England wished to enter into negotiations at Luneville.
To this the First Consul acceded; but, as he saw
that England was seeking to deceive him, he required
that she should suspend hostilities with France, as
Austria had done. Bonaparte very reasonably alleged
that an indefinite armistice on the Continent would
be more to the disadvantage of France than a long
armistice by sea would be unfavourable to England.
All this adjourned the preliminaries to 1801 and
the peace to 1802.
The impatience and indignation of the First Consul
had been highly excited by the evasions of Austria
and the plots of England, for he knew all the intrigues
that were carrying on for the restoration of the Bourbons.
His joy may be therefore conceived when the battle
of Hohenlinden balanced the scale of fortune in his
favour. On the 3d of December 1800 Moreau gained
that memorable victory which at length put an end
to the hesitations of the Cabinet of Vienna.
—[On the eve of the battle
of Hohenlinden Moreau was at supper with his
aides de camp and several general officers, when a
despatch was delivered to him. After he
had read it be said to his guests, though he
was far from being in the habit of boasting, “I
am here made acquainted with Baron Kray’s
movements. They are all I could wish.
To-morrow we will take from him 10,000 prisoners.”
Moreau took 40,000, besides a great many flags.—Bourrienne.]—
On the 6th of December the First Consul received intelligence
of the battle of Hohenlinden. It was on a Saturday,
and he had just returned from the theatre when I delivered
the despatches to him. He literally danced for
joy. I must say that he did not expect so important
a result from the movements of the army of the Rhine.
This victory gave a new face to his negotiations
for peace, and determined the opening of the Congress
of Luneville, which took place on the 1st of January
following.
On receiving information of the battle of Hohenlinden,
Madame Moreau came to the Tuileries to call on the
First Consul and Madame Bonaparte. She did not
see them, and repeated her calls several times with
no better success. The last time she came she
was accompanied by her mother, Madame Hulot.
She waited for a considerable time in vain, and when
she was going away her mother, who could no longer
restrain her feelings, said aloud, before me and several
persons of the household, that “it ill became
the wife of the conqueror of Hohenlinden to dance attendance
in this way.” This remark reached the
ears of those to whom it was directed. Madame
Moreau shortly after rejoined her husband in Germany;
and some time after her departure Madame Hulot came
to Malmaison to solicit promotion for her eldest son,
who was in the navy. Josephine received Madame
Hulot very kindly, and requested her to stay to dinner.
She accepted the invitation. The First Consul,
who did not see her until the hour of dinner, treated
her very coolly: he said little to her, and retired
as soon as dinner was over. His rudeness was
so marked and offensive that Josephine, who was always
kind and amiable, thought it necessary to apologise,
by observing that his mind was disturbed by the non-arrival
of a courier whom he expected.
