The World's Greatest Military Spies and Secret Service AgentsBarton, George
History
The World's Greatest Military Spies and Secret Service Agents
Barton, George
Secret service; Spies
“I merely fulfilled the orders of the minister from England.”
By this time France was venting its wrath unreservedly. It denounced
the conduct of Hamburg to all states, allied and neutral. It compelled
all French consular officers to quit the offending territory and
demanded that every agent of Hamburg residing in France should leave in
twenty-four hours. The Senate of Hamburg now expressed regret at the
occurrence and wrote in this vein to the French authorities.
“Your letter, gentlemen,” replied Napoleon, “does not justify you. You
have violated the laws of hospitality, a thing which never happened
among the most savage hordes of the desert.”
A deputation from the Senate of Hamburg arrived at the Tuileries
to make a public apology to Napoleon. Once again he expressed his
indignation, and when the envoys pleaded national weakness, he
exclaimed:
“Well, and had you not the resources of weak states; was it not in your
power to let them escape?”
As a result of the incident Napoleon laid a fine of 4,500,000 francs on
Hamburg. The payment of this large sum appeased the wrath of the Man of
Destiny and also, it is slyly hinted by his secretary, helped to pay
Josephine’s debts.
In the meanwhile Tandy and his companions had arrived in England.
A military escort accompanied them to Rochester and thence over
Blackfriars Bridge up Ludgate Hill to Newgate. One of the English
newspapers of that time thus describes the event:
“Had Bonaparte and his staff been sent here by Sir Sydney Smith, they
could not have excited more curiosity than Tandy and his companions.
A vast concourse of people gathered at the landing place and followed
the prisoners and their escort to the garrison gates where a new guard
was assembled; and so from stage to stage to the end of the journey
everybody, old and young, male and female, was anxious to get a peep
at this wonderful man now become, from the hope and perverseness of
Ministers, a new bone of contention among the Powers of Europe.
[Illustration: GENERAL NAPPER TANDY]
“Napper Tandy is a large, big-boned, muscular man, much broken and
emaciated. His hair is quite white from age, cut close behind into his
neck, and he appears much enervated. This is indeed very natural if
it be considered that he is nearly seventy years of age and has just
suffered a long and rigorous confinement, his mind a constant prey of
the most painful suspense. He wore a large friar’s hat, a long silk
black greatcoat and military boots, which had a very ‘_outre_’ effect.
“Of Blackwell and Morres, the latter seemed to be five and thirty.
They are two tall, handsome looking men. They wore military dress and
had a very soldier like appearance. The first named is a man of very
enterprising genius, about the middle size and apparently not more than
four or five and twenty, and has the look of a foreigner.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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