English Caricature and Satire on Napoleon I. John Ashton
several Members.
‘ “When cool consideration” (observed Buonaparte) “shall have stilled in your breasts the extraordinary emotion which you have testified” (murmurs), “you will, perhaps, be sensible of the injustice done General Buonaparte. Whatever may be the event, I now, in your presence, lay down on the altar of the Country, the badge of Magistracy with which the people had invested me.”
‘On saying these words, he laid down his badge of office on the President’s table: upon which the doors of the Hall were opened, and twenty Grenadiers entered. They advanced towards the Bureau, took L. Buonaparte into custody, and, placing him in the midst of them, they conducted him out of the Hall.
‘The Council was seized with extreme agitation. Cries, vociferations, and tumultuous confusion, arose from the Members suddenly quitting their places. Not a word could be distinctly heard.
‘Grandmaison, Blin, Delbrel, Bigonnet, Sherlock, Crochon, and several other Members, pressed forward towards the tribune.
‘Sherlock made an effort to speak, but could scarcely make himself heard among the tumult. “I move,” said he, “that you call back your President, whose resignation you have not accepted.”
‘ “He could have done nothing better,” exclaimed several Members, “than to have given it in.”
‘Meantime, at a distance was heard the sound of drums that beat the pas de charge. … Soon after, for the third time, the doors of the Hall were thrown open; and a third time the spectators endeavoured precipitately to escape by leaping out of the windows.
‘An officer came forwards, followed by a numerous guard, exclaiming with a loud voice, “General Buonaparte orders the Hall to be cleared.” Upon which, the troops advanced into the Hall, the further part of which remained occupied by the Deputies, who had not retired. The soldiers suspended their march for a moment, in order to afford time for the Hall to be cleared. About a Dozen of Members, among whom was Blin, remained near the Tribune, or at the Bureau; one of them who was at the Tribune, exclaimed,
‘ “What are you, Soldiers? are you anything else than guardians of the National Representation; and do you dare to menace its safety, to incroach on its independence—is it thus that you tarnish the laurels which your courage has won?”
‘This harangue was coldly listened to by the soldiers, who advanced into the Hall with drums beating. The Members who stood near the Bureau and the Tribune, were at length obliged to yield their places to the soldiers, who took possession of them. As the latter advanced into the Hall, these members went out at the opposite door. In a few minutes the Hall was completely cleared. It was then five o’clock.
‘Several members set out immediately for Paris, others remained at St. Cloud to observe the deliberations of the Council of Elders, and the extraordinary movement of the troops who filled the square of the palace. From time to time were heard the cries of Vive Buonaparte! Vive la République!
‘General Buonaparte, on hearing the Council of Five Hundred had withdrawn, advanced towards the soldiers and harangued them.
‘He entreated them to remain calm, and to rest assured that the good cause should triumph. They all answered by shouts of Vive Buonaparte!’
The scene depicted in the accompanying illustration is somewhat dramatically told by Napoleon himself in his proclamation of 19th Brumaire: ‘I presented myself before the Council of Five Hundred, alone, unarmed, my head uncovered, just as the Ancients had received and applauded me. My object was to restore to the majority the expression of its will, and to secure to it its power.
‘The stilettos which had menaced the Deputies, were instantly raised against their deliverer. Twenty assassins rushed upon me, and aimed at my breast. The grenadiers of the legislative body, whom I had left at the door of the hall, ran forward, and placed themselves between me and the assassins. One of these brave grenadiers (Thorne52) had his clothes pierced by a stiletto. They bore me off.’
DISSOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF FIVE HUNDRED.
Th’ appointed meeting now took place,
Producing tumult and disgrace,
Some of the members, when desired,
Refused to take the oath required,
Insisting Nap should not be spared
But as an outlaw be declared.
As President Nap’s brother sat,
So Lucien hemm’d and haw’d at that. But so outrageous was the strife, He found it hard to save his life; His eloquence he now display’d, ‘Napoleon must be heard,’ he said. Then Boney came—in great dismay; Th’ Assembly ordered him away— But such an order was mere fudge, The brave Napoleon scorn’d to budge; And several began to push in, To tear to pieces Nap and Lucien. Nap gave the word—his troops attended, By grenadiers he was defended; Tremendous now the hurly-burly, Each phiz appear’d confounded surly; They drew their daggers in a rage, And civil war began to wage. Amidst these violent attacks, Now some were thrown upon their backs, And others fell upon their faces, And others, on their—— proper places; While many, uttering sad groans, Were found upon their marrow bones.
Gillray, of course (November 21, 1799), touched on it, but not very effectively, his picture ‘Exit Libertè a la Francais!—or—Buonaparte closing the Farce of Égalité, at Saint Cloud, near Paris, November 10, 1799,’ being the weakest caricature of any on this subject. Napoleon is directing his troops, who are charging the Council with fixed bayonets.
The Council met again at night, but simply to do as they were bid. Thorne, the grenadier with the torn coat, was decreed to have deserved well of his country, as were also Napoleon, Lefebvre, Murat, Berthier, and many others. Sixty-one members of the Council were expelled, and Article two of the Resolution, passed that night, says—
‘The Legislative Body creates provisionally an Executive Consular Committee, composed of Citizens Syeyes and Roger Ducos, Ex-Directors, and Buonaparte, General. They shall bear the name of Consuls of the French Republic.’
CHAPTER XIX.
NAPOLEON TAKES THE LEAD—SIÈYES AND DUCOS ARE DEPOSED—CAMBACÉRÈS AND LEBRUN NAMED SECOND AND THIRD CONSULS—NAPOLEON’S LETTER TO GEORGE THE THIRD—REPLY TO SAME.
Napoleon had now got his foot fairly on the ladder, but it was he alone who was to mount it. At the first meeting of the Consuls, Sièyes asked, ‘Which of us is to preside?’ Ducos had grasped the position, and replied, ‘Do you not see that the General presides?’
There is a caricature by Cawse (November 30, 1799) of ‘Satan’s return from Egypt Earth. Discovered in Council with Belzebub and Belial—a Sketch after Fuseli53!!!’ Here Napoleon forms the centre figure, one foot resting on a skull, the other on the Marseillaise hymn and the Council of Five Hundred. Behind him is a glory, with a trinity formed of three daggers—Sièyes, Ducos, and Buonaparte. Devils surround him, and, at his feet, is a howling French mob.
Our hero, now, the people guided,
And a new government provided.
First Consul, modestly he claim’d, Two others were Sub-Consuls named; But these were not in Boney’s way, For the first Consul had full sway. And now these Consuls took an oath, For Nap to swear was never loth. Thus elevated, Josephine Imagin’d she would be a queen; But she by Nap was harshly told, That six and forty was too old; His mother, who the lady hated, Advised him to be separated; By her persuasions, Nap, of course Began to think of a divorce. He ponder’d ev’ry afternoon, And rubbing once his forehead, soon The lady’s banishment decreed, Because—their tempers disagreed. In