Chapter 355: Napoleonic France and the Russian Court

Chapter 352 Napoleonic France and the Russian Court
London, in a restaurant near Oxford Street decorated in York yellow tones.

Arthur sat down at the table and, as if opening a treasure chest, handed the restaurant waiter several bottles of wine contained in his accompanying cloth bag.

“Please open all these bottles for me.”

The waiter looked at the labels on the bottles and politely inquired, “Are you sure, sir? If there are only two people, it’s a bit of a waste to open so many wines.”

Arthur just laughed, “Don’t worry, someone will take care of the aftermath if you can’t finish it.”

The Red Devil on the side leaned down to survey the logos on the bottles and recited, “Zuni and Chivas? Scotch shouldn’t get any better than those two. It tastes even better with some black and green tea, but I personally like it with lemon juice and ginger ale, and even better with some ice. But I don’t know if you humans are used to the flavor.”

As he spoke, Agareth’s gaze turned to the bottles of wine on the other side of the room, “Ooh! Arthur, you’re really spending a lot of money, 1818 Hennessy, and the V.S.O.P label, is this the royal wine that George IV ordered from Hennessy Winery? Although Hennessy is not as good as Chateau Drip Gold, this kind of special wine shouldn’t be cheap either, right?”

Arthur saw that the red devil’s harrumph was almost flowing down, and took advantage of the waiter’s gap to leave to speak at him, “Agares, don’t be in a hurry, Mr. Talleyrand and I can’t drink that much, the rest is all yours.”

As soon as his words fell, he saw an old cripple with silver-white hair leaning on his cane coming this way.

Talleyrand surveyed the bottle of wine in the waiter’s hand and smiled as he sat down across from Arthur: “It seems a bit of a waste to drink all this wine in such a mediocre little restaurant, doesn’t it?”

Arthur smiled back, “If a few bottles of wine can make you willing to condescend to dine at such a street-side eatery, I think these wines are still utilizing their value.”

Talleyrand handed his cane to the attendant at his side, picked up the table cloth and casually wiped his hands, “It seems that this trip you went to Liverpool to investigate the case, but also made a small fortune along the way!”

“Can’t say that.” Arthur joked as he pointed to the corner of his stitched eye, “Look, am I not about to get my comeuppance? Regarding this, I would like to ask you for advice instead, it’s fine for you to go around opening your business, the question is how did you manage to still live to this age by doing so?”

Talleyrand was amused by Arthur, he returned, “Very simple, I only take what is within my ability, whether it is Napoleon or the Bourbons, they all hate me and at the same time can not leave me. So I have lived to this day, while they are all in their coffins.”

Arthur looked at the waiter who was pouring the wine and opened his mouth to ask, “Well …… you seem to have a point, but how do you know what is within your power?”

Talleyrand put down the tablecloth and said, “Young man, you really did ask a rather good question. It does take wisdom to know where the boundaries of one’s abilities lie, and it’s a wisdom that most people don’t possess.”

Speaking here, Talleyrand suddenly looked around, “That boy from the Bonaparte family didn’t come with you today, did he?”

Arthur shook his head, “No, I left him in Liverpool.”

“Wise choice.”

Talleyrand spoke, “In that case, let me use Napoleon as an example. Many people think that my opposition to Napoleon began when I conspired to embrace Mura in 1808. But in reality, whether it was me or Fouche, we began to disagree with him as early as 1803.

At that time, fresh from his triumph over England in the Swiss question, he declared in the presence of all the Swiss: ‘I tell you that I would rather sacrifice a hundred thousand men than allow England to interfere in your internal affairs.’ If the English Cabinet says a word in your favor, it will be all over for you, and I shall unite you with France. If the British Court gives the slightest hint that they are afraid I will be the President of your Confederation, then I will be the President of your Confederation.'”

When Arthur heard this, he just laughed, “He was still First Consul of France at the time, wasn’t he? He hadn’t become the Emperor yet, so I was able to understand him saying this, he wanted to show the French people that he was a strong and powerful leader. Only then would he have the chance to go further.”

Talleyrand sipped his wine, “True, but it wasn’t only the French people who cheered for Napoleon who felt the toughness, but also the rest of Europe, especially the British who were singled out by him. Immediately after the settlement of Switzerland came the news of the French army’s crushing defeat at Santo Domingo in the West Indies. To make matters worse, the Americans also swarmed with determination to resist the French seizure of Louisiana.

Napoleon feared at the time that a determined seizure of Louisiana would push the neutral Americans into the arms of Britain. So he then sold Louisiana outright to the Americans for four cents an acre. But it was too much of a disgrace for him to retreat from America so lightly. So, naturally, the frustration encountered in America had to be recovered elsewhere.

Napoleon’s brilliance lay in the fact that whenever he retreated on one front, he would always launch a brilliant and eye-catching diversionary war on the other to serve as a cover. Only in this way was he able to hold the imagination of the French and to control a turbulent Paris.

And this time he directed his hold-ups along the Nile. He ordered Sebastiani, who had just returned from Egypt, to publish an exaggerated report of the Mediterranean coast, which declared that whether it was the Moslems at Alexandria harbor, or the Christians at Damascus, or the Greeks on Rhodes who were so fond of France that they loudly denounced how perfidious General Stewart was, and how they longed for a just French government to go and conquer the the eastern Mediterranean, and blow the winds of freedom of the Revolution to the littoral states.”

Arthur couldn’t help holding his forehead as soon as he heard this, “So the Parisians believed it?”

“Not only Paris? London believed it too.”

Talleyrand had a complex expression as he savored the aftertaste of his drink, “Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster reacted especially violently. Both your King and the Cabinet and Parliament saw the declaration as a serious provocation by France against England.

At the time, England’s Addington Cabinet was originally under attack from the likes of Grenville, Windham, and Fox, a group of men who were adamantly opposed to the expansion of the army, and shouted that ‘a large standing army is a dangerous instrument of power in the hands of the King’.

As a result of Sebastiani’s report released in Paris, the British domestic opposition to the expansion of the army instantly disappeared, the expansion of the army bill was quickly passed in Parliament, the number of the expansion of the army was also from the initial discussions of 50,000 people to 100,000 people.

I was also the first to be approached by your Ambassador to France, Lord Whitworth, with a solemn protest. I took great pains to make it clear to him that Sebastiani’s visit to Egypt was merely of a purely commercial nature. But what I never expected was that Napoleon, instead of harmonizing with the Foreign Office, made it out that France was obliged to do so because of Britain’s breaking of the Treaty of Amiens.

He said in the presence of Lord Whitworth: ‘The British garrison left in the Egyptian port of Alexandria, instead of being able to protect Egypt, has given France a pretext for invading it.’ However, as much as I would like to get this colony, I am not going to do so. For I do not think it worth while to risk war for it, and it seems to me that sooner or later the Ottoman Turkish Empire will fall to pieces, and Egypt will certainly belong to France.'”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows, “Today has really made me hear quite a lot of secret stories, now I finally know how General Nelson’s famous battle at the mouth of the Nile was actually fought. In this regard, Napoleon was indeed overconfident, and like you said, it may have exceeded the boundaries of his capabilities.”

“But he didn’t realize it.”

Talleyrand spoke up, “Britain’s protests against the Sebastiani report angered him, and he told your ambassador that the only way for Britain to obtain peace was:

First, England must recognize the right of France to arbitrate in the affairs of all neighboring countries, whether Switzerland or Piedmont.

Secondly, Britain must not offer compensation for its losses in the Mediterranean, and there is no room for negotiation on Malta.

Thirdly, England must tolerate it being officially declared to it that England is incapable of fighting France alone.”

Arthur smiled and asked, “He doesn’t think Britain will agree to these demands, does he?”

Talleyrand shrugged his shoulders, “Young man, you haven’t spent any time with him, so naturally you don’t know what kind of man he is. The truth of the matter is that great success has overtaken him, from the time he became First Consul until he stepped into his coffin, in the middle of that time he just felt that he was omnipotent.

He thought that England would certainly retreat here, just as she had retreated on the Swiss question a few months before. So when news of the British expansion came across the Channel, Napoleon’s first reaction was to summon the British ambassador, Lord Whitworth, and question him: ‘So you are preparing for war?’

And when Lord Whitworth denied this, he threatened: ‘Why, then, this expansion of the army? Against whom are these vigilant measures directed? I do not have a single battleship in any French port, but if you want to expand your armies, I will expand them. If you want war, I will have it. You may destroy France, but you must not frighten it.'”

“Wait.”

Arthur suddenly raised his hand when he heard this and interrupted Talleyrand’s words, “When I was in college, I had gone through some historical information, if I remember correctly, France’s army expansion should be ahead of Britain, right? Even the reason why the cabinet is discussing the expansion of the army is because our commissioner in France submitted a state of the nation address, which says that France has expanded its active army to four hundred and eighty thousand people under Napoleon’s leadership.

If he really did not wish to go to war, he should have given orders to Sebastiani, and talked openly and honestly with our ambassador on the subject. But from the words that come out of your mouth, he seems to have no intention at all of reconciliation. And this behavior of cross-examining someone for something they’ve done sounds very unseemly indeed.”

“True, but that’s politics, that’s diplomacy. I’ve been in this business for decades, and this business never changes.” Talleyrand laughed out loud and said, “Young man, you may be objective, want to solve problems, and be well schooled in logic, but you don’t know Napoleon, much less France. Napoleon always acted tough on a public level, but in private he would go to Lord Whitworth and apologize for his indiscretions, but on a diplomatic level you’re not likely to hear half a soft word out of his mouth.

I was long perplexed as to how this fellow could have gained such a high level of support and enthusiasm in France, where the population didn’t seem to care in the least that this little man who could fight was going to take the big boys to hell. But it was only after the end of the Hundred Days that I finally figured this out.

Napoleon understood the character of the French nation well enough to know that the main driving force that could propel it was ‘honor and authority’. His position, his power, and his political destiny were based on satisfying this vain nature of the French.

If he backed down at this point, he would undermine French prestige and thus jeopardize his own position. Thus, even though the British government politely reminded him from time to time, and he admitted that ‘His Majesty should retain a portion of his occupation as a compensation for France’s great territorial extension on the Continent’.

This promise, however, had to be made in secret and in private. In the open, any concession on his part to England would be regarded as a great disgrace to France, and if he were to accept the acquisition of Malta by England as a compensation, he would the next day be the object of ridicule in all Paris, and his prestige would naturally be lost.”

Arthur shook his glass and posed his own question, “Did he do it intentionally or unintentionally?”

“Intentionally, of course.”

Talleyrand spoke up, “Napoleon was so proud of this tactic of his that he once proudly confessed to someone the secret of his acquisition of power.

He said, ‘I have made the nobility tremble while I have satisfied the general public. I gave power to the nobles outwardly, so that they had to take refuge and seek shelter with me. I in turn made the people threaten the nobles so that they could not leave me. I’ll give them status and honor, but only if they take me up on my offer. This approach of mine has worked in France. Look at the clergy, every day they can’t help being more and more loyal to my government, something they never expected.'”

Hearing this, Arthur raised his glass and gave Talleyrand a light clink, “A man of such arrogance, if he were a historical figure, would indeed be a favorite. But if he were right next to me, then he would be an absolute total pain in the ass, and I wouldn’t be able to be friends with him.”

“Really?” Talleyrand smiled and spoke, “I can see the Napoleonic Thoughts serialized in The Economist, that Bonaparte family boy beside you may not be any better than Napoleon.”

“You mean Louis?” Arthur sipped his wine and looked at the ceiling, “I wouldn’t have realized it if you hadn’t mentioned it. When you look at it that way, he does have a glimpse of some of his uncle’s essence, only he’s still too young for it. What’s more, he doesn’t have the power yet.”

Talleyrand spoke, “If you had been born in France a few decades earlier, you definitely would have stood on my side as well.”

Arthur snickered, “Are you sure I won’t be shell-shocked by Fouche?”

“Of course not.” Talleyrand joked in the same vein, “Because Fouchet is on our end too, or why do you think I know Napoleon said those things?”

Arthur asked, “And the cause of his displeasure with Napoleon was also because of that report from Sebastiani?”

Talleyrand nodded, “He could have reacted even more violently than I did. I merely told Napoleon that the crisis could have been resolved peacefully if the First Consul had given his brother Joseph and his foreign minister greater authority.

Instead, Fouche warned Napoleon directly in the Senate: ‘You yourself, like all of us, are the product of a revolution, and war makes everything uncertain. It is flattering for people to ask you to trust in the revolutionary principles of other countries. And the results of our revolution have nearly wiped out all these revolutionary principles!’

And Napoleon’s brother, Joseph, who now lives in the Regency Crescent, put it even more bluntly: ‘Once again he has dragged Europe into the blood of war! A war which he could have avoided, and which would never have taken place had he not sent his Sebastiani on that intolerable excursion!'”

Arthur leaned forward slightly as he heard this, “In fact Napoleon’s acts of war did not only have a major impact on France, he also sent the Whigs of Britain to their graves. At the time, the Whigs were making a big deal at home about what a magnanimous man Napoleon was and how France would not be a threat to Britain, yet once the war started in Egypt and the Mediterranean, the Whigs had their faces swollen by the outstretched slaps of Paris.

They never came to power again for the next thirty years, and it was only last year that they finally got a reprieve. And the anti-British propaganda of Paris, which in turn publicized the war with Britain – a British attempt to subvert the principles of French republicanism – caused all British politicians of that generation to be branded with strong anti-French views. This influence continues to this day, represented by Britain’s present Foreign Secretary, Viscount Palmerston.”

“That I certainly know.”

Talleyrand took a sip of his wine, “Much of what was said in those days was not to be taken seriously, but what I found most enjoyable was the fact that Napoleon was accusing Britain of plotting to subvert the republican system one year, and the next year he himself was proclaimed Emperor. Because of this, not only the Whig party’s face was swollen, even a group of artists who cheered for Napoleon also all fell into the gutter. So that’s the way the world is, don’t take everything too seriously, it’s all according to its own needs.”

Hearing this, Arthur just smiled back, “You are right, but don’t take it too seriously on the assumption that I have nothing to do with it. But since you are willing to take time out of your busy schedule to have a meal with me, you can’t not give me a hint, right?”

Talleyrand tied on his napkin and slowly cut the veal in front of him, “Young man, I’ve already given you a lot of insight. I’m not Napoleon and I don’t feed off of my approval ratings, I have no reason to do such things. Napoleon would bribe the Irish to assassinate the King of England, but I wouldn’t do something that stupid.”

Arthur asked, “And what about Mr. Walewski, can you give me the details? I have to be honest and tell you that the investigation about the Liverpool shooting is not entirely led by Scotland Yard. Parliament also has a specialized committee responsible for investigating this case, and the clues left behind by those killers are just too obvious, and the investigation will always come back to him in the end.”

“Hmm?” Talleyrand slightly raised his head, looked at Arthur and smiled, “Worthy of being the most promising police officer in Scotland Yard, it’s almost catching up with Vidocq’s case speed. Valevski, how did you find that name? I remember Prince Czartoryski should have sent someone to clean out Mr. Kolwachik’s house already!”

It was not the first time that Arthur had heard the name Prince Czartoryski, the temporary president of the Polish insurrectionary government, the leader of the Polish exiles in London, and at the same time, one of the co-founders of the Friends of Polish Literature in Britain.

When Arthur agreed to publish Polish literature in The Briton, the other party once wrote a letter of thanks to the editorial board.

Arthur had never thought that he would actually be associated with the assassination case.

Seeing Arthur’s delayed speech, Talleyrand whirled around and added, ”But don’t worry, the assassin wasn’t assigned by Prince Czartoryski, and he asked people to empty the house also to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. After all, Kolwachik used to be Waleski’s secretary during his lifetime, and if his identity were to be unearthed, it would not only be unfavorable to Poland, but would also further affect the Anglo-French relationship.”

“It seems that in addition to Scotland Yard and Parliament, Polish exiles and the French Embassy are also interested in the case? In that case, you may know the whereabouts of Mrs. Kolwaczyk?”

“Unfortunately. We have only found a few of his children, and as for his wife, we do not know where she has gone.”

Talleyrand spoke, “Young man, you have to understand that today’s France is no longer the France of Napoleon’s time, of course we want to maintain France’s position on the European continent, but it’s not going to be like the old days when we were outside the whole framework.

I expressed my opinion to Napoleon a long time ago, and that opinion hasn’t changed until now. France is big enough, and every future expansion, no matter how bright the victory, will always lose more than it gains. The goal of France is to maintain the existing borders and the existing peace, and the size of France is not determined by the strength of France, nor by the ambitions of its politicians, but by the realities of Europe.

Our present government is certainly interested in Poland, but that is within a framework based on the existing order of Europe as a whole. If France was really interested in land, then last year we would not have allowed Prince Leopold, who had lived in England for so long, to become King of Belgium.

If France is not even seeking Belgium, how can it seek to hold Poland? We just don’t see the Russians trying to take Poland for themselves and thus upset the balance of Europe.

When Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808, Mr. Tolstoy, the Russian ambassador in Paris, exclaimed: ‘Napoleon seems to destroy all the old monarchs, and to swallow up every piece of land that he can, and God knows what else he will do when Spain is pacified.’ What an unprincipled, greedy devil he is!’

To-day, however, France has given up its Napoleonic expansionism, and these Russkies have picked it up again. Arthur, I won’t talk to you in empty words about liberty and democracy and all that; I’ll just tell you that it’s in Britain’s interest to speak up for Poland.

Nicholas I was not like his brother Alexander I. Prince Czartoryski, who worked with both of them, was very vocal in this regard.

If you talk to His Excellency, you will hear from him: ‘It seems to me that Alexander I’s heart was indeed full of grand ideals for the good of the masses, generous and disinterested thoughts and feelings, as well as a desire to sacrifice a part of his kingship for the sake of all that.’ These, however, were only the fancies of youth, and not the determined will of adults. His Majesty enjoys a superficial set of liberties as much as he enjoys the theater. The mere sight of the superficial set of free government in the empire is enough to satisfy his vanity and make him happy. But he does not expect them to become a real reality. He will gladly allow liberty to all, but only if every one will voluntarily do exactly what the Emperor wills.'”

Arthur sniffed, clenched his jaw, and asked, “If Alexander I was that bad already, what was Nicholas I like?”

“That goes without saying?” Talleyrand cut a piece of veal and brought it to his mouth, “He doesn’t even want the appearance of freedom.”

(End of chapter)