Part 19 (1/2)

This Baron Ehrensward, who is also a general in the service of his country, has almost from his youth passed his time at Courts; first in his own country, and afterwards in Spain, where he resided twelve years as our Ambassador Frank as a soldier, but also polite as a courtier, he was not a little surprised at the new etiquette of our new court, and at the endurance of all the members of the diploh to remember that he was the representative of one, at least nominally, independent Prince or State It n diplomatist, with Count Markof, as not the choice of our Cabinet, and, therefore, was not in our secrets

As soon as His Swedish Majesty heard of the unexpected and unlawful seizure of the Duc d'Enghien, he wrote a letter with his own hand to Bonaparte, which he sent by his adjutant-general, Tawast; but this officer arrived too late, and only in time to hear of the execution of the Prince he intended to save, and the indecent expressions of Napoleon when acquainted with the object of his mission Baron Ehrensas then recalled, and a Courtwas proclaimed by Gustavus IV, as well as by Alexander the First, for the lamented victied our ruler that General Caulincourt (the same who commanded the expedition which crossed the Rhine and captured the Duc d' Enghien) was engaged to head and lead fifty other banditti, ere destined to pass in disguise into Baden, and to bring the King of Sweden a prisoner to this capital Fortunately, His Majesty had soreater distance from our frontiers than Carlsruhe So certain was our Government of the success of this shae d'affaires in Sweden was preparing to engage the discontented and disaffected there for the convocation of a diet and the establish to the report in our diplomatic circle Bonaparte and Talleyrand intended nevermore to, release their royal captive when once in their power; but, after forcing hin the throne to his son, keep him a prisoner for the remainder of his days, which they would have taken care should not have been long The Duke of Suderent until the e The Swedish diets were to recover that influence, or, rather, that licentiousness, to which Gustavus III, by the revolution of the 19th of August, 1772, put an end All exiled regicides, or traitors, were to be recalled, and a revolutionary focus organized in the North, equally threatening Russia and Denmark The dreadful consequences of such an event are incalculable Thanks to the prudence of His Swedish Majesty, all these sche able to dethrone a Swedish Monarch, our Cabinet resolved to partition the Swedish territory, to which effect I am assured that proposals were last su, Berlin, and Copenhagen Swedish Finland was stated to have been offered to Russia, Swedish Poe to Den of Sweden possesses both talents and information superior to most of his contemporaries, and he has surrounded himself with counsellors ith their experience, make wisdom more firm, more useful, and more valuable His chancellor, D'Ehrenheiacity; he is a entlees, as well as the constitutions, of every country in Europe, with equal perfection as his native tongue and national code Had his Sovereign the same ascendency over the European politics as Christina had during the negotiation of the Treaty of Munster, other States would admire, and Sweden be proud of, another Axel Oxenstiern

Count Fersen, who also has, and is worthy of, the confidence of his Prince, is a nobleman, the honour and pride of his rank A colonel before the Revolution of the regiment Royal Suedois, in the service of my country, his principles were so well appreciated that he was entrusted by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, when so many were so justly suspected, and served royalty in distress, at the risk of his own existence This was so ner, of one of the most ancient families, and one of the richest noblemen in his own country To hiht consolation to the deserted Marie Antoinette even in the dungeon of the Conciergerie, when a discovery would have been a sentence of death In 1797, he was appointed by his King plenipotentiary to the Congress of Rastadt, and arrived there just at the time when Bonaparte, after the destruction of happiness in Italy, had resolved on the ruin of liberty in Switzerland, and ca with future schemes of mischief His reception froht have been expected by distinguished loyalty froress of Rastadt was not his place!

and this was true; for what can be common between honour and infamy, between virtue and vice? On his return to Sweden, Count Fersen was rewarded with the dignity of a Grand Officer of State

Of another faithful and trusty counsellor of His Swedish Majesty, Baron d'Ar that he was the friend of Gustavus III Froe to that chevalier of royalty he was advanced to the rank of general; and during the ith Russia, in 1789 and 1790, he fought and bled by the side of his Prince and benefactor It was to hi said, ounded icide, at a masquerade in March, 1792, ”Don't be alarmed, my friend

You knoell as erous”

Unfortunately, his were not of that description

In the will of this great Monarch, Baron d'Aruardians of his present Sovereign, and a governor of the capital; but the Duke Regent, as a weak Prince, guided by philosophical adventurers, by Illuminati and Freemasons, most of whom had imbibed the French revolutionary maxims, sent him, in a kind of honourable exile, as an Ambassador to Italy Shortly afterwards, under pretence of having discovered a conspiracy, in which the Baron was ie in Russia, where he was uished hin of 1799 He was then recalled to his country, and restored to all his fornities, and has never since ceased to merit and obtain the favour, friendshi+p, and approbation of his King He is said to be one of the Swedish general officers intended to serve in union with the Russian troops expected in Pomerania Wherever he is eht, vanquish, or perish like a hero Last spring he was offered the place of a lieutenant-general in the Austrian service, which, with regard to salary and ereatly superior to what he enjoys in Sweden; he declined it, however, because, with a warrior of his stamp, interest is the last consideration

LETTER XV

PARIS, September, 1805

MY LORD:--Believe me, Bonaparte dreads ines, military or political, used by his rivals or foes for his destruction He is aware of the fatal consequences all former factions suffered from the public exposure of their past criuilt, and of the fallacy of their boasts and promises He does not doubt but that a faithful account of all the actions and intrigues of his Government, its imposition, fraud, duplicity, and tyranny, would make a sensible alteration in the public opinion; and that even those who, fro tired of our revolutionary convulsions, or wishi+ng for tranquillity, have been his adherents, ht alter their sentiments when they read of enormities which must indicate insecurity, and prove to every one that he aded through rivers of blood to seize poill never hesitate about the -office, from the banks of the Elbe to the Gulf of Naples, which is not under the direct or indirect inspection of our police agents; and not a bookseller in Geral, Holland, or Switzerland, publishes a hich, if contrary to our policy or our fears, is not either confiscated, or purchased on the day it, ular e to the end of the year, to pick up infor; of what authors are popular; of their political opinions and private circumstances This branch of our haute police extends even to your country

Before the Revolution, we had in this capital only two daily papers, but from 1789 to 1799 never less than thirty, and frequently sixty journals were daily printed After Bonaparte had assumed the consular authority, they were reduced to ten But though these were under a very strict inspection of our Minister of Police, they were regarded still as too nuht, by the incorporation of 'Le Clef du Cabinet' and 'Le Bulletin de l'Europe' with the 'Gazette de France', a paper of which the infa to a proposal of Bonaparte, it was lately debated in the Council of State whether it would not be politic to suppress all daily prints, with the sole exception of the Moniteur Fouche and Talleyrand spoke much in favour of this ested another plan, which was adopted; and our Govern the appearance of our daily papers, has resolved by degrees to purchase them all, and to entrust them entirely to the direction of Barrere, who now is consulted in everything concerning books or newspapers

All circulation of foreign papers is prohibited, until they have previously obtained the starand literary censor, Barrere Any person offending against this law is entle sent to the Te one of your old daily papers to a person who lodged in the same hotel with him After an imprisonment of ten weeks he made some pecuniary sacrifices to obtain his liberty, but was carried to Havre, under an escort of gendarmes, put on board a neutral vessel, and forbidden, under pain of death, ever to set his foot on French ground again An American vessel was, about the same time, confiscated at Bordeaux, and the captain and crew ilish books were found on board, in which Bonaparte, Talleyrand, Fouche, and soreat men were rather ill-treated The crew have since been liberated, but the captain has been brought here, and is still in the Teo have been sold as lawful captures, though the captain has proved froed to a passenger A young Gerery, who came here to improve himself, has been ninewith hi Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt, wherein the chief and the undertaking are ridiculed Hisof the misfortune of her son, came here, and has presented to the Emperor and Empress half a dozen petitions, without any effect whatever, and has almost ruined herself and her other children by the expenses of the journey During a stay of four ain admittance into the Temple, to visit or see her son, who perhaps expired in tortures, or died brokenhearted before she came here

A dozen copies of a funeral serhien had found their way here, and were secretly circulated for some time; but at last the police heard of it, and every person as suspected of having read them was arrested The nu to some, amounted to one hundred and thirty, while others say that they were only eighty-four, of whom twelve died suddenly in the Temple, and the remainder were transported to Cayenne; upwards of half of the subjects

A Prussian, of the nane, because in his trunk was an English book, with the lives of Bonaparte and of soenerals Every day such and other examples of the severity of our Governners who visit us continue, nevertheless, to be off their guard They would be less punished had they with theed bills than, printed books or newspapers, in which our Imperial Family and public functionaries are not treated with due respect Bonaparte is convinced that in every book where he is not spoken of with praise, the intent is to blauilt never escape with i the endeavours of our Governn prints, and have more confidence in them than in our own, official presses have lately been established at Antwerp, at Cologne, and at Mentz, where the 'Gazette de Leyden', 'Ha Correspondenten', and 'Journal de Frankfort' are reprinted; some articles left out, and others inserted in their room It was intended to reprint also the 'Courier de Londres', but our types, and particularly, our paper, would detect the fraud I have read one of our own Journal de Frankfort, in which were extracts froly suspect are of our own manufacture I aners, in praise of our present brilliant Government, are now in the presses of those our frontier towns, and will soon be laid before the public as foreign productions

A clerk of a banking-house had lately the i his dinner at the restaurateur's of 'Cadran Vert', on the Boulevards, some doubt of the veracity of an official article in the 'Moniteur' As he left the house he was arrested, carried before Fouche, accused of being an English agent, and before supper-time he was on the road to Rochefort on his way to Cayenne As soon as the banker Tournon was informed of this expeditious justice, as it is called here, he waited on Fouche, who threatened even to transport him if he dared to interfere with the transactions of the police This banker was hient and soues from this capital, where he remained six

months, until a pecuniary douceur procured hi inquired after General Moreau when in the Te left his card there

LETTER XVI

PARIS, Septehese has lately been appointed a captain of the Imperial Guard of his Imperial brother-in-law, Napoleon the First, and is now in Gern A descendant of a wealthy and ancient Ro, he was easily deluded into the ranks of the revolutionists of his own country, by a Parisian Abbe, his instructor and governor, and gallant of the Princesse Borghese, his mother He was the first secretary of the first Jacobin club established at Ro of 1798; and in December of the same year, when the Neapolitan troops invaded the Ecclesiastical States, he, with his present brother-in-law, another hopeful Roman Prince, Santa Cruce, headed the Roman sans-culottes in their retreat To show his love of equality, he had previously served as a common man in a company of which the captain was a fellow that sold cats' meat and tripe in the streets of Rome, and the lieutenant a scullion of his mother's kitchen

Since Imperial aristocracy is now become the order of the day, he is as insupportable for his pride and vanity as he, soo, was contemptible for his meanness He married, in 1803, Mada with a second husband--a space of twelve months--had twice been in a fair way to becohteen millions of livres--a sum sufficient to palliate many 'faux pas' in the eyes of a husband more sensible and more delicate than her present Serene Idiot, as she styles the Prince Borghese