2dly. “To embrace the party of the Directory and of the Republic. That was the plainest course, that which duty pointed out, which the army inclined to, and in which he was already engaged; for all the writers who had remained faithful to the cause of the Revolution had declared themselves, of their own accord, the ardent defenders and warm advocates of the army and its commanders.
3dly. “To overpower both factions, by stepping forward boldly and appearing openly in the contest as regulator of the Republic. But notwithstanding the strength which Napoleon felt that he derived from the support of the army, although his character was highly esteemed in France, he did not think that the spirit of the times and public opinion were such as to allow him to take so daring a step. And besides, if this third measure had been that to which he secretly inclined, he could not have adopted it immediately, and without having previously sided with one of the two parties, which appeared at that moment in the political lists. It was absolutely necessary, even in order to form a third party, to side first either with the Councils or with the Directory.
“Thus, of the three measures to be adopted, the third in its execution merged into the two first, and he was entirely debarred from adopting the first of these two by the new formation of the Councils, and by the attacks already made upon him by them.
“These considerations and conclusions,” the Emperor observed, “were the natural result of a deep meditation upon the then existing state of affairs in France. The General had therefore nothing to do but to let events take their course, and second the impulse of his troops. And this view of the subject produced the proclamation to the army of Italy, and the far-famed order of the day of its General.
“‘Soldiers!’ he said, ‘I know that your hearts are full of grief at the calamities of our country; but, if it were possible that foreign armies should triumph, we would fly from the summit of the Alps with the rapidity of the eagle, to defend once more that cause which has already cost us so much blood.’
“These words decided the question; the soldiers, in ecstasy, were for marching at once upon Paris. The rumour of the event spread immediately to the capital, and produced a most powerful sensation. The Directory, which every body considered as lost, which the moment before was tottering alone and abandoned, found itself at once supported by public opinion; it immediately assumed the attitude, and followed the course of a triumphant party, and defeated all its enemies.
“The General of the army of Italy had sent the proclamation to his soldiers to the Directory by Augereau, because he was a Parisian and strongly in favour of the prevailing notions of the day.
“Nevertheless, the politicians of the day made the following surmises: What would Napoleon have done if the Councils had triumphed; if that faction, instead of being overthrown, had, on the contrary, overthrown the Directory? In that case, it appears, that he was determined to march upon Lyons and Mirbel with fifteen thousand men, where he would have been joined by all the republicans from the south and from Burgundy. The victorious Council would not have been more than three or four days without coming to some violent rupture and division: for it is known that, if the numbers of these Councils were unanimous in their proceedings against the Directory, they were far from being so as to the further course they meant to pursue. The leaders, such as Pichegru, Imbert-Colonnes, and others, sold to foreign powers, exerted all their influence to restore royalty and bring about a counter-revolution; whilst Carnot and others sought to produce results quite opposite to these. France would therefore have become immediately a prey to confusion and anarchy, and in that case, all factions would have seen, with satisfaction, Napoleon appear as a rallying point, an anchor of safety, capable of saving them at the same time from the terror of royalty and from the terror of demagogues. Napoleon would then naturally have repaired to Paris, and found himself placed at the head of affairs by the unanimous wish and consent of all parties. The majority of the Councils was strong and positive, it is true, but it was only against the Directors; it would have been divided ad infinitum as soon as they were overturned.
“The choice of three new Directors having openly exposed the true intention of the measures of the counter-revolution, the greatest number of the citizens, in their alarm, were ready to fly to meet Napoleon with the national oriflamme[[21]] unfurled; for the true counter-revolutionists were after all few in number, and their pretensions were too ridiculous and absurd. Every thing would have given way before Napoleon. Had they called him Cæsar or Cromwell, still he would have marched with a religion, a party, whose ideas were settled and popular; he was master of his soldiers, the coffers of the army were full, and he was in possession of every other means calculated to ensure their constancy and their fidelity. If the question were now to be asked whether Napoleon, in the recesses of his own mind, would or would not have wished affairs to take this turn, we should give our opinion in the affirmative; and we are led to believe from the following fact, that his wishes and his hopes were in favour of the triumph of the majority of the Councils. At the moment of the crisis between the two factions, a secret decree, signed by the three members composing the party of the Directory, asked him for three millions to resist the attack of the Councils, but Napoleon, under various pretences, did not send them, although it would have been easy for him to do so; yet it is well known that it is not consistent with his character to hesitate in money matters.
“Therefore, when the struggle was over, and the Directory took pleasure in acknowledging openly that it owed its existence to Napoleon, it still entertained some vague suspicions that Napoleon had only espoused its cause in the hopes of seeing it overthrown, and of taking its place.