Proclamation of Napoleon

March 1, 1815

Duvergier, Lois, XIX, 375-376.

This proclamation, dated on the day of his arrival in France from Elba, is typical of the declarations and addresses made by Napoleon during the course of his journey to Paris. A similar proclamation was addressed to the army. The manner in which the disasters of 1814 are explained and the skill with which appeal is made to the memories of the Empire should be noticed.

Frenchmen, the defection of the Duke of Castiglione delivered Lyon without defence to our enemies; the army, of which I had confided to him the command, was, by the number of its battalions, and the bravery and patriotism of the troops who composed it, in a condition to fight the Austrian army which was opposing it and to reach the rear of the left flank of the hostile army which was threatening Paris.

The victories of Champ-Aubert, Montmirail, Château-Thierry, Vauchamp, Mormans, Montereau, Craone, Reims, Arcy-sur-Aube and Saint-Dizier, the insurrection of the brave peasants of Lorraine, Champagne, Alsace, Franche-Comté and Bourgogne, and the position which I had taken at the rear of the hostile army, separating it from its magazines, its reserve parks, its convoys and all its equipment, had placed it in a desperate position. Frenchmen were never at the point of being more powerful, and the flower of the hostile army was lost beyond recovery; it would have found its grave in those vast countries which it had so pitilessly plundered, but that the treason of the Duke of Raguse gave up the capital and disorganized the army. The unexpected conduct of these two generals, who betrayed at one and the same time their fatherland, their prince and their benefactor, changed the destiny of the war. The disastrous situation of the enemy was such, that at the end of the affair which took place before Paris, they were without ammunition, through separation from their reserve parks.

Under these new and difficult circumstances my heart was torn, but my soul remained steadfast. I only thought of the interest of the fatherland; I exiled myself upon a rock in the midst of the sea; my life was and must still be useful to you. I did not allow the greater part of those who wished to accompany me to share my lot; I thought their presence was useful in France, and I only took with me a handful of valiant men as my guard.

Raised to the throne by your choice, everything that has been done without you is illegitimate. During the last twenty-five years, France has acquired new interests, new institutions, and a new glory, which can only be guaranteed by a national government and by a dynasty born under these new circumstances. A prince who should reign over you, who should be seated upon my throne by the power of the very armies who have devastated our territory, would seek in vain to support himself by the principles of feudal rights and he could only assure the honor and the rights of a small number of individuals, enemies of the people, who, for twenty-five years past, have condemned them in our national assemblies. Your internal peace and your foreign prestige would be forever lost.

Frenchmen! In my exile I have heard your complaints and your desires: you were claiming that government of your choice, which alone is legitimate. You were complaining of my long sleep, you reproached me with sacrificing to my own repose the great interests of the fatherland.

I have crossed the seas in the midst of perils of every sort; I arrive among you in order to reclaim my rights, which are yours. Everything which individuals have done, written or said since the taking of Paris, I will forever ignore; that will not in the least influence the recollection which I have of the important services that they have rendered; for there are events of such a nature that they are beyond human organization.

Frenchmen! There is no nation, however small it may be, which has not had the right to withdraw and which may not be withdrawn from the dishonor of obeying a prince imposed upon it by a momentarily victorious enemy. When Charles VII re-entered Paris and overthrew the ephemeral throne of Henry VI he recognized that he held his throne by the bravery of his soldiers and not from a prince regent of England.

It is therefore to you alone; and to the brave men of the army, that I consider and shall always consider it glorious to owe everything.

[Signed] NAPOLEON

References

Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Générale, IX, 903-904.

Placed on the Napoleon Series 9/00

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