MUCH NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. BY JOHNS C. ABBOTT ITALY AND SPAIN. UCH has been said respecting certain secret articles in the Treaty of Tilsit Napoleon and Alexander privately agreed to unite their forces against England, if she, refusing the mediation of Russia, should persist, as she had now done for ten years, in embroiling the Continent in war. They also agreed to combine against Turkey, should the Porte repel the mediation of France The two powers also engaged, should England refuse peace, unitedly to summon Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, and Austria to close their ports against English merchandise. Such were the terms of the occult treaty. Napoleon, concentrating all his energies to the promotion of the prosperity of France, patiently awaited the result of the negotiations commenced by Russia with England. He sent a special embassador to Turkey to endeavor to secure peace between that power and Russia He was successful. The Turk accepted his mediation, and the sword was sheathed. England, finding herself abandoned by all her former allies, immediately sought a coalition with Turkey. She strove to counteract the peaceful influence of France, by justly representing that Alexander was hungering for the provinces of the Turkish Empire. By these means she ere, long roused Turkey again to war The mediation of Russia with England, was entirely unsuccessful. The cabinet of St. James at first evaded the application, and then proudly, contemptuously, and with an energy which amazed the world, rejected all overtures. Briefly we must record this new act of English aggression, which roused the indignation of all Europe. The kingdom of Denmark had most studiously maintained neutrality Jealous of the increasing power of France, she had stationed the Danish army upon her frontiers Apprehending nothing from England, her seaboard was entirely unprotected. Napoleon, with delicacy but with firmness, had informed Denmark, that should England refuse the mediation of Russia, all the powers of Europe must choose in the desperate conflict, the one side or the other. The most perfectly friendly relations then existed between England and Denmark. The cabinet of St James, apprehensive that Napoleon would succeed in attaching Denmark to the Continental alliance against the sovereign of the seas, resolved to take possession of the Danish fleet. This fleet, unprotected and unconscious of peril, was anchored in the harbor of Copenhagen Denmark, at peace with all the world, had but 5000 troops in the fortresses which surrounded her metropolis. Secretly the English government fitted out an expedition. It consisted of 25 sail of the line, 40 frigates, 377 transports. About 30,000 men were conveyed in the fleet. Suddenly this powerful armament appeared in the waters of the Sound, and landing 20,000 men, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur Wellesley, invested the doomed city by land and by sea. An agent was immediately dispatched to the Prince Royal of Denmark, then regent of the kingdom, to summon the surrender of the fortresses and of the fleet. Mr. Jackson, a man of insolent manners and of envenomed spirit, was worthy of the mission. He assigned to the Prince, as a reason for the act, that the British cabinet deemed it necessary to secure the pas sage of the Sound, and to take the Danish fleet, lest both should fall into the power of the French He therefore demanded, under peril of a bombardment, that the fortress, the port of Copenhagen, and the fleet should be immediately surrendered to the English army. He promised that the whole, when the danger was over, should be returned again to Denmark, and that in the mean time the English would conduct as friends, and pay for all they should consume. "And with what," exclaimed the indignant Prince, "would you pay for our lost honor, if we were to accede to this infamous proposal?" Mr. Jackson replied, "War is war. One must submit to its necessities. The weaker party must yield to the stronger." The interview was short and bitter. The parties separated. The Prince, unable to present any resistance, heroically enveloped himself in despair. The English envoy returned to the fleet, and the signal was given for the fearful execution of the threatened doom. The English had taken with them an immense quantity of heavy artillery. They were also accompanied by Colonel Congreve, who was to make trial, for the first time, of his destructive rockets As there were a few thousand regular troops behind the ramparts of the city, it was not deemed prudent to attempt to carry the place by assault. The English having established themselves beyond the reach of danger, reared their batteries and constructed their furnaces for red-hot shot. Calmly, energetically, mercilessly, all their arrangements for the awful deed were consummated. They refrained from firing a single gun, until their furnaces were completed, and their batteries were in perfect readiness to rain down an overwhelming storm of destruction upon the helpless capital of Denmark. Nothing can be imagined more awful, more barbarous, than the bombardment of a crowded city Shot and shells have no mercy They are heedless of the cry of mothers and of maidens. They turn not from the bed of languishing, nor from the cradle of infancy. Copenhagen contained 100,000 inhabitants. It was reposing in all the quietude of peace and prosperity. On the evening of the 2d of September, the appalling storm of war and woe commenced. A tremendous fire of howitzers, bombs, and rockets, burst upon the city The very earth trembled beneath the terrific thunders of the cannonade. During all the long hours of this dreadful night, and until the noon of the ensuing day, the destruction and the carnage continued. The city was now on fire in various quarters. Hun- | dred houses were burned to the ground. Two dreds of dwellings were blown to pieces. The thousand dwellings had been blown to pieces by streets were red with the blood of women and the shells. Half of the city was in flames. Sevchildren. Vast columns of smoke rose from the eral beautiful churches were in ruins. The burning capital. The English waited a few arsenal was on fire. For three days and three hours, hoping that the chastisement had been nights those demoniac engines of death, exsufficiently severe to induce the surrender. Gen- ploding in thronged streets, in churches, chameral Peymann, intrusted with the defense of the bers, parlors, nurseries, had filled the city with metropolis, gazed upon the spectacle of woe carnage, frightful beyond all conception. There around him, his heart almost bursting with grief was no place of safety for helpless infancy or and indignation. He still maintained a firm and for decrepit age. The terrific shells, crushing gloomy silence. The conflict in his bosom, be- through the roofs of the houses, descended to tween the dictates of humanity and the pleadings the cellars, bursting, with thunder peal, they of a high and honorable pride, was terrific. buried the mangled forms of the family in the ruins of their dwellings. Happy were they who were instantaneously killed. The wounded, struggling hopelessly beneath the ruins, were slowly burned alive in the smouldering flames In the evening the English recommenced their fire. They kept it up all night, the whole of the next day, and the ensuing night. Two thousand of the citizens had now perished Three hun The fragments of shells, flying in every direction, produced ghastly mutilation. The mother, distracted with terror, saw the limbs of her infant torn from its body. The father, clasping the form of his daughter to his bosom, witnessed with a delirium of agony, that fair form lacerated and mangled hideously in his arms The thunders of the cannonade, the explosion of shells, the crash of falling dwellings, the wide wasting conflagration, the dense volumes of suffocating smoke, the shrieks of women and children, the pools of gore in parlors and on pavements, the mutilated forms of the dying and of the dead, presented a spectacle which no imagination can compass General Peymann could endure this horrible massacre of women and children no longer Copenhagen was surrendered to England. The victors rushed into the city. Almost every house was more or less shattered. One eighth part of the city was in ashes It required the utmost exertions of both friend and foe to arrest the conflagration They found about fifty vessels, ships, brigs, and frigates, of which they immediately took possession. Two ships of the line upon the stocks were burned; three frigates were also destroyed. All the timber in the shipyards, the tools of the workmen, and an immense quantity of naval stores, were conveyed on board the English squadron. From the ramparts and the floating batteries they took 3500 pieces of artillery. The prize money divided among the crew amounted, as estimated by Admiral Lord Gambier, to four millions, eight hundred thousand dollars. One half of the English crews were then put on board the Danish ships. The entire expedition, leaving the hapless metropolis of the Danes drenched with blood and smouldering with fire, made sail for the coast of England. With triumphant salutes and streaming banners of victory, the squadron entered the Thames Such was the emphatic response which the cabinet of St. James gave to Napoleon's earnest appeal for peace, through the mediation of Russia. The Duke of Wellington had just returned from boundless conquests in India. At Copenhagen he commenced that European career, which he afterward terminated so brilliantly at Waterloo. When the expedition returned to London, the Iron Duke received the thanks of Parliament for the skill and efficiency with which he had conducted the bombardment Copenhagen and Waterloo! The day is not far distant when England will be willing to forget them both.* Sir * Say the Berkely men in the Napoleon Dynasty, Arthur Wellesley had been recalled from the East Indies, where he had achieved all his fame hitherto, by a career of robbery and crime, extortion, murder, and the extinction of nations, compared with which Napoleon's worst aets of usurpation, in the height of his ambition, paled into insignificance And here we will allow truth to arrest us for a single moment, while we enter our protest against any of the complaints of England or of English writers about the usurpations of Napoleon. For the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement England has robbed more territory, taken mere lives, confiscated more property, enslaved more men, and wrought wider and darker ruin on the plains of Asia, than Napoleon can ever be charged In reference to this deed there was but one sentiment throughout all Europe. Nowhere was it more severely condemned than in England. Distinguished members of both houses of Parliament, and the masses of the people raised a loud cry of indignation. Lord Grenville, Addington, Sheridan, Grey, and others, most vehemently expressed their aborrence. All idea of peace was now abandoned. England on the one hand, and Napoleon on the other, prepared for the most desperate renewal of the strife Russia was extremely anxious to wrest from the Turks the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia upon the Danube She would thus make a long stride toward Constantinople. The Turks, unaided by other powers, could not prevent this conquest. Napoleon was reluctant to allow Russia to make such an advance toward the Empire of the East. With great hesitancy he was at times half disposed, for the sake of securing the friendship of Alexander, to consent to this encroachment. The British cabinet immediately dispatched a messenger to Alexander to endeavor to secure his favor, by offering to aid him in obtaining these provinces. An envoy extraordinary was sent to Austria, to dispose her to see with calmness Moldavia and Wallachia become the property of the Russians The English embassador at St. Petersburg endeavored to apologize for the affair of Copenhagen. He said that the British ministers had merely endeavored to deprive the common enemy of Europe of the means of doing mischief; that Russia ought to rejoice over the event instead of being irritated by it; that England relied upon Russia to bring back Denmark to a more just appreciation of the occurrence, and that the fleet should be returned to the Danes if Denmark would join against Napoleon. Alexander was indignant, and returned a haughty reply Diplomatic intercourse between the two countries soon ceased. Alexander immediately sent for General Savary, the envoy of Napoleon, and thus addressed him: "You know that our efforts for peace have ended in war I expected it. But I confess I did not expect either the Copenhagen expedition, or the arrogance of the British cabinet My resolution is taken, and I am ready to fulfill my engagements. I am entirely disposed to follow that conduct which shall best suit your master I have seen Napoleon I flatter myself that I have inspired him with a part of the sentiments with which he has inspired me. I am certain with, if upon his single head were to rain down the curses of every widow and orphan made in Europe for a quarter of a century It is unholy mockery of truth, it is puritanic cant, it is English spite against Napoleon's eagles England began under the administration of Pitt, the work of crushing the French Republic. She kept it up to gratify the ambition and spite of her ministers, and she carried it through to maintain the position she had taken It was all a costly, and well-nigh a fatal mistake for England. And her historians have no business whatever, to vent their spleen upon the only man on the Continent who ventured to set limits to the proud empire of Britain." Strong and impassioned as is this utterance, it can not be controverted by facts. that he is sincere Oh, that I could see him as at Tilsit-every day, every hour. What talent for conversation! What an understanding! What a genius! How much should I gain by living frequently near him! How many things he has taught me in a few days' But we are so far distant! However, I hope to visit him soon " 66 Alexander requested permission to purchase muskets from the French manufactories. "I desire," said he, "that the two armies, now destined to serve the same cause, may use the same weapons." He also solicited permission to send the cadets, who were to serve in the Russian navy, to France for their education. These friendly expressions were accompanied by a magnificent present of furs, for the Emperor Napoleon "I wish to be his furrier," said Alexander. Napoleon was greatly embarrassed. The cordial friendship of Alexander gratified him. He perceived the intensity of desire with which this ambitious monarch was contemplating Constantinople, and a mighty empire in the East. The growth of Russia threatened to overshadow Europe, and to subjugate the world. Leaning upon the north pole," with her right hand grasp ing the Baltic, and her left the Dardanelles, she might claim universal sovereignty Nothing would satisfy Alexander but permission to march toward the East. Napoleon earnestly desired his friendship, and also feared to make concessions too dangerous for the repose of Europe He sent Caulaincourt to St. Petersburg, as his confidential embassador; informed him fully of his embarrassments, and urged him to do every thing in his power to maintain the alliance without encouraging the designs of Alexander upon the Turkish Empire. That Caulaincourt might worthily represent the great nation, Napoleon allowed him the sum of 160,000 dollars a year, and placed in his suite several of the most distinguished young men of France. He also wrote a letter to Alexander, thanking him for his presents, and returning still more magnificent gifts of Sèvres porcelain. Denmark promptly threw herself into the arms of Napoleon. A strong division of French troops, at the solicitation of the Danish court, immediately entered Denmark for its protection. Alexander himself, having been brought under the fascinations of Napoleon's mind at Tilsit, was perfectly enthusiastic in his admiration of his new ally. But the Russian nobles, having never seen the great enchanter, trembled at the advance of democratic freedom The republican equality of France would elevate the serf and depress the noble. The Czar was willing that his haughty lords should lose a little of their power, and that his degraded serfs should become a little more manly. Hence there arose two parties in Russia. One, headed by the haughty Queen Mother, and embraced by most of the nobles, was for war with France, the Emperor was at the head of the less numerous and the less influential peace party. isting in the bosoms of the Russian nobles toward Napoleon, sent an employé into the circles of the old aristocracy at Moscow, to report to him what was said there. Freely the nobles censured the sudden change at Tilsit, by which the young Czar had espoused the policy of France War with England struck the commerce of Russia a deadly blow. Nothing, they said, could compensate for such sacrifices but obtaining possession of Moldavia and Wallachia Napoleon, however, they affirmed, will never allow Russia to take those fine provinces Caulaincourt immediately transmitted these particulars to Napoleon. He assured the Emperor that notwithstanding the sincerity of Alexander, the court of Russia, deeply mortified, could not be relied upon. Napoleon pondered the question long and anxiously. The alliance of Russia was of vital importance. The aggressive power of Russia, overshadowing Europe with its gloom of despotism, was greatly to be dreaded. The Turks, having deposed, imprisoned, and finally put to death Sultan Selim, the friend of Napoleon, were now cutting off the heads of all who were in favor of alliance with France The agents of England were busy in rousing the barbarian Turks. They did not hold themselves accountable for the excesses which ensued. Napoleon was not much troubled with conscientious scruples about transferring the sovereignty of Turkish provinces to Russia. The only claims the Turks had to those provinces were claims obtained by fire and sword-by outrages, the recital of which causes the ear to tingle. The right of proud despots to rob a people of liberty and of happiness is not a very sacred right. Bad as was the government of Russia, the government of Turkey was still worse. Napoleon consequently did not hesitate to consent to the transfer of these provinces because he thought it would be wrong, but simply because he thought it would be impolitic. The Turkish government waging now a savage war against him, and in alliance with England, his ever relentless foe, could claim from his hand no special protection. Napoleon could not, however, merely step aside, and let Turkey and Russia settle their difficulties between themselves. Turkey and England were now united as one power against France. The Turks, in defiance of Napoleon's mediation, had renewed the war against Alexander. France was consequently pledged by the treaty of Tilsit to unite her armies with those of Russia. Under these circumstances Napoleon proposed a conference with Alexander, and with Francis of Austria, to consider the whole Turkish question. He also suggested a grand, gigantic enterprise, of the three united powers, to cross the continent of Asia, and attack the English in the territories which they had invaded in India. Austria was deeply interested in this matter. Already she was overshadowed by the colossal empire of the North. To have the mouths of the Danube, the Mississippi of Austria, in the hands of the Turks, indolent as they were, was bad enough. Caulaincourt, conscious of the hostility stillex- The transfer of the portals of that majestic stream to the custody of her great rival, Russia, was to be resisted at all hazards. Alexander received the proposal of a conference with transports of joy The acquisition of the coveted provinces would add to the glory of his reign, would immeasurably increase the prospective greatness of Russia, and would compel the nobles to a cordial approval of his alliance with France. So deeply was Alexander excited, that he read the letter of Napoleon with trembling eagerness. Caulaincourt, who had delivered to him the letter, was present. "Ah!" exclaimed Alexander, again and again, as he read the welcome lines, "the great man! the great man! Tell him that I am devoted to him for life. My empire, my armies, are all at his disposal. When I ask him to grant something to satisfy the pride of the Russian nation, it is not from ambition that I speak. I wish to give him that nation whole and entire, and as devoted to his great projects as I am myself. Your master purposes to interest Austria in the dismemberment of the Turkish empire. He is in the right. It is a wise conception. I cordially Join in it. "He designs an expedition to India. I consent to that too. I have already made him acquainted, in our long conversations at Tilsit, with the difficulties attending it. He is accustomed to take no account of obstacles. Nevertheless the climate and distances here, present such as surpass all that he can imagine But let him be easy. The preparations on my part shall be proportioned to the difficulties. We must come to an understanding about the territories which we are going to wrest from Turkish barbarism This subject, however, can be usefully discussed only in an interview between me and Napoleon. As soon as our ideas have arrived at a commencement of maturity, I shall leave St Petersburg, and go to meet your Emperor at whatever distance he pleases I should like to go as far as Paris. But I can not. Besides, it is a meeting upon business which we want, not a meeting for parade and pleasure. We might choose Weimar, where he would be among our own family. But even there we should be annoyed by a thousand things. At Erfurt we should be more free, more to ourselves. Propose that place to your sovereign. When his answer arrives I will set out immediately. I shall travel like a courier " its Turkish oppressors, and placed under the protection of France The second plan was bold and gigantic in the extreme. All of Europe and all of Asia Minor were to be rescued from Turkish sway. Russia was to gratify her long and intensely cherished ambition, in taking posses. sion of Constantinople, and all the adjoining provinces on each side of the Bosphorus. Austria was to receive a rich accession to her territory in the partition All of Greece, all the islands of the Archipelago, the straits of the Dardanelles, Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt were to be transferred to France. Such were the plans proposed by the Russian cabinet to Napoleon It was not deemed prudent to affix any signature to a paper containing propositions of such startling magnitude. As the documents were placed in the hands of the French embassador to be conveyed to Napoleon, Alexander, whose ambition was excited to its highest pulsations, said to him: "Tell Napoleon that this note meets my full approbation. It is an authentic expression of the ideas of the Russian cabinet." * *This extraordinary document, so characteristic of the times, and of the illustrious personages then, by their position and energies, controlling the fate of Europe, we give in full, unaltered and unabridged : "Since his Majesty, the Emperor of the French and the King of Italy, &c., has recently adjudged that in order to attain a general peace, and to secure the tranquillity of Europe, it would be expedient to weaken the Ottoman empire, by the dismemberment of its provinces, the Emperor Alexander, faithful to his engagements and to his friendship, is ready to concur in it. "The first idea which could not fail to present itself to the Emperor of all the Russias, who is fond of calling to mind the occurrences at Tilsit, when this overture was made to him, was that the Emperor, his ally, purposed to proceed immediately to the execution of what the two monarchs had agreed upon in the treaty of alliance relative to the Turks; and that he added to it the proposal of an expedition to India "It had been settled at Tilsit that the Ottoman power was to be driven back into Asta, retaining in Europe nothing but the city of Constantinople and Roumelia. "There was drawn at the same time this consequence, that the Emperor of the French should acquire Albania, and Morea, and the island of Candia. "Wallachia and Moldavia were next allotted to Russia, giving that empire the Danube for its boundary, comprehending Bessarabia, which is in fact a strip of sea-coast, and which is commonly considered as forming part of Moldavia. If to this portion be added Bulgaria, the Emperor is ready to concur in the expedition to India, of which there had been then no question, provided that this expedition to India, as the Emperor Napoleon himself has just traced its route, shall proceed through Asia Minor. "The Emperor Alexander applauded himself for the idea of gaining the concurrence of a corps of Austrian troops in the expedition to India, and as the Emperor, his ally, seemed to wish that it should not be numerous, Here originated the idea of the celebrated conference which was soon held at Erfurt. After many long interviews between the Russian minister and the French embassador, two plans were addressed to Napoleon for his consideration. The he conceives that this concurrence would be adequately compensated by awarding to Austria Turkish Croatia and one proposed but a partial division of the Turk- Bosnia, unless the Emperor of the French should find it ish empire. The Turks were to be left in pos- convenient to retain a portion of them There might, session of the Dardanelles, the Bosphorus, and moreover, be offered to Austria a less direct but very conof all their Asiatic possessions siderable interest, by settling the future condition of Servia, Russia was to have the coveted provinces of Moldavia and Wal-incontestably one of the fine provinces of the Ottoman empire, in the following manner. lachia, upon the left of the Danube, and Bulgaria upon the right. Austria, as a consolation for seeing the Colossus of the North take so long a step toward universal power, was to receive Servia and Bosnia Greece was to be emancipated from "The Servians are a warlike people, and that quality, which always commands esteem, must excite a wish to regulate their lot judiciously "The Servians, fraught with a feeling of just vengeance against the Turks, have boldly shaken off the yoke of their oppressors, and are, it is said, resolved never to |