ors were in red-hot activity and, headed by the Duc
d'Enghien, Cadoudal, Moreau, and Pichegru, were determined to kill the
head of the State, overthrow the Government, and re-establish the
Bourbon dynasty, caused the Duc to be arrested, tried by his
fellow-countrymen, and found guilty of the charges brought against
him, and, by the blundering of Savary, afterwards Duke of Rovigo, and
the persistence of Murat, the death penalty was carried out and he was
shot. Had he been permitted to live another twenty-four hours,
Napoleon would unquestionably have pardoned him, though he never
doubted the justice of the sentence. Much political capital has been
made in this country against Napoleon for even sanctioning his arrest
and in not preventing the capital sentence of the court from being
carried out.[19]

Unquestionably Napoleon regretted the execution, and would have
granted a free pardon had some one not blundered or been too zealous
in what they conceived to be his and the country's best interests.
Almost every writer on this subject is strong in his condemnation of
the execution and of Napoleon for not taking surer steps to prevent
it. But in judging him in regard to this matter, it is only fair to
take into account that he was the ruler of a great empire. Whether he
became so by force or not, does not matter; he saved the Revolution,
and had already brought some form of order out of bloody chaos.

He had already become the popular head of the French nation, and it
devolved upon him to take the most minute precautions against the
disturbing effects of the secret and avowed conspirators who directed
their operations against his life and the overthrow of his government
from London. The precautions taken were drastic, skilfully organized,
and far-reaching, and his agents kept him advised of the danger that
continually beset him. Even though he had no thought of reprieving
the Duc, and deliberately allowed him to be shot, the act of
self-preservation, extreme though it may appear, can hardly be termed,
under the circumstances, unwarranted. It was a period of wild,
uncontrollable passion, and the survivors of the old aristocracy hated
the man of genius who had risen to power from the ranks of the people
to take the place of the Bourbons. This was the canker that stimulated
their enmity.

Had the Duc d'Enghien kept himself aloof from conspirators, and been
willing to recognize the facts he would never have been molested. He