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Jomini. Baron. *Jourdan. Comte. Junot. Duc d'Abrantès. *Kellermann. Duc de Valmy. *Lannes. Duc de Montebello. Larrey. Baron. Latour-Maubourg. Baron. Lauriston. Comte. Lavalette. Comte. Minister of Posts. *Lefebvre. Duc de Danzig. *Macdonald. Duc de Taranto. Maret. Duc de Ragusa. *Masséna. Miot. Comte de Melito. Méneval. Baron. Mollien. Comte. Minister of the Treasury. *Moncey. Duc de Conegliano.
Gaspar Mollien was nephew to Napoleon's Minister of the Treasury. He was on board the Medusa, but was fortunate enough to escape when that vessel was shipwrecked, and to reach the coast of the Sahara in a boat, whence he made his way to Senegal. The dangers from which Mollien had just escaped would have destroyed the love of adventure and exploration in a less ardent spirit.
He once said to Mollien: "I seek the good that is practical, not the ideal best: the world is very old: we must profit by its experience: it teaches that old practices are worth more than new theories: you are not the only one who knows trade secrets." This was his general attitude towards the exponents of new financial or commercial views.
Still less was he deceived by the seemingly overwhelming impulse in his favour. He looked beyond the hysteria of welcome to the cold and critical fit which follows; and he saw danger ahead. When Mollien complimented him on his return, he replied, alluding to the general indifference at the departure of the Bourbons: "My dear fellow! People have let me come, just as they let the others go."
Jomini. Baron. *Jourdan. Comte. Junot. Duc d'Abrantès. *Kellermann. Duc de Valmy. *Lannes. Duc de Montebello. Larrey. Baron. Latour-Maubourg. Baron. Lauriston. Comte. Lavalette. Comte. Minister of Posts. *Lefebvre. Duc de Danzig. *Macdonald. Duc de Taranto. Maret. Duc de Ragusa. *Masséna. Miot. Comte de Melito. Méneval. Baron. Mollien. Comte. Minister of the Treasury. *Moncey. Duc de Conegliano.
Such a treaty was without parallel in European history; and the stringency of its clauses serves as the measure of the prowess and perversity of the French Emperor. It is puerile to say, as Mollien does, that England bribed the allies to this last effort. Experiences of the last months had shown them that peace could not be durable as long as Napoleon remained in a position to threaten Germany.
The Emperor's views as to the effect of the capture of Paris were also well known. In January he remarked to Mollien, the Minister of the Treasure, "My dear fellow, if the enemy reaches the gates of Paris, the Empire is no more."
It is a pleasure to us Frenchmen when we can quote the name of a fellow-countryman amongst the many travellers who have risked their lives in the cause of geographical science. Without abating our critical acumen, we feel our pulse quicken when we read of the dangers and struggles of such travellers as Mollien, Caillié, De Cailliaud, and Letorzec.
Such a treaty was without parallel in European history; and the stringency of its clauses serves as the measure of the prowess and perversity of the French Emperor. It is puerile to say, as Mollien does, that England bribed the allies to this last effort. Experiences of the last months had shown them that peace could not be durable as long as Napoleon remained in a position to threaten Germany.
She had lost her allies and alienated the sympathies of neutrals. But from the sea she was able to exert on the Napoleonic States a pressure that was gradual, cumulative, and resistless; and the future was to prove the wisdom of the words of Mollien: "England waged a warfare of modern times; Napoleon, that of ancient times. There are times and cases when an anachronism is fatal."
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