/ -D! NAPOLEON THE THIRD THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPEROR NAPOLEON THE THIRD N APOLEON THE THIRD: THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPEROR Jg" BY WALTER GEER JONATHAN CAPE : ELEVEN GOWER ST., LONDON "iSAAcToor LIBRARY First published, 1921 All rights reserved PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOREWORD NEARLY fifty years have elapsed since the death of Napoleon the Third at Chislehurst in January 1873, and it seems as though the time had now arrived for an unprejudiced story of his career. After the catastrophe of Sedan, there was a violent reaction in France from the Napoleonic idola- try of the Second Empire. Condemnation ran to as great an extreme as worship had gone before. The Napoleonic legend was torn to tatters, and the central figure of its revival was held responsible for all the misfortunes of "I'annee terrible." From an over-rated hero, Napoleon the Third was transformed into an equally impossible demon. Time has now checked the reaction, and softened the rage of the iconoclasts. The wrong of the Peace of Frankfort has been undone, and the glorious tricolor of the Empire and the Re- public once more floats over the "lost provinces'* of Alsace and Lorraine. While Napoleon the Third possessed but little of the administrative ability, and none of the military genius, of the Great Emperor, he certainly was far from de- serving the title of "Napoleon the Little" bestowed upon him by Victor Hugo. Compared with the leaders of public opinion in other countries during his time, with Cavour in Italy, with Disraeli and Gladstone in England, even with Bismarck in Prussia, he cannot be considered inferior. Time has shown the "Iron nv3 FOREWORD Chancellor" of Germany in his true proportions. The German propaganda is better understood now than it was a few years ago. In his memoirs Bismarck has re- lated cynically, and even vauntingly, the story of the falsified Ems dispatch, which precipitated the Franco- Prussian war, the whole blame for which at the time, and for years afterwards, was laid at the door of France. In the days of disaster which followed, with equal injustice, all the misfortunes of France were attrib- uted to the Imperial regime. The Nation, which had refused to provide for adequate military prepared- ness, threw the whole blame upon the Emperor. If the French eagles had been borne in triumph to Berlin, as after Jena in 1806, Napoleon the Third would have been acclaimed by all the world as the worthy suc- cessor of Napoleon the Great. Because, prematurely old, and already suffering from a mortal malady, he failed, the world united to decry and belittle him. But, whatever the final verdict of History may be, upon these controverted points, there can be no doubt as to the fact that Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the dominating personalities of the great Nine- teenth Century, and one of the most interesting char- acters in history. The story of his life reads like the pages of a great historical novel, and may well be called The Romance of an Emperor. Walter Geer New York, August, 1920 nvi] CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE 1804-1808 THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND PAGE Louis Bonaparte — Hortense de Beauharnais — The Em- press Josephine — Marriage of Louis and Hortense — Birth of Napoleon Charles — The Problem of Suc- cession — Birth of Napoleon Louis — The King and Queen of Holland — Death of Napoleon Charles — The Baths of Cauterets — The Verhuell Calumny 3 CHAPTER TWO 1808-1815 CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS Birth of Louis Napoleon — Holland Annexed to the Em- pire — Separation of Louis and Hortense — Flahaut and Morny — The Hundred Days — Departure of Napoleon — Josephine's Estate — Malmaison and Saint-Leu. — Hortense in Exile 16 CHAPTER THREE 1815-1831 LIFE IN SWITZERLAND Exile at Constance — The Chateau of Arenenberg — Char- acter of Hortense — Education of a Prince — At Augs- burg and Thun — Death of Eugene — The July Revolu- Cvii] CONTENTS PAGE tion — The Italian Insurrection — Death of Napoleon Louis — Flight from Ancona to Paris — Louis Philippe — First Visit to England — Return to Arenenberg 28 CHAPTER FOUR 1831-1836 YEARS OF WAITING Life at Arenenberg — Death of the Duke of Reichstadt — Louis Napoleon Head of His Party — Captain Bona- parte at Thun — Political Activity — Visitors at the Chateau — Interview with La Fayette 48 CHAPTER FIVE 1836-1837 THE GREAT ADVENTURE Revival of the Napoleonic Legend — The July Monarchy — Persigny at Arenenberg — Preparations at Baden — Eleonore Brault — Precedent of the Return from Elba — The Meeting at Strasbourg — The Thirtieth October — End of the Great Adventure — Hortense Rushes to Paris — Clemency of the King — Banish- ment to America — Days in New York — Return to Arenenberg — Death of Hortense 59 CHAPTER SIX 1837-1840 THE AFFAIR OF BOULOGNE Last Days at Arenenberg — Maxims and Will of Hortense — Departure from Switzerland — Residence in London — Preparations for Boulogne — The Napoleonic Propa- CONTENTS PAGE ganda — Departure of the Expedition — Landing in France — The Second Fiasco — Arrest of the Conspir- ators — Trial by the Chamber of Peers — Sentenced to Perpetual Imprisonment — The Remains of Napo- leon Brought Home from Saint Helena 78 CHAPTER SEVEN 1840-1846 PRISONER OF STATE The Chateau of Ham — Life in Prison — Literary Pas- times — A Prison Romance — The Crazy Duke of Brunswick — The Escape from Ham — Second Resi- dence in London — The Affair with Miss Howard — The Princesse Marie de Bade — Death of King Louis. 95 CHAPTER EIGHT 1846-1848 REVOLUTION OF 1848 Awaiting the Call of Destiny — Government of Louis Philippe — The Mehemet Ali Affair — Ministry of Guizot — The February Revolution — Flight of the King — The Provisional Government — The June Riots — Louis Napoleon at Paris — Elected to the Assembly — A Crucial Moment — The New Constitu- tion — Candidate for the Presidency — Triumphant Election — Inaugurated as President of the Republic . . 113 n«3 CONTENTS CHAPTER NINE 1848-1852 PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC PAGE The Elysee Palace — The Prince Plans a Coup d'Etat — Strength of the Monarchlal Party — The June Insur- rection — Franchise Law of 1850 — The President and the Assembly — Removal of General Changarnier — The Coup d'Etat — The Second of December — The Two Following Days — Verdict of the Nation — The New Constitution — Old Debts Paid — Last Year of the Republic — The Plebescite — The Empire Proclaimed 126 CHAPTER TEN 1853 EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH First Year of the Empire — Napoleon the Third and the Great Powers — Lord Cowley's Anecdote — Final Recognition of His Title — The Question of the Succes- sion — Matrimonial Ventures of Louis Napoleon — Eugenie de Montijo — The Imperial Marriage — The Bonapartes Return — Splendor of the Court — Char- acter of Napoleon — The Napoleonic Ideas — Political Institutions of the Empire — The Emperor's Policy ... 146 CHAPTER ELEVEN 1854-1855 THE CRIMEAN WAR Prosperity of the Empire — Obligations of a Warlike Heri- tage — The Famous Speech at Bordeaux — Causes of the Russian War — The Sick Man of Europe — The CONTENTS PAGE Holy Places — Russia Invades the Danubean Princi- palities — The Anglo-French Alliance — First Year of the War — Battles in the Crimea — Siege and Fall of Sebastopol — Treaty of Paris — Results of the War — Visit to England — Birth of the Prince Imperial — Royal Visitors to Paris — The Exhibition of 1855 — Visit of Queen Victoria 158 CHAPTER TWELVE 1859 ITALIAN INDEPENDENCE Count Cavour — Piedmont in the Crimean War - — The Congress of Paris — The Comtesse de Castiglione — The Orsini Conspiracy — The Pact of Plombieres — The Austrian Ultimatum — The Campaign in Lom- bardy — Victories of Magenta and Solferino — The Peace of Villafranca — Explanation of Napoleon's Action — Resignation of Cavour - — Savoy and Nice Annexed to France 1 75 CHAPTER THIRTEEN 1860 FRANCE AND ITALY New Year*s Day at Rome — Resignation of Walewski — The Speech from the Throne — Monsieur Thouvenel — The Italian Question — Nice and Savoy — The Great Powers — Treaty of Turin — Napoleon and Pius Ninth — General Lamoriciere — The Pontifical Army — Journey of the French Sovereigns — The Piedmontese Invasion — Castelfidardo and Ancona — Kingdom of Naples — Diplomatic Protests — The Interview of Warsaw — Victor Emmanuel at Naples — End of the Year i860 189 Cxi;] CONTENTS CHAPTER FOURTEEN 1855-1867 GLORIOUS DAYS OF THE EMPIRE PAGE Two Great Military Reviews — Death of the Grand Duchess Stephanie — The Baden Interview ^ — The Visit to Corsica — The Reconstruction of Paris — Home Life in the Tuileries — The Exhibition of 1867 . . 206 CHAPTER FIFTEEN 1860-1870 HOME AFFAIRS EfFect of the Italian War — Damage to the Emperor's Prestige — The English Treaty of Commerce — Op- position of the Protectionists — Religious Agitation — Foundation of the Liberal Empire — Change in the French Navigation Laws — Further Concessions to the Liberals — Growing Strength of the Opposition — Death of Morny — Rise of the Third Party — ^^Waver- ing Policy of the Emperor — Final Adoption of the Liberal Plan — The Ollivier Ministry — The Nation Approves the Liberal Reforms — Satisfaction of the Emperor 222 CHAPTER SIXTEEN 1860-1866 FOREIGN AFFAIRS The Syrian Massacres — Napoleon's Letter to Palmerston — Limited Results of the Expedition — The Chinese War — The French and English Forces — Battle of Palikao — Destruction of the Summer Palace — Treaty of Pekin — The Mexican War — Ulterior Plans of CONTENTS PAGE Napoleon — The Mexican Empire — Maximilian and Carlotta — Withdrawal of the French Army — Execu- tion of Maximilian — Blow to Napoleon's Prestige — Plans for German Unity — Rise of Bismarck — The Schleswig-Holstein Question — The Biarritz Confer- ence — The Italian Alliance — The Seven Weeks' War — Victory of Sadowa — North German Confeder- ation 234 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 1860-1870 DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE Incapacity of the Government in External Affairs — The Peace of Villafranca — The Mexican War — The Rise of Prussia — Alienation of the Church of Rome — Meddling of the Empress — The AiFair of Schleswig- Holstein — The Seven Weeks' War — Army Reorgani- zation — Napoleon's Lassitude — His Poor Health — Reasons for the Constitutional Changes — The Popular Approval — Negative Votes of the Army — The Ho- henzoUern Candidature — The Famous Ems Dispatch — Bismarck's Duplicity — France Declares War. .... 250 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 1870 THE GERMAN WAR Effect of the Ems Dispatch — Declaration of War — En- thusiasm of the Parisians — Isolation of France — Dis- organization of the Army — Perfect Preparation of Prussia — Advance of the Three German Armies — MacMahon Defeated at Worth — Despair of the Emperor — Bazaine in Command — Attempt to c xiii 2 CONTENTS PAGE Retreat on Verdun Checked at Borny — Night Visit to Napoleon — The Emperor Goes to Gravelotte — Final Interview with Bazaine — Battles of Vionville and Gravelotte — Siege of Metz Begun — Napoleon at Chalons — A Council of War — Veto of the Em- press — MacMahon Decides to March on Metz — Further Indecision — The March Resumed — Posi- tion of the Germans — They Follow the French Army — Further Defeats of the French — Retreat to Sedan — The French Position — MacMahon Wounded — WimpfFen in Command — Misery of the Emperor — Desperate Position of the Army — The White Flag Hoisted — Napoleon's Letter — 270 CHAPTER NINETEEN 1871-1873 LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR The Surrender at Sedan — The Emperor's Last Meeting with Bismarck — His Interview with King William — Prisoner in Germany — The Chateau of Wilhelmshohe — Visit of the Empress — End of the War — Final Exile in England — Life at Camden Place — Fail- ing Health of the Emperor — Operation of the Sec- ond January — Death on the Ninth — Funeral at Chislehurst 287 CHAPTER TWENTY 1856-1879 THE PRINCE IMPERIAL His First Public Appearance — The Baptism of Fire — His Wanderings During the War — Chislehurst and Wool- wich — Service in South Africa — Killed by the Zulus Cxiv] CONTENTS PAGE — Prince Victor Head of the Family — His Marriage with Clementine — Birth of Louis Napoleon — The American Bonapartes — The Empress at Farnborough Hill — Her Visits to Paris and Cap Martin — Her Death — The Fate of the Tuileries 298 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 1808-1873 CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON THE THIRD His Mission — His Heredity — His Youth and Education — His Mother's Influence — His Personal Attraction — His Excellence in Sports — His Powers as a Linguist — His Efforts to Improve France — His Personality — His Entourage — His Dignity — His Affability — His Tenacity — His Lack of Decision — His Love of Startling Effects — His Impassibility — His Personal Appearance — His Place in History 313 THE BONAPARTES GENEALOGICAL TABLE 327 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 328 CHRONOLOGY 332 BIBLIOGRAPHY 334 INDEX 337 Cxvll ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Napoleon the Third Frontispiece Napoleon 20 Josephine 24 Louis, King of Holland 32 Queen Hortense 48 Le Chateau of Ham 96 President Louis Napoleon 112 Napoleon the Third 128 Eugenie 144 La Princesse Mathilde 160 La Comtesse de Castiglione 176 Le Comte Walewski 192 Le Due de Morny 208 The Tuileries 288 Le Prince Imperial 304 Cxvii] NAPOLEON THE THIRD THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPEROR NAPOLEON THE THIRD THE ROMANCE OF AN EMPEROR CHAPTER ONE 1804-1808 THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND Louis Bonaparte — Hortense de Beauharnais — The Empress Josephine — Marriage of Louis and Hortense — Birth of Napoleon Charles — The Problem of Succession — Birth of Napoleon Louis — The King and Queen of Holland — Death of Napoleon Charles — The Baths of Cauterets — The Verhuell Calumny IN all history there are few personalities more in- teresting than that of Napoleon the Third. The story of his life reads like a romance. His adven- tures unroll before the eyes with all the attraction of a moving picture, with all the enthralling interest of a melodrama. The student of his career finds it diffi- cult to avoid the impression that he is in the presence of a hero of fiction or of the drama, beside whom all other characters of romance seem insignificant. At the time of his birth, his father Louis Bonaparte was King of Holland. His mother was the fascinating Hortense, daughter of the Empress Josephine by her first marriage with the Vicomte de Beauharnais, who was guillotined during the French Revolution. He was therefore at the same time the nephew and the grand- son by marriage of the Great Emperor. Louis Bonaparte was the favorite brother of Na- poleon, who carefully supervised his education and treated him almost like an adopted son. In 1795 he NAPOLEON THE THIRD procured for him admission to the mihtary school at Chalons. At that time he wrote of him as follows: "Je suis tres content de Louis, il repond a mes es- perances et a I'attente que j'avais con^ue de lui; c'est un bon sujet; mais aussi c'est de ma fa^on: chaleur, esprit, sante, talent, commerce exact, bonte, il reunit tout." In this letter we find a tenderness, almost a paternal blindness, which one would hardly look for in Na- poleon. During the first Italian campaign Louis acted as aide de camp of Napoleon. He was his messmate, his private secretary, his man of confidence. During this period he gave proofs of a strong constitution, was always gay, and showed himself to be an amiable companion and a bon vivant. Later he had an attack of rheumatic gout which in a short time seemed to change both his physical temperament and his moral character. For the rest of his life he was sickly, mo- rose, melancholic, constantly occupied with his health, and persuaded that he was doomed. At the time no one suspected this transformation in his character. Napoleon least of all. After the return from Egypt, where Louis again acted as aide de camp of his brother, this young man, without merit, without experience, without military taste, without glorious achievement, was rapidly ad- vanced by Napoleon to the grade of general of brig- ade. After this appointment in January 1800, when he was only twenty-two years of age, Louis resided at Paris, where he occupied himself with nearly every- thing except his military duties. Z42 THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND After Marengo, the First Consul began seriously to consider the question of his heir. It was then that Josephine conceived the idea of a marriage between her daughter Hortense and Louis. At that time Hortense was only seventeen years of age, or five years younger than her future husband. She was not at all pretty, but was singularly attrac- tive from the beauty of her form and the grace of her movements. Except for her blond hair she would have been considered rather plain. Her nose was large and her mouth homely, with bad teeth even in her youth. Her eyes, of a blue violet color, at times gave an ex- pression of exquisite tenderness and vivacity to her face. The tout ensemble was one which attracted and fascinated everybody. She had been educated at the famous school of Madame Campan and possessed all the accomplishments of a young lady of good family. She danced well, she embroidered, she sang, she played the harp and the piano, she excelled in all the little tasks of the salon, she was quite literary in her tastes. In character she was sweet, loving, viva- cious, and very amiable if not crossed, when she be- came very obstinate. She was a fine horsewoman, and took a prominent part in the sports and pastimes of the chateau life. Her finest trait was her life-long adoration of her mother. Josephine, it must be confessed, was little worthy of the love which both her children always gave her. In spite of her many amiable qualities she was sel- fishness personified and never really loved anybody but herself. She was fond of her position as the wife of the head of the State, and the many worldly advan- NAPOLEON THE THIRD tages which this brought her, but she never really loved Napoleon the man, and never showed much affection for her children. She was one of those rare characters who seem to possess the natural gift of attracting others without themselves giving anything in return. Her memory has been crowned with a halo which it little deserved. All the memoirs of her time are in accord In attrib- uting to Josephine great affability and social tact. All are equally unanimous in saying she had very lit- tle intellect. The depths of her selfishness were con- cealed by an appearance of affability and tenderness. As a woman she had no instruction, no belief, no rule of morality, but she possessed in the highest degree the gift of social tact, of savoir faire, of always saying and doing the right thing at the right time, of win- ning all hearts. Intelligent or not, she was successful for fourteen years in keeping the love of a husband six years her junior against all the attacks and all the conspiracies of the whole Bonaparte family. Hortense, with much more Intelligence, possessed all the attrac- tive qualities of her mother, with few, if any, of her faults. Josephine, in considering the different partis who presented themselves for Hortense, never re- garded them from the point of view of the happiness of her daughter but only from that of her own per- sonal Interest. Finally matters were brought to a head by the at- tempt on the life of the First Consul the night of 24 December 1800, when he was on his way to the opera. His life was spared almost by a miracle, and Josephine and Hortense, who followed in another THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND carriage, owed their safety to a short delay in starting occasioned by an accident of toilette. Every one was impressed as never before with the necessity for the safety of the State of having an heir for Napoleon. Josephine was now firmly resolved upon the marriage between her daughter and Louis, but it was nearly a year before she succeeded in carrying out her plans. In September 1801 Louis came to Malmaison to make a visit to his brother and sister-in-law and it was the evening of a ball there that after a decisive interview with Hortense the marriage was finally ar- ranged. According to Masson, who is the latest and best authority on the subject of "Napoleon et sa Famille," there was little if any foundation for the re-iterated affirmations of Louis in later years that the marriage was forced upon him. Three months elapsed between the ball at Malmaison and the cere- mony. During this period Louis showed himself very much in love, while Hortense, if not very enthusiastic, was at least resigned to her lot. The 3 January, 1802, the marriage contract was signed in the presence of nearly the entire Bonaparte family, and the following day the civil marriage itself took place, followed the same evening by a religious ceremony, at the Bona- parte hotel in the Rue de la Victoire. This function terminated. General Murat ap- proached the cardinal-legate, Caprara, and said that his marriage with Caroline Bonaparte had only been a civil ceremony, and requested him to unite them by the rites of the Church. Caprara immedi- ately performed the ceremony, with the same witnesses who had attested the marriage of Hortense and Louis. NAPOLEON THE THIRD Thus was realized the ardent wish of Josephine, who now felt that her position was not only assured for the present, but was certain to be stronger in the future. Her only daughter was the wife of the favorite brother of Napoleon, and the only one whom he was likely to accept as his heir. Louis was married only a few days, and hardly settled in the little hotel loaned them by Napoleon in the Rue de la Victoire, before trouble began between the young couple. The cause of the quarrel was over Josephine, whom Louis both disliked and distrusted, and whom he wished so far as possible to keep sepa- rated from her daughter. He soon left his young wife, and except for a short appearance in April was absent all summer. Abandoned by her husband the second month of her marriage, Hortense passed most of her time with Napoleon and Josephine either at the Tuileries or at Malmaison where she spent the summer and fall. During the three weeks that her mother went to Plombieres to take the waters, Hor- tense did the honors of the Chateau. The prolonged absence of her husband after so short a period of marriage and the intimacy into which she was neces- sarily thrown with her young stepfather, who was only fourteen years older than herself, soon gave oc- casion for scandal. The hatred of Josephine by Napo- leon's brothers, and the jealousy of his sisters towards Hortense, served to fan the flame. When these reports reached the ears of Napoleon, he thought it better for Hortense not to continue to live at the Tuileries, and as the little hotel which he had loaned them in Rue de la Victoire was too small, the last of July 1802 ZS2 THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND he bought for about 180,000 francs, in the name of Louis and Hortense, and presented to them, a Httle palace at number 16 in the same street. Here on ID October 1802 was born a son who was called Napoleon Charles. Louis, in response to a formal order from his brother, had returned to Paris just in time to be present on the interesting occasion. Napoleon Charles was the first male child born in the Bonaparte family in Napoleon's generation. Joseph had only one daughter; Lucien, two. In a way, the feeling of Napoleon towards him was that of a grandfather. He was the child of Louis, who was almost like a son to him, and of Hortense, who was his daughter by marriage, and by adoption in his heart. The months before his birth Hortense had passed with Napoleon and Josephine during the ab- sence of her husband. The child strongly resembled his uncle in the shape of his head and the form of his features, but was blond like his mother. The scandal-mongers, of whom the latest and meanest and most mendacious of all was the so-called "Baron d'Ambes," who claimed to be the "life-long and intimate friend of Napoleon the Third," have endeavored to establish the fact that King Louis was not the father of any of his reputed children! Ambes, in his "Intimate Memoirs," of which an English translation was published here in 191 2, writes, "Napo- leon, too, insisted on the marriage, and so peremp- torily, he must have had a pressing motive. We can guess what it was ! . . . The case was urgent — these four words sufficiently reveal the predicament." Now for the facts in the case, which Monsieur 1:93 NAPOLEON THE THIRD "d'Ambes" carefully ignores. In the first place, the marriage did not take place until over three months after it was first arranged, as we have already seen. So much for the urgency! In the second place, the First Consul left Paris for Lyon the night of the eighth of January, only four days after the marriage, and did not return until the first of February. During these four days Hortense was with her husband in their Paris house and did not once visit Saint-Cloud. Napoleon Charles was born the tenth of October. The reader can make his own calculations and deduc- tions. To be sure, the eldest son of Hortense strangely resembled Napoleon. But the striking family resem- blance of the Bonapartes has often been remarked. Jerome Bonaparte of Baltimore, the son of Napoleon's youngest brother Jerome by his first marriage with Elizabeth Patterson, and Prince Napoleon, his son by his second wife the Princess Catherine of Wiirtem- berg, in personal appearance both bore an extraor- dinary resemblance to the First Napoleon. On the other hand. Prince Victor, the elder son of Prince Napoleon, and the present head of the Bonaparte family, strongly resembles his Italian mother, the Princess Clotilde, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel, as Napoleon the Third strongly resembled his mother Queen Hortense. Returning to Paris just in time for the birth of his son, Louis decided to live for the present in his new mansion, and a kind of reconciliation, to be only too brief, was arranged between the young couple. Before many months had passed, Louis again left Paris, where Hortense remained with her child, and did not THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND return until the month of September 1803. Then for a short time he and his wife were again united, at Compiegne, where his brigade was stationed. In the spring of 1804, the question of the succession again came up, and was discussed in many family councils, and with the chief dignitaries of the State. Napoleon had decided to assume the title of Emperor of the French, and it was necessary to arrange the matter of the heredity of the Imperial crown. After eight years of marriage, Napoleon had given up all hope of a direct heir. His eldest brother, Joseph, had no sons. Both Lucien and Jerome had married con- trary to his wishes, and could not be considered. Louis was thought to be unfitted mentally and physically for the honor. The law, as finally adopted in May 1804, gave Napoleon the power to adopt any child or grandchild of his brothers who had reached the age of eighteen years, provided at the time of such adoption he himself had no male child. His brothers Joseph and Louis, and their male descendants, were placed next in order of succession. This law of adop- tion was expressly restricted to Napoleon himself and did not extend to his successors. So at last the great question of heredity was settled — to the satisfaction of nobody. Of the four brothers, two, Lucien and Jerome, were excluded from the line of succession because of their marriages, and two, Joseph and Louis, were wounded to the quick by the law of adoption. About this time, Louis, who had always detested the mansion in the Rue de la Victoire, which his wife had selected during his absence, proceeded without NAPOLEON THE THIRD consulting Hortense to exchange it for a large hotel in the Rue Cerutti, now Rue Laffitte, for which he paid an additional sum of 300,000 francs. This mansion had previously been the residence of four different men of finance, and later was to pass from Hor- tense to still another, a member of the Rothschild family. It was a most pretentious, but very gloomy house, without a ray of sunlight. At the same time, Louis purchased at Saint-Leu, about twelve miles from Paris, for the sum of 464,000 francs, two beau- tiful adjoining properties for a country residence. Here Hortense passed the summer, Louis being ab- sent as usual. The 10 October 1804 she returned to her Paris residence, where on the following day was born her second son Napoleon Louis. The 24 March following, in the presence of the whole Imperial family, he was baptized at the palace of Saint-Cloud by the Pope himself, who had not yet left Paris after the coronation of the Emperor in December. Such exceptional honors had never been accorded before even to a dauphin of France. But it was not without a definite political end in view, that the Emperor had acted on this occasion. He had thus affirmed before his family and his Court the intention of adoption which he later expected to carry out. The 2 August 1805 Louis was appointed Governor of Paris. During the campaign of Austerlitz, in the absence of the Emperor, Louis showed such zeal and activity in his new post as to win the enthusiastic approval of his brother. After the great victory of Austerlitz, 2 December 1805, Napoleon began to carry out his plan of form- 1:123 THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND ing a ring of states surrounding and in close alliance with the French Empire, and the 5 June 1806 he pro- claimed Louis King of Holland. Almost from the start, Louis was in trouble with his brother because he wished to govern his Kingdom in the interests of Holland rather than of the French Empire, entirely- ignoring the fact that he was neither the hereditary- sovereign of the country, nor the elective choice of its people, but only the representative on the throne of his brother the Emperor of the French. Hortense accompanied Louis to The Hague, when he went there to take up the reins of his new govern- ment. For a short period, peace reigned once more in the family. Then the quarrels began again. In July 1806 Hortense went with her husband to Aix-la- Chapelle, but did not go back to The Hague with him on his return the last of September. The cam- paign of Jena was just commencing and the Emperor directed Hortense to join her mother at Mayence, where the Empress was to be with her court. She did not return to her capital until seven months later at the end of January 1807, and then only upon the express order of the Emperor. She was no sooner back than a new quarrel began. This time it was Hortense who took it into her head to be jealous and caused the dismissal of a lady of the court. The 13 December 1806 there was born at Paris a child to whom was given the name of Leon. He was the fruit of a short liaison between the Emperor and a reader of his sister Caroline, named Eleonore Denuelle, aged twenty years. C133 NAPOLEON THE THIRD The 5 May 1807, at the royal palace of The Hague, Napoleon Charles, the elder son of Louis and Hor- tense, died of the croup, at the age of four years and seven months. These two events, seemingly of no great importance at the time, changed the destiny of the Empire and of the Emperor. The heir-presumptive to the throne was dead, and Napoleon for the first time was satisfied that it was possible for him to have a direct heir of his own blood. From that moment the fate of Josephine was de- cided. The divorce was only a question of time. The grief of Hortense over the death of her boy was so great that it was feared that she might lose her reason. She was finally persuaded to take her other child and go to join her mother, who came part way to meet her. After a brief visit at Malmaison, Hortense went to Cauterets in the Pyrenees, where she was joined later by Louis, who had obtained per- mission from the Emperor to absent himself from his Kingdom. At this little watering-place, Louis and Hortense once more resumed their life in common. The 6 July, Louis left for Toulouse, where the Queen rejoined him the 12 August, and travelled with him to Saint-Cloud, where they arrived the last of the month. At that time there seemed to be a good understanding between them. During the five weeks that Hortense remained at Cauterets after the departure of Louis, she only once saw Monsieur Verhuell, who was at Bareges and came to pay his respects to his sovereign. Upon so slight a foundation was built the calumny which attributed THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND to his fascinating brother, who was never there at all, the parentage of Louis Napoleon, born at Paris nine months later. According to Masson, the Verhuell who called on the Queen was not the Admiral Carel- Hendrik, who was then at his post of Minister of Marine at The Hague, but his brother C. A. Verhuell, whom Louis had just appointed as Minister to Spain, a large, fat, stupid individual, who was generally disliked. 1:153 CHAPTER TWO 1808-1815 CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS Birth of Louis Napoleon — Holland Annexed to the Empire — Separation of Louis and Hortense — Flahaut and Morny — The Hundred Days — Departure of Napoleon — Jose- phine's Estate — Malmaison and Saint-Leu — Hortense in Exile LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, after- wards Napoleon the Third, Emperor of the French, was born at Paris on Wednesday, 20 April, 1808. The place of his birth was not the Tuile- ries, as the official historians state, but the new town house of his mother, Queen Hortense, at 8 Rue Cerutti, now the Rue Laffitte. According to the testimony of the doctors in at- tendance on Hortense, one of whom was Corvisart, the Emperor's personal physician, the child came into the world nearly a month too soon, as was shown by his great weakness at the time of his birth. To revive him, it was necessary to employ wine baths and to wrap him in cotton. At a later date, Louis, who was ill, restless and suspicious, on several occasions expressed doubts as to the legitimacy of his youngest son, saying that "not a drop of the blood of the Bonapartes flowed in his veins." It must be admitted that Hortense, who was young, attractive and capricious, and who with good reason detested her husband, from whom she CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS was separated most of the time, often acted in a manner to lay herself open to suspicion. But there is conclusive evidence, in the form of letters and memoirs, besides the facts above stated, which defi- nitely disposes of the calumny, that Louis Napoleon was the offspring of the attractive Dutch Admiral. Furthermore, there is no question of the strong re- semblance in disposition between King Louis and his youngest son, who early gave signs of the grave and dreamy character of his father. Another ground of suspicion was found in the undeniable fact that Louis, who greatly resembled his mother, was en- tirely lacking in those physical traits which so strongly marked nearly all the members of the Bona- parte family, but this is very far from being any proof of illegitimacy. The mendacious "Ambes'* also tries to establish the fact that Napoleon was the father of Louis Napo- leon. He begins by saying that the 7 July 1807 Napo- leon had signed the famous Treaty of Tilsit, and then continues: "He was back at Saint-Cloud before the end of the month. . . . Here Is something then to go upon. Napoleon was In France at the end of July," and so on. He absolutely Ignores the well-established facts that while Napoleon was at Saint-Cloud, In the suburbs of Paris, Hortense during the months of July and August was hundreds of miles away, at the baths of Cauterets In the Pyrenees, and that she did not reach Saint-Cloud until the very end of August, when she was enceinte. This is only mentioned to show to what ridiculous extents the calumniators can go In trying to make out their case. NAPOLEON THE THIRD At the time of the birth of Louis Napoleon, the Emperor was at Bayonne in southern France, direct- ing the movements of his armies in Spain, and trying to straighten out the tangle of affairs in the Penin- sula, but he was not too busy to send a letter of con- gratulations to Hortense, in which he directed that the boy should be named Charles Napoleon. Two years and a half were to elapse, however, before the christening, which was celebrated very brilliantly in the chapel of the palace of Fontainebleau, 4 Novem- ber 1910, his sponsors being the Emperor and the new Empress Marie-Louise. Several years before, a family register had been prepared by order of Napoleon, in which to record the births of the children of the Im- perial family, and by a chance which strikes the imagination, the name of Louis Napoleon was the first to be inscribed in the book. He was christened Charles Louis Napoleon, Charles in honor of his grandfather, Louis for his father, and Napoleon for the Emperor. He never used the name of Charles, however, and always signed himself Louis Napoleon until he became Emperor, when he dropped the name of Louis by which he had always been known In his family. In March 1808 the Emperor offered to Louis the throne of Spain, which had been declared vacant. On his refusal to accept it, the doubtful honor went to his eldest brother Joseph, Meanwhile the disagreement between Napoleon and Louis over the policy of Holland continued, and the increasing stringency of the continental blockade against English goods finally brought the two brothers ni8:i CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS to the breaking point. In the latter part of 1809, the Emperor decided to annex Holland to the French Empire in order to put a stop to the trade which the Dutch secretly carried on with England, and early in the following year French troops began to occupy various parts of Holland, and finally moved on the capital. Thereupon Louis fled from his Kingdom, and after some wanderings took up his residence in Bo- hemia. The rest of his life he spent entirely separated from his wife. In July 18 10 the Low Countries were formally annexed to the French Empire. After the exile of Louis, Hortense continued to live in Paris in close relation with the Imxperial court. Her conduct was far from irreproachable, and in October, 181 1, she gave birth to a son who afterwards became the celebrated statesman of the Second Empire, the Due de Morny. His father was Comte de Flahaut, a well-known French general and statesman, who is perhaps better remembered for his exploits in gallantry, and the elegant manners in which he had been carefully trained by his mother, than for his public services, which however were not incon- siderable. It was generally believed at Paris that Flahaut was the fruit of his mother's liaison with Talleyrand, who certainly took a fatherly interest in his career. Fla- haut served with distinction during several cam- paigns of the Empire and finally became general of division and aide de camp to the Emperor. After the abdication of Napoleon in 18 14 he submxitted to the new Government, and continued to reside at Paris, where he was devoted In his attentions to Hortense. 1:193 NAPOLEON THE THIRD He rejoined the army during the Hundred Days and fought at Waterloo. After the return of the Bourbons, he probably would have been shot, like Marshal Ney, except for the powerful influence of Talleyrand. He retired to England, where he married the daughter of Admiral Lord Keith. His eldest daughter, Emily, married the Marquess of Landsdowne, and was the mother of the present Lord Landsdowne. He returned to France in 1827, and in 1830 was made a peer of France by Louis Philippe. In 1841 he was ambassador to Vienna, where he remained until the Revolution of 1848. Under the Second Empire he was ambassador at the court of St. James's from i860 to 1862. He died I September 1870, the eve of the surrender at Sedan. His life of eighty-five years therefore covered the entire period of time from the French Revolu- tion to the Third Republic, which was proclaimed three days after his death. He survived his celebrated son, Morny, by five years. After the first abdication of Napoleon and his de- parture for the island of Elba, Hortense lived at Malmaison with her two children, under the protec- tion of the Czar Alexander. She had received permis- sion to remain at Paris on condition that she should be calm and prudent. At the request of Alexander, the King conferred upon her the title of Duchesse de Saint-Leu, and also continued the handsome allow- ance from the State of 400,000 francs which she had received under the Empire. Then came the sudden return of the Emperor from Elba, the flight of the Bourbons, and the eventful Hundred Days. NAPOLEON CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS On his arrival in Paris the night of Monday 20 March 181 5, Napoleon went directly to the Tuileries, where he was received by Hortense and the greater part of the grand dignitaries of the Empire. At two o'clock that afternoon the white flag of the Bourbons had been pulled down and the tricolor raised on the Pavilion de I'Horloge at the centre of the Chateau. The Emperor's greeting to Hortense at first was rather cold, because of the reports which had reached him of her friendship with the Czar and her ac- ceptance of a title from the King. But almost im- mediately the memory of Josephine disarmed his resentment towards her daughter, and opening his arms he tenderly embraced Hortense, saying: " Vous avez done vu mourir cette pauvre Josephine ? Au milieu de nos desastres, sa mort m*a navre le coeur.'* He also spoke of his little son the King of Rome, four years old that very day, whom he was never to see again. After remaining at the Tuileries for four weeks, on the 17 April he moved to the Elysee for the sake of greater tranquillity and less interruption to his tre- mendous labors. Here he dined alone every evening with Hortense. With her two sons she took part in the ceremony of the Champ-de-Mal, when the eagles were presented to the army before its departure for Belgium. Before leaving Paris for the front, Napoleon wished to go to Malmaison, and asked Hortense to accom- pany him. After visiting the Chateau and the death- chamber of Josephine, where he displayed the most NAPOLEON THE THIRD profound emotion, he walked for an hour with Hor- tense in the gardens, talking of Josephine. The evening of the ii June, Hortense, at the re- quest of the Emperor, took her two sons to his cabinet to bid farewell to their uncle who was to leave Paris at an early hour the next morning. Napoleon was more affectionate than usual in his caresses of the young Louis, who burst into tears and begged the Emperor not lo leave for the war. After Hortense had taken him away. Napoleon turned to Marshal Soult, who was present, and made the prophetic re- mark: "II sera un bon cceur et une belle ame; c'est peut- etre I'espoir de ma race.'* Only ten days later, overcome with fatigue and grief, abandoned by fortune, this time forever, the Emperor returned to the Elysee from the fatal field of Waterloo. On Sunday 25 June he left Paris for the last time, and went to Malmaison, where he found Hortense and a few faithful friends awaiting him. Here he remained for several days in a state of doubt and hesitation very foreign to his usual character. In the meantime the Allies were fast drawing nearer to Paris, and it was necessary to reach a decision. Thurs- day afternoon at five o'clock, dressed in civilian cos- tume for the first time in many years, after bidding a last adieu to his mother and Hortense, he entered his carriage and started for Rochefort. It was the first stage of the journey to Saint Helena! Then, only a few days later, when the victorious Allies once more entered Paris, Hortense was forced to receive at her Chateau of Saint-Leu King Frede- CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS rick William of Prussia and his two sons, the younger of whom, then a boy of eighteen, was afterwards the first German Emperor. So the two Emperors, WilUam and Napoleon, who fifty-five years later were to meet for the last time on the tragic field of Sedan, here met for the first time as boys. The Bourbons are once more seated on the throne of France. Napoleon is on his way to Saint Helena. Josephine has been dead a year. For the moment, the Bonaparte family is scattered far and wide. The Em- peror's mother, Madame Mere, is living at Rome. Jerome and his wife have been banished to Trieste, where are also Caroline, the widow of Murat, and her sister Elise. Joseph has found a refuge in the United States, and is widely separated from his wife and daughters who are in Brussels. ' Hortense has lost forever her title of queen and her allowance from the State. For the rest of her life she is to be known as the Duchesse de Saint-Leu. Already, during the first Restoration, the calm and uneventful life which Hortense led with her two children at Saint-Leu and Malmaison had excited the suspicions of the royal spies. She was accused of plotting for the return of the Emperor, which was very far from being true. It was represented to the fat old Bourbon King that it was very dangerous for him to allow the fas- cinating Hortense to live only a few leagues from his capital, and to visit Paris as often as she wished, and above all to permit the two young Napoleons to grow up so near his throne. These apprehensions at the moment seemed ridiculous, but time was to show that they were not so unreasonable. n 23 3 NAPOLEON THE THIRD After the Hundred Days, the attacks on Hortense redoubled in violence, and she finally decided to go and take up her abode in Josephine's chateau at Pregny near Geneva. Aside from her two chateaux of Malmaison and Pregny, and her fine collection of jewels, Josephine, who was one of the most extravagant of women, left little of value at the time of her death. During the period of less than ten years from her coronation 2 December 1804 to her death 29 May 18 14, she spent the enormous sum of thirty million francs — all for her pleasure, her amusement, and the embellishment of her body. No less than seven times in these ten years Napoleon was called on to pay her debts, which again at the time of her death amounted to three millions more. In the settlement of her estate, Eu- gene took Malmaison and assumed the payment of her debts, while Hortense received Pregny and her jewels. When the succession was finally liquidated the share of each of her children amounted to about two million francs. In June 1829, five years after the death of Prince Eugene, It was found necessary. In the final settlement of his estate, to dispose of Malmaison. At that time the chateau was purchased by a Swedish banker, and at his death in 1842 was resold to Queen Marie Christine of Spain. In 186 1 It was bought by Napoleon the Third and made a museum for objects formerly belonging to Napoleon and Josephine. During the Franco-Prussian war it was pillaged by the Germans, and set on fire by the shells from the Paris forts dur- ing the last sortie from the city. In 1877 it was sold 1:243 JOSEPHINE CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS by the Empress Eugenie, and after passing through several hands was finally bought by a Jewish million- aire, named Osiris, who had the generous thought of restoring it as nearly as possible to its former state and presenting it to the government as a museum of Napoleonic relics. In the crypt of the handsome church built by Napoleon the Third, in the village of Saint-Leu, is the burial-place of many members of the Bonaparte family. In the vault there lie Charles Bonaparte of Corsica, the father of the race, his son King Louis, and his sons Napoleon Charles and Napoleon Louis. Josephine and Hortense are buried in the beautiful church, rebuilt during the Second Empire, at Rueil, near Malmaison. It was hard for Hortense to make up her mind to bid adieu forever to Saint-Leu and to the woods and gardens of Malmaison where so many happy days had been passed. While she was still hesitating over the date of her departure, the 19 July 18 15 she re- ceived a peremptory order to leave Paris within twenty-four hours. The following day Hortense left Paris for her long exile in Switzerland. The provinces were in a state of great disorder, and she owed her safety during the journey to the Austrian Prince Schwarzenberg, who appointed his own adjutant, Comte de Woyna, to escort the exiles to the frontier, a mission which he fulfilled with courage and delicacy. The journey to the frontier was full of perils, but after experiencing many anxieties and dangers, the fugitives finally reached Geneva in 1252 NAPOLEON THE THIRD safety, and went to the Hotel de Secheron, where they hoped to find a little rest and peace. But Hortense was not yet at the end of her troubles, for she was at once ordered to leave the city. For the moment she retired to Aix in Savoie, where she hoped to be al- lowed to remain. To add to her distress of mind, while at Aix she was forced to part with the elder of her two remaining children. Some months before. King Louis, who was living in retirement at Rome, had begun an action in the French courts to recover possession of his two sons, claiming that he wished to supervise their education. Hortense defended the action, but in March 1815 the case was decided against her so far as the elder of the two boys was concerned, and by decree of the court she was ordered to send Napoleon Louis to his father. The return of Napoleon from Elba and the Hundred Days made it possible for her to put off the date of parting with her son, but she was finally forced to yield. Hortense at last on the 21 October received the decision of the Swiss Government granting her per- mission to make her home upon the banks of Lake Constance. The last of November, in wintry weather, she set out upon her journey, and though difl^iculties were raised at every stage of her progress, she at length reached Constance. Here she was compelled on her arrival to put up at a wretched inn, where it was impossible to find room for her household. She had but one sitting-room; she was without her piano or books; and her only distraction, when she could go out, was a walk through the snow-covered streets of the town. It is difficult to imagine a duller winter 1:263 CHILDHOOD OF PRINCE LOUIS place than Constance. The only points of interest are the famous Council Hall, the house of John Huss, and the place in which he was burned at the stake; but there is a magnificent view of the snow-capped mountains beyond the lake. Even now, at the height of the season, there is scarcely an English or French book to be had, and certainly not a newspaper. But in 1815, in the dead of winter, a more dreary spot could not be imagined, and especially for a person of the temperament of Queen Hortense. Hortense immediately began the search for a house, and succeeded in finding a comfortable dwelling just at the point where the lake flows into the river Rhine. The house commanded a view of the expanse of the lake on one side and of the river on the other. The place was out of repair, and it was the end of the year 1 81 5 before Hortense was finally established with her household. Here she remained until February 18 17, when she concluded the purchase of the old Chateau of Arenenberg, which was to be her permanent home In Switzerland during the remaining twenty years of her life. 1:27: CHAPTER THREE 1815-1831 LIFE IN SWITZERLAND Exile at Constance — The Chateau of Arenenberg — Character of Hortense — Education of a Prince — At Augsburg and Thun — Death of Eugene — The July Revolution — The Italian Insurrection — Death of Napoleon Louis — Flight from Ancona to Paris — Louis Philippe — First Visit to England — Return to Arenenberg HAVING purchased the lo February 1817 for the sum of 44,000 francs the Chateau of Arenenberg, Hortense took possession during the summer of that year and occupied herself with making it as attractive as possible. She had as neighbors her brother Eugene, who had built a house on the lake, and her cousin Stephanie, the Grand Duchess of Baden, who had a summer place at Man- nenbach. The Chateau, located about six miles west of Con- stance, stands on a magnificently wooded hill, over a thousand feet above the level of the sea. It overlooks, not the Lake of Constance itself, but what is known as the Unter See, an expansion of the Rhine where the river leaves the lake, and it is charmingly situated opposite the isle of Reichenau. Arenenberg, in spite of its name, possessed very little of the character of a chateau either in its exterior architecture or in its interior arrangements. The en- trance was very simple, and the park around the LIFE IN SWITZERLAND house did not give the idea of an extensive domain. The site however was very picturesque, with its magnificent view over the Lake of Constance, and the valley, with the dark Hne of the Black Forest in the background. In the gardens the attention of the visitor was drawn to the great number of rare shrubs and plants. The rooms of the mansion, although small in size, were adorned with a magnificent col- lection of objets d'art. Jerrold, in his "Life of Napoleon III," states that, at the time Hortense purchased Arenenberg, it was a little old-fashioned chateau, commanding superb views of the lake and river and landscape, sheltered around by fine timber and approached on all sides through vineyards. The entrance was reached by an old drawbridge. It was just the spot to appeal to the romantic imagination of a woman like Hortense. It was a fine old feudal seat, which she transformed into a palace. To-day not much more than the shell of the original house remains. A broad terrace was thrown out, from which there is a magnificent view. Winding paths, shady groves, arbors and shrubbery were con- trived. At the time Hortense bought it, the Chateau was surrounded by walls — it was a fortified place. During her life-time the house was filled with relics from Malmaison. It was a museum of Napoleonic souvenirs and family portraits. Unfortunately some of the finest pieces were removed to Paris during the Second Empire and perished in the destruction of the Tuileries and Saint-Cloud. Arenenberg was later given by the Emperor Napo- leon to Eugenie, who made frequent visits there dur- 1:293 NAPOLEON THE THIRD ing the palmy days of the Second Empire, and later, with the young Prince Imperial, when she was living in exile in England. In the first moments of his mis- fortune, in 1870, the thoughts of the Emperor turned to his former home in Switzerland, and he sent to the Chateau the little iron bedstead which he had used during the fatal campaign of Sedan, and it was placed in his mother's room beside the bed on which she died. The carriage in which he was borne away to captivity, and the Imperial fourgon, were also sent to Arenenberg. For the present, the wanderings of Hortense and Louis were at an end. But, notwithstanding the quiet life which they led, for many years they were not free from the watchful eyes of the French secret police. All they could learn, however, was that Hor- tense received quite frequent visits from the outside world, that she was always ready to help her neigh- bors who were in need, and that she was much be- loved by all the people of the canton. What the police had no means of learning was that Hortense kept alive In her soul the fire of faith in the future of the Bonaparte cause, and that she only awaited the moment when her son should be old enough to learn from her the principles and the duties of a militant imperialism. To the education supervised by his mother, the future Emperor owed the ideals and aspirations which through many years of failure were to be the guiding star of his life. Like his uncle the Great Emperor, Louis Napoleon had much of the fatalist in his character. Though little suspected at the time, the connect- 1:303 LIFE IN SWITZERLAND ing link between the First and Second Empires was Hortense, the daughter of Josephine and the mother of Louis Napoleon. In spite of her frail appearance, her quiet life in a secluded district of Switzerland, her air of detachment from all that was going on in the great world outside, Hortense possessed an energy and vitality of spirit which no one realized. Of a lan- guid temperament, in the ordinary affairs of every- day life she usually complied with the wishes of others. But it was very different when any question of real importance was to be decided. Then she showed the greatest decision of character, a reserve of moral force which surprised everybody. As we have already seen, Hortense was not a model wife, and was not above reproach in this respect, notwithstanding the excuse she had for her conduct. But she was a perfect mother, and to the education of her son she gave all that was best in her. To her maternal duties she devoted all the thought and at- tention which King Louis accused her of not showing as a wife. She was never demonstrative in her ten- derness towards her sons and brought them up in the simplest and most natural manner. In the family they were always addressed by their names of Napoleon and Louis and never as "Prince." At Saint-Leu in 1 8 14 the boys were much surprised when the royal visitors at the Chateau in speaking to them used the term "Monseigneur." Hortense was always the soul of generosity. During the last day of the visit of Napo- leon at Malmaison, in 1815, when his mother and other members of the family were importuning the Emperor for money, Hortense brought to him and 1:313 NAPOLEON THE THIRD insisted upon his accepting her handsomest diamond necklace. Her heart was nearly broken when she lost her eldest child at The Hague, and according to Madame de Remusat she never forgot or forgave the conduct of her husband prior to the birth of Louis Napoleon in believing her capable of an intrigue galante at a time when plunged in grief she only wished for death. It was then that she conceived such a feeling of hatred and contempt for the jealous and suspicious nature of Louis that she resolved never to live with him again. It was also a terrible blow to her later when she was forced by the decree of the French courts to yield to her husband the possession of her second son Napoleon Louis, who as a boy possessed a charming spirit and a very precocious mind. After that all her hopes and aspirations were centered in Louis. We shall see how the future Napoleon the Third reflected in his character and in his acts the sweet and romantic, but at the same time strong and positive nature of his mother. As a child Louis Napoleon was quiet and good, but gave no indications of possessing extraordinary talent or more than average intelligence. His mother made no attempt to hurry his education, but she lost no opportunity of studying his character; and, in talk- ing and playing with him at this early age, she en- deavored to develop his mind slowly, so that when the time came for him to have a regular teacher he could make rapid progress. His first master was the good Abbe Bernard, who did but little to awaken his interest in his studies. After several years, during which he made little progress, it was thought best 1:323 ■' .>Rt-»/i Of J.'KVt'f.KI- in . ■'':- """*!*' '.■■■■-. ■'■ ■ KOI OK IIOI.J.A.XDK. (II y.^t.t.sku: :>/: vrjiyiHt: /«>»■«■(; < THE GERMAN WAR The war had begun so suddenly that during the first ten days the German frontier was hardly de- fended, and, if the French had been ready to advance, their dreams might have come true. But by the first week in August, the danger for Germany and the opportunity for France had passed away. As in the Austrian campaign, the huge German host was divided into three armies. Steinmetz with the first army crossed the Rhine at Bingen and followed the Moselle towards Thionville. The second army, under the command of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, known as the ''Red Prince," passed the Rhine at Mayence, and formed the centre. The third army, commanded by the popular Crown Prince of Prussia, afterwards the Emperor Frederick, concentrated in the angle formed by the Rhine and the Lauter. The King of Prussia was the nominal commander-in-chief, but the operations were all planned and directed by Moltke, the Chief of Staff . The French army, in line between Metz and Strasbourg, numbered less than 175,000 men. The corps about Metz were badly posted, and MacMahon near Strasbourg was completely isolated. At the same time, the German hosts, concentrated in the angle between the Moselle and the Rhine, aggregated more than 400,000 men. The sixth of August, at Worth, north of Stras- bourg, was fought the first great battle of the war. MacMahon was decisively defeated, and retreated rapidly to the great camp at Chalons, east of Paris. The French had fought bravely, and the Germans paid dearly for their success. Not a regiment was now 112753 NAPOLEON THE THIRD left to confront the Germans between Metz and Strasbourg. In the former city, the news was received, first with increduhty, and then with consternation. The sense of discouragement pervaded all ranks from the Emperor down to the common soldiers. At the opening of the second week in August, Napoleon, at Metz, had under his command only 125,000 men, and with this force he had to face 300,000 Germans, flushed with victory. Only a leader of the genius and energy of the Great Emperor could have maintained the contest against such odds. Un- fortunately, Napoleon the Third even in his prime was never a commander of the first order, and now he was sufi^ering from bodily pain and mental weari- ness. In this crisis he turned to two men to aid him; the first was General Changarnier, the other Marshal Bazaine. Prior to the coup d'etat. Napoleon had de- posed Changarnier from his position as commander of the army at Paris, and later had sent him to Ham, because the General was not in sympathy with his plans. Forgetting the past, the political prisoner of 1 85 1 left his retirement and became the trusted Im- perial adviser of 1870. As for Bazaine, he owed his marshal's baton to valiant services on many fields of battle. Changarnier agreed with the Emperor in thinking Bazaine the best man available at the moment. He was therefore assigned to the command of three army corps and ordered to fall back under the guns of Metz. In the meantime the Emperor was seriously con- sidering his resignation of the supreme command. Both the army and the capital had lost confidence 1:276: THE GERMAN WAR in him, and he never had much confidence in himself. On the 13 August he formally appointed Bazaine commander of the Army of the Rhine. This change was well received by the army, and Paris was satisfied. There has always been some doubt as to the exact reasons for this change of command. Napoleon probably yielded to popular demand, and because he considered this course for the best interests of France. But there is reason to think that his Minis- ters, who advised it, saw the necessity, in case of disaster, of having some one to take the responsibility, other than the Emperor. The controlling reason, however, was probably the state of Napoleon's health. In a consultation held at Saint-Cloud on the first day of July 1870 between six of the most eminent medical men of France, it was considered necessary to perform an immediate operation on the Emperor. But Nelaton shirked the responsibility on account of the fatal result of a similar operation which he had performed on Marshal Niel the year before. On the day of the Emperor's departure for the front, every one was struck by his haggard appear- ance, as he walked between his wife and son along the platform of the private station in the park of Saint-Cloud, to take his seat in the train. It was afterwards revealed by Doctor Germain See, the only physician who signed the report of the consultation, that a young but exceedingly skilful surgeon accom- panied the Emperor during the campaign, with all the appliances necessary for performing an immediate operation, should occasion arise. C2773 NAPOLEON THE THIRD MacMahon was Bazaine's senior, but he had no wish to contest the dangerous honor of the supreme command, and Bazaine himself only accepted upon the entreaty of the Emperor. The first move of the new commander was to order a retreat on Verdun, which was begun at dawn on the 14 August, when the army began to cross the Moselle. In the midst of this movement the French were furiously attacked at Borny to the east of Metz by the first German army under Steinmetz. The retreat came to a standstill; the Guard was called up to sup- port the troops in action, and the army was forced to re-cross the river. The French fought well, and claimed a victory. The German purpose, however, had been accomplished. They had checked the French retreat towards a point of safety, and given the Red Prince time to come up on the west. Bazaine, who seems to have realized the purpose of this action, felt that he was in danger of being out- flanked. At midnight, from the battlefield, he made his way across the Moselle through the crowded streets of Metz, and sought the Emperor in his quarters at the Chateau de Longueville. Here he ex- plained the situation, but the distracted monarch had no advice to offer except to urge caution and the avoidance of any fresh defeats. The 15 August, his fete-day, the Emperor cele- brated by a hasty withdrawal from the scene of danger. Accompanied by the Prince Imperial and a small escort he proceeded to Gravelotte, a short distance to the west of Metz. That afternoon he re- ceived Bazaine there at the village inn. 1:2783 THE GERMAN WAR On the following morning, the sixteenth, Bazaine and the Emperor met for the last time. The Marshal, summoned by an aide, found the Emperor seated in his carriage and evidently suffering great pain. He told Bazaine that the Germans were in possession of Briey, only a few miles to the north of Gravelotte, and that he was leaving for Verdun and Chalons, and ordered the Marshal to follow him with the army. The Emperor had hardly left, before the roar of cannon announced that another battle had begun. The action fought that day was the most desperate of the entire war. The French were endeavoring to retreat on Verdun, two of the corps by the northern route via Etain, and the other two corps and the Guard by the southern road via Mars-la-Tour. The object of the Germans was to intercept the French retreat on Verdun, and they maintained the attack throughout the day with greatly inferior forces, the mass of the German second army being still far away. Bazaine, who did not realize the slenderness of the forces opposing him, used unnecessary cau- tion. The position of the Germans was critical through- out the day; and they concealed the paucity of the force of infantry on the ground by repeated and costly charges of cavalry. The battle on their part was a marvel of military audacity. Realizing the importance of holding Bazaine in Metz, they risked everything for its accomplishment. The battle of Vionville, or Mars-la-Tour, settled the fate of Bazaine's army. Although he claimed a victory, he abandoned the attempt to reach Verdun, and the following day led his army back to a strong C2793 NAPOLEON THE THIRD position under the guns of Metz. The next day was fought the battle of Gravelotte which resulted in shutting up Bazaine's army in Metz. The battle of Borny had been fought by the Ger- mans to give time for their second army to come up on the west; Mars-la-Tour, to check the French re- treat on Verdun, and Gravelotte, the last of the trio, to bottle Bazaine up in Metz. In all three the Germans had accomplished their object. One French army was now practically eliminated, and the German problem was much simplified. There only remained to deal with the army which Mac- Mahon was assembling at Chalons, and against which the Crown Prince was already moving. A fourth German army of 100,000 men was now formed, and put under the command of the Prince Royal of Saxony. This was Joined to the third army of about 120,000 men under the Crown Prince of Prussia. On the 20 August these two armies began a movement to the west in search of MacMahon. To the first and second armies, 225,000 strong, was left the siege of Metz. King William and Moltke made their head- quarters with the third army. The Emperor arrived at Chalons from Gravelotte on the evening of 16 August, and found the military situation there very discouraging, full of confusion and indecision. He held anxious conferences with Marshal MacMahon, Prince Napoleon and General Trochu, the commander of the newly formed 12th corps. Prince Napoleon declared that the time had now come for the Emperor to disregard the wishes of the Empress, and recall his troops from Rome and [2803 THE GERMAN WAR secure the support of Italy. He carried his point, and left at once for Florence, where he was authorized to say to his royal father-in-law that he might do as he pleased with Rome provided he came to the aid of France. This move of Napoleon at the eleventh hour was to be too late; the time for assuring the friendship of Italy had passed. It was further decided that the Emperor should ■return to Paris, where Trochu was to precede him and assume the military governorship, and that MacMahon should bring his army back to the vi- cinity of the capital, and there give battle for its defence. This was the plan adopted with success by General Joffre in 1914, and might have proved equally successful in 1870. But once more the pernicious in- fluence of the Empress prevailed. She protested strongly against the return of the Emperor, and wired him that the worst was to be feared at Paris unless he marched to the assistance of Bazaine. Thus was thrown away, through her baleful meddling, the last chance of saving France and the Imperial throne. In the meantime the army had been directed upon Reims, reaching the environs of that city the evening of 21 August. A hopeful telegram had been received from Bazaine in which he spoke confidently of his ability to break through the German lines of in- vestment on the north. This telegram, received from Metz on the twenty-second, and the Paris dispatches of the same day, convinced MacMahon that he had no alternative except to march to Bazaine's assist- ance. Consequently, the following day, he issued orders for an advance of his whole army upon Mont- n 281:1 NAPOLEON THE THIRD medy, a city near the frontier, about sixty miles northeast of Reims, and constituting the apex of a triangle, of which the base is formed by a line drawn from Reims through Verdun to Metz. The strength of the army under MacMahon was about 140,000 men, but one of his corps had been shattered in battle, another was made up largely of new recruits, and the other two were dispirited by forced retreats. The success of the whole movement depended on celerity, and of this MacMahon's army was incapable. On the 27 August, the army had reached the defile of Le Chene-Populeux in the Argonne, about half way to Montmedy. Here MacMahon was alarmed by the reports that the Crown Prince was coming up on his right flank and rear. He therefore telegraphed Paris that he had abandoned the attempt to reach Bazaine, and issued orders for his army to march to Mezieres directly to the north. After giving up the attempt to join hands with Bazaine, it is diflficult to understand his object in going further north, in- stead of retreating on Reims, where he could cover the capital. During the evening the Marshal received dispatch after dispatch from Paris ordering him to continue his march to the relief of Bazaine, and saying that all was lost unless he acceded to the wishes of the in- habitants of Paris. Throughout this unfortunate cam- paign there was a conflict of authority between the Headquarters in the field, which tried to maneuver with reference to the German armies, and the Gov- ernment at Paris, which was actuated mainly by the 1:282] THE GERMAN WAR fear of the city mob. This all goes to show what a tertrible mistake had been made by the Empress and her advisers in preventing the return of Napoleon to the capital, for he alone could have kept the popu- lace of Paris under control. Headquarters again yielded to orders from Paris and the Emperor and his army marched on to their doom. At this same time the main German army, 200,000 strong, was at Bar-le-Duc, one hundred and sixty miles directly east of Paris, and prepared to march on the city. Moltke could hardly credit the reports that the French army was advancing on the Meuse. Orders were at once given to the third and fourth armies to wheel to the right and start in pursuit of the French whom "Gott " had delivered into their hands. So slow and painful were the movements of the French army that MacMahon could not issue orders for crossing the Meuse until the 29 August, and at nightfall on that day only one corps had passed the river and was in bivouac about Mouzon. The next day the Germans came up in force and defeated the French corps at Beaumont, south of the river, and drove it in disorder on Mouzon, where the French artillery, well posted on the heights east of that place, checked the German pursuit. This day's work threw the French army into terri- ble confusion. One corps and part of another had been defeated, and a third hotly pursued. Only one corps remained intact. The Emperor met MacMahon on the hills above Mouzon late in the afternoon. After an anxious conference, it was decided to retreat to the northwest in the hope of finding an open road to [2833 NAPOLEON THE THIRD Paris. A curt telegram was sent to the capital, read- ing: "MacMahon informs the Minister of War that he is compelled to direct his march on Sedan." Through the dense darkness of the night, Napoleon made his way miserably on foot through the crowded streets of Sedan, where all was confusion and dis- order. Even now, MacMahon seems to have failed to recognize the gravity of the situation, although he hurriea the Prince Imperial off to Mezieres, where he had decided to retreat the following day. On the 31 August the Germans advanced with unabated energy, and were successful in partly cut- ting off the French line of retreat to Mezieres on the northwest of Sedan. The French Army was now crowded into that narrow tract between the Meuse and the tangled forest of the Ardennes, which extends beyond the Belgian frontier. Early on the morning of the first of September the Germans attacked in force. Hasten- ing to the front, MacMahon was hit by a fragment of a shell and painfully wounded. This was most un- fortunate for the French, as there ensued a conflict of authority attended by the most disastrous results. Ducrot, who assumed the command, at once issued orders for a retreat on Mezieres. No sooner had this been done than General de Wimpffen appeared on the scene and produced an order from the Minister of War, directing him to assume the command in case of the disability of MacMahon. He angrily coun- termanded the orders of Ducrot, and so destroyed the last faint chance of the French army to escape the net which the Germans were fast spreading around 1:2843 THE GERMAN WAR them. Wimpffeh, who was a vain, blustering man, had only been with the army for two days and was entirely ignorant of the extreme gravity of the situ- ation. He declared with bombast that he was going to throw the Germans into the Meuse and cut his way through to the east to the relief of Bazaine. Since divesting himself of the supreme command, and yielding to the injunction of the Empress not to return to Paris, Napoleon had trailed along with the army in the march to the north, treated with scant courtesy and less respect. In this supreme crisis, he failed to assert his authority, and allowed the new Minister of War, Comte Palikao, of Chinese fame, to decide the question of the high command. By taking this responsibility, Palikao ruined the small chance which was left for the escape of the army. It was a sad ending for the brilliant Second Empire, which had commenced with so much eclat eighteen years before, and for the Emperor, who for so many years had been the most prominent personality not only in France but in all Europe. While these events were occurring on the morning of the first of September, the Emperor wandered aimlessly about, an object of no consideration in the general confusion. The troops had already begun their retreat on Mezieres in obedience to Ducrot's order, and it was now necessary to retrace their steps. By ten o'clock in the morning, it was evident that the position of the French army was absolutely un- tenable. Crowded Into an area of hardly eight square miles, subject to the fire of over four hundred cannon admirably served, there was no escape from annihi- 1:2853 NAPOLEON THE THIRD lation except by surrender. By order of the Emperor the white flag was hoisted on the citadel. The German batteries ceased their fire, and a Prussian officer was admitted to the presence of the Emperor with a summons to surrender Sedan. When he rode back to the German lines it became known for the first time that Napoleon was with the ill-fated army. About six o'clock the King of Prussia, the Crown Prince, Bismarck, Moltke and the General Staff rode forward to the heights of Frenois, overlooking Sedan. Here the King received the well-known letter from the Emperor: *' Monsieur mon Frere, — N'ayant pas pu mourir au milieu de mes troupes, il ne me reste plus qu'a remettre mon epee entre les mains de votre Majeste." Then the brilliant assemblage on the heights broke up, and the officers separated to go to their several headquarters. Darkness descended on the field that had witnessed the downfall of the Second Empire. France had experienced a catastrophe worse than Waterloo. 1:2863 CHAPTER NINETEEN 1871-1873 LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR The Surrender at Sedan — The Emperor's Last Meeting with Bismarck — His Interview with King WilHam — Prisoner in Germany — The Chateau of Wilhelmshohe — Visit of the Empress — End of the War — Final Exile in England — Life at Camden Place — Failing Health of the Em- peror — Operation of the Second January — Death on the Ninth — Funeral at Chislehurst ON the afternoon of the second of September, there was an interview at the Chateau de Bellevue, near Donchery, between Wimpffen and Moltke and Bismarck to arrange the terms of the surrender. Moltke at once pointed out the desperate situation of the French army: no food, no ammuni- tion, demoralization and disorder, the absolute impos- sibility of breaking the iron ring which encircled them ; that the German army occupied the commanding heights, and could destroy the city in two hours. Coldly, he dictated the conditions: the French army to surrender, arms and equipment. Wimpffen in vain essayed to modify these hard terms. He spoke of hard luck, of the bravery of the soldiers, of the danger of pushing a valiant foe too far. The only concession he was able to obtain was that the officers who gave their written parole d'honneur not to serve again during the war, might return to their homes. It was agreed n287 3 NAPOLEON THE THIRD that the armistice should be prolonged until ten o'clock the following morning, when, if the terms of surrender had not been accepted, the German batteries would recommence their fire. At eight o'clock the next morning, WimpflFen called a new council of war, at which thirty general officers were present. He explained the results of his inter- view with Moltke and Bismarck, his useless efforts to obtain a mitigation of the severe terms. As no other course seemed possible, the General was authorized to go at once to Bellevue, and accept the terms. At this same hour, Napoleon was in the miserable house of a weaver on the route to Donchery. He had wished to see the King of Prussia, with the hope of obtaining better conditions for his army. Entering a hired caleche he followed the broad highway, bor- dered with poplars, and shortly met Bismarck, who had set out to intercept him, for the purpose of pre- venting an interview with the King, until the capitu- lation was signed. King William was still at Venderesse nine miles away. Here are the events of that last meeting between the fallen monarch and the Iron Chancellor, in the words of Bismarck himself: "I met him on the high road near Frenois, a mile and three quarters from Donchery. He sat with three officers in a two-horse carriage, and three others were on horseback beside him. I gave the military salute. He took his cap off, and the officers did the same: whereupon I took mine off, although it is contrary to rule. He said: * Couvrez-vous done' I behaved to him just as if in Saint-Cloud, and asked his commands. n288 3 *■' p H LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR He inquired whether he could speak to the King. I said that would be impossible as the King was quar- tered nine miles away. I did not wish them to come together till we had settled the matter of the capitu- lation. Then he inquired where he himself could stay, which signified that he could not go back to Sedan. I offered him my quarters in Donchery, which I would immediately vacate. He accepted this; but he stopped at a place a couple of hundred paces from the village, and asked whether he could not remain in a house which was there. I sent my cousin, who had ridden out as my adjutant, to look at it. When he returned, he reported it to be a miserable place. The Emperor said that did not matter. I went up with him to the first floor, where we entered a little room with one window. It was the best in the house, but had only one deal table and two rush-bottomed chairs. Here I had a conversation with him which lasted nearly three quarters of an hour." Says Napoleon, in his own account: "The conver- sation first entered upon the position of the French army, a question of vital urgency. Count von Bis- marck stated that General Moltke alone was compe- tent to deal with this question. When General von Moltke arrived. Napoleon requested of him that nothing should be settled before the interview which was to take place, for he hoped to obtain from the King some favorable concessions for the army. Monsieur von Moltke promised nothing; he confined himself to announcing that he was about to proceed to Venderesse, where the King of Prussia then was, and Count von Bismarck urged the Emperor to go 1:2893 NAPOLEON THE THIRD on to the Chateau de Bellevue, which had been se- lected as the place of the interview. It became evi- dent that the latter would be delayed until after the signature of the capitulation." For a short time the Emperor and his staff were left alone in front of the little yellow cottage while Bismarck proceeded to Donchery to see about their quarters. An hour later, Napoleon drove on to the Chateau, escorted by a guard of Prussian cavalry. Here he awaited the arrival of the King of Prussia, who came on horseback, accompanied by the Crown Prince, and attended by a few officers. " It was now three years" says Napoleon, "since the sovereigns of France and Prussia had met, under very different circumstances. Now, betrayed by fortune, Napoleon had lost everything, and had surrendered into the hands of the conqueror the only thing left him — his liberty." . The evening of the fourth of September 1870, the authorities of the city of Cassel received from the headquarters of the King of Prussia at Varennes a telegram announcing the capitulation of the French army, the surrender of the Emperor, and the designa- tion of Wilhelmshohe as his residence as prisoner of war. Wilhelmshohe was one of the finest chateaux in Germany, the former residence of Jerome when King of Westphalia, and was still filled with Napoleonic souvenirs. King William had not forgotten the splen- did reception given him only three years before when he was a guest in the palaces of the Emperor, and he C290] LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR wished to soften so far as possible the chagrin of defeat. Queen Augusta, who was a great admirer of the French, had also urged her husband not to take an unkind advantage of the superiority given him by the fate of war. Napoleon and his suite arrived the following day in two special trains. In the party, there were five generals, two physicians, his private secretary, Pietri, and many servants. The Governor of Cassel, Comte de Monts, was appalled at the thought of entertaining at the expense of the King this large party of illustrious captives. A postal and telegraphic bureau was installed at the Chateau, of which the prisoners had free use. The apartments were large and magnificently furnished. The table was abundant and well served. The total expenses amounted to about 40,000 francs a month. The Chateau is splendidly situated, in a large park, and has an extended view over the Thuringian mountains and forests. The season was marked by continual rains, and the Emperor passed most of his time in his private rooms. There was a fine library in the Chateau, well stocked with French books, for those who cared to read, and billiard tables and other amusements for any whose tastes were not literary. It was no new experience for Napoleon to be a prisoner, and as at Ham he passed his time in study and in writing. He began an article upon the Prussian military system and composed some addresses to the French people. If he did not give way to despair, he exaggerated, on the other hand, his air of calm indifference, and n29i3 NAPOLEON THE THIRD talked with a freedom which was very unusual in his case. His conversation frequently turned upon the defective organization of the French army, of which he spoke with the complete detachment of a dis- interested third party. He said that he knew of the defects before the war, and had been prevented by the Chambers from introducing in France the system of universal military service. Strangers who listened to his remarks could not understand how a man, who at the peril of his life had carried through such an audacious undertaking as the coup d'etat, should have shown towards the end of his reign such a com- plete lack of force of character. They did not realize to what an extent his moral had been impaired by disease and the long-continued strain of domestic infelicities. The only thing that seemed to affect him was the unpopularity of the Empress. The attacks upon him- self he read with apparent indifference. Only a few short weeks before, the day of his departure for the front, he had had difficulty in avoiding the popular ovation. To-day he was held responsible for all the mis- fortunes of the war, which he was accused of insti- gating. The 30 October, after the surrender of Metz, when the Emperor was looking for the arrival of Marshals Bazaine, Canrobert and LebcEuf, the Empress sud- denly put in an appearance. She had come directly from Chislehurst, travelling night and day. She came to talk over with Napoleon a plan for restoring peace and order in France. Metz had fallen, Paris was completely invested ; all the marshals, forty generals, C2923 LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR and the two principal French armies were interned in Germany, and there was no hope in continuing the struggle. At this time, every one remarked the air of superiority which she assumed in addressing the Emperor, and her complete assurance, which gave the impression that she was not only accustomed to being listened to, but also of having the last word. She remained for three days, leaving for England the night of the first of November. In France, all hope had not yet been abandoned, and a double attempt, diplomatic and military, was being made to save the situation. Thiers was visiting London, Vienna and Saint Petersburg in the fruitless effort to persuade the Great Powers to intervene, while Gambetta, who had escaped from Paris in a balloon, was endeavoring to re-organize the national defences. But it was only a vain hope. Paris was forced to capitulate, after one of the most remarkable sieges in history, and the war was over. The 13 March 1871, the Governor informed Napo- leon of his approaching liberation. On the nineteenth, while his officers returned to France, he took a special train which was arranged for him, and travelled via Cologne to the Belgian frontier, whence he continued his journey by way of Verviers and Malines. The following day he landed at Dover, where he was re- ceived by the Empress and the Prince Imperial, and then continued his route to Chislehurst. On arriving in England, and at every point during his journey to Camden Place, he was greeted by enormous and sympathetic crowds of spectators, who had gathered to show that they had not forgotten the twenty years 112933 NAPOLEON THE THIRD of close alliance between his former government and that of the Queen. The exile once more found on British soil a welcome haven of repose. The day after his arrival at Camden Place, the Emperor received a visit from his old friend Lord Malmesbury, who passed an hour with him in talking over old times. They had first met as young men in Rome in 1829, and had always kept up their friend- ship. Later, Malmesbury had visited the Prince at Ham, and the Emperor at the Tuileries, and he was now the first to pay his respects to the exile of Chisle- hurst. Two weeks later, on the third of April, Napo- leon received a friendly call from Queen Victoria. In September, he went with the Prince Imperial to Torquay, while the Empress made a visit to her mother in Spain. The days at Camden Place passed without any striking incidents to vary their monotony. When the Emperor was not writing or reading, he occupied his time between the instruction of his son, and strolls around the neighborhood, sometimes accompanied by the Prince and sometimes by the Empress. He was occupied with a work upon the military forces of France at the time of the outbreak of the war, which he proposed to send to Paris for publication. From time to time, he received calls from old friends like the Due and Duchesse de Mouchy, or the Due de Bassano, who came only with the idea of cheering him up. At other times, there were visitors like Rouher, who came to revive his energy, stir up his hopes, and incite him for the fourth time to at- tempt the "Great Adventure." C2943 LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR Around the table, during the two years, the conver- sation frequently turned to the plans for the future. While Thiers was giving presidential receptions in the historic palace of the Elysee, the dethroned Emperor at Chislehurst talked of rebuilding the Tuileries, or of re-forming the Imperial Court, as the Empress desired, in the old state apartments of the Louvre. Plans were seriously formed in view of an Imperial restoration. The Prince Imperial was very much interested in the idea of reconquering the paternal throne, and the Empress seemed full of hope. Napoleon listened, but took little part in the conversation. When he was urged to decision, he yielded a quiet consent to the zealous plans of his partisans who were eager for action. Without ever formally making a statement to that effect, Napoleon undoubtedly thought that he too would one day make his "Return from Elba." To the last moment of his life, he was never free from this illusion. The preparations for the re-entry of the Emperor on the scene had been worked out to the last detail, although the plans were a secret ex- cept to a very small number of persons. A historian of the Third Republic has written: "For several months the irons were in the fire. Men of importance in public life, generals, prefects, prelates were in the conspiracy. Rouher crossed the Channel several times to see if the Emperor was in a condition to mount a horse." Unfortunately, the disease which Doctor Germain See had diagnosed the first of July 1870, and which, if it had been known before the declaration of war, C2953 NAPOLEON THE THIRD might have inspired very different measures — this disease had taken an alarming turn. The physical exhaustion of the campaign, and especially the trying hours spent in the saddle at Sedan, had aggravated the trouble to such an extent that, since his arrival at Camden Place, Napoleon had only rarely gone outside the limits of the private park. During the second summer he made a short trip to the Isle of Wight, but the change did him no good. At the close of the year 1872, a consultation of the Emperor's medical advisers decided that he must undergo the operation of lithotrity, which, in the state of aggravation that his malady had reached, gave very little hope of recovery. Nevertheless, this operation, performed the second of January by Sir Henry Thompson, was an apparent success, and the most favorable hopes were entertained. The bulle- tins announced that the condition of the Emperor was satisfactory; he had no fever, and good results were expected from a third and final operation which was to take place the 18 January. To calm his suffering and assure his sleeping quietly. Doctor Gall had prescribed a dose of chloral to be given him during the evening of the eighth of January. From a feeling of presentiment, and because for the moment he was suffering no pain. Napoleon refused to take the draught. But the Empress insisted, and he finally consented to take the fatal dose, which gave him, not a night of repose, but eternal rest. He fell asleep at nine o'clock in the evening, and never recovered consciousness except for a few seconds, at ten o'clock the next morning, after which he drew 1:2963 LAST DAYS OF THE EMPEROR his last breath at a quarter past eleven. It was the ninth of January 1873, and he had nearly reached the end of his sixty-fifth year. So ended one of the most striking careers in the annals of history. The funeral of the Emperor took place in Saint Mary's Church, Chislehurst, on the 15 January, in the presence of an imposing gathering of former dig- nitaries of the Empire and of representatives of the Queen and of foreign countries. 1^971 CHAPTER TWENTY 1856-1879 THE PRINCE IMPERIAL His First Public Appearance — The Baptism of Fire — His Wanderings During the War — Chislehurst and Woolwich — Service in South Africa — Killed by the Zulus — Prince Victor Head of the Family — His Marriage with Clemen- tine — Birth of Louis Napoleon — The American Bona- partes — The Empress at Farnborough Hill — Her Visits to Paris and Cap Martin — Her Death — The Fate of the Tuileries AFTER the death of the Emperor, the hopes of the Imperial party were centered upon the young Prince Imperial, then a youth of seventeen years. On two historical occasions during the Second Empire the Prince had appeared prominently before the public eye. The first was the day of the return of the victorious troops from the Italian war, in August 1859, when he was a baby three years old. Dressed in the blue and red uniform of a grenadier of the Guard, and mounted upon the pommel of his father's saddle, he had received a tremendous ova- tion from the people. The second time was at Sarrebruck in August 1870 at the opening of the disastrous campaign, when he recieved the "baptism of fire." On the forenoon of the 28 July, the Emperor and his son had entered the special train that was to take them to Metz, THE PRINCE IMPERIAL and which had come to pick them up in the private park at Saint-Cloud, near what was called the Orleans Gate. The young Prince was in the uniform of a sub- lieutenant of infantry, and was gay, and full of en- thusiasm. A few days later occurred the skirmish at Sarrebruck, which was acclaimed as the dawn of a victorious campaign. It was the only day of exulta- tion for the Imperial family during this disastrous war. Shortly afterwards, Napoleon yielded to the necessity of abandoning his functions of generalis- simo. He took the Prince with him to Verdun and then to Chalons. When the march to the north to meet Bazaine was decided upon, the Emperor, with the Prince, accompanied MacMahon's army. They left Chalons the 21 August; two days later they were still at Reims, where there were fresh deliberations. The Emperor then separated from his son for the first time, sending him to Rethel, where he rejoined him the twenty-fifth. Two days later the Emperor bade adieu to his son as he thought "for a few days." He was not to see him again until six months later in exile. It is unnecessary to follow the poor young Prince in his painful wanderings along the northern frontier. On the fourth of September, the day of the revolution in Paris, he arrived at Mauberge. That afternoon a dispatch was received from the Empress reading: "Start at once for Belgium." A few minutes later the Prince had left French soil, upon which he was never again to set foot. He proceeded to Ostende, where he embarked for England, landing at Dover the sixth of September. C2993 NAPOLEON THE THIRD The Empress on her arrival in England decided to take a house at Chislehurst called Camden Place. The house without being very large was sufficiently comfortable. Here the Prince continued his studies with his former tutor Augustin Filon. Later he went to King's College in London, and finally, in 1872, to the Woolwich Royal Academy, where the officers of the engineers and artillery are trained. He was there at the time of his father's death in January 1873. In February the Prince once more donned his cadet's uniform and returned to Woolwich. In January 1875 he passed his final examinations, ranking seventh in his class. He was far from regard- ing his military education as finished when he left Woolwich, and had himself attached to a permanent battery at Aldershot, where he took up his duties in the spring. His summer vacation was spent with his mother at Arenenberg. The next year was spent in the same manner. In the autumn of 1876 the Empress and her son went to Italy for the winter. After a short excursion to Venice, and a visit to the battlefields of 1859, he rejoined his mother at Florence. In April 1877 he was back at Camden Place. In July 1878 he visited Denmark and Sweden, where he was everywhere cordially received, as he expressed it in a letter to his mother, "As if my father was still on the throne." From this visit, the Prince returned to Arenenberg, which this year was livelier than ever. Madame Octave Feuillet wrote of him at that time: "He is a fine fellow of three and twenty, with the grace of a perfect gentleman. Every one THE PRINCE IMPERIAL speaks of his charm, his heart, the sincerity and rectitude of his sentiments." In February 1879, the Prince sent a request to the Duke of Cambridge that he might be allowed to serve with the English army in South Africa. The Empress fought the Prince's resolution with all the arguments she could think of, but in vain. Rouher came to Chislehurst and also did his utmost to get him to change his mind. The last of the month he embarked at Southampton. The English Government had thought it impos- sible to grant his request to be enrolled in the army, but had given instructions that he should be allowed to follow the operations with the columns of the ex- pedition. The letter of instructions to the General-in- Chief ended with the words: "My one fear is that he may be too courageous." Lord Chelmsford had a hard problem to solve : to reconcile the Prince's wishes with the instructions he had received from the War Office. On the 26 March 1879, in a long letter to his mother from Cape Town, the Prince gave her a full account of his voyage. In frequent letters to the Empress he recounted the progress of the campaign, stage by stage. The morning of the first of June 1879, the English forces, in two columns, were to cross Blood River, and, effecting a junction at a point agreed upon, to march on Ulundi. The Prince was ordered to choose the site for the second camp where the army was to halt after its march on the second of June. On the first of June, In a last hurried letter to his mother, he announced that he was off in a few minutes to select the camping ground on the left bank of Blood NAPOLEON THE THIRD River. That afternoon his small party, while dis- mounted, was attacked by a band of about fifty Zulus. The Prince, abandoned by his escort, who had fled in disorder, attempted to mount, but his horse, a high-spirited thoroughbred, was restless, from the war cries and shots of the enemy, and went off at a gallop. The Prince ran with him, clinging to the stirrup leather and the saddle, and continuing to make desperate efforts to mount. Finally the girth of the saddle broke and he fell to the ground. Here he was surrounded by the Zulus and slain with repeated thrusts of their assegais. After stripping his body bare, except for a gold chain with medallions around his neck, the savages fled. The following day his body was recovered by a detachment of English cavalry. On the morning of the second of June, General Chelmsford sent the English Government a dispatch to inform it of the catastrophe, but, owing to neces- sary delays in transmission, the telegram did not reach London until the nineteenth. The news was not published in London and Paris until the twentieth, when it created a great sensation. The body of the Prince was embalmed and sent to Eng- land, where it arrived at Plymouth the lo July 1879. With the death of the young Prince Imperial practically expired the last hope of the Napoleonic dynasty. The Bonaparte family, which had played such a predominating part in the history of the past century, seemed doomed to early extinction. Al- though Charles Bonaparte of Corsica had had five sons and ten grandsons, there were only three male descendants then living, In the fourth generation. 1:3023 THE PRINCE IMPERIAL At the present writing, the head of the family is Prince Victor Napoleon, the elder son of Prince Napo- leon, who was the son of the Great Emperor's young- est brother Jerome by his second marriage with the Princess Catherine of Wiirtemberg. He was born in 1862 and is now fifty-eight years of age. For many years he had a liaison with an actress named Marie Biot, by whom he had a number of illegitimate chil- dren. For a time she occupied a house adjoining his own in the Avenue Louise at Brussels. At a later date, in deference to the urgent en- treaties of his family and of the leaders of the Bona- parte cause, he became a suitor for the hand of the Princess Clementine, the youngest daughter of Leo- pold the Second, and therefore first cousin of the pres- ent King Albert. The Princess, who was born in 1872, was then nearly forty years of age. But while she was apparently willing to overlook the actress and her family. King Leopold forbade the marriage, as he did not care to incur the ill-will of the Third Re- public by allying his daughter with a claimant to the throne of France. After the death of Leopold, however, the marriage took place, in November 1910, and an heir to the Bonaparte claims was born at Brussels 23 January, 1914, and named Louis Napoleon. . The only brother of Victor, Prince Louis, was a General of Cavalry in the Russian Army, and, in 1906, Governor of the Caucasus. He was at one time deeply infatuated with the Grand Duchess Helena of Russia, and after her refusal to marry him he became a confirmed bachelor. C303II NAPOLEON THE THIRD The only other adult member of the Bonaparte family in Europe is Roland, son of that Prince Pierre who shot Victor Noir in 1870, and caused a terrible scandal during the closing days of the Second Empire. Roland was the son of a plumber's daughter by the name of Ruffin, and was in his teens before his parents were united by any legal ceremony. In 1880, Roland married Marie Blanc, daughter of the proprietor of the famous gambling establishment at Monte-Carlo. She died two years later, leaving him one daughter, and an enormous fortune. Some years later he aspired to the hand of Marie, the widowed Duchess of Aosta, a sister of Victor and Louis Bonaparte. But the late King Humbert of Italy, who was her uncle and her brother-in-law, intervened, and used his authority as chief of the house of Savoy, to which she belonged both by birth and marriage, to forbid such a mesal- liance as her marriage to a man of doubtful birth and of tainted fortune. The only other Bonapartes in existence are those in America, the descendants of Napoleon's youngest brother Jerome by his first marriage In 1803 with Elizabeth Patterson of Baltimore. It Is unnecessary to recall here the base desertion by Jerome of his wife and little boy, on the refusal of the Emperor to recognize the validity of this marriage, because it had been contracted without his consent. This son of Jerome, named Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte, had a son of the same name who entered the French army in 1854, and served with distinction in the Crimea and Italy. During the Second Empire he was success- ful in securing from the French Council of State a 113043 ^ ^^^?^ *-^^-r-e-* THE PRINCE IMPERIAL '^i'/3 THE PRINCE IMPERIAL decision acknowledging the validity of his grand- father's marriage, and his father's legitimacy, but it was expressly stated that this decree did not invest the Patterson-Bonapartes with any claims to the Imperial succession. It is possible, nevertheless, that the Bonapartes may yet have to look to the United States for a representative of the dynasty. When one recalls the astounding history of this family, in connection with which everything that seemed Improbable and even Impossible came to pass, - who can say that an American Emperor of the French, a descendant of Betty Patterson of Baltimore, may • not some day revive the glories of the First and the Second Empire? ■ For seven years the remains of the Emperor re- posed at Chislehurst in a sarcophagus presented by Queen Victoria, above which floated the banner which had hung at Windsor over his stall as Knight of the Garter. . After the death of the Prince Imperial in South / Africa In 1879, the Empress Eugenie made her home at Farnborough Hill, about half way from London to Winchester on the route to Southampton, and Camden Place, where the Emperor died, is now a golf-club house. On a hill that rises before the house, the Empress erected the Abbey Chapel, a magnificent monu- ment to the Emperor and the Prince. On the ninth of January 1888 the crypt received the remains of Napoleon and his son. The underground chapel lies beneath the choir of the church. To the right and NAPOLEON THE THIRD left are the tombs of the father and son. A third place is now occupied by the tomb of the Empress. The Empress for many years spent her winters in her villa at Cap Martin, near Nice. When she passed through Paris, in going and coming, she al- ways occupied the same suite at the Hotel Continental, looking out on the Gardens of the Tuileries, the scene of her former grandeur. As she took her daily walk in the Gardens, leaning upon a cane and supported by the arm of a faithful companion, bowed with the weight of her ninety-four years, but few passers-by recognized in the heavily-veiled lady dressed in quiet black the once beautiful and graceful Empress of the French. The tragedy of the life of Eugenie ended with her death on Sunday, ii July 1920, at Madrid, in the Palacio de Liria, the home' of her nephew, the Duke of Alba, at the advanced age of ninety-four years, two months and six days. """^ Nearly half a century had elapsed since her escape from the Tuileries on the fourth of September 1870 when the Third Republic was proclaimed. During all these years she had lived in complete retirement. Perhaps no one has expressed the feeling of the younger generation for her so eloquently as Lord Rosebery. In a copy he sent her of his "Napoleon: The Last Phase," he addressed her as, "The surviving sovereign of Napoleon's dynasty: the Empress who has lived on the summits of splendor, sorrow and catastrophe with supreme dignity and courage." To the end of her life Eugenie retained much of the charm that had held France at her feet in the early t:3o6: THE PRINCE IMPERIAL days of her marriage with the Emperor. She never lost her interest in public affairs, with which she kept fully posted by her reading. During the Great War she worked for the victory of the Allies. Early in the conflict she gave up her home at Farnborough Hill, which was transformed into a hospital for wounded British officers. Despite her advanced age she assumed entire direction of the place and devoted herself to aiding the wounded men. Eugenie suffered much from rheumatism, but she refused to follow the advice of her doctors and aban- don the damp climate of England for the warm dry air of the Riviera where she owned an estate. Re- cently she had completely lost the sight of one eye, and it was feared that she would become totally blind, as all the oculists who had attended her gave no hope of saving her sight. When the Duke of Alba visited her during the spring of 1920 at her villa at Cap Martin, where she had passed the winter as usual, she expressed a long- ing to return once more to her native land before she became blind. The Duke, having ascertained from the doctors that her health would permit the journey, arranged the trip, and they sailed from Marseille for Algeciras. Eugenie expressed great delight at being once more in Spain, and at seeing again the places which were, after all, the dearest to her, and above all Andalusia, the province in which she was born. After spending a short time at her nephew's home in Seville, she was induced to visit his palace at Madrid, and it was while there that the Duke heard of the wonderful cures NAPOLEON THE THIRD effected by an oculist of Barcelona. He decided to see if something could be done to save his aunt's failing eyesight. Doctor Barraquen was summoned, and, after several examinations, decided to operate upon both eyes. No surgical instrument was used, but a new cupping process. The operation was a complete success. After a few days the Empress was able to see distinctly. During her visit to Spain, Eugenie seemed to be in good health for a woman of her age, and on the day before her death was exceptionally well. At midday she lunched heartily. A short time later she became ill, and Doctor Grenda, physician to King Alfonso, was called. Finding her condition serious, he sum- moned a specialist and also two other physicians. They were unable, however, to relieve the patient, and the Empress passed away quietly on Sunday morning ii July, shortly before eight o'clock, never having regained consciousness. Her illness was so sudden that her nephew was absent in France, and no member of her family was present at the time of her death. On the 20 July the body of the Empress was placed in a sarcophagus between the tombs of the Emperor and the Prince Imperial in the crypt of the Chapel of St. Michael's Abbey at Farnborough. Thousands of British soldiers escorted the coffin from the station to the abbey with impressive ceremony. Cavalry with drawn swords lined the route and the path through the abbey grounds was guarded by infantry with reversed rifles. With the death of the Empress Eugenie, there C 308 3 THE PRINCE IMPERIAL closes a chapter in history almost unparalleled for the heights of its glory and the depths of its tragedy. No heroine of romantic fiction ever had a career so fantastic as was her life. The story of Cinderella is pale and commonplace in comparison. Born in a modest house in a small street in Granada, the daugh- ter of a Spanish adventuress, she led for years a Bo- hemian life in Paris and other European capitals, attracting many admirers by her beauty, but finding no one willing to marry her. Finally she met Napo- leon and easily won his susceptible heart. Having met with refusals everywhere in his quest for a bride among the daughters of the royal houses of Europe, the Emperor suddenly startled the world by the an- nouncement of his intention to marry the lovely Spaniard. The beauty of the future Empress was un- doubted. "The Emperor has only to show his bride," said Morny, "and Paris will award her the golden apple." It is too soon to pass a final judgment on Eugenie. The sorrow of the lonely woman in exile, bereft of her husband and son, uttering no word in her de- fence, has been generally respected during the many long years of her later life. For this reason much of the history of France during the closing years of the Second Empire has remained untold until the pres- ent day. The role played by the Empress in such decisive events as the Italian imbroglio, the Mexi- can adventure and the war with Prussia, has never been definitely settled. Memoirs withheld from pub- lication until after her death may now be expected to shed new light on these problems. t:309] NAPOLEON THE THIRD " I have lived — I have been. I do not desire to be anything more, not even a memory. I live, but I am no more — a shadow, a phantom, a grief which walks." No words more pathetic than these were ever uttered by one who had gained the highest prizes this world can offer. "A sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things." Those who visit Paris to-day, and from the Arc de Triomphe look down the Champs-Elysees, across the Place de la Concorde, and the Gardens beyond, to the unmeaning desolation of the space once occu- pied by the central facade of the Tuileries, can scarcely realize the scene as it was before the insurrection of the Commune in 1871. "Then," says Hare, "between the beautiful chestnut avenues, across the brilliant flowers and quaint orange trees of the Gardens, be- yond the sparkling glory of the fountains, rose the majestic facade of a palace, infinitely harmonious in color, indescribably picturesque and noble in form, interesting beyond description from its associa- tions, appealing to the noblest and most touching recollections, which all its surroundings led up to and were glorified by, which was the centre and soul of Paris, the first spot to be visited by strangers, the one point in the capital which attracted the sympa- thies of the world. It is all gone now. Malignant folly ruined it; apathetic and narrow-minded policy de- clined to restore and preserve it." The site of the Palace, then outside the city walls, was occupied originally by a manufactory of tiles, II3103 THE PRINCE IMPERIAL hence the name of Tuileries. Catherine de Medicis, the widow of Henry the Second, acquired the prop- erty, and, in 1564 employed Philibert Delorme to build a magnificent palace there. He erected the facade towards the gardens, and his work was con- tinued by Jean Bullant, who built the pavilions at either end of his facade. Under Henri Quatre the south wing was continued to the Pavilion de Flore on the Seine. The space on the north continued to be unoccupied except by detached buildings until Louis Quatorze completed it to the Pavilion de Marsan on the Rue de Rivoli. The Tuileries were seldom occupied by royalty until the last century. Napoleon came there as First Consul in 1800, and from that time the palace was the principal residence of the rulers of France until its destruction by the Commune. In the Chapel of the Tuileries, Napoleon was mar- ried by Cardinal Fesch to Josephine, who had long been his wife by the civil bond. Pius Seventh, when he came to Paris for the coronation, resided in the Pavilion de Flore. In the Tuileries, the divorce of Josephine was pronounced. Here Napoleon came on his return from Elba, and was borne up the Staircase of Honor in the arms of his Old Guard, by the light of their torches. After the fall of Napoleon, the Tuileries continued to be the habitual seat of the executive power until 1870. During the Second Empire it was the city resi- dence of Napoleon the Third. Here he was affianced to Eugenie, and here the Prince Imperial was born. At the palace, the Empress heard of the surrender at NAPOLEON THE THIRD Sedan, and thence she fled from the fury of the mob on the fourth of September 1870, passing through the connecting wings of the galleries of the Louvre, and escaping at the further end. The Tuileries, which had already been four times attacked and pillaged by the populace of Paris, twice in 1792, and again during the revolutions of July 1830 and February 1848, were wilfully burnt by the Commune, 23 May 1871, after the Versailles troops had entered the city. Internally, the palace was completely destroyed, but the walls remained stand- ing, and the beautiful central Pavilion de I'Horloge was almost entirely uninjured. After allowing these ruins, by far the most interesting in France, to stand for twelve years, the Government of the Third Re- public in 1883 ordered them razed to the ground, and thus was lost forever to Paris its most interesting historical monument. The two pavilions of Flore and Marsan, which terminate the wings of the Louvre, in spite of the modifications which they have experi- enced, alone recall the former building. These were completely rebuilt in 1875, and are now occupied by government offices. The ancient site of the Tuileries is now covered with flower beds. This leaves the former quadrangle of the Louvre incomplete, and, from the picturesque point of view, decidedly mars the general effect. Another generation, less jealous of the past, and more mindful of the glories of France, may decide to restore this historical monument. C3123 CHAPTER TWENTY- ONE 1808-1873 CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON THE THIRD His Mission — His Heredity — His Youth and Education — His Mother's Influence — His Personal Attraction — His Excellence in Sports — His Powers as a Linguist — His Efforts to Improve France — His Personality — His Entourage — His Dignity — His Affability — His Tenac- ity — His Lack of Decision — His Love of Startling Effects — His Impassibility — His Personal Appearance — His Place in History FOR many years the life of Napoleon the Third was an enigma; it escaped analysis, and, by the violence of its contrasts, provoked the most divergent opinions. Time, however, has served to dispel much of the mystery of his personality and of his politics, to which a chain of remarkable cir- cumstances gave so exceptional a character. Romantic by inheritance from his mother; self-restrained and taciturn like his father; very unequal in his work, surprising the world by measures taken too hastily, or disappointing it by his delay in reaching a decision, he had at all times only one fixed idea: the belief that he was the legitimate successor of his uncle, and foreordained to carry out his Imperial policies. Like the Great Emperor, he believed that he had a "mis- sion" to fulfill, and to this he devoted all his thoughts and all his energies. As the result of his ruminations he had evolved an ideal of Imperialism, of a sovereign C313 J NAPOLEON THE THIRD who should be at once the elect of God and of the peo- ple. Either from sincere admiration, or through an adroit calculation, Louis Napoleon wished not only to carry to completion the unfinished task of his uncle, but to imitate and copy him in every detail of his career. In spite of his humane impulses, and his natural aversion to war, he felt that his heredity im- posed the obligation of military glory. Hence the numerous wars during his reign. He had made a profound study of military affairs, and possessed much academic knowledge of the subject, but on the field of battle he failed to inspire confidence. In 1855, when he was determined to go to the Crimea and take command of the Allied armies, his old friend Persigny, the French Ambassador at London, said to the Eng- lish Minister, Lord Malmesbury: "At whatever cost, we must prevent this; better even make peace if necessary. If he goes, the army is lost, and we shall have a revolution at home." As a boy, Louis Napoleon was bright, high-spirited, and affectionate, delicate and sensitive. His grand- mother, Josephine, called him a doux-entete, and her favorite name for him was "Oui-oui." As a youth, in the college at Augsburg, his profes- sors spoke of him with esteem as well as affection. He went through the discipline of the gymnasium with credit. During his vacations he travelled with his mother over every part of Switzerland. He visited his uncle Eugene at Munich and his father at Florence, and spent many winter months with his mother at Rome and Geneva. In the course of CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON these travels he became acquainted through the fascination of his mother and her love of society with many of the leading intelligences of his time. This companionship, and his mother's conversation, as well as that of his father, helped to develop his mind rapidly. Hortense took great pains to form his tastes and character, by giving him the society of the great and gifted. "Yet it cannot be denied," says Jerrold, "that the effect exercised by Queen Hortense on the character of her son Louis was enervating. She was a lover and seeker of pleasure to the end. All her friends were delightful and cultured companions. But she was no strict mistress of morals. There was much of the Bohemian in her nature. Louis could not but become kindly and charitable under the guidance and with the example of his mother, but he could hardly fail also to feel the influence of the very thin moral at- mosphere of her little court. The pleasures, the con- versation, the southern brio, that threw a rosy tint about slips in morals, were enervating surroundings to the young man whose single hand was to "hold sway and mastery over an empire. In after-life, he showed deep traces of both the good and the evil of his moth- er's teaching and the society in which she brought him up. The good blossomed in a thousand acts of kindness, and the evil appeared in many weaknesses — all those of a tender heart — for which a bitter penalty was paid in the end." Like Hortense, Napoleon had the faculty of attract- ing people to him through the genuine interest he was able to take in their pursuits and hopes, and through NAPOLEON THE THIRD the natural kindliness of his heart. He possessed the same qualities which made people cling to his mother, strangely mixed with the reserve and taciturnity of his father. It was a glory peculiar to both of the Napoleons that they were heroes to their valets. Charles Thelin, the valet of Louis Napoleon, remained devoted to him all his life, through good fortune and bad. He shared his imprisonment at Ham, helped his escape, and became under the Second Empire the Treasurer of his Privy Purse and an officer of the Legion d'honneur. When enrolled among the Swiss federal troops in the camp at Thun, Louis Napoleon was one of Colonel Dufour's best pupils in mathematics and artillery, and different works which he published show that his studies were neither superficial nor circumscribed. A fellow officer wrote of him at this time : "He is calm and thoughtful without ever ceasing to be affable. His vast military learning, especially in his own arm of the service, artillery, excited general sur- prise." In youth, as in mature years, he seems to have been studious, reflective and taciturn. As a young boy, Louis Napoleon was very delicate, but through the care of his mother he later became strong and vigorous, and so remained until his health was permanently impaired by the years of imprison- ment in the damp and malarious Chateau of Ham. He excelled in every branch of athletic sports. He was very fond of shooting and went frequently to the iir cantonal where he carried off many prizes as a marks- man. He was an excellent fencer, and practiced every week with a fencing-master who came from Constance. CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON He was one of the best swimmers in the lake. He was a superb rider, and was known as one of the most daring horsemen in the canton. At the time he became Emperor, Napoleon the Third was more extensively and more thoroughly- educated than any other prince who ever ascended a throne. He spoke French, English, German, Italian and Spanish like a native. He was a good classical scholar, profound in mathematics and physics. Dur- ing his youth and manhood, he had been a diligent and systematic student, and his years at the "Univer- sity of Ham" had made him one of the best read and best informed men of his time. As soon as he arrived at sovereign power he began in earnest the series of efforts for the improvement of the conditions of the working classes upon which he had meditated much when in prison and in exile. In the course of his reign he made many errors, but he showed at all times a great desire for the improve- ment of mankind, and a knowledge of the wants and desires of the humbler classes far deeper than that of any contemporary ruler. The good which he was able to accomplish was only a small part of what he had in mind, but the improvement in the actual con- ditions of France during his reign was immense, and for this he deserves full credit. As Prince-President, as soon as the supreme power was in his hands, he had lost no time in beginning his work. He decreed the immediate laying down of the railway round Paris, ordered the vigorous renewal of public works in the capital, and the immediate demo- lition of the unsightly buildings that stood between NAPOLEON THE THIRD the Tuileries and the Louvre, thereby beginning the great work of the completion of the Louvre and its junction with the Tuileries, which will always be associated with his name. Nor were his activities confined to Paris. Local improvements were begun in all the principal provincial cities; both the canal and railway systems received a vigorous impetus ; and tele- graph lines were built to connect the principal cities. In his celebrated speech at Bordeaux, on the eve of the proclamation of the Empire, he had said : "Like the Emperor, I have many conquests to make. We have vast waste territories to drain and cultivate, roads to open, ports to be deepened, rivers to be made navigable, railways to be connected. Op- posite Marseille we have a great kingdom to assim- ilate to France. We have to connect our great west- ern ports with the American continent by lines of steamers. These are the conquests which I meditate." Says Jerrold: "In the hands of a bad, self-seeking man, such power as that which was embodied in Napoleon the Third on his accession to the throne might have led France to moral and material ruin; but the prince to whom she had confided her destinies was liberal, wise and humane, and he used the mighty force he held as a sacred trust, of which France might ask him an account at any moment. According to his light, he sought the happiness of his country, with a passionate longing to see it great and prosperous. Hence the all but absolute power he held, at the open- ing of his reign, conferred substantial and lasting benefits on his subjects." As Emperor he set on foot that mighty series of C318] CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON public works in the capital which was destined to make Paris the Ville lumiere of the world and to be an immortal monument to his memory. The com- mercial and building actitivity in Paris was simply prodigious. Guizot said at the time that, "The city of Paris looks like a town that has been bombarded/' and added, " but if the Emperor destroys like an Attila, he builds like an Aladdin." No finer tribute to Napoleon the man was ever paid than that of Queen Victoria, who, after her return to Osborne from a ten days' visit to the Em- peror and Empress at Saint-Cloud during the Ex- position of 1855, wrote in her Diary: "His society is particularly agreeable and pleasant; there is some- thing fascinating, melancholy and engaging, which draws you to him; he undoubtedly has a most ex- traordinary power of attracting people to him!" Baron von Moltke, who visited Paris a year later, and who certainly cannot be accused of partiality towards his host, in private letters which were first published in 1878, said: "Napoleon has nothing of the sombre sternness of his uncle, neither his im- perial demeanor nor his deliberate attitude. 'II ne se fache jamais,' say the people who are in most frequent intercourse with him. *Il est toujours poli et bon envers nous; ce n'est que la bonte de son coeur et sa confiance qui pourront lui devenir dangereux.' Napo- leon has shown wisdom, firmness, self-confidence, but also moderation and clemency; and though simple in his dress, he does not forget that the French like to see their Sovereigns surrounded by a brilliant Court." [3193 NAPOLEON THE THIRD Monsieur Ollivier has thus described his first im- pressions of the Emperor at the time he became connected with the Government in January 1867: " People have formed an erroneous idea of the person of the Emperor. He is represented as taciturn, impas- sible ; and in truth he appears so on public occasions. In his cabinet he is otherwise. His face is smiling. Al- though he does not break through a certain reserve, which looks almost like timidity, his address is cordial, of touching simplicity, and of seductive politeness. He listens like one who wishes to remember. When he has nothing decisive to answer, he lets the conver- sation flow. He interrupts, only to present, and this in excellent terms, a serious objection. His mind is not fettered by any mastering prejudice. You may say everything to him, even that which is contrary to his opinion, even the truth, provided you speak quietly and in personal sympathy with him. His changes, which have looked like dissimulation to many, are the natural movements of an impression- able nature. He forms his resolutions slowly, and he is not displeased when they are forced upon him by the weight of circumstances. If he were left alone, he would adapt himself to liberty." No one had fewer illusions than the Emperor re- garding the moral charcter of many of those in his entourage. He kept people in his service less from esteem and attachment than from custom and reluc- tance to make a change. For the most part he had a very poor opinion of his counsellors, his servants and his courtiers. On the other hand, he never forgot a good service rendered him. Like his mother, he prac- C3203 CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON ticed tolerance to an excessive degree, not only in politics but also in morals. All who came in contact with him yielded to the charm of his personality. Partisans or antagonists, once they knew him, united in saying: "It is impossible not to like him." He had inherited his attractive personality from his mother, and this also was the compelling charm of Josephine. He received from all who met him the title of a "per- fect gentleman." This the First Napoleon never was. With all his genius, he never displayed a true grandeur of soul, nor a real generosity of heart. If his nephew nad less claim to the admiration of men, he had better rights to their affections. Louis Napoleon never forgot the least service rendered him and, when he was in a position to do so, recompensed it in the most thoughtful and generous manner. The Great Emperor was always lacking In true dignity; as some one once said of him, he seemed to have been created to live in a tent. Lie did not know how to enter or leave a room, how to receive people either as a sovereign or a man of the world. Llis re- ceptions were like a review of his troops. His Grand Chamberlain, Talleyrand, used to circulate around the rooms, saying to every one, "Amuse yourselves, gentlemen, it is the wish of the Emperor." On the other hand, all who visited the Tuileries during the reign of the Third Napoleon were a unit in describing the charm of the Imperial fetes. In Napoleon the Third, the spirit of repartee was entirely lacking. Very fluent with his pen, he was very quiet and taciturn In general conversation. His uncle, on the other hand, was as brilliant in speech C3213 NAPOLEON THE THIRD as he was in action. Every one listened to him with interest, curiosity and pleasure. Hortense often cautioned her son against the too great effusion in speech which was one of the faults of the Great Emperor. She said: "Un prince doit savoir se taire, ou parler pour ne rien dire." Napoleon the Third had periods of gaiety, when, contrary to his habitude, he was expansive. Free from etiquette, he could be gracious and smiling. In the intimacy of his family he dropped the sovereign, and talked and laughed, like any good bourgeois. But even during the happiest days of the Empire he al- ways was prone to melancholy. Gravity was the basis of his character. Tenacity was his strongest characteristic. An Idea once fixed in his head, he never abandoned it, al- though he was often very slow in carrying it out, as, for example, his delay of a year in assuming the Im- perial crown, when it was at all times within his grasp. It was one of his weaknesses to meditate too long before acting. Naturally inclined to temporize, he carried out slowly the plans upon which he had long decided. Towards the end of his reign, when matters of the highest importance called for immediate action, this defect in his character became a positive fault. As Bismarck once said, "II y a des moments, dans la politique exterieure, qui ne reviennent pas." Such a moment was the short period of six weeks prior to Sadowa in 1866, when he lost forever the last chance of curbing the rising power of Prussia, which four years later was to overwhelm France and destroy his C3223 CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON dynasty. By taking too much time to prepare the ground and await the hour, he let pass the decisive moment for action. His fixed habit of procrastination caused him to lose an opportunity which never re- turned. By an unfortunate contradiction in his character, he often embarked rashly and hastily in enterprises which should have had long and careful examination. Such was the unfortunate Mexican expedition, which did so much to ruin his prestige in Europe. When he was in a mood to act, he went ahead blindly with- out taking counsel with any one, without even the knowledge of his Ministers. He did not stop to reflect, he formed his resolution and acted with a precipi- tancy which gave no opportunity for drawing back. It seemed to give him particular satisfaction, by some unexpected move, to take everybody by surprise. Several times these exploits turned out well, but he tempted his fate too often. It was the boast of the First Napoleon that he never held a Council of War, and he never did until the disastrous days of 1812 and 18 13, when for the first time he began to lose confidence in his "star." But his nephew acted with more deference for his counsellors. In conference his opposition was always dissembled, and his real plans concealed. He only revealed his decisions when they had been finally reached, and often in part executed. People have often spoken of the phlegm of Napoleon the Third, but It was an acquired, not a natural gift. Like Talleyrand, he was very quick-tempered in his youth, and he had gradually disciplined his C323 1 NAPOLEON THE THIRD nerves and acquired the art of concealing his feehngs under a veil of impassivity. "When I met him again in 1848," related his old childhood friend Hortense Cornu, "I asked him what was the matter with his eyes. He replied: 'Nothing.' A few days later when I saw him again, his eyes seemed even more peculiar. Finally I discovered that he had formed the habit of keeping his eye-lids lowered, half- closed, which gave him a dreamy and vacant ex- pression." In his personal appearance, Louis Napoleon resem- bled his mother more than the Bonapartes. He was of medium height, a little taller than the First Napo- leon, who was about five feet six. He had the long body and short legs of his uncle, and therefore made a better appearance on horseback than at any other time. He had the high, broad, straight forehead, the light brown hair, and the well-shaped head, as well as the blue-gray eyes of the Great Emperor, but did not possess his cameo-like profile, with his round and firm chin. To conceal his defect in this latter respect, he wore all his life the chin-whisker, slight in youth, but full and flowing in later life, which became known as an "imperial." His nose was large and aquiline, and not Roman like that of his uncle. Distinction was not a striking trait in his appearance, although as Emperor he had a certain dignity of bearing. "The character of Napoleon the Third," says Hassall, " is one of the most complex in modern French history. Kindness, generosity, gratitude, were all found In him; he was aware of the needs of the world and of the national aspirations of France. He had CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON long been a private citizen, and he alone of French politicians had a practical knowledge of foreign coun- tries. Much that he did was beneficial to Europe and to France. His wish for the overthrow of the Aus- trians in Italy, his liberal commercial ideas, his op- position to the Jesuits, all were parts of a policy to be expected from a man who had seen much of the world. At the same time it is undoubted that he was a dreamer and idealist, with much of the fatalist in his composition. He showed infinite patience and perseverance in carrying out his ideas, and throughout his reign he endeavored to shape the course of history and to direct the course of the European powers." Having had the good fortune to arrive at supreme power through an appeal to the Napoleonic legend, it was his misfortune for the rest of his career to be expected by the world to live up to the Napoleonic tradition. His uncle was not only the greatest mili- I tary genius of all time, but also one of the greatest administrators and statesmen known to history. But i through the growth of the Napoleonic legend, in song | and story, during the quarter of a century following | his downfall and tragic exile and death at Saint Helena, he had been exalted from a super-man to a very demi-god. No mortal man could ever have measured up to such a standard. That his nephew failed to do so was his misfortune and not his fault. Napoleon the Third was beyond question one of the leading men of public affairs during the latter part of the 19th century. During the two decades that followed the Revolution of 1848 he played the 1:3253 NAPOLEON THE THIRD most important role not only in France but in all Europe. In conclusion we can only repeat: The story of his life reads like the pages of a great historical novel, and may well be called The Romance of an Emperor. n326 3 THE BONAPARTES GENEALOGICAL TABLE BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES CHRONOLOGY BIBLIOGRAPHY THE BONAPARTES GENEALOGICAL TABLE I II III 2 Joseph 3 Napoleon I 7 Napoleon II IV I Charles \ 4 Lucien Bonaparte 5 Louis 8 Charles 9 Louis Lucien i 15 Joseph 16 Lucien 17 Charles < 10 Pierre iS Roland 11 Napoleon Charles 12 Napoleon Louis 13 Napoleon III 19 Prince Imperial 20 Victor 22 Louis 21 Louis Compiled by the Author 6 Jerome 14 Prince Napoleon C3293 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY First Generation 1. Charles Bonaparte, born at Ajaccio, Corsica, 29 March, 1746; died at Montpellier, France, 24 February, 1785; in 1765, married Letitia Ramolino, born at Ajaccio, 24 August, 1750; died at Rome, 2 February, 1836. Children: (2) Joseph, (3) Napoleon, (4) Lucien, (5) Louis, (6) Jerome, Elise, Pauline, Caroline. Second Generation 2. Joseph, King of Spain, born at Corte, Corsica, 7 January, 1768; died at Florence, 28 July, 1844; in 1794 married Julie Clary. No sons. 3. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, born at Ajaccio, Cor- sica, 15 August, 1769; died at Longwood, Saint Helena, 5 May, 1821; married, ist, 9 March, 1796, Josephine de Beauharnais, born at Trois-Ilets, Martinique, 23 June, 1763; died at Malmaison, 29 May, 1814; divorced 1809; married, 2nd, 11 March, 1810, Marie-Louise, born at Vienna, 12 December, 1791; died at Vienna, December, 1847. Son: (7) Napoleon II. 4. Lucien, Prince of Canino (in Italy), born at Ajaccio, 21 May, 177s; died at Viterbo, Italy, 30 June, 1840; married, 1st, 4 May, 1794, Christine Boyer, by whom he had two daughters; married, 2nd, 23 October, 1803, Alexandrine de Bleschamp (Madame Jouberthou). Children: (8) Charles, (9) Louis Lucien, (10) Pierre and two other sons and four daughters. 5. Louis, King of Holland, born at Ajaccio, 2 September, 1778; died at Leghorn, Italy, 25 July, 1846; married 4 January, 1802, Hortense de Beauharnais, born at Paris 10 April, 1783; died at Arenenberg, Switzerland, 5 October, 1837. Chil- li 330]] BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES dren: (ii) Napoleon Charles, (12) Napoleon Louis, and (13) Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III). 6. Jerome, King of Westphalia, born at Ajaccio, 15 November, 1784; died near Paris, 24 June, i860; married, ist, 24 December, 1803, Elizabeth Patterson, of Baltimore, born 6 February, 1785; died 4 April, 1879; one son, Jerome Napoleon, born at Camberwell, England, 7 July, 1805; died at Pride's Crossing, Massachusetts, 4 September, 1893; he had two sons, Jerome Napoleon and Charles Joseph. The former has a son of the same name, born 1878. Charles Joseph has no children. King Jerome married, 2nd, 22 August, 1807, after annulment of the Patterson marriage, the Princess Catherine of Wiirtemberg. Children: (14) Napoleon Joseph, and Mathilde, born at Trieste, 20 May, 1820I died~at Paris, 2 January 1904; married Prince Demidov. ""^ Elise, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, born at Ajaccio, 3 January, 1777; died near Trieste, 6 August, 1820; married in 1797, FeHx Bacciochi. Pauline, Princesse Borghese, born at Ajaccio, 20 October, 1780; died at Florence, 9 June, 1825; married 28 August 1803, Prince Borghese. Caroline, Queen of Naples, born at Ajaccio, 25 March, 1782; died at Florence, 18 May, 1839; married in 1800 Joachim Murat, who became King of Naples in 1808. He was born 25 March, 1771; executed in Italy, 13 October, 1815. Two sons.: {a) Napoleon Achille Murat, born 1801, died 1847, who emigrated to America in 1821, and was postmaster at Tallahassee, Florida, from 1826 to 1838. He married a great-niece of Washington. {b) Napoleon Lucien Charles Murat, born 1803, died 1878; married Georgiana Frazer. He also lived in America from 1825 to 1848; was given title of Prince Murat by Napo- leon HL Children: Joachim, Prince Murat (i 834-1901), Achille (1847-1895), Louis (185 1- ). C3313 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Third Generation 7. Napoleon II, King of Rome, Duke of Reichstadt, born at Paris, 20 March, 1811; died at Vienna, 22 July, 1832. Never married. 8. Charles, born at Paris, 24 May, 1803, died at Paris, 29 July, 1857, married at Brussels, 29 June, 1822, his cousin Zenaide, born 8 July, 1804, died 8 August, 1854, daughter of King Joseph, by whom he had three sons and five daughters. The branch is now extinct. 9. Lucien Louis, born at Thorngrove, England, 4 January, 1813; died 3 November, 1891; married; left no children. 10. Pierre, born at Rome, 12 September, 181 5; died at Ver- sailles, 7 April, 1881; married 3 November, 1867, Justine Eleonore Ruffin, by whom he had, before his marriage, two children: (18) Roland and Jeanne. In January, 1870, he killed Victor Noir. 11. Napoleon Charles, born at Paris, 10 October, 1802; died at The Hague, 5 May, 1807. 12. Napoleon Louis, born at Paris, 11 October, 1804; died at Forli, Italy 27 March, 183 1 ; married his cousin, Charlotte, (1802-1839) daughter of King Joseph. No children. 13. Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, born at Paris, 20 April, 1808; died at Chislehurst, near London, 9 January, 1873; married 30 January, 1853, Eugenie de Montijo, born at Granada, Spain, 5 May, 1826; died at Madrid, 11 July, 1920. One son: (19) Napoleon Louis, the Prince Imperial. 14. Napoleon Joseph, called Prince Napoleon, born at Trieste, 9 September, 1822; died at Rome, 17 March 1891; married in January, 1859, Princess Clotilde, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel. Children: (20) Victor, (21) Louis, and Marie Laetitia born 20 December, 1866, who married in September, 1888, her maternal uncle Amadeus, Duke of Aosta, ex-King of Spain, and brother of King Humbert of Italy, by whom she had one son, Humbert, born in 1889. 113323 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Fourth Generation 15. Joseph, Prince of Canino, born at Philadelphia, 13 Feb- ruary, 1824; died 1865; left no heirs. 16. LuciEN, Cardinal Bonaparte, born at Rome, 15 November, 1828; died in 1895. 17. Charles, born 5 February, 1839, died in 1899; married 26 November, 1859, the Princess Ruspoli, by whom he had two daughters, born in 1870 and 1872. 18. Roland, born 19 May, 1858; married 7 November, 1880, Marie Blanc, the daughter of the proprietor of the gambling establishment at Monte Carlo. She died i August, 1882, leaving him one daughter and an enormous fortune. His daughter, Marie, in 1907, married Prince George, second son of King George of Greece. 19. Napoleon Louis, the Prince Imperial, born at Paris 16 March, 1856; killed in Zululand, South Africa, i June, 1879. Never married. 20. Napoleon Victor, Prince Napoleon, present head of the Bonaparte family, born at Paris, 18 July, 1862; married 14 November, 1910, the Princess Clementine, born 1872, daughter of Leopold II, King of the Belgians, She is a cousin of the present King Albert; two children: Clotilde, born at Brussels, 20 March, 191 2, and (22) Louis Napo- leon, born at Brussels, 23 January, 1914. 21. Louis Napoleon, born at Paris, 16 July, 1864. He was a General of Cavalry in the Russian Army, and, in 1906, Governor of the Caucasus. Never married. Fifth Generation 22. Louis Napoleon, son and heir of Prince Napoleon, born at Brussels, 23 January, 1914. t333l ^ CHRONOLOGY 1778 Birth of Louis Bonaparte, at Ajaccio, 2 September 1783 Birth of Hortense de Beauharnais, at Paris, 10 April 1802 Marriage of Louis and Hortense, at Paris, 4 January Birth of Napoleon Charles, at Paris, 10 October 1804 Birth of Napoleon Louis, at Paris, 11 October 1806 Louis, King of Holland, 5 June . 1807 Death of Napoleon Charles, at The Hague, 5 May 1808 Birth of Louis Napoleon, at Paris, 20 April 1 8 10 Abdication of King Louis, i July 1814 Abdication of Napoleon, 11 April 18 1 5 Napoleon Returns from Elba, 2 March Battle of Waterloo, 18 June Hortense Leaves Paris, 19 July 1816 Hortense at Constance, Switzerland 1817 Purchase of Arenenberg, 17 February 1 83 1 Italian Insurrection, March Death of Napoleon Louis, at Forli, 27 March 1832 Death of Napoleon the Second, at Vienna, 22 July 1836 The Strasbourg Attempt, 30 October Louis Exiled to America, 21 November 1837 Louis Arrives in London, 10 July Death of Hortense, at Arenenberg, 5 October 1838 Louis Leaves Switzerland for London, 14 October 1840 The Boulogne Attempt, 6 August Prisoner at Ham, 7 October 1846 Escape from Ham, 25 May 1848 Revolution at Paris, 24 February Louis Napoleon Elected Deputy, 17 September President of the Republic, 20 December 1 85 1 Coup d'fitat, 2 December 1852 Second Empire Proclaimed, 2 December 1853 Marriage with Eugenie, 30 January [3343 CHRONOLOGY 1854 Crimean War Begins, March Alma, 20 September; Balaklava, 25 October; Inkerman 5 November 1855 Exposition — Visit of Queen Victoria, in June Surrender of Sebastopol, 8 September 1856 Birth of Prince Imperial, 16 March Treaty of Paris, 30 March 1858 Attempt of Orsini, 14 January ^' Cavour at Plombieres, July 1859 The Italian War / Magenta, 4 June; Solferino, 24 June Treaty of Villafranca, 11 July i860 Annexation of Savoy and Nice, March Visit to Corsica, September 1862 Mexican Expedition, January 1864 Maximilian Lands at Vera Cruz, 28 May 1865 Death of Morny, 10 March 1866 Battle of Sadowa, 3 July 1867 Second Paris Exposition Maximilian Shot in Mexico, 19 July 1870 Hohenzollern Candidature, July Ems Dispatch, 13 July War with Prussia, 19 July Worth, 6 August; Gravelotte, 18 August Surrender at Sedan, 2 September Third French Republic, 4 September 1871 Occupation of Paris, i March Napoleon at Chislehurst, 20 March Peace of Frankfort, 10 May 1873 Death of Napoleon, 9 January /" 1879 Death of Prince Imperial, I June ^^ r^ hj f^^Vf 1920 Death of Eugenie, II July f ^^ ^^-^ *> f f^ /^/6 Csss] BIBLIOGRAPHY There is no adequate biography of Napoleon the Third ex- cept the masterly work of Blanchard Jerrold in four large volumes of over two thousand pages, published in London be- tween the years 1874 and 1882. The book is now out of print, and difficult to find except in a few large public libraries. In making his researches the author had the active assistance of the Imperial family, who placed at his disposal a mass of valuable papers which supplied him with the materials for many import- tant passages of his history. His spirit is sympathetic, but in the main impartial. It is the best English biography, and is the authoritative work on the subject. The "Memoirs of the Empress Eugenie" (1920) contain but little fresh matter, and throw no new light on the history of the Second Empire. Of less importance, but not without interest, are the following books: W. A. Eraser, "Napoleon III" (1895) A. Forbes, "Life of Napoleon III" (1898) F. A. Simpson, "The Rise of Louis Napoleon" (1909) AuGUSTiN FiLON, "The Prince Imperial" (Translation) Among the many French works may be mentioned: P. DeLano, three volumes under different titles. F. LoLiEE, several volumes on the Second Empire, under differ- ent titles. F. Masson, "Napoleon et sa Famille," in ten volumes, and six volumes on Napoleon I, under different titles, which are the best authority on the Bonaparte family during the period of the First Empire. Syl vain-Blot, "Napoleon III" (1899) H. Thirria, "Napoleon III avant I'Empire" (1895) 1:336: BIBLIOGRAPHY There are also many general histories of conspicuous ability, both in English and French, which cover the period of the Second Empire. Among these may be mentioned: English C. K. Adams, "Democracy and Monarchy in France." The author tries to show that the political weakness of the Second Empire was the legitimate result of the doctrines of the previous century. C. B. Cavour, "Biography" in Foreign Statesmen Series C. A. Fyffe, "Modern Europe" A. Hassall, "The French People" (1917). Half of the volume is given to the period from the French Revolution to the close of 19th century. Well written. C. D. Hazen, "Europe Since 181 5." Very interesting. H. MuRDOCK, "The Reconstruction of Europe," (1889) H. Van Laun, "The French Revolutionary Epoch." A descrip- tion of events, rather than a discussion of causes and con- sequences. French P. De La Gorge, "Histoire du Second Empire" (1868-1905) Taxile-Delord, "Histoire du Second Empire" (1868-1875) A masterly work in six volumes. Begun several years be- fore the fall of the Second Empire, it was completed in 1874. It shows thorough research, and great literary art. A pow- erful arraignment of the Imperial regime. A. Thomas, "Le Second Empire" (1907) C3373 INDEX INDEX / Alba, Duchess of, 200, 211 Alexander I, Czar, 20 Alexander II, Czar, 163, 219 "Ambes, Baron d'," 9, 17 Anglo-French alliance of 1854. IS9 Anglo-French commercial treaty, 224 Aosta, Duchess of, 304 Arenenberg, chateau of, 28, 29, 48 Arese, Count, 71, 179. I95 y Army, French, 99, 258, 259, 262 X Aumale, Due d', 46, 134 Austria, precipitates the Italian war, 184; her defeats in Italy, 185; war y with Prussia, 247 y" Baden, Grand Duchess Stephanie of, see Stephanie Baden, meeting of Sovereigns at, 209 Balaclava, battle of, see Crimean War Bazaine, Marshal, 276, 281 j/' Beauharnais, Vicomte de, 3 Beauharnais, Prince Eugene, 24, 28, 35, 36, -jS, ISO Beauregard, Comtesse de, IIO, 143 ^' Benedetti, M., 264 Bertrand, Abbe, 32 '*'" Biarritz, Napoleon III and Count Bismarck at, 246 Bismarck, Count, in Paris during the Exhibition of 1867, 219; Prussian Minister, 244; speech to the Prus- sian chamber, 245; repairs to Bi-' arritz, 246; efforts to secure the neutrality of France in the war with Austria, 247; the Hohenzollern can- didature, 263; the Ems dispatch, 266; conversations with the Em- peror at Sedan, 288 Bonaparte, Caroline, 7, 74 Bonaparte, King Jerome, 10, 52, 123, 137 Bonaparte, King Joseph, 52, 69, 71 Bonaparte, King Louis, his youth, 3; his character, 4; his marriage, 7; first years of married life, 8; gov- ernor of Paris, 12; King of Holland, 13; quarrels with his wife, 13; ob- jects to becoming King of Spain, 18; abdicates, 19; obtains his eldest son after a lawsuit, 26; death of, 112 Bonaparte, Prince Napoleon, 167, 179, 183 Bonaparte, Prince Napoleon Charles, 9. H . Bonaparte, Prince Napoleon Louis, 12, 38, 40, 41 Bonaparte, Prince Pierre, 304 Bonaparte, Prince Roland, 304 Bonaparte, Prince Victor Napoleon, 303 Bordeaux, Duke of, see Chambord Bordeaux, speech of the Prince Presi- dent at, 160 Borny, battle of, 278 Boulogne, Prince Louis Napoleon's expedition against, 89-91 Brault, Eleonore, 62 Brunswick, Duke of, 105, 106 Bulwer, Sir E. L., his estimate of Prince Louis Napoleon, 86 Carlotta, Empress, 242 Castiglione, Comtesse de, 177 Cauterets, 14 Cavaignac, General, 96, 118, 123, 124 Cavour, Count, 175-187 Chambord, Comte de, 127 Changarnier, General, 127, 131, 276 Chantilly, chateau of, 45 Charlemagne, 84, 102, 103 Chateaubriand, M. de, 53 Chevalier, M. Michel, 225 Chinese War, 237-240 Chislehurst, Napoleon at, 293-297 1:3413 INDEX Clementine, Princess, 303 Clotilde, Princess, 179 Cobden, Richard, 225 Conneau, Dr., 72, 108, 115, 179 Constance, residence of Queen Hor- tense at, 26-27 Constantine, Grand Duke, 170 Constitution of 1852, 141 Cornu, Mme., 98 Corps Legislatif, 155-156 Corvisart, Dr., 16 Coup d'etat, 131-141 *»"' Cowley, Lord, 141, 149 ^ Crimean War, 160-164 Denmark, Austro-Prussian invasion of, 245 Ducrot, General, 258; at Sedan, 284 Dumas, Alexandre, 55 Duncombe, Sir Thomas, 105, 106 Elysee Palace, 21, 126 Ems, M. Benedetti's interviews with the King of Prussia at, 265-268 England, excitement in, on subject of national defences, 148; recognizes Napoleon, 149; alliance with France, i6i; visit of the French Emperor and Empress to, 165; attitude on the Italian question, 188; commercial treaty with France, 224; reception of Emperor in, after Sedan, 293 Eugenie, Empress, early sympathy for the prisoner of Ham, 104; her beauty and education, 152; pre- sented at the Elysee, 152; her en- gagement to Napoleon III an- nounced m a speech from the throne, 152; her marriage ceremonial, 153; visit to Windsor, 164; birth of Prince Imperial, 167; her char- acter, 254; liberation of Italy, 255; influence on public affairs, 255, 260; advocates the war against Prussia, 256; opposes return of Napoleon to Paris, 281; visit to the Emperor at Wilhclmshohe, 292; at his death- bed, 296; residence at Farnborough and Cap Martin, 305-306; death at Madrid, 306-308; interred at Farnborough, 308; her career, 309 Exhibition, Paris, of 1855, 170 Exhibition, Paris, of 1867, 218 Farnborough Hill, residence of Em- press, 305 February, 1848, revolution of, 118 Fesch, Cardinal, 43 Flahaut, M. de, 19, 20 ■Flahaut, Mme. de, 134 Fleury, Colonel (General), 132 Fontainebleau, baptismal ceremony in the Palace chapel, 18 France, under Louis-Philippe, 60, 83, 87; under the Provisional Govern- ment of 1848, 118; election of Presi- dent in 1848, 124; conflict between the President and the Assembly, 130; approves the coup d'etat, 141; the Constitution of 1852, 141; alliance with England, 159; pros- perity of, under Napoleon III, 166; alliance with Sardinia, 184; the Italian campaign, 185; commercial treaty with England, 224; repeal of the navigation laws, 229; war with Prussia, 270; popularity of the war, 271; negotiations with Italy and their failure, 281 Francis Joseph, Emperor, 150, 186 Franco-German war, political calm preceding, 261; the Hohenzollern candidature for the throne of Spain, 263; Due de Gramont's instruc- tions to M. Benedetti, 264; council at Saint-Cloud, 265; Count Bis- marck's machinations, 266; Prus- sian preparations, 272; the French unprepared for war, 272; position of the French and German forces, 275; first disasters of the French, 275; Marshal Bazaine in command, 276; movements of the armies, 285; French retreat and further disasters, 285; Sedan, 285. Frederick Charles of Prussia, Prince, 275 Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia, 275 C3423 INDEX Gambetta, M. Leon, 293 Garibaldi, General, 202, 203, 205 Gordon, Mme., see Brault, Eleonore Gottlieben Castle, 81 ^ramont. Due de, 190, 201, 264 Gravelotte, battle of, 280 Greville, Sir Charles, 226 Guizot, M., 116, 117, 227 Ham, Chateau, Prince Louis Na- poleon's imprisonment in, 95; es- cape from, 107; destruction of, 95 Hamilton, Duke of, 112, 141 Hamilton, Duchess of, 85, iii, 151 Haussmann, Baron, 212 HohenzoUern, Prince Leopold of, can- didate for the throne of Spain, 263 *^ Holland, Prince Louis Bonaparte, King of, 13, 18 "Holy Places," 161 Hortense (de Beauharnais), Queen of ^^' Holland, 3; description and char- acter of, 5; a pupil of Mme. Campan, 5; her accomplishments, 5; her marriage, 7; first year of her marriage, 8; at Saint-Leu, 12; her court at The Hague, 13; grief at the loss of her son, 14; birth of Napoleon HI, 16; her separation from her husband, 19; her residence at Saint-Leu, 20; her interview with the Emperor, 21; the Hundred Days, 21; exiled from France, 25; her journey to Switzerland, 25; lawsuit with her husband, 26; settles at Aix, 26; her journey to Constance, 26; and residence there, 27; her life at Arenenberg, 30-32; her affection for her children, 31; at Rome in 1830, 39; her stay at Florence, 41; her son's illness at Ancona, 42; escapes through the Austrian lines, 42; journey through France; 43; interview with Louis- Philippe, 43; arrives with her son in London, 44; returns to France, 4S; journey through France, 47; to Arenenberg, 47; described by Cha- teaubriand and Alexandre Dumas at Arenenberg, 53-56; intercedes for Louis, dT, her ill health, 72; her farewell letter, 72; her death, 74; her maxims, 79; her last wishes, 80; her memoirs, 80 Howard, Miss, see Beauregard Hugo, Victor, 146 Idees Napoleoniennes, 86, 154 Inkermann, battle of, see Crimean War Irving, Washington, 71 Italy, revolution of 1830, 40; Aus- trian intervention and defeat of the revolutionaries, 41; the war of liberation, 175; Count Cavour's plans, 176; conference of Cavour and the Emperor at Plombieres, 182; proposed cession of Savoy and Nice, 183; commencement of the war, 185; French victories, 185; the treaty of Zurich, 191; cession of Savoy and Nice, 193; establish- ment of the kingdom of, 203 ; al- liance with Prussia, 247; obtains Venetia, 248; negotiations with France in 1870, 281 Joinville, Prince de, 93, 94, 134 Josephine (Empress), character of, 5-6; procures the marriage of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense, 7; her death and estate, 24; her appeal to the Emperor before the battle of Wagram, 55 La Fayette, M. de, 58 Lamoriciere, General, 198, 201, 202 Le Bas, M., 33 Leboeuf, Marshal, 280 Legislative Assembly, composition of, 129 Lesseps, M. de, loi Leu, Saint-, home of Queen Hortense, 12; church at, 25 Leuchtenberg, Duke of, see Beau- harnais, Prince Eugene Lindsay, Mr. W. L., 229 Louis-Philippe, King, his interviews with Queen Hortense, 42, 43; blunders of his government, 60, 1:3433 INDEX y 83. 87; presents money to Prince Louis, 68; his relations with Swit- zerland, 81; demands the expul- sion of Prince Louis from Switzer- land, 81; imminence of war with Switzerland, 81; determines to convey the remains of Napoleon I to France, 93; his foreign policy, 116; fall of his dynasty, 118; per- mits King Jerome to reside in France, 1 23 ; his letter to Charles X, 128 Louvre, completion of, 212 • Luxembourg, question of, 251 MacMahon, Marshal, 280, 282, 284 Magenta, battle of, 185 Magnan, General (Marshal), 134 Malmaison, Chateau of, 21, 22, 24 Malmesbury, Earl of, 37, 104, 262, 294 Marie-Louise, Empress, 18, 51 Marrast, M., 124 Mars-la-Tour, battle of, 279 Masson, F., 7, 15 Mathilde, Princess, 151 Maupas, M. de (Prefect of Police), 134. 136 Maximilian, Emperor, 242 Mehemet Ali, 87, 117 Melbourne, Lord, 83 Menotti, General, 40 Merimee, M. Prosper, 255 y^ Mexico, French expedition to, 240 Mocquard, M., 80, 134, 135 ^/' Moltke, Count von, 169, 272, 283 j/'' Montholon, General, 96 -' Montebello, Due de, 81 *" Morny, Due de, his birth, 19; joins the councils of Prince Louis Na- poleon, 133; character and ante- cedents, 133; appointed Minister of the Interior, 139; death of, 231 Murat, General (King of Naples), 7, 126 Napoleon I, Emperor, his treatment of Louis Bonaparte, 4; question of the Imperial succession, 11; makes Louis King of Holland, 13; pro- poses to make Louis King of Spain, 18; his joy at the birth of Prince ^ Louis, 18; returns from Elba, 21; interview with Hortense, 21; on Josephine's death, 21; visits Mal- maison for the last time, 21; on the "hope of his race," 22; his death, 35; Josephine's appeal to, 56; his return from Elba, 63, 64; his political institutions adopted by his nephew, 86, 154; the design of conveying his remains to France, 92; his remains brought to Paris, 93; interment of his remains in the Invalides, 94; his proposed monument to Charlemagne, 103; his tomb visited by Queen Victoria, 172 Napoleon II, see Reichstadt, Due de Napoleon, Prince Louis, his birth and early childhood, 16; baptism of, 18; with his uncle, 22; with his mother at Constance, 26; his childhood days at Arenenberg, 31; his early education, 33; his way of life at Arenenberg, 34; his military edu- cation, 37; sketch of, 38; his af- fection for his brother, 38; his sympathy with the Italian in- surgents, 39; at Rome In 1830, 39; conducted to the frontier, 40; joins the Italian insurgents, 41; quits the revolutionary army, 41; severe ill- ness of, 41; escapes from Ancona, 42; adventures by the way, 42; journey through France, 42; at Fontainebleau, 43; in Paris, 43; arrives in London, 44; journey through France with his mother, 45; at Arenenberg, 48; his horseman- ship, 49; correspondence with his father, 50; belief in his destiny, 51; becomes head of the family, 51; becomes captain of artillery, 57; his interest in the affairs of France, 58; his political aspirations, 58; the Napoleonic legend, 59; pre- liminaries of the Strasbourg ex- pedition, 62; chances of success, 63; sets out for Strasbourg, 65; his arrival and plan of operations, 65; his reception by the 4th Artillery, C3443 INDEX 65; made prisoner, 66; sent to the United States, 68; leaves Lorient, 68; furnished with money by the King, 68; his arrival in America, 69; at New York, 70; his stay in America, 71; receives intelligence of his mother's illness, 71; his visit to Washington Irving, 71; leaves America, 74; arrives in Europe, 74; refused passports, 74; reaches Ar- enenberg, 74; at his mother's bed- side, 74; demand for his expulsion from Swiss territory, 81; residence at Gottlieben, 81; decision of the Swiss diet respecting demand for his expulsion from Switzerland, 82; hostile attitude of France and Switzerland, 82; leaves Arenen- berg for England, 82; reasons for going to England, 83; note from French Government concerning, 83; his life in England, 84; publishes the "Idees Napoleoniennes," 86; decides on the attempt on Boulogne, 87; leaves London, 88; his landing at Boulogne and reception, 89; failure of the expedition, 90; taken prisoner with his companions in arms, 90; before the Chamber of Peers, 91; imprisoned at Ham, 91; disposition of his affairs, 92; his quarters in the fortress, 96; re- sumes his studies in prison, 97; his prison life, 97, 98; his corre- spondents, 98; retrospect of his literary work, 98; his intellectual activity, 99; proposed history of Charlemagne, 102; condition of his prison, 102; letter from Sis- mondi, 103; prison romance, 104; alleged treaty with the Duke of Brunswick, 105; refuses to sue for pardon, 107; escapes from Ham, 108; narrative of his escape, 109; relations with Miss Howard, no; fails to obtain passports, 112; his house in King Street, 113; his money transactions, 114; reported poverty of, 114; departure from London, 119; arrival in Paris, 119; returns to England, 120; elected deputy, 120; final departure from England for France, 120; his elec- tion for five departments, 120; at the Hotel du Rhin, 120; his first speech in the Assembly, 121; the only representative of the Napole- onic legend, 122; prospects of his election as President, 122; popu- larity of his candidature, 123; pro- claimed President of the Republic, 124; takes the oath of fidelity, 124; , majority for his election, 124; in- stalled in the Elysee, 125; consents to restriction of universal suffrage, 130; breach with the Assembly, 130; hostility of the Assembly, 131; removal of General Changarnier, 131; resolves on the coup d'etat, 131; his demeanor on the day of the coup d'etat, 135; high spirits of, 135; reception at the Elysee, 135; the "Rubicon," 135; council of the coup d'etat, 135; the next morning, 137; his triumphant progress through the streets of Paris, 137; on the night of the coup d'etat, 138; new ministry, 139; insurrectionary movements against, 140; sudden ap- pearance among the insurgents, 140; suppression of the insurrection, 140; at the Duchess of Hamilton's ball, 141; the coup d'etat approved by vote of the nation, 141; urged to assume the Imperial dignity, 143; the plebiscite, 144; letter to M. Vieillard, 145; assumes the title of Napoleon III, 149; see Napoleon III, Boulogne, Strasbourg, etc. Napoleon III (Emperor), proclama- tion of the Empire, 146; English hostility, 148; Lord Cowley's anec- dote, 149; recognized by England, 149; and by other Powers, 150; approaching marriage of, 151; mat- rimonial ventures, 151; announce- ment of his engagement to Eugenie de Montijo, 152; her origin, 152; his Court, 153; simple habits, 153; his work during the first year of the 1:3453 INDEX Empire, 155; the English alliance, 159; the Crimean War, 160; the Treaty of Paris, 163; visit of him- self and the Empress to Queen Vic- toria, 164; reception in London and at Windsor, 165; invested with the Garter, 165; birth of an heir, 167; the Exhibition of 1855, 170; re- ceives Queen Victoria at Boulogne, 170; conducts her to the tomb of Napoleon, 172; conversation on the Orleans family, 173; impres- sions of the Queen, 173; Congress of Paris, 177; Madame de Castig- lione, 178; Orsini's attempt on, 180; compact with Count Cavour, 182; his Italian projects, 183; treaty with Sardinia, 184; the Aus- trian ultimatum, 184; his victories in Italy, 185; proposes an armistice, 186; reasons for his action, 186; peace of Villafranca, 186; relations with the Vatican, 189; Thouvenel, Foreign Minister, 191; on the an- nexation of Savoy and Nice, 196; first meeting with Pius Ninth, 197; visits to Corsica and Algeria, 199, 211; grand reviews of 1855 and 1859, 206; meeting with German sovereigns, 209; reconstruction of Paris, 212; his private life at the Tuileries, 215; rooms in the Tuil- eries, 216; exposition of 1867, 218; constitutional reforms, 222; loss of prestige, 223; commercial treaty with England, 224; opposition of the Church, 226; accords free speech to Legislative Bodies, 228; change in navigation laws, 229; visit to M. de Morny's death-bed, 231; confides government to 01- livier, 232; rise of the Third Party, 232; plebiscite of 1870, 233; the Syrian expedition, 235; Chinese war, 237; Mexican expedition, 240; interviews with Count Bismarck, 246; duped by the German states- man, 247; attitude on the Schles- wig-Holstein question, 25 1 ; Mexican expedition and the American Civil War, 251; defied by Count Bis- marck, 252; his love affairs, 253; effect on the State, 255; growing influence of the Empress, 255; pro- posed increase of the army, 258; illness of, 260, 277; "crowning the edifice," 261; perplexity of his position, 261; the HohenzoUern candidature, 263; precipitancy of his ministers, 264; the Ems dis- patch, 266; war determined on, 270; on his reverses in the war, 271; the condition of his army, 272; disposition of his forces, 275; transfers command to Marshal Bazaine, 276; joined by General Changarnier at Metz, 276; re- turns to Chalons, 280; pernicious influence of the Empress, 281; ne- gotiations with Italy, 281; follows the army, 285; at Sedan, 285; hoists the flag of truce, 286; letter to King of Prussia, 286; meeting with Bismarck and the King, 288; conducted to Wilhelmshohe, 290; life at Wilhelmshohe, 291; reception in England, 293; at Chislehurst, 294; his last illness and death, 296; his obsequies, 297; his remains and those of his son, 305; his mission, 313; his heredity, 314; his youth and education, 314; his mother's influence, 315; his personal at- tractiveness, 315; his excellence in sports, 316; his powers as a linguist, 317; his efforts to improve France, 317-318; his personality, 319; his entourage, 320; his dignity, 321; his affability, 322; his tenacity, 322; his lack of decision, 322; his love of startling effects, 323; his impas- sibility, 324; his personal appear- ance, 324; his place in history, 325 Napoleon, Eugene Louis (Prince Im- perial), his birth, 167; at review of 1859, 207; at Saarbruck, 298; brought to England after Sedan, 299; at his father's death-bed, 300; graduates at Woolwich, 300; vol- 1:3463 INDEX unteers for service in South Africa, 301; killed by Zulus, 302 Napoleon Charles (Prince Royal of Holand), see Bonaparte Napoleon Louis (second son of Hor- tense), see Bonaparte Napoleon, Prince (cousin of Napoleon III), see Bonaparte Navigation laws, French, repeal of, 229 Nicaragua, proposed canal of, loi, 241 Nicholas, Czar, 149, 160, 163 Niel, Marshal, 259 Nigra, Chevalier, 195 North German Confederation, 249 Ollivier, M. Emile, 133, 232, 258 Orsini, Felice, 180 ^ Orsi, Joseph, 87, 88, 105 Palikao, Count, 237, 238 Palmerston, Lord, 235 Paris, the grand avenues of, 75; during the coup d'etat, I39» "massacre of the boulevards," 140; during Congress of 1856, 164; the Universal Exhibition of 1855, 170; reconstruction of, 212; review of the troops returned from the Italian campaign, 206; during the Exhibition of 1867, 218 Patterson-Bonapartes, 304 Persigny, M. de, career and character of, 60; his activity in the cause of Prince Louis, 61; takes part in the Boulojine expedition, 89; at the coup d'etat, 135 Pianori, attempt on the life of Na- poleon, 180 Pius IX, Pope, 189, 197 Plebiscite for the Second Empire, 144; on the Constitution of May, 1870, 233 .^ Plombieres, compact of, 182 Prince Imperial, see Napoleon, Prince Eugene Louis Provisional Government of 1848, 118 Prussia, reorganization of her army, 243; jealousy of Austria, 246; ne- gotiations with France, 246; pre- y paring for war with Austria, 247; alliance with Italy, 247; war with Austria, 247; victories of, 247; ad- mitted to the Paris Congress, 250; conduct of during Italian war, 251; the Emperor's sympathy with, 259 Recamier, Mme., 54 Reichstadt, Due de, 50, 51 Reviews of 1855 and 1859, 206, 207 Revolution of 1848, 118 Rome, King of. See Reichstadt, Due de (Napoleon II) Rouher, M., 140 Rueil, tombs of the Empress Josephine and Queen Hortense in the church of, 25, 47 Russell, Lord John, 204 Russia. See Nicholas, Alexander II, Crimean War Saint-Arnaud, General (Marshal), 132, 140 Saint-Cloud, Queen Victoria at, 171 Saint Helena, 35, 93 Saint-Leu, Duchess of. See Hortense, Queen, Leu, Saint- Saint-Pol, Count de, and the fortress of Ham, 95 Sardinia, joins the Anglo-French al- liance, 161, 176; alliance with France, 184; the question of dis- armament, 184; invaded by Aus- tria, 185; campaign in Lombardy, 185; annexes Tuscany and Mo- dena, 187. See Italy Savoy and Nice, cession of, 193, 196 Schleswig-Holstein question. See Denmark Schwarzenberg, Prince, 25 Scott, General, 70 Sebastopol. See Crimean War Sedan, capitulation of, 286 Sismondi, M., letter to Prince Louis Napoleon, 103 Solferino, battle of. See Italy Sophie, Queen of Holland, letters to Napoleon III, 258 Soult, Marshal, 22, 12? C347II INDEX Spain, the Hohenzollern candidature for the throne of, 262 Steinmetz, General, 275 Stephanie, Grand Duchess, 28, 208 Strasbourg, Prince Louis Napoleon's expedition against, 65, 68 Talisman of Charlemagne, 84 Talleyrand, M. de, 19, 44 Thelin, C, 71, 216 Thiers, M., 116, 144, 227, 229, 258, 293 Thouvenel, M., 191, 194, 199, 200 Thun, Prince Louis Napoleon at the camp of, 37 Trochu, General, 280 Tuileries, 215, 310-312 Turgot, Marquis de, 139 United States, Prince Louis Napole- on's visit to, 69-74 - -' Vaudrey, Colonel (one of the Stras- bourg conspirators), 62, 65, 66 Vendome Column, the, 43, 103 Venetia, ceded to Italy, 248 Verhuel calumny, 14-15 Veron, Dr., 133 Victor Emmanuel, 176, 203, 205, 219 Victoria, Queen, visit of the Emperor and Empress to, 164; invests the Emperor with the Garter, 165; re- turn visit to the Emperor, 170; her description of Paris, 171; enthusi- asm of her reception, 171; state ball at Versailles, 172; conversations with the Emperor, 173; return to Eng- land and reflections on the visit, 173 ; on the Emperor's private rooms in the Tuileries, 216; her suspicions of the Emperor, 234 Vieillard, M., 37,98, 114, 145 Villafranca, peace of, 186 Voirol, General (commandant of Strasbourg), 62 Walewski, Comte, 190 Warsaw interview, 203 Webb, General J. W., 70; his ac- count of Prince Napoleon in America, 71; negotiates withdrawal of French troops from Mexico, 242 Wellington, Duke of, 85 Wilhelmshohe, prison of Napoleon III, 290; his life at, 291 William, Prince Regent (King) of Prussia, visit to Saint-Leu, 23; meeting with the French Emperor, 210; at Paris during the Exhibition of 1867, 219; announces the re- organization of the army, 244; in- terviews with M. Benedetti, 264; refuses guarantees demanded by France, 265; his last words to Benedetti, 266; meeting with the French Emperor at Sedan, 290 WimpfFen, General, 284; in capacity of, 285; summons a council of war, 288; capitulates, 288 Windsor, the Emperor and Empress of the French at, 165 Zurich, treaty of, 191 C3483 ^0 THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. Series 9482 3 1205 00460 3450 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A A 000180 763 5