Joseph Bonaparte Part 5

"'Ah! that is right; if it were not so, we should not see here M.

Mathieu de Montmorency.'

"But another n.o.bleman present, who had not emigrated, said to me, on the contrary: 'Will it then be permitted to the Bourbons to conspire with impunity? The First Consul is deceived if he think that the n.o.bles who have not emigrated, and particularly the historic n.o.bility, take any deep interest in the Bourbons.' Several others present expressed the same views.

"The next day, upon my return to Malmaison, I found Napoleon very indignant against Count Real; whose motives he accused, reproaching him with having employed in his government certain men too much compromised in the great excesses of the Revolution. _The Duke d'Enghien had been condemned and executed even before the announcement of his trial had been communicated to Napoleon._

"Subsequently he was convinced of the innocence of Real, and of the strange fatality which had caused him for a moment to appear culpable in his eyes. In the mean time, resuming self-control, he said to me, 'Another opportunity has been lost. It would have been admirable to have had, as aid-de-camp, the grandson of the great Conde. But of that there can be no more question. The blow is irremediable. Yes; I was sufficiently strong to allow a descendant of the great Conde to serve in our armies. But we must seek consolation. Undoubtedly, if I had been a.s.sa.s.sinated by the agents of the family, he would have been the first to have shown himself in France, arms in his hands. I must take the responsibility of the deed. To cast it upon others, even with truth, would have too much the appearance of cowardice, for me to be willing to do it.'

"Napoleon," continues Joseph, "has never appeared with greater eclat than under these sad and calamitous circ.u.mstances. I only learned, several years afterward, in the United States, from Count Real himself, the details of that which pa.s.sed at the time of the death of the Duke d'Enghien. It was at New York, in the year 1825, at Was.h.i.+ngton Hall, where we met, by an arrangement with M. Le Ray de Chaumont, the proprietor of some lands, a portion of which he had sold to me and to M.

Real, that he informed me how a simple emotion of impatience on his part had very involuntarily the effect of preventing the kindly feeling which the First Consul cherished in favor of the Duke d'Enghien.

"M. Real, one of the four counsellors of state charged with the police of France, had charge of the arrondiss.e.m.e.nt of Paris and of Vincennes. A dispatch was sent to him in the night, informing him of the condemnation of the prince. The police clerk, attending in the chamber which opened into his apartment, had already awoke him twice for reasons of but little importance, which had quite annoyed M. Real. The third dispatch was therefore placed upon his chimney, and did not meet his eye until a late hour in the morning.

"Opening it, he hastened to Malmaison, where he was preceded by an officer of the gendarmerie, who brought information of the condemnation and execution of the prince. The commission had judged, from the silence of the Government, that he was not to be pardoned. I need not dwell upon the regret, the impatience, the indignation of Napoleon."

The crown of Lombardy was, about this time, offered to Joseph, which he declined, as he did not wish to separate himself from France. The kingdom of Naples was now influenced by England to make an attack upon Napoleon. The King of Naples supposed that France could be easily vanquished, with England, Russia, Austria, and Naples making a simultaneous attack upon her. But the great victory of Austerlitz, which compelled Austria and Russia to withdraw from the coalition, struck the perfidious King of Naples with dismay. France had done him no wrong, and the only apology the Neapolitan Court had for commencing hostilities was, that if the French were permitted to dethrone the Bourbons and to choose their own rulers, the Neapolitan might claim the same privilege.

A few days after the battle of Austerlitz Joseph received orders from his brother to hasten to the Italian Peninsula, and take command of the Army of Italy, and march upon Naples. The King of Naples had, in addition to his own troops, fourteen thousand Russians and several thousand English auxiliaries. Joseph placed himself at the head of forty thousand French troops, and in February, 1806, entered the kingdom of Naples. The Neapolitans could make no effectual resistance. Joseph soon arrived before Capua, a fortified town about fifteen miles north of the metropolis of the kingdom. Eight thousand of the Neapolitan troops took refuge in the citadel, and made some show of resistance. They soon, however, were compelled to surrender.

The Neapolitan Court was in a state of consternation. The English precipitately embarked in their s.h.i.+ps and fled to Sicily. The Russians escaped to Corfu. The Court, having emptied the public coffers, and even the vaults of the bank, took refuge in Palermo, on the island of Sicily.

The prince royal, with a few troops of the Neapolitan army, who adhered to the old monarchy, retreated two or three hundred miles south, to the mountains of Calabria. On the 15th of February, Joseph, at the head of his troops, marched triumphantly into Naples. He not only encountered no resistance, but the population, regarding him as a liberator, received him with acclamations of joy.

On the 30th of March, 1806, Napoleon issued a decree, declaring Joseph king of Naples. The _decret_ was as follows:

"Napoleon, by the grace of G.o.d and the const.i.tutions, Emperor of the French and King of Italy, to all those to whom these presents come, salutation.

"The interests of our people, the honor of our crown, and the tranquillity of the Continent of Europe requiring that we should a.s.sure, in a stable and definite manner, the lot of the people of Naples and of Sicily, who have fallen into our power by right of conquest, and who const.i.tute a part of the grand the empire, we declare that we recognize, as King of Naples and of Sicily, our well-beloved brother, Joseph Napoleon, Grand Elector of France. This crown will be hereditary, by order of primogeniture, in his descendants masculine, legitimate, and natural," etc.

The former Government of Naples was detested by the whole people. The warmest advocates of the Allies have never yet ventured to utter a word in its defense. Even the grandees of the realm were heartily glad to be rid of their dissolute, contemptible, and tyrannical queen, who regarded the inhabitants of the kingdom but as her slaves, and the wealth of the kingdom but as her personal dowry, to be squandered for the gratification of herself and her favorites. With great energy Joseph immediately commenced a reform in all the administrative departments.

He carefully sought out Neapolitan citizens of integrity, intelligence, and influence, to occupy the important public stations. Accompanied by a guard of chosen men, he made a tour of the country; thus informing himself, by personal observation, of the character of the inhabitants, and of the wants and capabilities of the kingdom. It was indeed a gloomy prospect of indolence and poverty which presented itself to his eye, though the climate was enchanting, with its genial temperature, its brilliant skies, and its fertile soil. The landscape combined all the elements of sublimity and of beauty, with towering mountains and lovely meadows, streams and lakes watering the interior, and harbors inviting the commerce of the world. But the condition of the populace was wretched in the extreme. The Government, despotic and corrupt, seized all the earnings of the people, and consigned nearly the whole population to penury and rags. King Ferdinand and his dissolute queen, Louisa, made an effort to rouse the people to resist the French. Their efforts were, however, entirely in vain. Joseph issued the following proclamation to the Neapolitans, which they read with great satisfaction:

"People of the kingdom of Naples; the Emperor of the French, King of Italy, wis.h.i.+ng to save you from the calamities of war, had signed, with your Court, a treaty of neutrality. He believed that in that way he could secure your tranquillity, in the midst of the vast conflagration with which the third coalition has menaced Europe. But the Court of Naples has zealously allied itself with our enemies, and has opened its states to the Russians and to the English.

"The Emperor of the French, whose justice equals his power, wishes to give a signal example, commanded by the honor of his crown, by the interests of his people, and by the necessity of re-establis.h.i.+ng in Europe the respect which is due to public faith.

"The army which I command is on the march to punish this perfidy. But you, the people, have nothing to fear. It is not against you that our arms are directed. The altars, the ministers of your religion, your laws, your property, will be respected. The French soldiers will be your brothers. If, contrary to the benevolent intentions of his majesty, the Court which excites you will sacrifice you, the French army is so powerful that all the forces promised to your princes, even if they were on your territory, could not defend it. People! have no solicitude.

This war will be for you the epoch of a solid peace, and of durable prosperity."

Ferdinand, upon retiring to the island of Sicily, had swept the continental coast of every vessel and even boat. Joseph thus found it quite impossible to transport his troops across the strait of Messina to pursue the fugitive king. He, however, made a very thorough survey of the continental kingdom, and having planned many measures of internal improvement of vast magnitude, which were subsequently executed, he returned to Naples. He was here received with congratulations by all cla.s.ses of his subjects.

The clergy, led by Cardinal Ruffo, and even the n.o.bility, vied with each other in their expressions of satisfaction in a change of dynasty. The great majority of the most intelligent people in the kingdom were weary of the corrupt Court which, swaying the sceptre of feudal despotism, had consigned Naples to indolence, dilapidation, and penury. Joseph immediately selected the most distinguished Neapolitans as members of his council. He made every effort to introduce into his kingdom all the benefits which the French Revolution had brought to France, while he carefully sought to avoid the evils which accompanied that great popular movement.

Though Joseph soon found himself firmly seated on the throne, war still lingered along the coasts, and in the more remote parts of his kingdom.

The fortress of Gaeta, almost impregnable, was still held by a garrison of Ferdinand's troops. Marauding bands of Neapolitans, lured by love of plunder, infested and pillaged the unprotected districts. The English fleet was hovering along the coast, watching for opportunities of a.s.sault. It landed an army at the Gulf of St. Euphemia, and discomfited a small division of Joseph's troops. Thus the kingdom was in a general state of disorder wherever the influence of Joseph was not sensibly felt.

But the wise and energetic measures he adopted removed one after another of these evils. He found but little difficulty in persuading all those who co-operated with him in the government, both French and Neapolitans, that the interests of each individual cla.s.s in the community were dependent upon the elevation and improvement of the whole country; and it is a remarkable fact that the princ.i.p.al n.o.blemen in Naples were among the first to appreciate and adopt the great ideas of reform which Joseph introduced. Influenced by his arguments, they, of their own accord, relinquished their feudal privileges, and adopted those principles of equal rights upon which the empire of Napoleon was founded, and which gave it its almost omnipotent hold upon popular affections. Even the ecclesiastics, men of commanding character and intelligence, who had been introduced into the Council of State, voted for the suppression of monastic orders, and for the use of their funds to place the credit of the kingdom upon a solid basis.

Reform was thus extended, wisely and efficiently, through all the departments of Government. And though the ma.s.ses of the people, being illiterate peasants, incapable of any intelligent administration of public affairs, had but little voice in the Government, every thing was done for their welfare that enlightened patriotism could suggest. All writers, friends and foes, agree alike in their testimony to the wise measures adopted by Joseph. He founded colleges for the instruction of young men, and many other inst.i.tutions of a high character for male and female education. Splendid roads were constructed from one extremity of the kingdom to the other; manufactories of various kinds were established and encouraged; the arts were rewarded; agriculture received a new impulse; the army was efficiently organized and brought under salutary discipline; a topographical bureau was created, the whole kingdom carefully surveyed, and a fine map constructed. The mouldering ramparts of the city were rebuilt, and new fortresses reared.

Naples had for ages been filled with a miserable idle population, called lazzaroni. They infested the streets and the squares, and were devoured by vermin, and half-covered with rags. With no incitement to industry, indeed with hardly the possibility of obtaining any work, they had fallen into the most abject state of vice and despair. These men, in large numbers, were collected, comfortably clothed, well fed, well paid, and were employed in constructing a new and splendid avenue to the metropolis. Made happy by industry, and inspired by its sure reward, they became contented and useful subjects.

The Ministry of the Interior was confided to Count Miot. It was his duty to devote all his energies to promote the interests of agriculture, commerce, manufactures, the arts, the sciences, public instruction, and all liberal inst.i.tutions. The country had been filled with brigands, rioting in violence, robbery, and murder. To repress their excesses, Joseph established a military commission with each army corps, whose duty it was to judge and execute, without appeal, the brigands taken with arms in their hands.

The English fleet commanded the Mediterranean. The Neapolitan troops, under the command of Ferdinand, had fled to Calabria, and, under the protection of the English fleet had crossed the straits of Messina to the island of Sicily. The British squadron then swept the coasts of Calabria, applying the torch to all the public property which could not be carried away. While these scenes were transpiring, Napoleon wrote to Joseph almost daily, giving him very minute directions. He wrote to him on the 12th of January, 1806: "Speak seriously to M---- and to L----, and say that you will have no robberies. M---- robbed much in the Venetian country. I have recalled S---- to Paris for that reason. He is a bad man. Maintain severe discipline."

Again he wrote on the 19th: "It is my intention that the Bourbons should cease to reign at Naples. I wish to place upon that throne a prince of my family; you first, if that is agreeable to you; another, if that is not agreeable to you. The country ought to furnish food, clothing, horses, and every thing that is necessary for your army; so that it shall cost me nothing."

Again, on the 27th, Napoleon wrote from Paris: "I have only to congratulate myself with all that you did while you remained in Paris.

Receive my thanks, and, as a testimony of my satisfaction, my portrait upon a snuff-box, which I will forward by the first officer I send to you. Tolerate no robbers. I have just received a letter from the Queen of Naples. I shall not reply. After the violation of the treaty, I can no longer trust her promises."

Again, on the 3d of February, 1806, he writes: "Believe in my friends.h.i.+p. Do not listen to those who wish to keep you out of fire, _loin du feu_. It is necessary that you should establish your reputation, if there should be opportunity. Place yourself conspicuously. As to real danger, it is everywhere in war."

The Prince-royal of Naples wrote a letter to Joseph, with the hope of regaining his crown. He stated that the King and Queen had abdicated in favor of their son. Joseph replied that he could not listen to the appeal; that he could only execute the orders which he received, and that the application was too late.

The city of Gaeta was one of the strongest positions in Europe. The troops of Ferdinand maintained a siege there for many months. They were very efficiently aided by the British fleet, which brought them continual re-enforcements and supplies. Its capture was considered one of the most brilliant achievements in modern warfare. There was now not a spot upon the Continent of Europe where a flag floated in avowed hostility to France. Ferdinand of Naples, with a small army, had fled to the island of Sicily, where, for a short time, he was protected by the British fleet.

In the mean time King Joseph was devoting himself untiringly and with great wisdom to the development of the new inst.i.tutions of reform, and of equal rights for all, which everywhere accompanied the French banners. Marshal Ma.s.sena was sent to the provinces of Calabria to put a stop to brigandage. The brigands were merciless. Severe reprisals became necessary. The British fleet, under Sir Sidney Smith, hovered along the sh.o.r.es of the gulfs of Salerno and of Naples, striving to rouse and encourage resistance to the new Government.

There was a renowned bandit, named Michael Pozza, who, from his energy and atrocities, had acquired the sobriquet of _Fra Diavolo_, or brother of the devil. His bands, widely scattered, were at times concentrated, and waged fierce battle. Gradually French discipline gained upon them.

Large numbers of the Neapolitans, hating the old regime, and glad to be rid of it, enlisted in defense of the new inst.i.tutions. The robbers were at length cut to pieces. Fra Diavolo escaped to the mountains, where he was taken and shot. In this warfare with the brigands, the Neapolitan troops, emboldened by the presence and protection of the French army, displayed very commendable courage.

While engaged in these warlike operations, through his able generals, Joseph was much occupied with the employment, more congenial to him, of conducting the interior administration. It was his first endeavor to eradicate every vestige of the old despotism of feudalism--a system perhaps necessary in its day, but which time had outgrown. The whole political edifice was laid upon the foundation of the _absolute equality of rights of all the citizens_--a principle until then unknown in Naples. There had been no gradations in society. There were a few families of extreme opulence, enjoying rank and exclusive privileges, and then came the almost beggared ma.s.ses, with no incentives to exertion. The enervating climate induced indolence. Life could be maintained with but little clothing, and but little food. The cities and villages swarmed with half-clad mult.i.tudes, vegetating in a joyless existence.

Joseph gave his earnest attention to rousing the mult.i.tude from this apathy. He thought that one of the most important means to awaken a love of industry was to make these poor people, as far as possible, landed proprietors. The man who owns land, though the portion may be small, is almost resistlessly impelled to cultivate it. His ambition being thus roused, his intellectual and social condition becomes ameliorated, and he is prepared to take part, as a citizen, in the administration of affairs. A new division of territory was created into provinces and districts, in which the prominent men, who were imbued with the spirit of reform, were appointed to the administration of local interests.

Still many of the old n.o.bility struggled hard to maintain their feudal power. But resolutely Joseph proceeded in laying the foundations of a national representation, derived from popular election, which should be the organ of the whole nation, to make known to the King the wishes and necessities of the people.

This was an immense stride in the direction of a popular government It endangered the feudal privilege, which upheld the throne and the castle, in other lands. Hence it was that the throne and the castle combined to overthrow inst.i.tutions so republican in their tendencies.

The whole system of administration had been awfully corrupt. Justice was almost unknown. All the tribunals were concentrated in the city of Naples. There were tens of thousands of prisoners, very many for political offenses, awaiting trial. In the provinces of Calabria Joseph appointed judicial commissions to attend to these cases. In three months about five thousand prisoners had a hearing. Many of them had been detained over twenty years. Not a few were incarcerated through malicious accusations. Those guilty of some slight offense were imprisoned with a.s.sa.s.sins, all alike exposed to the damp of dungeons and infected air.

A system of very effective prison reform was immediately established by Joseph. The prisoners were placed in apartments large and well-ventilated. They were separated in accordance with the nature of the offenses of which they were accused. Distinct prisons were appropriated to females. Hospitals were established for the sick of both s.e.xes, with every necessary arrangement for the restoration of health.

A thorough reform was introduced into the finances. Under the old regime, all had been confusion and oppression. The only object of the Government seemed to be to get all it could. In the country the people often were compelled to pay their lords not only money, but also very onerous personal services. This was all remedied by the adoption of an impartial system of taxation. And it was found that the new imposts, honestly collected, were far less oppressive to the people, and more in amount.

The overthrow of the feudal system placed at the disposal of the State a vast amount of land which had been uncultivated. This was divided among a large number of people, who paid for it an annual sum into the treasury. Thus the welfare of these individuals was greatly promoted, and the resources of the State increased.

And now Joseph turned his attention to public instruction. The last Government had been opposed to education. It had entered into open warfare against the sciences, prohibiting the introduction of the most important foreign publications. Joseph immediately established schools for primary instruction all over the realm. Normal schools were organized for the education of teachers. In the smallest hamlets teachers were provided to instruct the children in the elements of the Christian religion, and school-mistresses, who, in addition to the same lessons, were to teach the young girls the duties proper to their s.e.x.

This impulse to education spread rapidly through all the provinces. The free schools established in Naples were soon so crowded that it became necessary to add to their number. The university at Naples, frowned upon by the former Government, had fallen into deep decline. Nineteen chairs of professors were vacant. Others were occupied, but their duties quite neglected. The university was reorganized in accordance with the enlightenment of modern times. New professors.h.i.+ps were endowed in the place of those which had become useless. Especial efforts were made to secure learned men for those chairs from the kingdom of Naples. But education was at so low an ebb that it was necessary to obtain several professors from abroad. Everywhere a thirst for knowledge seemed to manifest itself.

These reforms were exceedingly popular with the great majority of the Neapolitans. But there were not wanting those who opposed them. There were those of the privileged cla.s.s who had been enriched by the ignorance and debas.e.m.e.nt of the people. These men began gradually to develop their opposition. Joseph had endeavored to employ Neapolitans as much as possible in the Government. He employed Frenchmen in the military and civil service only where he could find no Neapolitans equal to the post. Some of the Neapolitans, jealous of French influence, while also secretly clinging to ancient abuses, began cautiously the attempt to r.e.t.a.r.d these reforms. Joseph listened patiently to their objections in cabinet council, and then said:

"I have carefully followed a discussion which relates so intimately to the public welfare. I had hoped to hear reasons. I have heard only pa.s.sions. I look in vain for any indications of love of country in the objections to the proposed laws. I must say that I see only the spirit of party."

He then examined, one by one, the objections which had been brought forward, and added, "Do you think, gentlemen, that I am willing to sustain these exclusive privileges? We have not destroyed these Gothic inst.i.tutions, the remnants of barbarism, in order to reconstruct them under other forms. And can any of you cherish the thought that this resistance, which ought to surprise me, can induce me to retrograde toward inst.i.tutions condemned by the spirit of the age? No; too long have the people groaned under the weight of intolerable abuses. They shall be delivered from them. If obstacles arise, be a.s.sured that I shall know how to remove them."

The fine arts were also languis.h.i.+ng, with every thing else, under the execrable regime of the Bourbons of Naples. But the taste for the fine arts survived their decay. The new Government inst.i.tuted schools of art under the direction of the most skillful masters. Painting, drawing, sculpture, engraving, all received a new impulse.