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Yet there was no time to be lost. Blucher, at the head of one army of some 70,000 men, known as the army of Silesia, was already threatening France on the northeast, while another army of 100,000 men, under Schwartzenberg, known as the Grand Army, with which were the emperors of Russia and Austria, disregarding the neutrality of Switzerland, penetrated into France in that direction. Napoleon's grand army, reduced now to 60,000 men, was at Chalons, a hundred miles east of Paris. Augereau was at Lyons, with some ten or fifteen thousand more. The fortresses of Belgium and the German frontier were also held by strong garri

sons.

Upon the arrival at Paris of news of the entry of Schwartzenberg into Switzerland, Joseph, from his retirement at Mortefontaine, took occasion to address to Napoleon the following letter:

"Dec. 29, 1813. Sire: The violation of the Swiss territory has laid France open to the enemy. In this state of affairs, I am anxious that your majesty should be persuaded that my heart is wholly French. Recalled by cir cumstances to France, I should be glad to be of some use, and I am ready to undertake anything which may prove to you my devotion.

"I am also aware, Sire, of what I owe to Spain; I see my duties, and wish to fulfill them all. If I make claims, it is only for the purpose of sacrificing them to the general good of mankind, esteeming myself happy, if, by such sacrifices, I can promote the peace of Europe. I hope that your majesty may think fit to commission one of your ministers to come to an understanding on this subject with the Duke of Santa Fé, my minister for foreign affairs."

To this letter Napoleon, who was already negotiating with Ferdinand to release him and restore him to the Spanish throne, thus curtly and sharply replied:

"Dec., 1813. My Brother: I have received your letter of the 29th of December. It is far too clever for the state of my affairs, which I will explain in two words. France is invaded, all Europe is in arms against France, and, above all, against me. You are no longer king of Spain. I do not want Spain, either to keep or to give away. I will have nothing more to do with that country, except to live in peace with it, and have the use of my army. What will you do? Will you, as a French prince, come to the support of my throne? You possess my friendship and your apanage, and will be my subject as prince of the blood. In this case, you must act as I have doneannounce the part which you are about to play, write to me a letter, in simple terms, which can print, receive the authorities, and show yourself zealous for me and for the king of Rome, and friendly to the regency of the empress. [During Napoleon's absence from Paris, the empress acted as regent.] Can you under

take to do this? Have you not good sense enough for it? Then retire to the obscurity of some country-house, forty leagues from Paris. You will live there quietly, if I live; you will be killed or arrested, if I die. You will be useless to me, to our family, to your daughters, and to France[ a truly Napoleonic arrangement me' first, France last]; but you will do me no harm, and will not be in my way. Choose, quickly, the line you will take."

Joseph immediately replied as follows:

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"Mortefontaine, Jan. 1, 1814. Sire: I beg your majesty to accept my best wishes that the year which is commencing may be happy both for you and for your subjects. I hope year which has just finished has exhausted all your ill-fortune. Zenaide [Joseph's eldest daughter], who came in just now, bringing some presents from the empress, was nearly burnt close to the fire in my room; she was saved, and is quite well. This accident prevents my writing as well as usual, as I can use only two fingers. I entreat your majesty not to doubt my complete and affectionate de

votion."

Napoleon replied the same day :

"Paris, Jan. 1, 1814. My Brother: I thank you for your good wishes, and for the sentiments which you express on the occasion of the new year. I am also glad that my niece's accident has been followed by no bad effects."

From this time the relations of the brothers became extremely intimate; but, as Napoleon remained at Paris till the 25th, we have only the following letter:

"Paris, Jan. 10, 1814. My Brother: I have inserted in the regulations of the palace that you are in future to be announced under the title of King Joseph, and the queen under the title of Queen Julie, with the honors due to the French princes of the blood. I authorize you to take the uniform of the grenadiers of my guard, which is what I wear myself. I do not think that you ought to use any foreign decorations; you should wear only the French order. Forward to me a list of the persons of whom you wish to compose your household, as well as that of the queen, and tell me on what day you will receive the court and the authorities."

The advance of the allies into France soon made it necessary for Napoleon to join his army. From the time of his departure, on the 25th of January, he kept up an incessant correspondence with Joseph, who remained behind as his confidential agent, and between whom and Napoleon letters were perpetually passing, many, often, in one day. Conscripts, of whom a new levy, to the number of 300,000, had been decreed, continued to arrive daily in Paris, and to be organized and forwarded to Napoleon, under the superintendence of General Ornano, who commanded the reserve of Napoleon's guard at Paris,

and General Hullin, in command of the seventeenth military division, to which Paris belonged. But the arsenals were nearly bare of arms, of which, in the two last disastrous campaigns, there had been an enormous consumption, while the receipts into the treasury furnished no offset to the outgoes.

Napoleon's chief reliance for money, in this emergency, was a reserved treasure in the charge of M. de la Bouillerie, which he had gradually accumulated out of the contributions imposed on the towns and provinces occupied by his troops, or the spoils of the princes whom he had deposed. It was from this fund, mainly, that the conscripts were equipped, and that fresh horses, of which, as soon as the campaign began, there was an enormous consumption, were provided for the cavalry, the money being paid out of this special treasury million by million, on orders specially issued by Napoleon himself.

Napoleon's first object was, to prevent the junction of Blucher and Schwartzenberg, both of whom were now in France, and marching rapidly on Paris. With that object in view, leaving Macdonald's division at Chalons, Napoleon marched southward, with his three other divisions, commanded by Victor, Marmont, and Ney, and on the 29th of January attacked Blucher at Brienne, drove him from it, and occupied the town. But he failed to pre

vent the union of the two armies, and on the 1st of February was himself attacked by a superior force, led by Blucher, and was obliged to retreat with loss to Troyes, whence, to favor the junction of reinforcements marching from the Spanish frontier, to join him, he retired to Nogent, still nearer to Paris. Meanwhile, Macdonald, left at Chalons, had been compelled to retire towards Meaux. The effect of these retrograde movements at Paris is thus referred to by Joseph:

"Paris, Feb. 5, 1814. The public mind was depressed to-day, and I had great trouble in keeping up the spirits of many people. I have seen the empress twice, and when I left her she was more composed; she had just received a letter from your majesty, in which you mention the congress. [This was the congress at Chatillon-sur-Seine, which met on Feb. 3d, and negotiated while the armies fought.] If your majesty should meet with serious reverses, what form of government ought to be left here, in order to prevent intriguers from putting themselves at the head of the first movement. Jerome asks me what should be his conduct in such a case? Men are coming

in, but we want money to clothe them. Daru can obtain only 10,000 francs a day from the treasury; this delays terribly the departure of the troops."

Napoleon wrote from Troyes (Feb. 6, 3 P. M.), that he wanted to attack the Emperor Alexander, then at Bar-surSeine, but was sacrificing everything to the necessity of covering Paris.

"The plan of placing Paris under king Louis, in any unforeseen event, seems to me good. You remember all I said to you about the princesses. However, the course which I am about to pursue will prevent your coming to that. I am writing to La Bouilleric, to desire him to hold a million of francs at your disposal, to hasten the clothing and equipment of the troops."

The mention of king Louis, in the above letter, makes it proper to say a word or two as to his relations with Napoleon, since his resignation of the crown of Holland. Immediately after his abdication, he had retired, or, rather, fled to Germany, whence he issued a protest against Napoleon's annexation of Holland to France. On the 12th of October, in the same year (1810), he was summoned to return to France beforo the 1st of December following, "under pain of being considered disobedient to the constitution of the empire, and the head of his family, and treated as such." But this summons he disregarded, and went to reside at Gratz, in Austria. Napoleon then sought to win him back by granting a splendid apanage to himself and his family, as an indemnification for the loss of Holland; but, so far as he was concerned, Louis refused to accept it, and lived at Gratz on his private resources, principally jewels which he had sold, and some Prussian bonds which he held. When Austria declared war against France, he retired into Switzerland, on which occasion he addressed a letter to his brother, stating that he was ready to serve him and France, so far as he could do it consistently with the duty which he owed first to Holland, and the right of his family to be established there on a general peace. Holland, however, shortly after recalled the Prince of Orange, while the invasion of Switzerland, by the allies, drove Louis to seek refuge in Paris.

We return now, to Napoleon's letters: "Nogent-sur-Seine Feb. 7, 1814. I give you no orders for La Bouillerie, as I do not think it necessary. At all events, he will be able, in six hours, to load all that he has in

fifteen carriages, and to draw it with horses from my stables, to Rambouillet. But I do not think that we have come to that yet. I do not fear the enemy; I am full of hope as to the result.

7 P. M. Without doubt this is a difficult moment; but, since I left Paris, I have met with nothing but success. [He had been foiled, however, in all he had attempted.] The bad spirit of such men as Talleyrand, who endeav ored to paralyze the nation, prevented my having early recourse to arms, and this is the consequence. In our circumstances, the qualities wanted are, confidence and audacity.

"P. S. Keep the empress in spirits. She is dying of grief."

The next day, at eleven o'clock at night, Joseph wrote as follows:

"I have spoken to Louis about leaving him here; he has written to me a long letter on the subject. I have determined on forwarding it to your majesty. I believe that your majesty told me that the princesses were to accompany the empress. If this should not be the case, I ought to have positive orders on the subject. I am most anxious that the departure of the empress should not take place. We cannot disguise from ourselves the fact, that the consternation and despair of the people may lead to sad and even fatal consequences. I think, and so do all persons whose opinion is of value, that we should be prepared to make many sacrifices before resorting to this extremity. The men who are attached to your majesty's government fear that the departure of the empress will abandon the people of Paris to despair, and give a capital and an empire to the Bourbons. Although I express the fear which I see on every face, your majesty may rest assured that your orders will be faithfully executed by me as soon as I receive them.

"I have spoken to M. de la Bouillerie about the million for the war, and the removal of the treasure. I do not know how far your majesty may approve of my observations, but I must say that I think it important to pay a month's salary to the great dignitaries, ministers, counsellors of state, and senators. Several have been mentioned to me who are really in distress, and, in the event of their departure becoming expedient it is thought that many will be detained in Paris for want of the means of traveling. Jerome is annoyed that your majesty has not yet explained your intentions as to the request which I made for him in two of my former letters. [Jerome had asked to be employed.l'

To this letter Napoleon replied in very bad humor:

"Nogent, Feb. 8, 1814, 11 A. M. My Brother: I have received your letter of the 7th, 11 P. M. It surprised me extremely.. King Louis talks of peace. His advice is illtimed; in fact, I can understand nothing in your letter. I thought that I had explained my. self to you, but you never recollect anything, and you are of the opinion of the first comer, and the last speaker.

"I repeat, then, in two words, Paris will never be occupied while I am alive. I have a right to be believed, if I am understood.

"I will add, that if, through unforeseen circumstances, I should march towards the Loire, I should not leave the empress and my son at

a distance from me; because, whatever hap pened, they might both be carried off to Vienna. I cannot make out how, with all these intrigues going on around you, you can bestow such imprudent praise upon the proposals of traitors, who are incapable of giving honorable advice: never employ them, even in the most favorable circumstances. I can no longer pay any of my officers. I have nothing.

I own I am annoyed by your letter, because I see that there is no coherence in your ideas, and that you allow yourself to be influenced by the chatterings and the opinions of a set of people who never reflect. Yes, I will talk to you openly. If Talleyrand has anything to do with the project of leaving the empress in Paris in case of the approach of the enemy, it is treachery. I repeat, distrust that man. I have dealt with him for the last sixteen years; once I even liked him; but he is undoubtedly the greatest enemy to our house since it has been abandoned by fortune. Keep to my advice. I know more than all those people. If we are beaten, and I am killed, you will hear of it before the rest of my family. Send the empress and the king of Rome to Rambouillet; order the senate, the council of state, and all the troops, to assemble on the Loire; leave in Paris a prefect, or an imperial commission, or some mayors.

"I have told you that Madame [Napoleon's mother], and the queen of Westphalia [Jerome's wife] may remain in Paris, in Madame's house. If the viceroy [Eugene] has returned to Paris, he may also stay there; but on no account let the empress and the king of Rome fall into the hands of the enemy. Be certain that, from that moment, Austria, the band that connected her with France being brokeu, would carry her off to Vienna, and give her a large apanage; and on pretense of securing the happiness of the empress, the French would be forced to do whatever England and Russia might dictate.

"However, it may happen that I beat the enemy on his approach to Paris, and that none of these things may take place. It is also possible that I may make peace in a few days. But, at all events, it appears that you have no means of defense. It is for the interest even of Paris that the empress and the king of Rome should not remain there, because its welfare depends on their safety. Nothing would better please the allies than to make an end of everything by carrying them off prisoners to Vienna. I am surprised that you do not see this. I see that fear has turned all your heads in Paris.

The empress and the king of Rome once at Vienna, or in the hands of our enemies, you and all others who attempted a defense would be rebels.

"As for me, I would rather that they would kill my son than see him brought up at Vienna as an Austrian prince, and I think well enough of the empress to believe that she is of the same opinion, as far as that is possible to a woman and a mother.

"I have never seen Andromaque acted without pitying the fate of Astyanax in surviving the rest of his house, nor without thinking that it would have been a blessing for him if he had died before his father."

The same day Napoleon ordered the evacuation of Italy, in connection with which he wrote the following letter:

"Nogent, Feb. 8, 1814, 6 P. M. My Brother: Let this letter be delivered to the empress Josephine in person. [She was residing at Malmaison, close by Paris.] It is to tell her to write to Eugene. [Probably Napoleon feared that Eugene might imitate the example of Mu. rat, whose treaty with Austria had been signed on the 11th of January.] You will ask her to send her letter to you, which you will dispatch by an express."

The same day, at midnight, Joseph wrote to Napoleon, deprecating a religious intercession which the empress proposed to make at the church of St. Geneviève. He added at the close:

"The empress is in better spirits to-day. I have passed the day in sustaining the hopes of people who have much less self-possession than belongs to her majesty."

Napoleon wrote the next day:

"I am of your opinion about the prayers at St. Geneviève; I think that it would do no good; it was only a piece of devotion on the part of the empress. Tell Demazis to remove from Compiègne and Fontainebleau the plate, and everything that might serve as a trophy. There are portraits of all my minis. ters and of my family at Compiègne. This must be done without noise, or attracting attention."

At four in the morning of Feb. 9th, Joseph replied to Napoleon's sharp letter of directions, already quoted at length :

"Your majesty may be assured that, so far as depends on me, your wishes will be complied with. Circumstances may occur in which this expression of them may contribute to such a result. My letter may thus have been useful by eliciting this written manifestation of your will, which will decide the conduct of many persons now unresolved."

The same day, at 11 A. M., Joseph

wrote:

"The minister of war has written to me a letter, which I send to your majesty; you will see that our muskets are reduced to six thousand. It is, therefore, useless to expect to form a reserve of from thirty to forty thousand men in Paris. [That was a scheme which Napoleon had been strongly urging for two or three days past. Things are stronger than men, Sire; and when this is clearly proved, it seems to me that true glory consists in preserving as much as possible of one's people and one's empire; and that to expose a precious life to such evident danger is not glorious, because it is against the interests of a great number of men whose existence is attached to your own. .... At this juncture, I see no dishonor for your majesty unless you abandon the throne, because in this case you would ruin a number of individuals who have devoted themselves to you. If it be possible, then, make peace at any price; if that is impossible, when the hour comes we must meet death with resolution, as did the last emperor of Constantinople."

It had become plain that Napoleon's resources, in arms, at least, if not in men, were exhausted. The enemy con

tinued to advance-Blucher down the Marne, Schwartzenberg down the Seine, while an immense Cossack cavalry, detached from the enemy's front and flanks, carried terror everywhere, and scarcely anywhere encountered any resistance. Some further reinforcements were expected from the Spanish frontier; but, without waiting for them, Napoleon deemed it necessary to enter at once upon some decisive operation.

Leaving Oudinot and Victor, with something more than half his forces, to hold Schwartzenberg in check, he made an oblique movement northerly, with some thirty thousand men, to attack the army of Silesia, which was advancing in four divisions, under Sacken, York, Alsufief, and Blucher, by two roadsone down the Marne, the other across a difficult and marshy country, more to the south-which advance had forced Macdonald, with some eight or ten thousand men, to fall back to Meaux. On the 9th, the same day that Napoleon left Nogent, he met and defeated Sacken at Baye; on the 10th he beat Asufief at Champ-Aubert; on the 11th he again routed Sacken at Montmirail; on the 12th he defeated York at ChateauThierry; and on the 14th beat Blucher with great loss and drove him back to Chalons.

But, meanwhile, Schwartzenberg had advanced on Nogent, and pushing Victor and Oudinot, whom Macdonald had also joined, before him, had reached within twenty-five miles of Paris. The three marshals, greatly alarmed, and unable to agree as to who should command, invoked, as did also Joseph, Napoleon's immediate presence. Thus summoned, he set off on the 15th, a few hours after his defeat of Blucher's division. He joined his marshals the next day. On the 17th, his guard having come up, he drove the Russians, under Count Phalen, out of Mormant, and on the 18th the Prince of Wirtemberg out of Montereau; when the allied sovereigns and Schwartzenberg, alarmed at these unexpected attacks, retired with precipitation towards Langres. In nine days Napoleon had made nine marches, most of them over cross roads, deep with mud, had gained seven battles, and had driven or frightened away two armies, each much larger than his own.

In the next seven days, from the 19th to the 26th of February, Napoleon advanced upon the retreating enemy,

first to Nogent, then to Chartres, and thence to Troyes. The only fighting was an accidental skirmish at Mery, with Blucher. Napoleon was waiting, not only to rest his troops, but for the result of negotiations. Previous to crossing the French frontier, the allies had offered him peace from Frankfort, on the terms of France with its "natural limits," by which were meant the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. These terms he had refused, and the allies, since advancing into France, would grant nothing more than France with its ancient limits-those of 1789. Previous to engaging in the late operations, Napoleon had consented to these advanced terms, provided the allies would cease hostilities immediately; but this they refused, insisting that military operations should go on till peace was actually signed. Since their late defeats, they were willing to accept Napoleon's terms, and asked for an armistice; but this he refused, except on condition of their agreeing to the terms of Frankfort-France with its natural limits. Even Joseph, who had lately been so anxious for peace on any terms, applauded the new pretensions. "Every one agrees," he wrote on the 21st, "that your majesty would have done wrong in granting a suspension of hostilities. Peace with the natural limits is desired by all. No one now would accept the ancient limits." At the same time, however, Joseph confessed that some passages in the bulletin of the day, interpreted as raising doubts as to the success of the negotiation, had not been very well received.

The same day Napoleon wrote from Nogent, suggesting that proclamations, signed by the empress, which he thought would be more effective than if signed by himself, be sent to Orleans, which had been threatened and frightened by the Cossacks, to Lille, Valenciennes, Cambray, and the other large towns on the northern frontier, calling on them to organize a national guard, and to take measures of defense against the flying detachments of the enemy. He also suggested a similar proclamation to the Belgian towns.

"The empress should acquaint them with my victories, and tell them that the English wish to separate them from France, and place them under the yoke of a prince who has always been hostile to their country and to their religion and assure them that the enemy will soon find that no peace will be signed un

less the natural limits of France are admitted.

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The enemy have committed all sorts of horrors in every direction. The minister of war must send good reporters to the towns which they have occupied, to draw up narratives of the atrocities which they have committed. These reports are to be inserted in the Moniteur. I wish also the towns of Nogent, Provins, Nangis, Bray, Montereau. Sens, Epernay, Chateau-Thierry, Reims, Soissons, etc., to acquaint the municipality of Paris with what they have suffered, and these letters to be placarded in every direction; for, in short, one must not deceive oneself as to the fact (and you ought to say so), that the Russians intended to sack and burn Paris. It can only do good, if the Parisians hear on all sides: It is you who were attacked; it is you whom they intended to pillage.'"

The same day, Napoleon, amid all his other cares, sent the following minute and specific directions as to the future position of Jerome:

"My Brother: These are my intentions with him to wear the uniform of the grenadier respect to the king of Westphalia. I allow guard, and I grant the same permission to all the French princes. (You will inform king Louis of this.) The king is to dismiss all his Westphalian household. They are free either to return home or to stay in France. The king will immediately propose for my approbation three or four aides-de-camp, one or two equerries, and one or two chamberlains, all French,

and two or three French ladies-in-waiting, for the queen. She will put off to some future time appointing her lady-in-waiting. All the Westphalian pages must be placed in the Lycées, and will wear the uniform of the Lycées. They will be educated at my expense. Onethird will be placed in the Lycées of Versailles, one-third in that of Rouen, and the remaining third in the Lycée of Paris. The king and queen will then be presented to the empress; and I authorize the king to occupy Cardinal Fesch's house (since it appears it belongs to him), and to establish his household there. The king and queen will continue to bear the title of King and Queen of Westphalia, but they are to have no Westphalians in their suite."

Notwithstanding Napoleon's recent victories, the reports which Joseph sent him from Paris were by no means encouraging. Thus he wrote on Feb. 22d:

"The ministers of the interior and of the police and the arch chancellor have just left me; they have given me a most deplorable picture of the state of things at Toulouse and at Bordeaux. The spirit of these towns is very unfavorable; a Bourbon appearing there would be well received. Your majesty will be astonished at the behavior of the Duke of Dalmatia, unless he has retreated by your orders. He is the only man in authority whose intentions I could venture to suspect. [Joseph could not get over his old jealousy and dislike of Soult.]

"Another report, which I annex, lends some probability to a rumor just communicated to me by the minister, that the enemy has entered

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