The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-12 00:00:00

elution nttilifont.e.

CARLOW.—Mr. Sadleir, it is announced in the Sen-
tinel, has no intention of again presenting himself
for this borough, and, as an active canvass is reported
to be going on at present, the announcement of the
county paper would in some degree seem borne of t
by electoral facts. Mi. H. G. Gridley of London,
and Mr. Thaddeus O'Shea of Carlow, are the two
candidates in the field.

vM
HEREFORD.—Mr. Evans, of Sufton, has consented
to be put in nomination for the vacancy caused by
the bankruptcy of Sir R. Price.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY.—The report that Sir Brooke
Brydges, Bart., will oppose Mr. Gladstone at the
next election, is denied by the Kentish Courier.
RocHEsrEn.—The contest between Mr. Bodkin,
the Conservative, and Mr. Martin. the Liberal, can-
didate, promises to be severe. Both candidates time
expressed themselves in favour of a vigorous prose-
cution of the war.
T.krdWOßTH.—Captain Townshend's accession to the
peerage leaves a vacancy in the representation .
Lord Raynham, the late member's eldest son, has
been solicited by the electors to allow himself to be
put in nomination.
ARMAGR.—Mr. Close, of Drumbanagher, is named
as a candidate for the county when a dissolution
occurs.
WEST RIDING.—Mr. E. B. Denison, in reply to a
question from a constituent, states that be has not
been informed that " any strong feeling has been
expressed in different parts of the West Riding to
have an entire change in the representation in the
event of a dissolution of the present Parliament ;"
nor that be had ever expressed to any person
Isla
intention to retire at the end of the Parliament into
private life.

THE EARL OF DERBY, at the late rent day dinner
given to his numerous tenantry, iu returning thanks
for his health, is reported to have assured hie,
tenants that, although farming produce might realiFB
the highest price, if they improved their farms,
they might rely upon it, whether they had leases or
no leases, they should reap the benefit of their im-
provements, as they would never be disturbed
by him.

JANUARY 12, 1850.

f,, iteraturt.

The Confidential Correspondence (f Napoleon
Bonaparte with his Brother Jomph. Two

Vols. London: Murray.

THIS correspondence is selected from the
voluminous memoirs of King Joseph lately
published. The selection has been judiciously
made. All the letters of Napoleon aro given ;
they are divided into epochs ; and prefatory
remarks are placed at the head of each divi-
sion to explain the course of Napoleon's for-
tunes. Such documents and letters by King
Joseph and other persons nearly connected
with Napoleon are introduced as are necessary
to the complete comprehension of his corre-
spondence—and by this plan we have, in
moderate space, the great Conqueror's own
views on the most important transactions of
his life. In no previous! publication have his
inmost character and secret motives been so
completely laid bare. We see him as he was,
in all his greatnessand his meanness, with his
colossal intellect and treacherous disposition
—a being whom it was impossible to with-
stand in the height of his power, but whom
it was equally impossible to trust,—the
mightiest of conquerors, the most unscrupu-
lous of monarchs, and the falsest of nego-
tiators.

To really know him it is only necessary to
study these volumes. The translator has per-
formed a most useful and welcome service in
presenting them in their present shape. An
ordinary acquaintance with the French lan-
guage would be quite insufficient to render
the letters of Napoleon intelligible.. They are
full of technical phrases, and eccentric ex-
pressions, due to the rapidity with which they
were often penned. The translator speaks of
the difficulty he experienced in finding the
true sense of the writer; generally he has
been very successful, and he has done wisely
in adhering closely to the literal sense of his
original. Whatever proceeded from so marked
a mind as Napoleon's was sure to bear some
impress of his character; and for this reason
expressions apparently trivial are really im-
portant. We cannot afford to lose a single
line that he wrote.

The correspondence commences in May,
1795. Napoleon was then in his twenty-sixth
year. He had acquired distinction at Toulon,
and had gained the rank of general of brigade,
but he was living in Paris unemployed.
Joseph was residing in Marseilles, where he
had married the daughter of M. Clary, a rich
merchant of the city Napoleon) amused some
of his leisure hours by looking out for a
profitable investment in land for the money
his brother had to spare. "If you were the
" man to make a good hit," he writes to
Joseph in the first of these letters, "you might
" buy the estate of M de Martigny, for eight
4` millions in assignats ;" and he explains that
that sum would be about equal to 80,000 francs
in specie, and that the estate before the Revo-
lution would have been worth 230,000 francs—
an evidence of the tremendous depreciation
in the worth of the assignats and of all real
property. Nevertheless, France was recover.
ing from the shock of revolution, and Paris
was all gaiety. Napoleon wrote to Joseph,
July 18, 1795 :

Luxury, pleasure, and the arts, are reviving here in a
wonderful manner. Yesterday they acted Phedre at the
Opera-house, for the benefit of a former actress ; the crowd
was immense from two o'clock in the afternoon, although
the prices w,re trebled. Equipages and dandies are re-
appearing, or rather they remember their period of eclipse
on!y as a long dream. Libraries are formed, and we have
lectures on history, chemistry, botany. astronomy, &c.
We have heaped together all that can make life amusing
and agreeable; reflection is banished. How is it possible
to see the dark side of things when the mind is constantly
whirled about in this giddy vortex? Women go every-
where—to the theatres, to the public walks, to the public
libraries. You find beauties in the philosopher's study.
Again :
This great nation gives itself up to pleasure : balls,
theatres, women (and ours are the finest in the world),
are the great business of life. Ease, luxury, fashion, have
all reappeared; the reign of terror is remembered only as
a dream.

At this time Napoleon was engaged to Eugenie
Desiree, the sister of Joseph's wife. He sends
her frequent remembrances, but appears to

THE PRESS.

have been alternating between moods of en-
joyment and gloom. The fatalism of his
character peeps out continually. He writes :

Life is a flimsy dream, soon to be over. If you are
going away, and you think it may be for some time, send
me your portrait; we have lived together for so many years,
so closely united that our hearts have become one, and you
know best how entirely mine belongs to you. While I
write these lines I feel an emotion which I have seldom
experienced.
A. little later :
As forme. little attached to life, contempl at i iv; it without
much solicitude, constantly in the state of mind in which
one is on the day before a battle, feeling that, while death
is amongst us to put an end to all, anxiety is folly—every-
thing joins to make me defy fortune and fate ; in time I
shall not get out of the way when a carriage comes. I
sometimes wonder at my own state of mind. It is the
result of what I have seen and what I have risked.

Yet all the time he was making way. He
speaks frequently of the opportunities open-
ing to him. The Committee of Public Safety
appointed him " director of the armies."
Their resolutions were so " flattering " to him
that he feared he should not be able to go to
Turkey, as he wished, to organise the Sultan's
artillery, with " a good salary and a flattering
" diplomatic title." His belief iu his good-
fortune became stronger with each event :
Whatever happens, you need fear nothing fur me : all
honest people are my friends, to whatever party they may
belong. .. . You know well, that I live only to give
pleasure to my friends. If my wishes are seconded by the
good•fortune which, as yet, has never failed me, I shall be
able to make you happy, and to fulfil all your wishes.
Soon came the 13th Vendemiaire (sth of
October), the day of sections, which confirmed
the reputation of Bonaparte. In the flush of
success he wrote to Joseph :

As usual, I was not wounded. Fortune favours me.
His appointment to be Commander-in-Chief
of the Army of the Interior immediately fol-
lowed, and from this time he devoted all his
energies to business It is characteristic of
his nature, that he found happiness in inces-
sant occupation ; but he did not forget his
family :
The multiplicy and importance of my business prevent
my writing to you frequently. lam happy and contended.
I have sent to our family from 50,010 to 60,000 francs in
money, assignats, and things.

Then followed rapidly his appointment to
the command of the army for Italy, and his
marriage with Josephine, the engagement
with Eugenie having for some reason not ex-
plained been broken off. " The merchant's
" daughter," says the editor, " missed be-
" coining Empress of the French to become
" Queen of Sweden." With the successes in
Italy, Bonaparte's fortunes naturally rose.
The wonderful years in his history were '95
and '96. It was in those two years that the
foundations of his grandeur were laid. He
assumed, with the command of the Italian
army the guardianship of his family. On
January Ilth, 1796, he wrote:—
I see no objection to Paulette's marriage if he is rich.
Four months later he had higher views for
her:—

Pray arrange Paulette's affair. I do not intend Freron
to marry her. Tell her so, and let him know it too.
The explanation of this decision is to be
found in his next sentence :—" We are masters
"of all Lombardy " Soon he was master of
all Italy. Joseph was appointed French Am-
bassador to Rome, and to him Napoleon
addressed some letters during that "happiest
" period of his life," when, occupying with
Josephine the beautiful villa near Udine, he
negotiated the treaty of Campo Formic), and
first enjoyed the full fruits of success and
exercise of power. His expedition to Egypt
rapidly followed, and his misanthropical feel-
ing returned on him, with tidings of Jose-
phine's light conduct at Paris. It is some
excuse for his subsequent conduct tem arils
her that he meditated divorce immediately on
his return from Egypt. From Cairo he wrote
to Joseph (July 25th, 1798) :
I have much domestic distress. Your friendship is very
dear to me. To become a misanthropist, I have only to
lose it and find that you betray me. That every different
feeling towards the same person should be united in one
heart is very painful. Let me have on my arrival a villa
near Paris, or in Burgundy. I intend to shut myself up
there for the winter. I am tired of human nature. I
want solitude and isolation. Greatness fatigues me.
Feeling is dried up. At twentynine glory is become flat.
I have exhausted everything. I have no refuge but pure
selfishness.

---------- -
He was detained in Egypt longer than he
expected. On his return to Paris, in October.

39

1709, he became reconciled to Josephine,
attained the Consulate, and thenceforward
was undisputed master of France. The letters
to Joseph are few until he decided on the
seizure of Naples. His announcement of his
intention to his brother was characteristically
laconic (Paris, Dec. 31st, 1805) :

I intend to take possession of the kingdom of Naples.
Marshal Massena and Geneial St. Cyr are marching on
that kingdom with two corps d'arrnee. I have named you
my lieutenant commanding-in-chief the army of Naples.
Set off for Rome forty hours after the receipt of this letter,
and let your first despatch inform me that you have en-
tered Naples, driven out the treacherous Court, and sub-
jected that part of Italy to our authority.
A few days later :
You will make no truce, you will hear of no capitulation:
my will is, that the Bourbons shall have ceased to reign at.
Naples. I intend to seat on that throne a prince of my
own house. In the first place you, if it suits you. If not,
another.

He entertained magnificent views for his
family at this date :

I have demanded in marriage for Prince Eugene, Princess
Augusta, daughter of the Elector of Bavaria, and a very
pretty person. This marriage has been agreed on. 1 have
demanded another princess for Jerome. As yon have
seen him last, tell me if I can reckon on the young mail's
consent. I have also arranged a marriage for your eldest
daughter with a small prince who in time will become a
great prince.

From the time that Joseph undertook the
government of Naples hica misfortunes com-
menced. Nothing he could do would satisfy
his imperious brother. Their notions o
government were essentially opposite. Napo-f
Leon was all for severity ; Joseph was all for
mildness. No sooner had Joseph entered
Naples than Napoleon wrote to him :

Lay a contribution of 30,000,000 on the whole kingdom.
Your conduct wants decision ; your soldiers and your
generals ought to live in plenty. The kingdom of Naples
is not exhausted ; you can always get. money, since there
are royal fieN and taxes which have been granted away.

He was all for shooting and hanging the
disaffected. " Honest people," in his phrase,
means always those who were. prepared to
submit to him. Brigands and assassins, those
who were prepared to resist him to extremity.
When Joseph had been a few weeks in Naples
Napoleon wrote to him :

I think your operations too slow. The first things to
do are, to get money and to make severe examples of the
assassins. In a conquered country kindness is nut
humane.

Joseph pleaded for kindness, and was bom-
bastic on the attachment of the Neapolitans to
his person. Napoleon reproved him sharply
for his vanity :

I see some passages in your speech which you most
allow me to think ill judged. You compare the attach
ment of the French to my person to that of the Neapoli•
tans for you ; that looks like a satire. What love for you
can a people have for whom you have done nithing?
whom you govern by right of conquest with 40,000 or
150,000 foreigners ?

He called loudly for vigorous measures :

Vigorous measures will reassure your capital more than
assembling within its walls a quantity of troops.
What were the " vigorous measures " he de-
manded appears from other passages :

Bear in mind what I tell you: the fate of your reign
depends on your conduct when you return from Calabria.
Grant no pardons ; do military execution on at least 600
rebels ; they have murdered a great number of my soldiers.
Let the houses of thirty of the principal heads of villages
be burnt, and distribute their property among the troops.
Disarm all the inhabitants, and pillage five or six of the
large villages which have behaved worst.
He points attention to what he had done in
Corsica :

When Niolo was taken, forty rebels were hung upon the
trees . I sent thither Junot. who sent me
reports full of French cleverness, and declared that no
rebellion had taken place. I ordered him to burn two
villages, and to shoot the ringleaders, among whom were
six priests. This was done, the country was subdued, and
will remain so for a long time.
- - -

This burning and shooting was part of his
" system." Ho expounds it with great
energy :

I am waiting to hear how many estates you have con-
fiscated in Calabria, and how many rebels you have
executed. You should shout in every village three of the
ringleaders. Do not spare the priests more than the
others.

Joseph was anxious to engage Neapolitans
in his service. Napoleon shrewdly admonishes

Lim :-

If you really must have 4,000 'Neapolitans at Naples, so
be it; but then have no more, and select for this service
fathers of families, very cowardly, very old, who are just
fit to protect the house when there is a cry of thieves.

40

Poor Joseph could do nothing right. We give
some specimens of Napoleoo's brotherly ad-
monitions :

I see that all your military operations are wrong. I cannot
understand how, surrounded as you are by men of military
eVerience, there are so few who can give you good advice.
• •••
My Brother—The kingdom of Naples is very ill ad-
ministered ; my troops are not paid, and the arrears
increase every day.
In the spring of 1806, Joseph was called on
to resign the uneasy crown of Naples for the
yet snore uneasy one of Spain. The seizure
of the Spanish monarchy was organised by
Napoleon with that rare administrative talent
which he displayed in all his great enter-
prises. The first intimation Joseph received of
his destined change was in a letter of April,
1506 :

It is not impossible that iu the course of five or six days
I may write to desire you to repair to Bayonne.
The summons to the Spanish crown came a
month later :

The nation, through the Supreme Council of Castile,
asks me for a king ; 1 destine ibis crown for you. Spain
is a very different thing from Naples; it contains eleven
millions of inhabitants, and has more than 130,1;00,000 of
revenue, without counting the Indies and the immense
revenues to be derived from them. It is, besides, a throne
which places you at Madrid, at three days' journey from
France, which borders the whole of one of its frontiers.
At Madrid you are in France; Naples is the end of the

Joseph had sense to perceive the magnitude
of the enterprise, and, eleven days after he
entered Spain, wrote to his brother:—

Sire...—lt appears to me that no one has told your Majesty
he whole truth. I will not conceal it. Our undertaking
a very great one; to get out of it with honour requires
vast means. Ido not see double from fear. When I left
Naples I saw the risks before me, and I now say to myself
every day, "My life is nothing—l give it to you." But if
I am to live without the shame of failure, I must be sup•
plied largely with men and money. Then the kindness of
my nature may make me popular ; now, when all is doubt-
ful, kindness looks like timidity, and I try to conceal mine.
To get quickly through this task, so hateful to a sovereign,
to prevent further insurrections, to have less blood to shed
and fewer tears to dry, enormous force must be employed.
Whatever be the result in Spain, its king must lament, for
if he conquers it will be by force ; but, as the die is cast,
the struggle should be cut abort. My position does not
frighten me, but it is one in which a king never was before.
I have not a single partisan.

Napoleon replied, " Don't bo uneasy —be
happy" _

Troops are pouring in continually from all quarters.
Yon have a great many partisans iu Spain—you have all
the honest people, but they fear to come forward.
He rigorously enforced his system. From
Valladolid, Jan. 8, 1809, he writes :

I have arrested here twelve of the worst characters and
hanged them.
He wrote an order to Belliard, commanding at
Madrid, that thirty of the worst characters in
the town must be arrested and shot :

This is what I have done at Valladolid.
To Joseph he wrote :

I am not satisfied with the order which is kept in Madrid ;
Belliard is too weak—with the Spaniards it is necessary
to be severe.
Again :

ICLu must hang at Madrid a score of the worst charac-
ters. To-morrow I intend to have hanged here seven, no-
torious for their excesses. They have been secretly
denounced to me by respectable people whom their exist-
ence disturbed, and who will recover their spirits when
they are got rid of. If Madrid is not delivered from at
least a hundred of these firebrands, you will be able to do
nothing. Out of these hundred, hang or shoot twelve or
fifteen, and send the rest to France for the galleys.
We know to what all this burning and hang-
ing reduced the great Conqueror at last. It
might have been necessary to the maintenance
of his " system," as there is great worldly
shrewdness in his exhortations to Joseph, and
vast knowledge of mankind in all those hints
indicating that a conquerer must expect no-
thing from the attachment of his subjects,
and can hope to reign only by fear; but then
his system itself was utterly hollow, it could
be maintained only by military force, and
when that force was weakened it fell in ruin.
Joseph at last found the reproofs of his
brother intolerable, and Napoleon was still
less inclined to listen to Joseph's remon-
strances. Their direct con espondence ceased
for the troubled period that Joseph was nomi-
nally King of Spain. The reproaches of the
Emperor must have been still more galling to
the King when delivered by his own generals.
Napoleon writes to General Clarke (Aug. 15,
1809 i