Memoirs of the life, exile, and conversations of the Emperor Napoleon. (Vol. III)

by comte de Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné Las Cases

ERRORS OF THE ENGLISH MINISTERS.—MEANS OF WHICH ENGLAND MIGHT HAVE AVAILED HERSELF FOR THE LIQUIDATION OF HER DEBT.—THE GOVERNOR’S REDUCTIONS.

7th.—The Emperor remained within doors the whole of the day. The Governor appeared on the grounds accompanied by a numerous party; but we fled at his approach. Several vessels have been observed out at sea.

I was summoned to attend the Emperor, and I found him engaged in perusing a work on the state of England. This became the subject of conversation; the Emperor said a great deal respecting the enormous national debt of England, the disadvantageous peace she had concluded, and the different means by which she might have extricated herself from her difficulties.

Napoleon possesses in an eminent degree the instinct of order and harmony. I once knew a man who, being much engaged in arithmetical calculations, confessed that he could not enter a drawing-room without being led irresistibly to count the people who were in it; and that, when he sat down to table, he could not help summing up the number of plates, glasses, &c. Napoleon, though in a more elevated sphere, has also an irresistible habit of his own, which is to develop the grand and the beautiful in every subject that comes under his attention. If he happens to converse about a city, he immediately suggests improvements and embellishments; if a nation be the object of his consideration, he expatiates on the means of promoting her glory, prosperity, useful institutions, &c. Many of his observations, that have already been noted down, must have rendered this fact obvious to the reader.

Either the contents of the journals and other publications of the day, or the nature of our situation here, occasioned the Emperor’s attention to be constantly directed to the state of England. He frequently adverted to what she ought to have done, as well as to what she still had to do, and which might render her future condition more prosperous. I subjoin here a few of the observations, on this subject, which escaped him at various times:—

“The Colonial system,” said he one day, “is now at an end for all; for England, who possesses every colony, and for the other powers, who possess none. The empire of the seas now belongs indisputably to England; and why should she, in a new situation, wish to continue the old routine? Why does she not adopt plans that would be more profitable to her? She must look forward to a sort of emancipation of her colonies. In the course of time, many will doubtless escape from her dominion, and she should therefore avail herself of the present moment to obtain new securities and more advantageous connexions. Why does she not propose that the majority of her colonies shall purchase their emancipation by taking upon themselves a portion of the general debt, which would thus become specially theirs. The mother-country would by this means relieve herself of her burthens, and would nevertheless preserve all her advantages. She would retain, as pledges, the faith of treaties, reciprocal interests, similarity of language, and the force of habit; she might moreover reserve, by way of guarantee, a single fortified point, a harbour for the ships, after the manner of the factories on the coast of Africa. What would she lose? Nothing; and she would spare herself the trouble and expense of an administration which, too often, serves only to render her odious. Her ministers, it is true, would have fewer places to give away; but the nation would certainly be no loser.

“I doubt not,” added he, “that, with a thorough knowledge of the subject, some useful result might be derived from the ideas which I have just thrown out, however erroneous they may be in their first hasty conception. Even with regard to India, great advantages might be obtained by the adoption of new systems. The English who are here, assure me that England derives nothing from India in the balance of her trade; the expenses swallow up, or even exceed, the profits. It is therefore merely a source of individual advantage, and of a few private fortunes of colossal magnitude; but these are so much food for ministerial patronage, and therefore good care is taken not to meddle with them. Those nabobs, as they are styled, on their return to England, are useful recruits to the aristocracy. It signifies not that they bear the disgrace of having acquired fortunes by rapine and plunder, or that they exercise a baneful influence on public morals by exciting in others the wish to gain the same wealth by the same means; the present ministers are not so scrupulous as to bestow a thought on such matters. These men give them their votes; and, the more corrupt they are, the more easily are they controlled. In this state of things, where is the hope of reform? Thus, on the least proposition of amendment, what an outcry is raised! The English aristocracy is daily taking a stride in advance; but, as soon as there is any proposal for retrograding, were it only for the space of an inch, a general explosion takes place. If the minutest details be touched, the whole edifice begins to totter. This is very natural. If you attempt to deprive a glutton of his mouthful he will defend himself like a hero.”

On another occasion the Emperor said:—“After a twenty year’s war, after the blood and treasures that were lavished in the common cause, after a triumph beyond all hope, what sort of peace has England concluded? Lord Castlereagh had the whole Continent at his disposal, and yet what advantage, what indemnity, has he secured to his own country? He has signed just such a peace as he would have signed had he been conquered. I should not have required him to make greater sacrifices had I been victorious. But, perhaps, England thought herself sufficiently happy in having effected my overthrow; in that case, hatred has avenged me! During our contest, England was animated by two powerful sentiments—her national interest and her hatred of me. In the moment of triumph, the violence of the one caused her to lose sight of the other. She has paid dearly for that moment of passion!“ He developed his idea, glancing at the different measures which demonstrated the blunders of Castlereagh, and the many advantages which he had neglected. “Thousands of years will roll away,” said he, “before there occurs such another opportunity of securing the welfare and real glory of England. Was it ignorance, or corruption, on the part of Castlereagh? He distributed the spoil generously, as he seemed to think, among the Sovereigns of the Continent, and reserved nothing for his own country; but, in so doing, did he not fear the reproach of being considered as the agent rather than the partner of the Holy Allies? He gave away immense territories; Russia, Prussia, and Austria acquired millions of population. Where is the equivalent to England? She, who was the soul of all this success, and who paid so dearly for it, now reaps the fruit of the gratitude of the Continent, and of the errors or treachery of her negotiator. My continental system is continued; and the produce of her manufactures is excluded. Why not have bordered the Continent with free and independent maritime towns, such, for example, as Dantzick, Hamburg, Antwerp, Dunkirk, Genoa, &c., which would of necessity have become the staples of her manufactures, and would have scattered them over Europe, in spite of all the duties in the world. England possessed the right of doing this, and her circumstances required it: her decisions would have been just, and who would have opposed them at the moment of the liberation? Why did she create to herself a difficulty, and, in course of time, a natural enemy, by uniting Belgium to Holland, instead of securing two immense resources for her trade, by keeping them separate? Holland, which has no manufactures of her own, would have been the natural depôt for English goods; and Belgium, which might have become an English colony, governed by an English Prince, would have been the channel for dispersing these goods over France and Germany. Why not have bound down Spain and Portugal by a commercial treaty of long duration, which would have repaid all the expenses incurred for their deliverance, and which might have been obtained under pain of the enfranchisement of their colonies, the trade of which, in either case, England would have commanded? Why not have stipulated for some advantages in the Baltic, and to balance the States of Italy? These would have been but the regular privileges attached to the dominion of the seas. After so long a contest in support of this right, how happened its advantages to be neglected at the moment when it was really secured? Did England, while she sanctioned usurpation in others, fear that opposition would be offered to hers? and by whom could it have been offered? Probably England repents now, when it is too late; the opportunity cannot be recovered; she suffered the favourable moment to escape her!... How many whys and wherefores might I not multiply!... None but Lord Castlereagh would have acted thus: he made himself the man of the Holy Alliance, and in course of time he will be the object of execration. The Lauderdales, the Grenvilles, and the Wellesleys, would have pursued a very different course; they would at least have acted like Englishmen.”

At another time the Emperor said;—“The national debt is the canker-worm that preys on England; it is the chain of all her difficulties. It occasions the enormity of taxation, and this in its turn raises the price of provisions. Hence the distress of the people, the high price of labour and of manufactured goods which are not brought with equal advantage to the continental markets. England then ought at all hazards to contend against this devouring monster; she should assail it on all sides, and at once subdue it negatively and positively, that is to say, by the reduction of her expenditure and the increase of her capital.

“Can she not reduce the interest of her debt, the high salaries, the sinecures, and the various expenses attending her army establishment, and renounce the latter, in order to confine herself to her navy? In short, many things might be done, which I cannot now enter into. With regard to the increase of her capital, can she not enrich herself with the ecclesiastical property, which is immense, and which she would acquire by a salutary reform, and by the extinction of titular dignities which would give offence to no one? But if a word be uttered on this subject, the whole aristocracy is up in arms, and succeeds in putting down the opposition; for in England it is the aristocracy that governs, and for which the Government acts. They repeat the favourite adage, that, if the least stone of the old foundation be touched, the whole fabric will fall to the ground. This is devoutly re-echoed by the multitude; consequently reform is stopped, and abuses are suffered to increase and multiply.

“It is but just to acknowledge that, in spite of a compound of odious, antiquated, and ignoble details, the English constitution presents the singular phenomenon of a happy and grand result; and the advantages arising out of it secure the attachment of the multitude, who are fearful of losing any of the blessings they enjoy. But is it to the objectionable nature of the details that this result must be attributed? On the contrary, it would shine with increased lustre if the grand and beautiful machine were freed from its mischievous appendages.

“England,” continued the Emperor, “presents an example of the dangerous effects of the borrowing system. I would never listen to any hints for the adoption of that system in France; I was always a firm opposer of it. It was said, at the time, that I contracted no loans for want of credit, and because I could find no one willing to lend; but this was false. Those who know any thing of mankind and the spirit of stock-jobbing, will be convinced that loans may always be raised by holding out the chance of gain and the attraction of speculation. But this was no part of my system, and, by a special law, I fixed the amount of the public debt at what had generally been supposed to be conducive to the general prosperity, namely, at eighty millions interest for my France in her utmost extent, and after the union with Holland, which of itself produced an augmentation of twenty millions. This sum was reasonable and proper; a greater one would have been attended by mischievous consequences. What was the result of this system? What resources have I left behind me? France, after so many gigantic efforts and terrible disasters, is now more prosperous than ever! Are not her finances the first in Europe? To whom and to what are these advantages to be attributed? So far was I from wishing to swallow up the future, that I had resolved to leave a treasure behind me. I had even formed one, the funds of which I lent to different banking-houses, embarrassed families, and persons who held offices about me.

“I should not only have carefully preserved the sinking fund, but I calculated on having, in course of time, funds which would have been constantly increasing, and which might have been actively applied for the furtherance of public works and improvements. I should have had the fund of the Empire for general works; the fund of the departments for local works; the fund of the communes for municipal works, &c.”

In the course of another conversation, the Emperor observed:—“England is said to traffic in every thing: why, then, does she not sell liberty, for which she might get a high price, and without any fear of exhausting her own stock; for modern liberty is essentially moral, and does not betray its engagements. For example, what would not the poor Spaniards give her to free them from the yoke to which they have been again subjected? I am confident that they would willingly pay any price to recover their freedom. It was I who inspired them with this sentiment; and the error into which I fell might, at least, be turned to good account by another government. As to the Italians, I have planted in their hearts principles that never can be rooted out. What can England do better than to promote and assist the noble impulses of modern regeneration? Sooner or later, this regeneration must be accomplished. Sovereigns and old aristocratic institutions may exert their efforts to oppose it, but in vain. They are dooming themselves to the punishment of Sisyphus; but, sooner or later, some arms will tire of resistance, and, on the first failure, the whole will tumble about their ears. Would it not be better to yield with a good grace?—this was my intention. Why does England refuse to avail herself of the glory and advantage she might derive from this course of proceeding? Every thing passes away in England as well as elsewhere. Castlereagh’s administration will pass away, and that which may succeed it, and which is doomed to inherit the fruit of so many errors, may become great by only discontinuing the system that has hitherto been pursued. He who may happen to be placed at the head of the English cabinet, has merely to allow things to take their course, and to obey the winds that blow. By becoming the leader of liberal principles, instead of leaguing with absolute power, like Castlereagh, he will render himself the object of universal benediction, and England will forget her wrongs. Fox was capable of so acting, but Pitt was not; the reason is, that, in Fox, the heart warmed the genius; while, in Pitt, the genius withered the heart. But it may be asked, why I, all-powerful as I was, did not pursue the course I have here traced out?—how, since I can speak so well, I could have acted so ill? I reply to those who make this inquiry with sincerity, that there is no comparison between my situation and that of the English government. England may work on a soil which extends to the very bowels of the earth; while I could labour only on a sandy surface. England reigns over an established order of things; while I had to take upon myself the great charge, the immense difficulty, of consolidating and establishing. I purified a revolution, in spite of hostile factions. I combined together all the scattered benefits that could be preserved; but I was obliged to protect them with a nervous arm against the attacks of all parties; and in this situation it may truly be said that the public interest, the State, was myself.

“Our principles were attacked from without; and, in the name of these very principles, I was assailed in the opposite sense at home. Had I relaxed ever so little, we should soon have been brought back to the time of the Directory; I should have been the object, and France the infallible victim, of a counter-Brumaire. We are in our nature so restless, so busy, so loquacious! If twenty revolutions were to happen, we should have twenty constitutions. This is one of the subjects that are studied most, and observed the least. We have much need to grow older in this fair and glorious path; for here our great men have all shewn themselves to be mere children. May the present generation profit by the faults that have hitherto been committed, and prove as wise as it is enthusiastic!”

To-day the Governor commenced his grand reductions, and it was thought proper to deprive us of eight English domestics, who had formerly been granted to us. To the servants this was a subject of deep regret, and it was gratifying to ourselves to observe that we won the regard of all who were permitted to approach us. We are now absolutely in want of daily necessaries, to supply which the Emperor proposes to dispose of his plate; this is his only resource.

After dinner the Emperor read the Cercle, and retired immediately, although it was very early in the evening. He was indisposed, and could not sleep. He sent for me about midnight. By chance I had not retired to rest, and I remained in conversation with him for two hours.