Part 11 (1/2)
”Send two, and those of whose vigilance and intelligence you are sure
Refuse, by all means, the other fourteen Schiue, he would neglect everything for the, and are handsome and adroit, advise the; and if they consent, order them to my office, and they shall be supplied, if approved of, both with instructions, and with their travelling expenses”
Fouche answered his colleague that ”they were in every respect the very reverse of his description; they seee of infamy, and they could neither read nor write” You have therefore, no reason to fear that these belles will be sent to disseminate corruption in your happy island
LETTER xxxIII
PARIS, August, 1805
MY LORD:--The Italian subjects of Napoleon the First were far froratitude for his paternal care and kindness in taking upon hiood Parisians have done Notwithstanding that a brigade of our police agents and spies, drilled for years to applaud and to excite enthusiasuard to raise the public spirit, the reception at Milan was cold and everything else but cordial and pleasing The absence of duty did not escape his observation and resent, prosperity, and liberty his victories and sovereignty have conferred on the inhabitants of the other side of the Alps, he ascribed their present passive or n elory and jealous of his authority
He suspected particularly England and Russia of having selected this occasion of a solerandeur to humble his just pride He also had soht indirectly have dared to influence the sentiments and conduct of her ci-devant subjects of Loh opinion of the ahich his very nahts, and his wrath fell entirely on the audacity of Pitt and Markof Strict orders were therefore issued to the prefects and coners and strangers, who ht have arrived, or who should arrive, to witness the ceremony of the coronation, and to arrest instantly any one who should give the least reason to suppose that he was an enemy instead of an admirer of His Imperial and Royal Majesty He also commanded the prefects of his palace not to permit any persons to approach his sacred person, of whose ood account
These great measures of security were not entirely unnecessary
Individual vengeance and individual patriotisuage, ”were near transfor into a day of universal ree that in France, within the first twelve years after we had reconquered our lost liberty,the six centuries of the most brilliant epoch of ancient and free Ro evidences of the eternal tranquillity of our unfortunate country, of our affection to our rulers, and of the unanies of Govern our printed votes, received and approved
The frequency of conspiracies not only shows the discontent of the governed, but the insecurity and instability of the governors This truth has not escaped Napoleon, who has, therefore, ordered an expeditious and secret justice to despatch instantly the conspirators, and to bury the conspiracy in oblivion, except when any grand coup d'etat is to be struck; or, to excite the passions of hatred, any proofs can be found, or n Government in an odious plot Since the farce which Mehee de la Touche exhibited, you have, therefore, not read in the Moniteur either of the danger our Emperor has incurred several times since from the machinations of implacable or fanatical foes, or of the alarm these have caused his partisans They have, indeed, been hinted at in soraphs of our public prints, but their particulars will remain concealed fro our Court, our fashi+onable, or our political circles, has taken the trouble of noting them down; but even to these they are but imperfectly or incorrectly known
Could the veracity of a Fouche, a Real, a Talleyrand, or a Duroc (the only me conspirators) be depended upon, they would be thesecret occurrences
What I intend relating to you on this subject are circumstances such as they have been reported in our best informed societies by our most inquisitive companions Truth is certainly the foundation of these anecdotes; but their parts erated Defective or incoe therand personage they concern, and the mystery hich he and his Government encoreeable concerning them
A woainst Napoleon since his proclamation as an Emperor of the French She called herself Charlotte Encore; but her real name is not known In 1803 she lived and had furnished a house at Abbeville, where she passed for a youngof property, subsisting on her rents About the sah she visited the principal inhabitants, she never publicly had any connection with the newcoirl at Amiens--so to others, engaged by Madame Bonaparte to perform the part she did demanded, upon her knees, in a kind of paroxys which she fainted, or pretended to faint away, and a pension of three thousand livres--was settled on her for her affection
Madae of her discourse and conversation, was also an ardent friend and isher of the Eh Abbeville, on his journey to the coast, she, also, threw herself at his feet, and declared that she would die content if allowed the honour of e to assent, when Duroc stepped between the roo from the sudden alarm his friend's interference had occasioned, followed hioas found a stiletto, the point of which was poisoned She was the same day transported to this capital, under the inspection of Duroc, and i acco even her name
The sub-prefect at Abbeville, the once famous Andre Dumont, was ordered to disseminate a report that she was shut up as insane in a madhouse
In the strict search made by the police in the house occupied by her, no papers or any, other indications were discovered that involved other persons, or disclosed who she was, or what induced her to attempt such a rash action Before the secret tribunal she is reported to have said, ”that being convinced of Bonaparte's being one of the greatest criminals that ever breathed upon the earth, she took upon herself the office of a volunteer executioner; having, with every other good or loyal person, a right to punish him whom the law could not, or dared not, reach” When, however, some repairs were made in the house at Abbeville by a new tenant, a bundle of papers was found, which proved that a M
Franquonville, and about thirty, other individuals (many, of ere the late newco an opportunity to seize Bonaparte in his journeys between Abbeville and Montreuil, and to carry him to soland with him Had he, however, made resistance, he would have been shot in France, and his assassins have saved themselves in the vessel
The numerous escort that always, since he was an Emperor, accompanied him, and particularly his concealment of the days of his journeys, prevented the execution of this plot; and Madame Encore, therefore, took upon her to sacrifice herself for what she thought the welfare of her country How Duroc suspected or discovered her intent is not known; some say that an anonymous letter infor herself at Bonaparte's feet, this prefect observed the steel through the sleeve of her own Most of her associates were secretly executed; sone and shot at the head of the arlish spies
LETTER xxxIV
PARIS, August, 1805
MY LORD:--After the discovery of Charlotte Encore's attempt, Bonaparte, who hitherto had flattered hiood wishes, if not the affection, of his fe to which no woiven in their names to the prefects of his palaces, and obtained previous permission, can approach his person or throw the his displeasure, and even arrest Of this Imperial decree, ladies, both of the capital and of the provinces, when he travels, are officially infor this precaution, he was a second tieance orof Italy, he occupied his uncle's episcopal palace at Lyons during the forty-eight hours he remained there