L. 1807. 57. reasons for disregarding these com plaints. felt that it was in fact the revival of a family distinction. CHAP. But he was also aware that the favour of the populace is not to be relied on for the durable support of government; that a hereditary monarchy cannot exist without a her- Napoleon's editary aristocracy, whose interests are entwined with its fate; and that without such lasting support, founded on the permanent interest of a privileged class, his throne would probably be lost by his descendants as speedily as it had been won by himself. All history, and especially that of the Asiatic empires, proved that no family, how great soever in its general founder, could long keep possession of the throne, unless it had cast its anchor either in the interests of a hereditary nobility, or the force of religious attachment centred in the descendants of a single family. And the friends of freedom, had they possessed more penetration than at that time, or even now, prevails on this subject in France, might have been consoled by the reflection, that, however hostile to that passion for equality which formed the leading principle of the Revolution, such an aristocracy formed an essential element toward the establishment of lasting freedom; and that, although there were many instances in which its exclusive spirit had proved an insurmountable bar to the elevation of the middle classes of society, there was not one example of liberty not having entirely perished under the debasing influence of a centralised despotism, when such a barrier was not left to resist its encroachments. 58. gress of quette at The rapidity with which court etiquette, and all the minutiae of regal manners, now spread, exceeds belief, Rapid proand, notwithstanding the abundance of contemporary court etiproof, appears almost incredible in a country so recently Paris. convulsed by revolutionary passions. The old archives of the monarchy were ransacked to discover the whole details of the ancient ceremonials; whoever could point out an additional bow to be made, a more respectful mode of presenting an address to be adopted, a more L. 1807. CHAP. gorgeous display of pomp or splendour to be introduced, was regarded as a benefactor of the human race. The ancient ceremonies at the rising and retiring to rest of the kings were re-established, though abridged in some of their details; the antiquated forms of presentation were revived; and it was seriously debated at court whether the fatiguing form of dining in public once a-week should not be restored. In magnificence and splendour the imperial court far exceeded not only anything in Europe, but all that the pride of Louis XIV. had conceived. The whole royal palaces, with the exception of Versailles, were refurnished in the most sumptuous style; the value of the plate and furniture which they contained was estimated at fifty millions of francs, or two millions sterling. At the marriage of the Empress Maria-Louisa, four queens held her train. In the antechambers of the Emperor, seven kings were sometimes to be seen. And when this 1 Las Cas, occurred, it was just seventeen years after it had been De Stael, written, with general consent, over the principal archway ii. 334, 335. of the Tuileries-" Monarchy is abolished in France, and will never be restored."1 ii. 290, 291. Rév. Franc. 59. perial gov ernment. While not merely the forms of monarchical, but the Advantages essence of despotic power, were in this manner re-estabof the Im-lished in France, amidst the general concurrence of the nation, the Emperor was careful to accompany the change with such substantial benefits and real ameliorations, as amply reconciled the great mass of the citizens to the loss of the once-prized democratic powers, which had brought such unheard - of disasters on their possessors and the whole community. Though completely despotic, the imperial government had one incalculable advantage; it was regular, conservative, and systematic. The taxes were heavy, but the public expenditure was immense, and enabled the people to pay them with facility; no forced loans or arbitrary confiscations swept off, as in the time of the Republic, the accumulations of years by one fell exaction; no uncertainty as to enjoying the L. 1807. fruits of industry paralysed in any branch of employ- CHAP. ment the hand of the labourer. Everything was orderly and tranquil under the imperial sway; the Emperor demanded, indeed, more than half their sons from his subjects of every degree, but a boundless career was opened to the conscripts; and visions of a marshal's baton or a general's staff floated before the eyes of many a youthful aspirant, who was destined to an early and unheeded grave on the field of battle, or amidst the horrors of the hospital. 60. Great inter nal prosper under the empire. The stoppage of all external commerce, combined with the vast and constantly increasing expenditure of government, produced au extraordinary degree of vigour in ity of France domestic industry and internal communication. The roads, the canals which connected the provinces with each other, were covered with waggons and boats laden with the richest merchandise. The cultivators everywhere found an ample market for their produce in the vast consumption of the armies; the manufacturing cities vied with each other in activity and enterprise; and even commercial wealth, reviving from its ashes under the firm rule of the Emperor, exerted its energies on internal traffic, and, turning inwards, promoted home circulation through the great arteries of the empire. Beet-root was largely cultivated as a substitute for the sugar-cane; and though the saccharine matter obtained from that useful vegetable was inferior in sweetness and richness to that which the West India islands yielded, yet it was superior in clearness and delicacy, and, as a native production, was justly admired. Lyons, Rouen, and the Flemish cities, again resounded with the activity of the artisan; their ruined fabrics were restored, the empty warehouses replenished; and the vast internal consumption of the empire, secured from all foreign competition, rapidly raised from the dust the prosperous manufactures of the monarchy, which the confiscations of the Revolution had to all appearance destroyed. The Emperor set an example at once of L. 1807. 1 Bign. vi. 403, 407. CHAP. prudent economy and noble magnificence, in the management of his personal expenses and the embellishment of his palaces. He annually saved twelve or fifteen millions of francs (£480,000 or £600,000), out of his civil list ; Jom. ii. 442, and it was from this source that he provided the funds which adorned and embellished the royal palaces of viii. 121, France, and enriched them with furniture which cost above three millions sterling.1 444. Bign. vii. 101, 102. Thiers, 123. 61. of the for eign plun der and con tributions on the in dustry of France. Great canals Much as this extraordinary flood of internal prosperity Great effect was owing to the rapid circulation of wealth, occasioned by the great expenditure, exceeding thirty millions sterling, which was drawn from the ordinary revenue of the Empire,* more still was to be ascribed to the enormous sums, amounting to half as much more, which were set on foot. extracted from the richest states of continental Europe in the shape of subsidies, contributions, or the maintenance of the imperial armies, which was all expended, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of the French people. The immense sums, amounting to above twenty-four millions xlvi. § 77. sterling, have been already mentioned which were ex 2 Ante, ch. tracted from Prussia and the countries between the Elbe and the Vistula, in two years subsequent to the irruption of the French armies into their territories in October 1806. But exorbitant as this was, it constituted but a part of the great scheme of foreign plunder which formed so important an element in, or rather the entire basis of, the general system of the imperial government. We have the authority of the able and impartial French biographer of Napoleon for the assertion, "that since their departure from the heights of Boulogne, two hundred thousand * Revenue of the empire, exclusive of contributions from foreign states Its revenues and all extraordinary supplies : It is not going too far to say, that the sums drawn during these years, 824,273,749 ... L. 1807. 1 Jom. ii. French soldiers had been constantly fed, clothed, paid, and CHAP. lodged at the expense of foreign states; above four hundred million francs of contributions (£16,000,000) had, in addition, been levied in money or goods, from the countries occupied by the imperial troops; the treasury had received part of this sum, and the remainder, expended on the services of the army, had reduced by one-half the amount required from the French exchequer for its support. A few years before, Louisiana had been sold by the First Consul to America, to obtain a supply for the pressing wants of the treasury; on his return from the campaign of Austerlitz, the Emperor found the treasury exhausted, and the bank on the eve of insolvency; but the campaign of the two next years gave him a year's revenue in advance in the coffers of the state, besides a large reserved treasure in the vaults of the Tuileries." 1 When such 437, 438. extraordinary supplies were obtained by foreign plunder for the French treasury, it is not surprising that a very great degree of prosperity should have pervaded all its departments, and in an especial manner made itself felt at the metropolis. In truth, all the great and splendid works thenceforward undertaken by the Emperor, and which have shed such an imperishable lustre round his name, were carried on by funds wrung, directly or indirectly, from the suffering inhabitants of his subject terri- 2 De Stael, tories. But these public works were really so splendid, and ii. 266. founded on such noble designs, that the expenditure on them, from whatever source derived, could scarcely be a subject of regret. Canals, the only internal mode of communication then known, in an especial manner attracted the atten directly or indirectly, by plunder, contributions, tribute in subsidies from foreign states, amounted to at least half as much more; and the sums, from the difference in the value of money, were equal to almost double their nominal amount in the currency of Great Britain. Thus during the last six years of Napoleon, an annual expenditure equal to nearly a hundred millions sterling in England took place in the French empire; of which more than a third was drawn from foreign countries. It is not surprising that such a government for the time should be popular, notwithstanding its despotic character and the conscription. Rév. Franc. |