This second installment of Napoleon’s letters (via the Fondation Napoléon) to Murat spans from 3 November – 15 December 1808. There is a noticeable change in tone in these letters from those of the first few months of Murat’s reign, with the Emperor beginning to unleash a torrent of criticisms against Murat about matters great and small, from his resistance to implementing the Napoleonic Code in its entirety, to his rewarding of too many Orders of the Two Sicilies (a habit Murat will continue until the bitter end). After the final letter of this set, Napoleon will not write to Murat again for two months–by which time he will have dismissed Talleyrand and reprimanded Fouché, after learning of their supposed plan to make Murat his heir in the event that the Emperor died without having a legitimate son (see here and here for more on this episode).
***
(CG8 – 19177)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Bayonne, 3 November 1808[1]
My brother, I have arrived in Bayonne. Tomorrow I am moving my headquarters to Vitoria.[2]
The prisoners you took on must not be exchanged. It is necessary that you send the status on them to the Minister of War[3] and put them in a secure place in your kingdom. They must be considered as French prisoners, the French army being the main one in this expedition. Your Minister of Foreign Relations[4] officially informed me of the capture of Capri; this is ridiculous. Capri having been taken by my troops, I should learn of this event by my Minister of War, to whom you should have reported it. Care must be taken to do nothing which might, from this point of view, wound me and the French army.[5]
Np
*****
(CG8 – 19192)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Bayonne, 4 November 1808
My brother, I was pleased to read your report of the taking of Capri.[6] I agree with you that General Lamarque made a mistake in letting the English escape. I suggest you send all my troops to the continent. Encourage this desertion by the Corsicans from the English service, it is useful from all points of view. Threaten Sicily by every manner of operation.[7]
Napol
*****
(CG8 – 19243)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Burgos, 12 November 1808
My brother, I have seen some decrees from you which make no sense. You are only looking to react. Why recall exiles and return property to men to have weapons in their hands and conspire against me? I declare to you that measures must be taken to revoke this decree, because I cannot allow those who hatch plots against my troops to be welcomed and protected in my States.
The measure you have taken for the fishermen is no more prudent; it is a means of instructing the English as to what has happened.[8]
You are sacrificing for a false popularity. The way to lose it is to march badly. It is ridiculous to lift the sequester from property, so that it will feed those who are in Sicily. You must truly have lost your mind.[9]
Napol
*****
(CG8 – 19277)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Burgos, 14 November 1808
My brother, I have received your letters. I am pleased to see what you say about the state of spirits in Rome. For your part, you must contribute to it, and not allow the spread of rumors as ridiculous as those accredited by Gallo[10] by the letter in which he declares that you had nothing to do with what I did in Rome. It is very well known that you do not govern me, and that you have no influence in a country which is not under your domination; but this disavowal makes no sense.
It pained me to learn that you carried out some antics for Saint-Janvier.[11] Doing too much of these things impresses no one and does harm.[12]
Napoléon
*****
(CG8 – 19302)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Burgos, 17 November 1808
My brother, before creating houses of education and other establishments of this type that can be created over time, pay my troops the arrears that are owed to them.[13]
Napolé
*****
(CG8 – 19312)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Burgos, 18 November 1808
My brother, I suppose that you have confiscated the property that the Duke de l’Infantado and the other great ones of Spain possess in your kingdom. My French and Italian subjects have been pillaged in Spain, and I want to compensate them with these lands. Do not lose a moment in sequestering these properties, if you have not already done so. I am assured that half the kingdom of Naples belongs to these great ones of Spain. Have an inventory done of all these possessions, and do not lift the sequester without my permission. I am losing enough in these Spanish affairs.[14]
Napol
*****
(CG8 – 19336)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Burgos, 19 November 1808
My brother, I have received your letter from the 4th. Things are going very well here. Send the 52nd and 102nd to Rome.[15][16]
Nap
*****
[To see Murat’s wounded response to the previous deluge of criticism, on 25 November 1808, click here.]
*****
(CG8 – 19416)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Aranda, 27 November 1808
My brother, I have carefully read the memorandum submitted by your Minister Secretary for Justice[17], on the Napoleonic Code. The most important consideration in this code is that of divorce; it is its foundation. You must not touch it in any way; it is the law of the State. I would prefer that Naples belonged to the former King of Sicily[18] rather than let the Napoleonic Code be castrated like this. Divorce is not contrary to religion; besides, the provisions are extremely modified. Furthermore, those who have an injured conscience, won’t use it. I cannot consent, in my capacity as guarantor of the Constitution, to modifications to the Napoleonic Code. It was adopted in the entire Kingdom of Italy; Florence has it, Rome will have it soon, and the priests must stop caressing prejudices and mind their own business.
Stand in a just balance. It is not by cajoling the priests that you will do anything with them; if they think that you need them very much, they will fail you.
It is ridiculous, for example, that you have given the decoration of the Order of the Two Sicilies to the archbishops and bishops, en masse; this makes no sense and converts this decoration into a sort of uniform; this is to degrade it and miss your aim. You might, if you are content with your archbishops and bishops, name them individually; but to say in a decree: “All the archbishops of our kingdom, who have taken or have been called to take the oath of loyalty in our hands, are named commandants of our royal Order of the Two Sicilies, etc,” to do such a thing, is to have no idea of government.[19]
Napoléon
*****
(CG8 – 19449)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Madrid[20], 6 December 1808
My brother, I have received your letter from the 10th. I understand nothing of all these Italian intrigues or these threats of English expeditions to Italy. This is too stupid. But what astonishes me, is that you think yourself authorized by these ridiculous rumors to not execute my orders. Have the 52nd and 102nd go to Rome[21] without delay, and delay no longer the execution of the orders I have given to my army.
Np
*****
(CG8 – 19482)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Madrid, 10 December 1808
My brother, you are offering your Order[22] to everyone in France. My intention is that no one wears it without my consent. You were wrong to offer it to General Vial.[23] I am refusing him permission to wear it, because this is not agreeable to me.
Np
*****
(CG8 – 19534)
Napoleon to Murat, King of Naples
Madrid, 15 December 1808
My brother, I have received your letter and the memoranda from your ministers. I have guaranteed the public debt, which is to say that registered at the time of the Constitution. I intend not to experience any reduction, and I demand that you report your decree[24] as contrary to the stipulations of which I am guarantor.
You are not supporting me in the war against England. The English are carrying on public commerce with you. The result of this conduct will be that you will not have Sicily.
I must also observe to you that I am extremely wounded by the perpetual declamations with which your edicts are filled against the king your predecessor,[25] who had all the thorns, while you reap the fruits, and to whom you owe eternal gratitude. I am upset to see that you sense so little what you owe me, and that you are thus lacking in propriety. I hope that this popularity you seek will not have unpleasant results for you.[26] As to the individuals who are in the court of Sicily and who make war on me, if you do not confiscate their property, I will take them for my profit to compensate me for what the Kingdom of Naples is costing me; it is already costing me millions. It would have been better to confiscate the properties and use them to pay the public debt than to reduce rents. It is not with nonsense and ridiculous phrases that one changes the face of empires.
I will not scrutinize the interior of your finances; it suffices for me that the arrears of my troops are paid and that they are well maintained. May the Constitution in in force, the Napoleonic Code executed without any modification, and the part of the public debt that I guaranteed remain in full; I will not enter into detail about the rest. If you take my advice, you will close your ears and avoid like the plague the counselors who encourage you to put money aside.[27]
Napol
*****
[1] (Fondation Napoléon note) The Correspondance (n. 14436) based on the minute (Archives nationales, AF IV 878, novembre 1808, n° 21) is dated November 4.
[2] (FN note) First to Tolosa.
[3] (FN note) Clarke.
[4] (FN note) Gallo.
[5] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 11. [C 14436]
[6] (FN note) The report was written by Maximien Lamarque who made Governor Hudson Lowe capitulate on 17 October. See CG-19181.
[7] (FN) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 12.
[8] (FN note) The authorization to extend fishing into the Golf of Naples.
[9] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 13.
[10] (FN note) Minister of Foreign Relations in Naples.
[11] (FN note) Patron saint of the city of Naples, whose anniversary is celebrated with grand pomp on the 19th of September.
[12] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 14.
[13] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 15. [C 14485]
[14] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 16.
[15] (FN note) The initial order is dated 21 October.
[16] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 17.
[17] (FN note) Michelangelo Cianciulli.
[18] (FN note) Ferdinand IV.
[19] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 18. [C 14519]
[20] (FN note) The minute is dated from “Chamartin,” see CG8-19443.
[21] (FN note) The order was dated the 21st of October and reiterated several times.
[22] (FN note) See CG8-19466.
[23] (FN not) Honoré Vial.
[24] (FN note) Letter from Murat to Napoleon from 25 November.
[25] (FN note) Murat accuses Joseph Bonaparte of having emptied the treasury before his departure for Bayonne.
[26] (FN note) The minute continues with a portion of a sentence crossed out from the original: “the presence of Agar and other people of this sort makes me doubt it.” Agar is Murat’s friend, counsellor and ex-minister for the Grand Duchy of Berg. He arrived in Naples on 23 November 1808 and became Minister of Finance in February 1809.
[27] (FN note) Expédition, Archives nationales, fonds Murat, 31 AP 25, d. 479, p. 21. [C 14570]
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