were immediately employed, to carry the Emperor's declaration to the chamber of deputies; and the Duke of Gaëta, Count Mollien, and M. Carnot, to carry it to that of the peers.

The Prince of Eckmuhl had been sent previously to the former by the Emperor, to give it information respecting the army, and amuse it till the abdication should arrive.

Scarcely was the abdication sent off, when the Count de la Borde, adjutant-general of the national guard, ran to inform the Emperor, that there was not a moment to be lost, as they were going to put the deposition to the vote. The Emperor, tapping him on the shoulder, said: "These good people are in great haste, then: tell them to be easy; I sent them my abdication a quarter of an hour ago." The ministers and M. de la Borde had passed each other on the way.

When they appeared before the chamber, the president, apprehensive that the enemies of Napoleon would insult his misfortunes by cowardly applauses, reminded it, that its regulations prohibited every sign of approbation or disapprobation: he then read the declaration.

The Duke of Otranto, who had been in secret one of the instigators of the rage of certain deputies, pretended to be affected at the fate of Napoleon, and recommended him to the attention and protection of the chambers. This simulation of generosity disgusted every pure heart in the assembly; it was reserved for the unfortunate Regnault, to rouse their feelings. He reminded them of the benefits and victories of Napoleon with so much eloquence and sensibility; he drew them a picture so true, so affecting, so pathetic, of the misfortunes, to which this great man, the hero of the nation, was about to devote himself without reserve, and without conditions, to ransom his country; that the eyes of his most obdurate enemies were moistened with tears, and the whole assembly remained for some moments plunged in a sad and painful silence. This silence, perhaps the noblest homage, that Napoleon ever obtained, was at length interrupted; and the chamber unanimously decreed, that a solemn deputation should wait on Napoleon, to express to him, in the name of the nation, "the respect and gratitude, with which they accepted the noble sacrifice he had made to the independence and happiness of the French people."

Napoleon received coldly the congratulations of the deputies of the chamber. What value could empty words have in his eyes? He answered them[64]:

[Footnote 64: This answer was cut short by the president: I give it here entire.]

"I thank you for the sentiments you express towards me: I wish, that my abdication may procure the happiness of France; _but I have no expectation of it_; it leaves the state without a head, without political existence. The time wasted in overturning the monarchy might have been employed in putting France into a condition to crush the enemy. I recommend to the chamber, speedily to reinforce the armies: whoever is desirous of peace ought to prepare for war. Do not leave this great nation at the mercy of foreigners: be on your guard against being deceived by your hopes. _There lies the danger._ In whatever situation I may find myself, I shall always be at ease, if France be happy. I recommend my son to France. I hope it will not forget, that I abdicated only for him. I have made this great sacrifice also for the good of the nation; it is only with my dynasty, that it can expect to be free, happy, and independent."

The Emperor delivered this answer in such a noble and affecting tone, that all present were deeply moved, and M. Lanjuinais himself could not refrain from tears.

Count Regnault was congratulating himself on being the first interpreter of the sentiments and gratitude of the nation; when the Emperor interrupted him: "Since this deliberation is your work," said he to him, "you ought to have remembered, that the title of Emperor is never lost[65]:" and he turned his back upon him.

[Footnote 65: The title of Emperor had not been given him in this deliberation. He had been called merely Napoleon Bonaparte.]

The chamber of peers hastened, to follow the example of the deputies. The Emperor received it with kindness, and recommended to it, not to forget that he had abdicated only in favour of his son.

The abdication of Napoleon gave free scope to the political speculations of the representatives every one of them thought himself called upon, to give the state a government and a head.

The republicans, still the dupes of their own illusions, flattered themselves with the hope of introducing a federal government into France.

The Bonapartists, confident in the wishes of the nation, and the promises of foreign powers, reckoned on decreeing the crown to Napoleon II., and the regency to Maria Louisa.

The partisans of the Duke of Orleans, in whose ranks were found the most distinguished personages and the ablest orators of the assembly, secretly flattered themselves with seating on the throne the son of kings and of the republic.

Some of the deputies, seduced by the brilliant reputation of the one, or by the valour and family connexions of the other, inclined for the Prince of Sweden, or the Prince of Orange.... In a word, they would have any body, except the legitimate sovereign.

A small number of the deputies only remained neutral. Free from ambition and personal interest, attentive to their country alone, they thought of availing themselves of the passing events, only to turn them to the advantage of liberty and the nation.

The parties, that thus divided the chamber, were not slow in entering on their career.

M. Dupin, too skilful to manifest directly the intention of not acknowledging Napoleon II., and declaring the throne vacant, took a circuitous course. He proposed to the chamber, to form itself into a national assembly to send ambassadors to negotiate for peace; to form an executive committee, selected from the members of the two chambers; and to give it in charge to another committee, to prepare the plan of the new constitution, and to settle the conditions, on which the throne might be filled by the prince, whom the people should choose.

M. Scipio Morgues, though not sitting under the same banners with M. Dupin, took up the proposition; and, carrying it still farther, moved, that the chamber should form itself into a constituent assembly: that the government of the state should be entrusted provisionally to the ministers, who should act in conjunction with a committee of five members belonging to the chamber, with the president at their head[66]; and that the throne should be declared vacant, till the will of the people was known: so that the sovereign people would have had the power of changing the established form of government, and rendering France a republic, or a monarchy, as they pleased.

[Footnote 66: The chamber of peers was of course thus annihilated, and excluded from any share in the government.]

M. Regnault represented, that either of these propositions would tend to throw the state into the labyrinth of a complete disorganization; that they could not be adopted, without announcing to the foreign powers, that there was no established order of things in France, no acknowledged rights, no fixed principles, no basis for a government: yet, soon falling himself into the error of his opponents, he proposed, 1st, to name, instead of the council of regency, prescribed by the fundamental laws, to which he had just referred, an executive committee of five members, two from the chamber of peers, and three from that of deputies, who should exercise the functions of government provisionally.

2dly. In order not to disturb the unity of power, to leave to this committee the choice and direction of the commissioners, to be sent to negotiate with the allies.

In times of doubt and fear, a middle course is always most agreeable to the majority; and the majority of the chamber adopted the sort of conduct proposed by M. Regnier, without perceiving its inconsistency: for, to elude the acknowledgment of the Emperor Napoleon II. was to declare to foreigners, _what it had been desirous of avoiding_, that there were no established rights in France, and that the throne and even the government were vacant.

In the existing state of things there were only two courses to be pursued: either to proclaim Napoleon II. constitutionally, as its essence, its duty, its interest, prescribed:

Or, if, from a cowardly condescension, it would not decide any thing without the assent of the allies, to unite the two chambers into a national assembly, and wait the course of events. In this case it would not have placed the fate of the revolution of the 20th of March in the hands of five individuals; it would have acquired an imposing and national character, which would have given to its acts, its negotiations, and even its resistance, a degree of strength and dignity, that the unusual kind of government, to which it had just given birth, could never obtain.

The resolution taken by the representatives was immediately carried to the chamber of peers.

Prince Lucien was the first who rose to combat it. He eloquently exposed the principles, on which hereditary monarchies are founded. He invoked the constitution, the solemn oaths taken in the _Champ de Mai_, and conjured the peers, the faithful guardians of the fealty sworn, and of the constituent laws of the monarchy, to reject this unconstitutional resolution, and proclaim Napoleon II. Emperor of the French.

M. de Pontécoulant strongly resisted this proposal; declaring, that he never would consent to acknowledge as sovereign a Prince not in France, and a captive as regent. "Besides," added he, "by what right does the Prince of Cannino come to speak within these walls? is he a Frenchman?"

"If I be not a Frenchman in your eyes," exclaimed Prince Lucien, "I am in the eyes of the whole nation."

Labedoyère darted rapidly to the tribune. "I have seen," said he, "round the throne of the prosperous sovereign, men, who now shun it, because he is in adversity. They are at this moment ready to receive any prince, that foreigners may think proper to impose on them. But, if they reject Napoleon II., the Emperor ought to have recourse to his sword, and to those brave men, who, covered as they are with blood and scars, still cry 'Long live the Emperor!' It was, in favour of his son, that he abdicated: his abdication is void, if Napoleon II. be not acknowledged. Shall French blood have been spilt again, only to make us pass a second time under a foreign yoke? to bow the head beneath a degraded government? to see our brave warriors drink the cup of bitterness and humiliation, and deprived of the rewards due to their services, their wounds, their glory? There are still here perhaps generals," turning his eyes toward Marshal Ney, "who meditate new treasons; but woe to all traitors: may they be devoted to infamy! may their houses be rased, their families proscribed!" At these words the most lively expressions of displeasure burst out in the assembly. Labedoyère, interrupted, impiously exclaimed: "_Great God!_ is it then decreed, that the voices of baseness alone shall be heard within these walls?"

This exclamation excited fresh murmurs. "We have already a foreign war," said M. Boissy d'Anglas: "must we have a civil war also? Unquestionably the Emperor has made the greatest of sacrifices to our country, but the proposal, to proclaim Napoleon II. is unseasonable and impolitic. I move the order of the day."

Messrs. de Ségur, de Flahaut, and Roederer, opposed this, and strenuously maintained the rights of Napoleon II. "If the Emperor had been killed," said they, "his son would succeed him as a matter of right. He is politically deceased why should not his son succeed him? The monarchy is composed of three branches: one of these branches is dead; it must be replaced. We are strong only within the sphere of our duties: let us not step out of the constitution, let us not give the foreign powers a right to say to us, you are no longer any thing! They have declared, that Napoleon alone was the obstacle to a peace: let us put their good faith to the test. It is besides as advantageous, as it is just and politic, to acknowledge Napoleon II., and to govern in his name. Look at the soldiers, look at the people of Alsace, Franche Comté, Lorraine, Burgundy, and Champagne, for whom, and in whose name, have they lavished their generous blood? At home, the acknowledgment of Napoleon II. would justify the nation and the army; abroad it would reconcile us to Austria. Could the Emperor view us with the eyes of an enemy, when we had adopted for our sovereign a child of his own blood?"

"The 67th article of the constitution," said M. Thibaudeau, "is still the law of the two chambers: neither the chamber, nor the nation, nor the provisional government we shall form, thinks of bringing back the government, under which we groaned a whole year; but the proposal for acknowledging Napoleon II. cannot be discussed at the present moment. Let us leave things as they are, and adopt the resolution of the chamber of deputies, _without prejudging any thing in regard to the entirety of the abdication of Napoleon_."