This forms part of a series about why Hortense broke the law. The French version of this post is below the English.
Hortense shares what she wrote to her sons in her attempts to protect them from getting killed by their numerous enemies - through the noble pretext of “revolution”.
The text commences:
- [in a] state of apprehension, I wrote them a letter in the form of a note on the situation in Italy. I made a copy of it which I sent, and I kept mine which I enclose here.
Rome, January 8, 1831.
The Italians can doubtless, in a spurt of momentum, shake off a yoke that weighs heavily on them but I do not believe they have the means of fighting alone and for a long time against the efforts directed against them.
They do not understand the good that was done for them in regenerating them under the Emperor. The enlightened class now understands this and regrets losing him but if the enlightened class leads a movement, it’s the people alone who must support it.
In Lombardy, the people may feel humiliated, but they are not unhappy. Rome is proud and carried away with itself. But after a movement which invites in the enemy, perhaps Rome would deliver up its chiefs to only fall again under the influence of the priests.
The Austrians are quite ready to commence another military action in Italy. They already have extended forces on both sides of the Po. A prepared garrison within its walls, a strong garrison. Piedmont, which looks to France and which could be the first to rise, would hope for immediate support and refuge. Piedmont is divided. The army, led by young nobles, wants the legitimate royalty or the prince of Carignan. Naples is waiting to see what to expect from its new sovereign, and waiting will make it more careful in undertaking anything at this moment.
In the hope of non-intervention, Romagna alone seems ready to revolt. Can a small a small part of an empire can fight against superior forces and resist them! It would be a pipe dream. The young people only have one obvious person to put at the head of their enterprise and he has only one appropriate action to take - to calm the effervescence by all possible means.
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Hortense partage ce qu'elle a écrit à ses fils dans pour les empêcher d'être tués par leurs nombreux ennemis - sous le noble prétexte de la «révolution».
Le texte commence:
The memoirs so far are available here.