'Firstly because God... plentifully bestowing gifts upon our
Emperor, whether for peace or for war, has made him the minister of
his power and his image upon earth.. .. '
Are there not particular reasons which should attach us more closely
to Napoleon I, our Emperor?
'Yes, because it is he whom God has sustained, in difficult
circumstances, so that he might re-establish public worship and the
holy faith of our fathers, and that he might be their protector. He has
restored and maintained public order by his profound and active
wisdom; he defends the State with his powerful arm; he has become the
anointed of the Lord by the consecration he has received from the
sovereign pontiff, head of the universal Church.'
What must one think of those who should fail in their duty to our
Emperor?
'According to the apostle Paul, they would resist the established
order of God himself, and would render themselves worthy of eternal
damnation.'Hubris after Austerlitz or the iron of despotism entering his soul?
Certainly in r8o6 there are many pointers to a new, harsher Napoleon,
who would brook no opposition and whose attitude to dissent anticipated
the dictatorships of the twentieth century. From Paris he wrote to Murat,
now Grand Duke of Berg: 'I am astonished that the notables of Cleves
have refused to swear allegiance to you. Let them take the oath within
twenty-four hours or have them arrested, bring them to trial, and
confiscate their possessions.' His attitude to Hesse was even more
draconian. There was an insignificant, almost token revolt there while it
was under military rule before being absorbed in a new kingdom of
Westphalia. The general in command considered that a single exemplary
execution was enough to assert French credibility, but Napoleon insisted
that the village where the revolt started be burnt to the ground and thirty
ringleaders shot in terrorem. \Vhen the general protested, Napoleon raised
the number to sixty and finally two hundred.
As Talleyrand had predicted, fo r the Emperor to establish the
Confederation of the Rhine and make himself arbiter of Germany was to
embroil himself in a never-ending skein of problems and crises. It is
extraordinary to follow the stages whereby the Emperor converted
neutral Prussia into an enemy by the end of the year. Frederick William
III was the least hostilely disposed of all European monarchs towards
Bonaparte. He disliked the Bourbons, was in no way alarmed by
Napoleon as First Consul and wanted only to steer clear of trouble and
maintain the neutrality to which Prussia had adhered since I795· Yet