Memoirs of Napoleon, vol 11 | Page 6

one with whom I was least acquainted, and he, it
is pretty well known, was the most worthless of the family. His
correspondence with me is limited to two letters, one of which he wrote
while he commanded the 'Epervier', and another seven years after,
dated 6th September 1809. In this latter he said:
"I shall be in Hannover on the 10th. If you can make it convenient to
come there and spend a day with me it will give me great pleasure. I
shall then be able to smooth all obstacles to the loan I wish to contract
in the Hanse Town. I flatter myself you will do all in your power to
forward that object, which at the present crisis is very important to my
States. More than ample security is offered, but the money will be of no
use to me if I cannot have it at least for two years."
Jerome wanted to contract at Hamburg a loan of 3,000,000 francs.
However, the people did not seem to think like his Westphalian
Majesty, that the contract presented more than ample security. No one
was found willing to draw his purse-strings, and the loan was never
raised.
Though I would not, without the Emperor's authority, exert the
influence of my situation to further the success of Jerome's negotiation,
yet I did my best to assist him. I succeeded in prevailing on the Senate

to advance one loan of 100,000 francs to pay a portion of the arrears
due to his troops, and a second of 200,000 francs to provide clothing
for his army, etc. This scanty supply will cease to be wondered at when
it is considered to what a state of desolation the whole of Germany was
reduced at the time, as much in the allied States as in those of the
enemies of France. I learnt at the time that the King of Bavaria said to
an officer of the Emperor's household in whom he had great confidence,
"If this continues we shall have to give up, and put the key under the
door." These were his very words.
As for Jerome, he returned to Cassel quite disheartened at the
unsuccessful issue of his loan. Some days after his return to his capital I
received from him a snuffbox with his portrait set in diamonds,
accompanied by a letter of thanks for the service I had rendered him. I
never imagined that a token of remembrance from a crowned head
could possibly be declined. Napoleon, however, thought otherwise. I
had not, it is true, written to acquaint our Government with the King of
Westphalia's loan, but in a letter, which I addressed to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs on the 22d of September, I mentioned the present
Jerome had sent me. Why Napoleon should have been offended at this I
know not, but I received orders to return Jerome's present immediately,
and these orders were accompanied with bitter reproaches for my
having accepted it without the Emperor's authority. I sent back the
diamonds, but kept the portrait. Knowing Bonaparte's distrustful
disposition, I thought he must have suspected that Jerome had
employed threats, or at any rate, that he had used some illegal influence
to facilitate the success of his loan. At last, after much correspondence,
Napoleon saw clearly that everything was perfectly regular; in a word,
that the business had been transacted as between two private persons.
As to the 300,000 francs which the Senate had lent to Jerome, the fact
is, that but little scruple was made about it, for this simple reason, that
it was the means of removing from Hamburg the Westphalian division,
whose presence occasioned a much greater expense than the loan.

CHAPTER XX.

1809.
Visit to the field of Wagram.--Marshal Macdonald--Union of the Papal
States with the Empire--The battle of Talavera--Sir Arthur
Wellesley--English expedition to Holland--Attempt to assassinate the
Emperor at Schoenbrunn--Staps Interrogated by Napoleon--Pardon
offered and rejected--Fanaticism and patriotism--Corvisart's
examination of Staps--Second interrogatory--Tirade against the
illuminati--Accusation of the Courts of Berlin and Weimar--Firmness
and resignation of Staps--Particulars respecting his death-- Influence of
the attempt of Staps on the conclusion of peace-- M. de Champagny.
Napoleon went to inspect all the corps of his army and the field of
Wagram, which a short time before had been the scene of one of those
great battles in which victory was the more glorious in proportion as it
had been valiantly contested.
--[The great battle of Wagram was fought on the 6th of July 1809. The
Austrians, who committed a mistake in over-extending their line, lost
20,000 men as prisoners, besides a large number in killed and wounded.
There was no day, perhaps, on which Napoleon showed more military
genius or more personal courage. He was in the hottest of the fight, and