Part 28

The King, who at first took refuge at Lille, had in fact just retired to Ghent. His Majesty had given orders to his household and the princes, to join him in the former city, where it had been apparently his intention, to take up his residence, and convene the chambers. But marshal the Duke of Treviso, governor of that division, declared to him, that he would no longer answer for his troops, if the musketeers, the body guards, &c., entered the place; and advised him to repair to Dunkirk, which, from its geographical position, and the attachment of its inhabitants, afforded him an opportunity of awaiting the issue of events without danger. M. de Blacas and the emigrants with the King remonstrated with him strongly, that he would not be out of danger there; and that he could no longer be safe from the pursuit of Napoleon, except in a foreign country. The Duke of Treviso still insisted on the contrary: and the King, in spite of the alarm and entreaties of the Count de Blacas and the other courtiers, had resolved to follow the advice of the marshal, when some despatches from the Count d'Artois, received in the course of the night, determined him to pass the frontier.

The Emperor thought at first, that the design of Louis XVIII. was to return to England. He was glad of this: and it was not without extreme vexation, that he learned the intention of this Prince, to remain on the Belgic frontiers, observing the course of affairs. But if this resolution, to which perhaps the King was indebted for the recovery of his throne, was displeasing to Napoleon, it never inspired him with the criminal desire, as some wicked writers have pretended, of making any attempts against the lives or liberty of the Bourbons.

The orders given to General Excelmans merely were, to drive the King and the Princes out of France step by step. He was never commanded, "either to secure their persons, or to kill them in case of resistance."

The instructions given at the same time to Marshal Ney, sent on a mission to the frontiers of the North and East, directed him also in express words, "to cause the royal family to be respected, and facilitate its procuring the means of quitting France freely and quietly."

The next day General Le Courbe, to whom the Emperor had just entrusted an important command, wrote to him, to demand several favours, and in addition a hundred and fifty thousand francs, as arrears of pay, in order to discharge his debts.

Two other generals, less known, were equally desirous of being paid for their services. He was disgusted at their claims. "Do these men think," said he, "that I throw away my money? I am not inclined to suffer myself to be plundered like Henry IV; if they be not inclined to fight, let them put on petticoats, and go and take an airing."]

It has been asserted, that the Duke of Bassano, who had the temporary charge of the port-folio of the home department, had sent orders to M. Simeon, then royal prefect at Lille, to arrest the King. The Duke of Bassano, indignant at such an odious charge, would not quit France, without having refuted it. He proposed, to summon M. Simeon to declare the truth; and his declaration would have been made public through the means of the newspapers and the press, if the police had not opposed it.

The King quitted Lille on the 23d of March. The Duke of Orleans, who had attended his Majesty, and whom the King on his departure had invested with the command of that place, did not quit it till twenty-four hours after; when he addressed the following letter to Marshal Mortier.

"I commit entirely to your hands, my dear Marshal, the command which I was so happy as to exercise with you in the department of the North. I am too good a Frenchman, to sacrifice the interests of France, because fresh misfortunes compel me to quit it. I go to bury myself in retirement and oblivion. The King being no longer in France, I cannot issue orders in his name: and nothing remains for me, but to absolve you from all obedience to the orders I have already transmitted to you; requesting you, to do whatever your own excellent judgment, and pure patriotism, shall suggest to you as most conducive to the interests of France, and most agreeable to the duties you have to fulfil."

The Emperor, after having read this letter, turned to the Duke of Bassano, and said: "See what the Duke of Orleans writes to Mortier; this letter does him honour. His heart was always French."

I then informed him, that I had been assured, that the Duke of Orleans, when he parted from his officers, said to one of them, Colonel Athalin: "Go, sir, resume the national cockade: I take a pride in having worn it, and I wish I could wear it still." The Emperor appeared struck with these words, and made no reply. A few minutes after he asked me, if I had not a letter from Madame the Duchess of Orleans. I delivered it to him: he read it, and said: "Let his mother be treated with the regard he merits." And he ordered, that the duchess, whose property had just been sequestrated, should receive annually from the public treasury three hundred thousand francs as an indemnification. At the same time another indemnification of a hundred and fifty thousand francs was granted to the Duchess of Bourbon.

The Duke of Bourbon, though the Emperor had announced his embarkation, did not sail however till several days afterward. His presence and his proclamation had produced a partial rising in the circle of Beaupreau; but convinced by his own eyes, and by the reports of his principal officers, that the great body of the Vendeans would not stir, he yielded to the wishes of Colonel Noirot, commandant of the gendarmerie, expressed in the following letter:

"Monseigneur,

"It will not be in vain, I am persuaded, that I make an appeal to your magnanimity. It is in your power, with a single word, to calm an effervescence, the first results of which may once more stain with blood the fields of the too unhappy Vendee: this word your Highness will pronounce, and every thing will be restored to order. You will be aware likewise, Monseigneur, that a longer stay in the circle of Beaupreau, while it endangers the internal security of the country, will also endanger the personal safety of your Highness.

"Deign then, I conjure you, Monseigneur, to yield to the wishes I entertain for your happiness, and for that of my country. For all the means of safety, which your Highness may desire, to repair to the place of destination you may choose, I will engage."

This letter, which I take a pleasure in quoting, to prove what was the language of the men of the 20th of March, was not without effect. The Duke of Bourbon directed his aide-de-camp to have an interview with Colonel Noirot and it was determined, that his Highness should quit la Vendee, and embark at Nantes for England.

For reasons with which I am unacquainted, the prince did not fulfil his engagements. In fact, he quitted Beaupreau, but still roamed about the coast some time with a fictitious passport, and under a borrowed name. General-- recognised him, but respected his disguise. The Emperor approved this deference, and gave orders, that he should merely be obliged to depart: the father of the Duke of Enghien was become sacred to him, and to France.

Of all the family of the Bourbons the Duke and Duchess of Angouleme alone persisted in struggling against their ill-fortune.

She was at Bordeaux at the time of the landing. The entrance of Napoleon into Paris, the flight of the King, and the general defection of the army, did not abate her courage. She made the national guard take up arms: she hastened to the barracks, to harangue the soldiers, and remind them of what they owed to their oaths and to their King. Numerous battalions of volunteers were instantly formed, and directed by her orders, to defend the avenues to the city, intercept all communication, and prevent popular commotions.

General Clausel, however, appointed by the Emperor head commandant of the 11th division, had advanced as far as St. Andre de Cubsac, six leagues from Bordeaux, at the head of about five and twenty gendarmes collected on the road, and of a hundred and fifty men from the garrison of Blayes, who, informed of his arrival by his emissaries, had come to meet him.

On his approach, a battalion of volunteers, posted at Cubsac with two pieces of cannon, retreated hastily to St. Vincent, and there joined some other volunteers, to defend with them the passage of the Dordogne.

The soldiers of General Clausel attempted to seize the flying bridge, and were saluted with several discharges of artillery and small arms, which they received without returning. Their chief, desirous of avoiding a civil war, requested, that some person might be sent, to hold a parley with him. The Bordelese having deputed their commandant, M. de Martignac, for this purpose, he charged this officer, to make known to them, that he had no design of making any attempts against their persons or property; and that he conjured them, in the name of their country, not to spill the blood of Frenchmen to no purpose.

Nevertheless some hostile appearances were continued on both sides; but the royal volunteers were alarmed at the sight of three boats, which they supposed to be filled with troops, and took flight.

General Clausel, thus become master of the Dordogne, was preparing to cross it, when M. de Martignac returned to inform him, that Madame the Duchess of Angouleme consented to retire, and that the city should be delivered up to him in twenty-four hours.

Madame, instead of fulfilling this double promise, allowed herself to yield to the desire and hope of prolonging the defence. She assembled the national guard, and made fresh attempts to bring over the troops of the garrison to the royal party.

General Clausel perceived her at a distance reviewing the national guards and volunteers: he ordered M. de Martignac to be called back, and complained of the promises made him not being fulfilled. He urged in excuse, that the national guard and the garrison were no longer disposed to surrender the city. The general, perceiving that the Bordelese flattered themselves with being seconded by the troops of the line, assured M. de Martignac, that, on the contrary, they only waited for a concerted signal, to declare themselves in favour of the imperial cause. M. de Martignac appearing to doubt this, the general ordered a flag to be waved in the air, and immediately the tricoloured standard was hoisted on Trompette castle.

The Bordelese, astonished and affrighted, requested a capitulation. General Clausel was eager to grant all their proposals, and the next day they opened the gates of the city to him.

The Emperor was well pleased with the happy issue of this affair. He gave orders, to publish the report of General Clausel immediately: but as this report was a mere military statement, he added to it himself the supplementary particulars below, which he directed to be inserted in the Moniteur under the head of Bordeaux.