In April 1808 General Dupas came to take the command of Hamburg, but only under the orders of Bernadotte, who retained the supreme command of the French troops in the Hanse Towns. By the appointment of General Dupas the Emperor cruelly thwarted the wishes and hopes of the inhabitants of Lower Saxony. That General said of the people of Hamburg, "As long as I see those . . . driving in their carriages I can get money from them." It is, however, only just to add, that his dreadful exactions were not made on his own account, but for the benefit of another man to whom he owed his all, and to whom he had in some measure devoted his existence.
I will state some particulars respecting the way in which the generals who commanded the French troops at Hamburg were maintained. The Senate of Hamburg granted to the Marshals thirty friederichs a day for the expenses of their table exclusive of the hotel in which they were lodged by the city. The generals of division had only twenty friederichs. General Dupas wished to be provided for on the same footing as the Marshals. The Senate having, with reason, rejected this demand, Dupas required that he should be daily served with a breakfast and a dinner of thirty covers. This was an inconceivable burden, and Dupas cost the city more than any of his predecessors.
I saw an account of his expenses, which during the twenty-one weeks he remained at Hamburg amounted to 122,000 marks, or about 183,000 francs. None but the most exquisite wines were drunk at the table of Dupas. Even his servants were treated with champagne, and the choicest fruits were brought from the fine hothouses of Berlin. The inhabitants were irritated at this extravagance, and Dupas accordingly experienced the resistance of the Senate.
Among other vexations there was one to which the people could not readily submit. In Hamburg, which had formerly been a fortified town, the custom was preserved of closing the gates at nightfall. On Sundays they were closed three-quarters of an hour later, to avoid interrupting the amusements of the people.
While General Dupas was Governor of Hamburg an event occurred which occasioned considerable irritation in the public mind, and might have been attended by fatal consequences. From some whim or other the General ordered the gates to be closed at seven in the evening, and consequently while it was broad daylight, for it was in the middle of spring; no exception was made in favour of Sunday, and on that day a great number of the inhabitants who had been walking in the outskirts of the city presented themselves at the gate of Altona for admittance. To their surprise they found the gate closed, though it was a greater thoroughfare than any other gate in Hamburg. The number of persons, requiring admittance increased, and a considerable crowd soon collected. After useless entreaties had been addressed to the chief officer of the post the people were determined to send to the Commandant for the keys. The Commandant arrived, accompanied by the General. When they appeared it was supposed they had come for the purpose of opening the gates, and they were accordingly saluted with a general hurrah! which throughout almost all the north is the usual cry for expressing popular satisfaction. General Dupas not understanding the meaning of this hurrah! supposed it to be a signal for sedition, and instead of ordering the gates to be opened he commanded the military to fire upon the peaceful citizens, who only wanted to return to their homes. Several persons were killed, and others more or less seriously wounded. Fortunately, after this first discharge the fury of Dupas was appeased; but still he persisted in keeping the gates closed at night. Next day an order was posted about the city prohibiting the cry of hurrah! under pain of a severe punishment. It was also forbidden that more than three persona should collect together in the streets. Thus it was that certain persons imposed the French yoke upon towns and provinces which were previously happy.
Dupas was as much execrated in the Hanse Towns as Clarke had been in Berlin when he was governor of that capital during the campaign of 1807. Clarke had burdened the people of Berlin with every kind of oppression and exaction. He, as well as many others, manifested a ready obedience in executing the Imperial orders, however tyrannical they might be; and Heaven knows what epithets invariably accompanied the name of Clarke when pronounced by the lips of a Prussian.
Dupas seemed to have taken Clarke as his model. An artillery officer, who was in Hamburg at the time of the disturbance I have just mentioned, told me that it was he who was directed to place two pieces of light-artillery before the gate of Altona. Having executed this order, he went to General Dupas, whom he found in a furious fit of passion, breaking and destroying everything within his reach. In the presence of the officer he broke more than two dozen plates which were on the table before him: these plates, of course, had cost him very little!
On the day after the disturbance which had so fatal a termination I wrote to inform the Prince of Porte-Corvo of what had taken place; and in my letter I solicited the suppression of an extraordinary tribunal which had been created by General Dupas. He returned me an immediate answer, complying with my request. His letter was as follows:
I have received your letter, my dear Minister: it forcibly conveys
the expression of your right feeling, which revolts against
oppression, severity, and the abase of power. I entirely concur in
your view of the subject, and I am distressed whenever I see such
acts of injustice committed. On an examination of the events which
took place on the 19th it is impossible to deny that the officer who
ordered the gates to be closed so soon was in the wrong; and next,
it may be asked, why were not the gates opened instead of the
military being ordered to fire on the people? But, on the other
hand, did not the people evince decided obstinacy and
insubordination? were they not to blame in throwing stones at the
guard, forcing the palisades, and even refusing to listen to the
voice of the magistrates? It is melancholy that they should have
fallen into these excesses, from which, doubtless, they would have
refrained had they listened to the civil chiefs, who ought to be
their first directors. Finally, my dear Minister, the Senator who
distributed money at the gate of Altona to appease the multitude
would have done better had he advised them to wait patiently until
the gates were opened; and he might, I think, have gone to the
Commandant or the General to solicit that concession.
Whenever an irritated mob resorts to violence there is no safety for
any one. The protecting power mast then exert its utmost authority
to stop mischief. The Senate of ancient Rome, so jealous of its
prerogatives, assigned to a Dictator, in times of trouble, the power
of life and death, and that magistrate knew no other code than his
own will and the axe of his lictors. The ordinary laws did not
resume their course until the people returned to submission.
The event which took place in Hamburg produced a feeling of
agitation of which evil-disposed persons might take advantage to
stir up open insurrection. That feeling could only be repressed by
a severe tribunal, which, however, is no longer necessary. General
Dupas has, accordingly, received orders to dissolve it, and justice
will resume her usual course.
J. BERNADOTTE
DENSEL, 4th May, 1808.
When Bernadotte returned to Hamburg he sent. Dupas to Lübeck. That city, which was poorer than Hamburg, suffered cruelly from the visitation of such a guest.