第 19 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-04-30 17:21      字数:8677
  of the Syndic Censor。  M。 Forshmann immediately waited upon M。 Doormann;
  and when the latter begged that he would not insist on the insertion of
  the article; M。 Forshmann produced a letter written in French; which;
  among other things; contained the following: 〃You will get the enclosed
  article inserted in the Correspondent without suffering a single word to
  be altered。  Should the censor refuse; you must apply to the directing
  Burgomaster; and; in case of his refusal; to General Tolstoy; who will
  devise some means of rendering the Senate more complying; and forcing it
  to observe an impartial deference。〃
  M。 Doorman; thinking he could not take upon himself to allow the
  insertion of the article; went; accompanied by M。 Forshmann; to wait upon
  M。 Von Graffen; the directing Burgomaster。  MM。 Doorman and Von Graffen
  earnestly pointed out the impropriety of inserting the article; but M。
  Forshmann referred to his order; and added that the compliance of the
  Senate on this point was the only means of avoiding great mischief。  The
  Burgomaster and the Syndic; finding themselves thus forced to admit the
  article; entreated that the following passage at least might be
  suppressed: 〃I know a certain chief; who; in defiance of all laws divine
  and human;in contempt of the hatred he inspires in Europe; as well as
  among those whom he has reduced to be his subjects; keeps possession of
  a usurped throne by violence and crime。  His insatiable ambition would
  subject all Europe to his rule。  But the time is come for avenging the
  rights of nations 。  。  。  。〃  M。 Forshmann again referred to his orders;
  and with some degree of violence insisted on the insertion of the article
  in its complete form。  The Burgomaster then authorised the editor of the
  Correspondent to print the article that night; and M。 Forshmann; having
  obtained that authority; carried the article to the office at half…past
  eleven o'clock。
  Such was the account given me by M。 Doormann。  I observed that I did not
  understand how the imaginary apprehension of any violence on the part of
  Russia should have induced him to admit so insolent an attack upon the
  most powerful sovereign in Europe; whose arms would soon dictate laws to
  Germany。  The Syndic did not dissemble his fear of the Emperor's
  resentment; while at the same time he expressed a hope that the Emperor
  would take into consideration the extreme difficulty of a small power
  maintaining neutrality in the extraordinary circumstances in which
  Hamburg was placed; and that the articles might be said to have been
  presented almost at the point of the Cossacks' spears。  M。 Doormann added
  that a refusal; which world have brought Russian troops to Hamburg; might
  have been attended by very unpleasant consequences to me; and might have
  committed the Senate in a very different way。  I begged of him; once for
  all; to set aside in these affairs all consideration of my personal
  danger: and the Syndic; after a conversation of more than two hours;
  departed more uneasy in his mind than when he arrived; and conjuring me
  to give a faithful report of the facts as they had happened。
  M。 Doormann was a very worthy man; and I gave a favourable representation
  of his excuses and of the readiness which he had always evinced to keep
  out of the Correspondent articles hostile to France; as; for example; the
  commencement of a proclamation of the Emperor of Germany to his subjects;
  and a complete proclamation of the King of Sweden。  As it happened; the
  good Syndic escaped with nothing worse than a fright; I was myself
  astonished at the success of my intercession。  I learned from the
  Minister for Foreign Affairs that the Emperor was furiously indignant on
  reading the article; in which the French army was outraged as well as he。
  Indeed; he paid but little attention to insults directed against himself
  personally。  Their eternal repetition had inured him to them; but at the
  idea of his army being insulted he was violently enraged; and uttered the
  most terrible threats。
  It is worthy of remark that the Swedish and English Ministers; as soon as
  they read the article; waited upon the editor of the Correspondent; and
  expressed their astonishment that such a libel should have been
  published。  〃Victorious armies;〃 said they; 〃should be answered by
  cannonballs and not by insults as gross as they are ridiculous。〃  This
  opinion was shared by all the foreigners at that time in Hamburg。
  CHAPTER XXXIV。
  1805
  Difficulties of my situation at HamburgToil and responsibility
  Supervision of the emigrantsForeign MinistersJournalsPacket
  from StrasburgBonaparte fond of narrating Giulio; an extempore
  recitation of a story composed by the Emperor。
  The brief detail I have given in the two or three preceding chapters of
  the events which occurred previously to and during the campaign of
  Austerlitz; with the letters of Duroc and Bernadotte; may afford the
  reader some idea of my situation during the early part of my residence in
  Hamburg。  Events succeeded each other with such incredible rapidity as to
  render my labour excessive。  My occupations were different; but not less
  laborious; than those which I formerly performed when near the Emperor;
  and; besides; I was now loaded with a responsibility which did not attach
  to me as the private secretary of General Bonaparte and the First Consul。
  I had; in fact; to maintain a constant watch over the emigrants in
  Altona; which was no easy matterto correspond daily with the Minister
  for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Policeto confer with the
  foreign Ministers accredited at Hamburgto maintain active relations
  with the commanders of the French armyto interrogate my secret agents;
  and keep a strict surveillance over their proceedings; it was; besides;
  necessary to be unceasingly on the watch for scurrilous articles against
  Napoleon in the Hamburg 'Corespondent'。  I shall frequently have occasion
  to speak of all these things; and especially of the most marked
  emigrants; in a manner less irregular; because what I have hitherto said
  may; in some sort; be considered merely as a summary of all the facts
  relating to the occurrences which daily passed before my eyes。
  In the midst of these multifarious and weighty occupations I received a
  packet with the Strasburg postmark at the time the Empress was in that
  city。  This packet had not the usual form of a diplomatic despatch; and
  the superscription announced that it came from the residence of
  Josephine。  My readers; I venture to presume; will not experience less
  gratification than I did on a perusal of its contents; which will be
  found at the end of this chapter; but before satisfying the curiosity to
  which I have perhaps given birth; I may here relate that one of the
  peculiarities of Bonaparte was a fondness of extempore narration; and it
  appears he had not discontinued the practice even after he became
  Emperor。
  In fact; Bonaparte; during the first year after his elevation to the
  Imperial throne; usually passed those evenings in the apartments of the
  Empress which he could steal from public business。  Throwing himself on a
  sofa; he would remain absorbed in gloomy silence; which no one dared to
  interrupt。  Sometimes; however; on the contrary; he would give the reins
  to his vivid imagination and his love of the marvelous; or; to speak more
  correctly; his desire to produce effect; which was perhaps one of his
  strongest passions; and would relate little romances; which were always
  of a fearful description and in unison with the natural turn of his
  ideas。  During those recitals the ladies…in…waiting were always present;
  to one of whom I am indebted for the following story; which she had
  written nearly in the words of Napoleon。  〃Never;〃 said this lady in her
  letter to me; 〃did the Emperor appear more extraordinary。  Led away by
  the subject; he paced the salon with hasty strides; the intonations of
  his voice varied according to the characters of the personages he brought
  on the scene; he seemed to multiply himself in order to play the
  different parts; and no person needed to feign the terror which he really
  inspired; and which he loved to see depicted in the countenances of those
  who surrounded him。〃  In this tale I have made no alterations; as can be
  attested by those who; to my knowledge; have a copy of it。  It is curious
  to compare the impassioned portions of it with the style of Napoleon in
  some of the letters addressed to Josephine。
  End of The Memoirs of Napoleon; V8; 1805
  by Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne