Joseph Bonaparte / Makers of History

by John S. C. Abbott

Joseph's letter to the Emperor of Austria contained the following expressions: "The particular esteem with which the virtues of your Majesty inspire me, embolden me to recall myself to his recollection under circumstances in which the general welfare appears to me to be in accord with the sentiments of his heart, that he may restore to the wishes of the French people a prince who alone can confer upon them internal peace, and assure the tranquillity of Europe. This peace and tranquillity would be disturbed by the efforts which must be made to sustain in France a government of usurpation like that of the Duke of Orleans, or even a republic, if the absence of the son of Napoleon, the grandson of your Majesty, should constrain the nation, thus abandoned by the prince of its choice, to surrender itself to another form of government. Sire, if you will entrust to me the son of my brother, that son whom he enjoined, upon his death-bed, to follow my advice in returning to France, I guarantee the success of the enterprise. Alone, with a tri-color scarf, will Napoleon II. be proclaimed.

"Will it be necessary for me to speak of myself to your Majesty to give him confidence in my character? Must I recall to his remembrance that, after the treaty of Luneville, he communicated to me, through an autograph letter to Count Cobentzl, that the opinion he had formed of my moderation was such that he would with pleasure see me placed upon the throne of Lombardy? I refused that throne. I preferred to remain in France. Since then, at Naples, in Spain, has that character been falsified?

"To-day, as then, I am guided by the single sentiment of duty. My ambition limits itself to doing what I ought for France, for the memory of my brother, and to die upon my native soil a witness of the happiness of the grandson of your Majesty, which is inseparable from that of France and from the tranquillity of Europe. I can only contribute to that to-day by my wishes. May your Majesty second them by his powerful influence, and thus consolidate the peace of the world and the eternal glory of his name."

Appeal to the Chamber of Deputies.

On the same day, September 18, Joseph wrote an earnest appeal to the French Chamber of Deputies.[AJ] The following extracts will show its character. "It is impossible that a house, reigning through the principle of divine right, should maintain itself upon a throne from which it has been expelled by the nation. The divorce between the House of Bourbon and the French people has been pronounced, and nothing can destroy the souvenirs of the past. In vain the Duke of Orleans abjures his house in the moment of its misfortunes. A Bourbon himself, returning to France, sword in hand, with the Bourbons, in the train of foreign armies, what matter is it that his father voted for the death of the King, his cousin, that he might take his place? What matter is it that the brother of Louis XVI. named him lieutenant-general of the realm, and regent of his grandson? Is he the less a Bourbon? Has he the less pretension of being entitled to the throne by the right of birth? Is it through the choice of the people, or the right of birth, that he claims to sit upon the throne of his ancestors?

"The family of Napoleon has been elected by three million five hundred thousand votes. If the nation deem it for its interest to make another choice, it has the power and the right to do so; but the nation alone. Napoleon II. was proclaimed king by the Chamber of Deputies in 1815, which recognized in him a right conferred by the nation. That he may be the legitimate sovereign, in the true acceptation of the word, that is to say, legally and voluntarily chosen by the people, there is no need of a new election so long as the nation has not adopted any other form of government. Still the nation is supreme to confirm or reject the titles it has given according to its pleasure. Till then, gentlemen, you are bound to recognize Napoleon II. And until Austria shall restore him to the wishes of France, I offer myself to share your perils, your efforts, your labors, and, upon his arrival, to transmit to him the will, the examples, the last dispositions of his father, dying a victim of the enemies of France upon the rock of Saint Helena. These words the Emperor addressed to me through General Bertrand:

"'Say to my son that he should remember, first of all, that he is a Frenchman. Let him give the nation as much liberty as I have given it equality. Foreign wars did not permit me to do that which I should have done at the general peace. I was perpetually in dictatorship. But I ever had, as the motive in all my actions, the love and the grandeur of the great nation. Let him take my device, Every thing for the French people. It is to that people we are indebted for all that we have been.

"'The liberty of the press is the triumph of truth. It is that which should diffuse general intelligence. Let it speak, and let the will of the great mass of the people be accomplished.'"

Letter to General Lamarque.

Again, on the 26th of September, Joseph wrote to General Lamarque: "The Duke of Orleans, by his birth, by his connection with the reigning branches of the family of Bourbon, which he in vain attempts to ignore, will soon be suspected by the patriots of France, and by the liberals of Italy and of Spain. The act which places him upon the throne, not emanating from the nation, can not constitute him king of the French. A few capitalists in Paris are not France. He can not therefore have the cordial assent of the liberals of any country. He can not have the support of those who believe in the legitimacy of the elder branch of his house. He can not have the assent of those who have not lost the memory of the votes which the nation gave to Napoleon, and to Napoleon II., whom the Chamber of Deputies proclaimed in 1815.