The life of Napoleon Buonaparte, emperor of the French. By Sir Walter Scott.

LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 521
hostile country. In thus sparing for the time a This compensation, it was stipulated, was to consist
monarch, of whom he had evelry reason to be jealous, in the retrocession, on the part of France, of the
Napoleon seems to have considered it more ad- Illyrian provinces, yielded up by his Imhnperial MavisaLle to use Frederick's assistance than to throw jesty of Austria at the treaty of Scheoenbrunl.
him into the arms of Russia. The conditions of this By submitting to this embargo on his proceedings
lenity were severe; Prussia was to place at the dis- in Poland, Napoleon lost all opport.unity of revoluposal of France about twenty thousand men, with tionizing that military country, from which he drew
sixty pieces of artillery, the disposable part of the therefore little advantage, unless from the Duchy of
poor remnant of the standing army of the Great Warsaw. Nothing but the tenacity with which
Frederick. She was also to supply the French army Bonaparte retained every territory that fell into his
with everything necessary for their sustenance as power, would have prevented him firom at once siemthey passed through her dominions; but the ex- plifying this complicated engagement, by assigning
pense of these supplies was to be imputed as part to Austria those Illyrian provinces, which were enof the contributions imposed on Prussia by France, tirely useless to France, but on which her ally set
and not yet paid. Various other measures were great value, and stipulating in return,-what Austria
taken to render it easy for the French, in case of would then have willingly granted,-the power of
necessity, to seize such fortresses belonging to disposing, according to his own pleasure, as well of
Prussia as were not already in their hands, and to Polish Gallicia, as of such parts of the Polish prokeep the Prussian people as much as possible dis- vinces as should be conquered firom Russia; or in
armed, a rising amongst them being considered in- case, as De Pradt insinuates, the court of Austria
evitable, if the French arms should sustain any were averse to the exchange, it was in the power of
reverse. Thus, while Russia fortified herself with Napoleon to have certainly removed their objections,
the assistance of France's old ally, Sweden, France by throwing Venice itself into the scale. But we
advanced against Russia, supported by the remain- have good reason to believe that Illyria would have
ing army of Frederick of Prussia, who was at heart been a sufficient inducement to the transaction.
Alexander's best well-wisher. We cannot suppose Bonaparte blind to the irmNapoleon had, of course, a weighty voice in the portance of putting, as he expressed it, all Poland
councils of his father-in-law of Austria. But the on horseback; but whether it was, that in reality
Austrian cabinet were far from regarding his plans he did not desire to establish an independent state
of ambitious aggrandizement with a partial eye. The upon any terms, or whether he thought it hard to
acute Metternich had been able to discover and give up the Illyrian provinces, ceded to France in
report to his master, on his return to Vienna in the property, in order to reconstruct a kingdom, which,
spring of 1811, that the marriage which had just nominally at least, was to be independent; or
been celebrated, would not have the effect of in- whether, in fine, he had an idea that, by vague
ducing Napoleon to sheathe his sword, or of giving to promises and hopes, he could obtain from the Poles
Europe permanent tranquillity. And now, although all the assistance he desired,-it is certain that he
on the approach of the hostilities into which they embarrassed himself with this condition in favour of
were to be involved by their formidable ally, Austria Austria, in a manner which tended to render coinagreed to supply an auxiliary army of 30,000 men, plex and difficult all that he afterwards attempted
under Prince Schwartzenberg, it seems probable in Polish affairs; and lost the zealous co-operation
that she remembered, at the same time, the moderate and assistance of the Lithuanians, at a time when
and lenient mode of carrying on the war practised it voulld have been invaluable to him.
by Russia, when the ally of Napoleon during the Turkey remains to be noticed as the sole remaincampaign of Wagram, and gave her general secret ing power whom Bonaparte ought in Vprdence to
instructions to be no further active in the campaign have propitiated, previous to attacking Russia, of
than the decent supporting of the part of an auxili- which empire she is the natural enemy, as she was
ary peremptorily required. also held the natural and ancient ally of France.
In one most material particular, the necessity of Were it not that the talents of Napoleon were mllch
consulting the interests of Austria interfered with better fitted to crush enemies than to gain or mainNapoleon's readiest and most formidable means of tain friends, it would be difficult to account for his
annoying Russia. We have repeatedly alluded to losing influence over tile Porte at this important
the re-establishment of Poland as an independent period. The Turkish government had been renderkingdom, as a measure which would have rent from ed hostile to France by the memorable invasion of
Russia some of the finest provinces which connect Egypt; but Sultan Selim, an admirer of Napoleon's
her with Europe, and would have gone a certain valour and genius, had become the friend of the
length in thrusting her back into the character of an Emperor of France. Selim was cut off by a conspiAsiatic sovereignty, unconnected with the politics racy, and his successor was more partial to the
of the civilized world. Stuch reconstruction of English interests. In the treaty of Tilsit the partiPoland was however impossible, so long as Austria tion of Turkey was actually agreed upon, though
continued to hold Polish Gallicia; and that state, the term was adjourned;* as, at the negotiations of
in her treaty of alliance with France against Russia,
made.i a. e x s codin t t shd. * The fact is now pretty generally admitted to have been
made it an express condition, that no attempt should as stated in the text. But in the public treaty, it appeared
be made for the restoration of Polish independence that France negotiated an armistice, called that of Slobodby Napoleon, without the consent of Austria, or sea, by which it was stipulated that the two disputed pro.
without making compensation to her for being, in vinces of MIoldavia andi Wallachia were to be restored to
the event supposed, deprived of her share of Poland. the Turks. But the armnistice, as had previously been setvor.. v[. tii