OAH5«n* Mi»*jni™> !"» • S NTA SAMARA ° . / \ d \ • we / k ^tf-l-T 4 ^ * \ y \ LOUIS NAPOLEON, EMPEROR OE THE FRENCH % gtogritpbij. BY \, JAMES AUGUSTUS ST. JOHN. "Nothing extenuate, nor s, i down aught in malice." SllAKKSrBAKE. ' LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, L9S, PICCADILLY. 1857. ■ London : Printed by Spottiswoode & Co. NeW'fitreet-Squai'e. TO EDWARD HODGES BAILY, Esq., R.A., 'ALLY DISTINGUISHED FOE HIS GENIUS AND niS ADMIRABLE SOCIAL QUALITIES, (This Volume is Cleb'uukb, Bl BIS SINCEEE I K] THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. This is no party book. My aim in it has been to forestall, as far as possible, the decisions of posterity, and to paint Louis Napoleon as history will paint him, when it comes dispassionately to review his career. The moderation of my views may, perhaps, displease the extreme members of all parties. l>ut I do not write for them. I address myself to that large body of Englishmen who love fair play in all tilings, and are able immediately to distinguish truth from its opposite. In composing my narrative, I have consulted all the. authorities accessible to me. From Frenchmen residing in England, and from Englishmen residing in France, I have obtained information calculated to throw light on particular points; communications have likewise been made to me by persons engaged in some of the transactions described, familiar with stale affairs, aud little disposed by their character A 3 VI PKEFACE. to be hurried away by passion or dazzled by success. It lias happened, too, that I have been placed in circumstances which have enabled me to form an opinion for myself. I was in France when the Re- volution of July awakened the hopes of the whole Bonaparte family ; I lived in Switzerland at the same time with Louis Napoleon ; I visited Italy shortly after the failure of his expedition against the Pope ; and I was again in Paris, mixing much in political society, during that eventful year which saw him raised to the Presidentship of the French Republic. In spite of these advantages, I am fully sensible of the extreme difficulty of the subject. Republicans, Bourbonists, Bonapartists, Orleanists, impart the colour of their own passions to events, and con- sciously or unconsciously misrepresent whatever they relate. Against this natural tendency of party spirit I have had to guard as well as I could. Respect for myself would not permit me to become knowingly the instrument of any political faction, and respect for the public would restrain me from making any statement the grounds of which I had not carefully examined. Still I cannot flatter my- self with the belief that I have fallen into no errors; but ns my object has been to be at once frank and conscientious, I trust I shall — here in England at PREFACE. Vll least — be frankly and conscientiously judged. Per- haps, even in France, I may be allowed by temperate and impartial politicians to have drawn a faithful picture of its present emperor, and to have described honestly and without prejudice the circumstances which have placed him where he is. 13. Grove End Road, St. John's Wood: February 3rd, 1857. A i CONTENTS. PART THE FIRST. CHAPTER I. DAWN OF IMPERIAL LIFE. Birth of Louis Napoleon. — Imperial Satraps. — Secret of Success. — Hortense Fanny Beauharnais. — An unhappy Union. — A Circle of Frivolity. — Death of Ilortense's eldest Son. — Napoleon's first Idea of a Divorce from Josephine. — His Marriage with Maria Louisa. — Lucien excluded from the Succession. — The Sons of Hortense regarded as Heirs to the Throne Early Impressions. — Character of Hortense. — Wonderful Diversity of Fortune. — Baptism of Louis Napoleon. — Punctuality exacted at tlie Tuileries. — Anecdote of the Valet. — Hortcnse's beautiful Hair. — Anecdote - ... Bagel CHAP. II. THE MOT 1 1 Eli's DISCIPLINE. Peculiar Constitution of Hortense. — Preternatural Cold. — A charming Country Residence. — Rambles in the Woods. — Reunions a1 St. I.cu. — Anecdote of Louis Napoleon's Brother. — Anecdote of Maternal Love. — Hortense's Excursions. Anecdote (it the Chimney-Sweep. — Louis' Norse. — The little black Man. — Louis' Gi aero Lty - - - - - - l" X CONTENTS. CHAP. III. TERROR AND FLIGHT. The Napoleonic Star begins to pale. — Reason of Bonaparte's former Success. — The Defeat at Leipsic. — Approach of the Allies. — Terror of the Parisians. — Flight from the Capital. — Creations of the Fancy. —Influx of the Peasantry Indescribable Alarm of Hortense. — Decay of Napoleon's Power. — A Message from King Louis. — A Second and a Third. — Sorrowful Scene Indecision of the King of Holland. — A Reign of Terror. — The Women besiege the Palace of Hortense. — The Cossacks. — Paris declared to be untenable. — Hortense resolves to escape. — Departs with her Children by Night ... - Page 17 CHAP. IV. THE QUEEN IN DANGER WITH HER CHILDREN. Arrival at Glatigny. — The Roar of Cannon. — A Deliberation. — ■ Hortense quits Glatigny for Trianon. — The Flight continues. — Composure of Hortense. — The Fugitives reach Rambouillet. — The Kings at Supper. — Stolidity of the Ministers. — Anecdote. — False Alarm. — Cowardice of a French Colonel, — Hortense dis- obeys her Husband. — The Cossacks again. — The two Enemies. — A fortunate Mistake. — The Fugitives arrive at Maintenon. — They obtain an Escort. — Perplexities. — Report of the Emperor's March on Paris. —Delightful Tranquillity - - - 29 chap. v. THE CHATEAU OF NAVARRE. The Chateau of Navarre. — The Royalists. — Weakness of Josephine- Unpleasant Situation of Hortense. — Contrast between Mother and Daughter. — Profound Faith of Hortense in Destiny. — The Em- peror acts Royalty at Elba. — Various Accounts of the Wealth of Hortense and Josephine. — Secretion of Riches. — Hortense me- ditates Expatriation.— The Island of Martinique. — Interest of CONTENTS. XI the Emperor Alexander in her Fate. — Inserts an Article in the Treaty favourable to her and her Children. — Character of Alex- ander. — Anxiety to serve Hortcnse. — She is made' Duchesse de St. Leu. — Opinions entertained of the Bourbons. — Their Stuart- likc Vindictiveness. — Napoleon's Vanity. — Grave of Hortense's first Child. — Its Body, disinterred by the Bourbons, is claimed by the Mother, and buried at St. Leu. — Napoleon and Louis kneel to pray on their Brother's Tomb ... Page 37 CHAP. VI. HOUTEXSE AND THE KMKEROB ALEXANDER. Admiration of Alexander for Ilortense. — Anecdote. — Hortense saws the Czar's Life Reasons for Precocity. — Louis and his Brother above their Age. — Anecdote of them. — Anecdote of Louis Napoleon His Generosity. — His Answer to his Mother. — Hortense's just Ideas of Education. — The Lessons. — Madame de Stael. — Her Character. — Anecdote. — Occupations of Ilortense. — Accused of Intrigue. — Her Justification. — Her Hospitality. — Intelligence from Elba. — Hortense's Soirees. — Hanger of Tooth- drawing. — Anecdote. — Fears of the Mother. — Instinct. — Fondness of Hortense for Violets - - - -44 CHAP. VII. ESCAPE ami COW EALMENT. Alarming News. — Anecdote. — Rumours of Napoleon's Return. — Lord Kimiaird. — His Fears of a Massacre. — lb- is reassured by tin: Queen. —Mistake of the Bourbons. — Hortense's Anxiety. — A Plan of Flight —The Party. — The great Singer. — Heavy Passage of Time. — Preparation for the ( !hildren'a Concealment — The Escape — Napoleon's Solicitude fur bis Mother. — Taciturnity of Louis Napoleon. Ingratitude of a Lady and her Husband. — ll"i tense goes forth in Disguise. — Muni, the Creole. — Hanger of Detection. Indiscretion of Eortense. — Curious Hiding-place. — Anecdote. — Strange Approximations. -Anecdote of Alex- andre de Giradini— Hortense Buspected of Conspiracy - 55 XU CONTEXTS. CHAP. VIII. EPISODE OF THE HUNDRED DAYS. Entrance of Napoleon into Paris. — Wild Enthusiasm of the Po- pulace. — A glorious State of Idleness. — Cold Keception of Hortense by Napoleon. — Strange Words. — He shows the Princes to the People. — The Soldiers of Austerlitz. — A Secret Treaty- obnoxious to Russia. — Contempt of Alexander for the Bourbons. — Anecdote of Napoleon. — Death of Josephine. — Means of Success and Prosperity. — The Champ de Mars. — Grandeur of the Cere- mony. — The Spirit of the French departed. — The Battle of Waterloo. — Napoleon's Loss of Energy, — Agony and Shame. — Strong Attachment of Hortense for Napoleon. — The Hosier on the Boulevards, — Anecdote of Louis' Nurse. — Gratitude of Louis Napoleon to her. — Hopeless State of Napoleon's Mind. — He quits Paris for ever. — Alarming Reports. — The two hundred Assassins. — Fears of the Bourbonists. — The Princes take leave of Napoleon. — His Insensibility. — Anecdote. — An eternal Adieu. — Cowardly Insults of the Royalists. — Another strange Approximation. — The little Garden The Queen sallies forth in Disguise. — Anecdote - Page 65 CHAP. IX. GOING INTO EXILE. Hortense desires to reside in Switzerland. — Weakness of the Bourbons. — The Queen's Finances. — Sale of the Pictures. — She is ordered to quit the Capital. — An old Friend. — Hortense leaves Paris. — Arrives at Dijon. — The Royal Guard. — " Vive le Roi." — Cowardly Soldiers. — Calm Demeanour of Hortense. — Heroic French Officers Arrival of the Austrians. — " Vive l'Empereur." — Fondness of the Peasants for Napoleon Anec- dote. — Arrival at Geneva. — Unpleasant News. — Celebration of Napoleon's Fall. — Trip among the Alps. — Magnificent Scenery. — Fragrance of Flowers. — The little old Hermit. — The Soli- tary's Hut. — His Story. — Unrivalled Prospect. — The still, blue Lake. — Banks of Emerald. — Arrival of Madame Mere. — Her Insensibility - - - - - - 78 CONTENTS. xni CHAP. X. INCIDENTS AT AIX. Hortense goes to Aix. — The young Diplomatist. — Anecdote of Louis Napoleon and his Brother. — New Troubles. — Assassina- tion of Marshal Bran. — The Lives of Hortense and the Princes menaced. — Rumours of Disasters. — Loyal Murderers. — Guilt always suspicious. — Littleness of the Allied Governments. — The King of Holland demands his eldest Son. — The Baron de Zuite. — Grief of Hortense at her Son's Departure. — Timidity of Louis XVIII. — Judicious Conclusions. — Hortense's Fear for her Sons. — Louis' Grief at losing his Companion. — Attacked by the Jaundice. — Departure of the elder Brother - Page 88 CHAP. XL ADVENTURES ON THE WAT TO CONSTANCE. Bad Health of the Queen Quits Aix. — Absurd Fears of the Genevese Authorities. — Joseph in the Disguise of a Fcmmc de Chambre, — Anecdote. — Arrival at Constance. — Search for a Domicile. — Picturesqueriess of the Lake. — Disagreeable News. — The old Bridge over the Rhine. — Hortense visits her Brother — Timidity of Louis Napoleon. — The Landamann of AppenzelL — Passion of a Parisian Quixote - - - 96 CHAP. XII. A.MXDOTES or HIS BOYHOOD. Education of Louis Napoleon. -Hortense's Plan of Instruction. — Dillimi'v ol teaching Louis.- -The Abbe Bertrand. — Quickness of Louis Napoleon. — The Miller's Son. — Anecdote. — Traits of Liberality. — Louis Napoleon's Physiognomy. — Hortense is in- i into Bavaria. — Her conversational Powers.— Sombre Ar- chitecture of Germany. — Great Wealth of Hortense. — Compo- sition of her Household ..... iu3 XIV CONTENTS. CHAP. XIII. THE COLLEGE OF AUGS13DRG. The Chateau of Arenenberg. — Wild and savage Grandeur. — Blending of external Nature with our inner Life.— The Queen only lives for her Son. — German Education. — Eemoves to Augs- burg. — Louis Napoleon's Assiduity. — The Vacation Excursions. — Value of Hortense's Tuition. — Its Influence over his future Conduct. — Chivalrous Servility of the French. — Creation of Partisans. — He acquires Knowledge by Travel. — Swiss System of Education. — The Studies of Louis Napoleon - Page 110 PART THE SECOND. CHAPTER I. THE BONAPARTES BEYOND THE ALPS. The Italian Episode. — Diffusion of the Bonaparte Family. — Revolution of July. — -Intrigues of the Duke of Orleans. — Theatrical Changes of Government. — Louis and his Mother set out for Rome. — Secret Designs of the Bonapartes. — State of Italy. — The Duke of Modena a Conspirator. — Initiation of Louis Napoleon and his Brother. — Project of an Italian Empire. — Justification of the Bonapartes. — Anecdote of Louis Napoleon. — Expelled the Roman Territories. — Curious Anecdote of Jerome and Cardinal Eesch. — Apprehension of a popular Rising. — Designs of the Conspirators - - - - 119 CHAP. II. LOUIS NAPOLEON ENGAGES IN THE INSURRECTION IN ROMAGNA. Hortense returns to Florence. — Commencement of the Eevolt. — Louis Napoleon joins the Insurgents. — His Letter to his Mother. — Her Fears and Anxieties. — Weakness of the King of Holland. — CONTENTS. XV .Strange Anecdote told of him by Napoleon. — Position of the Brothers in the Army. — Their Organisation. — Family Dissensions. — King of Holland beside himself. — Proposition of Prince Corsini. — Anecdote. — Excitement and Apprehension of Hor- tense. — Letter of an Ambassador. — Plans of the Bonaparte Family. — Hopes of the ycung Napoleons. — The Pope parleys with the Insurgents. — The Napoleons Volunteers. — Their Answer to their Father. — The Austrians enter Romagna. — An English Friend, and an English Passport. — Hortense's Stratagem, and its Success. — Courage of Hortense - Page 130 CHAT. III. HIS DISCOMFITUEE AND FLIGHT. Arrival at lYrusia.— One Draught of Liberty. — Sad Prospects. — Embarrassment of the Insurgents. — Failure of the Revolt — Mode- ration the Ruin of the Italians. — Courage of Louis' Brother. — lb' defeats the Papal Troops. — Strategy of Louis Napoleon. — Anecdote of his Tutor. — Anxiety of Hortense. — Wonderful Co- incidence. — Terrible News. — Sorrowful Meeting of Louis Napo- leon and his Mother. — Mysterious Death of Napoleon. — Fero- city of the Austrians. — Louis and Hortense begin their Flight. — Palace of the Queen's Nephew. — Last Hope of the Republi- cans.- — Death to Foreigners. — The Marchesc Zappi. — Illness of Louis Napoleon. — The Mother's Stratagem. — The poor King of Holland. — Affectionate Deception. — Distressing Intelligence. — Keen Sense of Danger. — Louis in the Lion's Mouth. — Hortense affects Illness -.-... 143 CHAP. IV. PERILOUS i:i.n:i.\r ntOM ANl'oXA. Louis Napoleon's Disguise. — Escape from Ancona. — Superstition of the Bonapartes. — Periods of Devotion. — < lur Lady of Loretto. — Anecdote of an Italian Traitor. Fresh Anxieties. — Hatred of the, Austrians for Louis— A perplexing Situation. ■ -Anecdote of the drowsy Commissary of Police. — Adroitness of the Courier. — XVI CONTENTS. The Fugitives proceed without stopping. — Combination of Diffi- culties. — They are compelled to wait. — The flying Patriots. — Danger of Discovery. — Louis Napoleon sleeps on a Heap of Stones. — Beautiful Valley of Chiana. — The Trace is lost. — A bold Experiment. — Approach of the Grand Duke. ■ — The little Ale-house. — Danger of Louis Napoleon at Sienna They pass the Grand Duke on the Koad. — Reminiscences. — The Valley of Serravezza. .... Page 155 CHAP. V. LOUIS NAPOLEON VISITS AND PLOTS IN ENGLAND. Arrival in France. — Their Eeliance on Civilisation. — They reach Paris. — Louis' Letter to the Citizen King. — Hortense meets Lamartine at Church. — They arrive in London. — Louis Napo- leon has the Jaundice a second Time. — White Lies. — Astonish- ment at English Liberty. — Louis Napoleon and the English Workmen. — Talleyrand's Alarm at their Presence in England. — State of Belgium. — Visit to Woburn Abbey. — Sight-seeing Residence at Tunbridge Wells. —Napoleonic Conspiracy in England. — Joseph rejects a Crown in America to intrigue nearer Home. — Projected Fusion of Republicans and Bonapartists. — In- flux of unquiet Spirits from France. — Louis .Napoleon confers with certain Generals at Ostend. — The Bonapartists defeated by "La Tribune." — Anecdote. — State of Paris. .— Popularity of the Citizen King. — They start for Switzerland. — Forest of Chantilly. — Anecdote. — Rapid Progress through France. — Malmaison in Decay. — The Chateau of Arenenberg - 166 CHAP. VI. SHIFTS THE SCENE OF H'S POLITICAL OPERATIONS TO SWITZEItLAND. Louis Napoleon's Experience. — His Writings. — Voices from the Sands. — Then and Now. — Napoleonic Ideas — His Theories and Plans. — Semblance of Religion. — The Fame of his Uncle his Inheritance. — Heaviness of his Writings. — Fondness of Women CONTENTS. XV11 for Titles. — Makes Partisans. — Delusions respecting the State of France. — Louis determines to attack Strasburg. — Justice of this Enterprise. — The Orleanists and Bourbons. — Quarrel of Switzerland and France. — French Espionage. — Date of the Strasburg Plan. — Obsolete Ideas of Government. — Louis Napoleon's Habit of Life — Republicanism. — Its real Meaning. — Louis fears it - - - - Page 179 CHAP. VH. II1S FIRST ATTEMPT AGAINST LOUIS PHILIPPE'S TIIRONE. He proceeds to Baden-Baden. — Madame Gordon. — Her Enthu- siasm in the Napoleonic Cause. — Colonel Vaudrcy. — Plan of the Rebellion. — Napoleon's Enthusiasm receives a Check. — A Traitor in the Camp. — Louis Napoleon repairs to Strasburg. — Night in the City. — The Conspirators. — A false Alarm. — Louis enters the Streets. — A Regiment is gained over. — General Voirol put under Arrest. — Louis Napoleon's great Courage. — A clever Invention of the Royalists. — Confusion. — Louis almost trampled to Deatb. — Is taken Prisoner. — A curious Mistake. — Conduct of the Officials. — He is conveyed to Paris. — Servile Letter attributed to him. — Libels of History. — Louis' Logic at fault. — Surmises - - - - - 192 CHAP. VIII. CROSSES THE ATLANTK . Energy ami IVrseverancc of Louis Napoleon. — Secret of his Hold upon the French Mind. — Detention at Port Louis. — Affectation of popular Manners. — Sails from L'Oricnt. — Feelings on losing Sight of France. — Society on board the Frigate. — Captain Villeneuve. — Don Pedro's Librarian. — A prophetic Savant. — Effects of Soothsaying. — Sealed Instructions. — Machiavelism of Louis Philippe. — Louis Napoleon's reflective Powers. — Rousseau and Chateaubriand, — Souvenirs of Arenenberg — Mathilde and the fallen Tree. — Inroad of Melancholy. — Passing the Equator lies at Sea. — The Wind from St. Helena, N< v. rear's Day XV1U CONTENTS. — Tropical Tornado. — Arrival at Rio. — Dissuades his Mother from visiting America. — Fate of his Strasburg Accomplices. — Anecdote of the Procureur General. — His Cousins Achille and Lucien Murat ------ Page 204 CHAP. IX. DEATH OF HORTENSE. — THE SWISS IN ARMS. Louis Napoleon returns from America. — Death of Hortense. — Filial Piety of her Son. — He obtains a Command in the Swiss Army. — Character of Hortense. — Louis Philippe and Louis Napoleon. — Mischievous Interference of the Allies. — Causes of the Revolution of 1830. — The prudent old King. — France in- sists upon Louis Napoleon's Expulsion from Switzerland. — Public Spirit of the Swiss. — Preparations for War with France - 216 CHAP. X. THE SCENE AGAIN CHANGES TO LONDON. Louis Napoleon quits Switzerland. — His Life in London. — Nemesis. — The Advantage of being in Debt. — The Eglinton Tournament. — Louis prepares for the Boulogne Expedition. — The Wooden and the Tame Eagles. — Success the best Eoad to Popularity.- — The " City of Edinburgh " nears the French Coast. — 'Boast Beef and Champagne. — Landing of the Knights- errant. — Failure of the Invasion. — Napoleon shoots a Grenadier. — Is made Prisoner. — The Logic of his Quixotism. — Louis is conveyed to Paris. — Fears of the Guillotine.— His Arraignment and Trial. — The Advocate Berryer. — His clever Speech. — Louis Napoleon condemned to per- petual Imprisonment. — Description of the Fortress of Ham 224 CONTENTS. MX part tup: third. CHAPTER I. THE CHATEAU OF HAM. Royal Veneration for Malaria — Change of Life. — His Garden and Blowers. — Writes for the " Propagateur." — Duration of French Governments. — Louis' Prison Studies. — His Policy. — Count D'Orsaj and Lady Blessington. — A Dungeon or a Throne. — Im- patience of Confinement. — His dying Father sends for him. — Perplexing Situation of the Citizen King. — Terms of Release. — Anguish of Louis. — His Companions. — Dr. Conneau. — Louis resolves to escape. — Difficulty of the Enterprise. — Louis affects Illness. — The lay Figure - Page 235 CHAP. II. ESCAPE. —ANECDOTES. He disguises himself as a Workman. — A critical Moment. — He reaches the Street. — Flight for the Belgian Frontier. — Suspicions ar Ham. — The sick Man. — The Governor outwitted. — Discovery of the Ruse. — The Pursuit. — Louis arrives in London. — Anec- dote. • Louis Napoleon mi taken for a Bailiff' — Anecdote of Windsor Forest. — Louis' Associates. — The English Character, — The Revolution of 1848. — Subordinate Movements in England. — The Chartisi Meetings. — Louis Napoleon acts the Special Constable. Interfi >< nee of Foreigners. — The French Character — A Millennium. — Insurrection of. June.- — Melancholy Aspect of France. — • Anecd ol Signs of Revolution. — Appearance of Paris. — The Pit in the Tuileries Gardens. — The Troops bivouac on the Boulevards and the Place de la Revolution. — The Pro- visional Government.— The Leaders - - 246 XX CONTENTS. CHAP. III. POUNDERS OF THE REPUBLIC. Authors as Men of Business. — Lamartine. — Victor Hugo. — The Abbe Lamennais. — Proudhon. — Louis Blanc. — Armand Mar- rast -_..-- Page 262 CHAP. IV. RETURN OF THE BONAPARTES. The Ostracism removed. — Folly of the Proceeding. — The real Patriot. — Louis Napoleon's Views. — Discussions. — His Eligibi- lity to Office. — Enthusiasm of the rural Population for him. — Magic Words — The Fate of the Kepublic sealed. — Weakness of the Republicans. — A Monster with nine hundred Heads. — Louis Napoleon and his Friends. — General Cavaignac. — Ledru Rollin. — His Character. — Organised System of Corruption. — Levity of the French People. — Futile Reminiscences. — Hallu- cinations about Glory - - - - -270 CHAP. V. LOUIS NAPOLEON, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC. Suffrages of the Soldiers. — The Elected of the 10th December in the Assembly. — Description of the Scene. — A Portrait. — The Oath. — His superfluous Professions. — Memorable Words. — A Future of real Honour A Joke in earnest. — Plotting against the Re- public. — Shadows of St. Helena. — Unpleasant Task. — Frivolity of the French. — Vulgar Delusions.' — Uselessness of a Court. — Architectural Revolutions. — The Vocation of the Multitude 280 CHAP. VI. HIS CONDUCT IN OFFICE. A Discussion. — Strasburg and Boulogne. — Reasons for going there. -Mission of Louis Napoleon. — In and out of Power. — Ultimate CONTENTS. XXI Object of the French People. — Ignorance of the Peasants. — Ex- perience. — Louis Napoleon's Progresses. — The Oubliettes Means of spreading Republicanism. — Current of public Opinion. — The secret Societies. — Diffusion of liberal Ideas. — The Pre- sident's Salary.— His Court. —He applies for repeated Grants.— Is at length refused. — A public Subscription stopped by Satire. — A new Assembly. — Its Intrigues. — General" Changarnier. — Vast Conspiracy.— Terrible State of Paris.— De Moray.— Magnan. — Persigny. — St. Amaud. — Preparations for the Coup d'Etat. — Trial of Strength.— The Army, the Enemy of Liberty Page 288 CHAP. VII. THE COUP D'ETAT. Anecdote of Oliver St. John. — Napoleon's Accomplices. — Invasion of the Bank. — Agitation of the Assembly. — A Deputation of Representatives. — Reserve of Louis Napoleon. — Reception of the Military Officers.— Character of the Plot. — Nigh£ Meeting of the Conspirators at the Elysee. — The 2nd December, 1851. — Bill Stickers in the Dark The Proclamations. — Palace of the Assembly. — The Drunken Soldiery. — The Republican Crowd. — Mairieof the Tenth Arrondissement. — Legitimists and Orleanists. — Absence of the Montagnards. — Decree of Deposition against Louis Napoleon. — Its Futility. — Berryer and Oudinot. — Arrest of the Representatives. — They awaken no popular Sympathies. — Energy of Louis Napoleon. — Paralysis of the Population. — Terrible Situation—" To the BarricadesI" "To the Barricades!" — Sacrifice of the Republicans .... 3u;> CHAP. VII 1 Tin: massaiki: of uu i.\ii:i;i:. The 4th December. — Whol sale Massacre. — Horrible Stratagem. — Risings in the Provinces. — Fabrications of the Napoleonists. — Extinction of the Press. —Words of Louis Napoleon. - Prepara- tions for the Empire. ■ - Necessity for quick Action. — Arrest of eight thousand Republicans. — Mock Election. — [ndifference of XX11 CONTENTS. Foreigners. — Supposed Animosity of Louis towards England. — His Prudence. — His Plans. — Tour of Examination. — Schemes of Popularity. — A Monster with a thousand Heads. — Diffusion of the Priesthood Religion in danger - - Page 322 CHAP. IX. THE PROGRESS. — THE EMPIRE. The Progress. — Vive l'Empereur. — Vive Napoleon. — A gathering Cloud. — Apprehensions of Napoleon's Friends for his Safety Mock Enthusiasm at Marseilles. — Expectancy of the People. — Infernal Machine among the Roses. — Hurried Return to Paris. — Of two Things, one. — Immense Knowledge of Louis Napoleon. — Proclamation of the Empire. — State of France. — Projected In- vasion of England. — Russian Intrigues. — Respect of Russia for England. — Her Contempt for Napoleon. — Bold and skilful Di- plomacy. — Crossing of the Pruth. — Cause of the Anglo-French Alliance. — The Russian War. — The Alliance unpopular in France. — Marriage of Louis Napoleon - 334 CHAP. X. THE RUSSIAN WAR. Conclusion of Peace. — Bonapartism on the Wane. — Want of Mo- deration in the Republicans. — Reasons of the Fall of the Re- public. — Cause of the Popularity of Louis Napoleon. — A Golden Age. — State of the French Mind. — Difficulty of anticipating Louis Napoleon's Future. — Danger of his Position. — The Go- vernments of Italy. — The Belgian Press. — Saying of Lord Bacon. — Decline of Napoleon's Popularity — Hastened by the English Alliance. — Improvement of Commerce. — Antagonism between Freedom and the Napoleonic Theory. — Chances of Suc- cess. — A transition State. — The Taint of Blood - - 344 contents. xxiii CHAP. XI. ACTUAL POSITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON. Lesson of his Life. — Early Generosity. — The Sweets of Power.— Unscrupulousness. — His Books. — Indications of Thought. — His Travels. — Louis Napoleon as a Republican Conspirator. — His stay in England. — His Inconsistencies. — Inflexible Steadiness. -Means of obtaining Ascendancy. — The Future of the Al- liance. — The English and French. — Intrigues of the Euro- pean Powers. — Discontent in France. — The coming Crisis. — Means of Strength. — The Road to Failure or the Road to dory - . Page 359 LOUIS NAPOLEON, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. PART THE FIRST. CHAPTER I. DAWN OF IMPERIAL LIFE. On the 20th of April, 1808, the roar of cannon an- nounced to the people of Paris the birth of Louis Napoleon, son of Ilortense, Queen of Holland. The power and glory of the French Empire had reached their culminating point; all Europe regarded with wonder and terror the fortunes of Napoleon ; he created ;i number of regal .satrapies, — Spain, West- phalia, Holland, — and bestowed them on his brothers; the generals, who had shared with him the dangers of the Held 01 battle, he raised to the rank of princes; and to be connected with him by blood, by marriage, r; 2 LOUIS NAPOLEON, or by friendship, was to possess the unquestionable secret of success. Hortense Fanny Beauharnais, daughter of the Empress Josephine, by a former marriage, was at this time living apart from her husband. Her union with Louis Bonaparte, founded neither in preference nor affection, had from the beginning been pre-eminently unhappy. The proud young beauty, despising the weakness, tameness, and super- stitious terrors of her husband, bestowed all her admiration on the emperor, whose vast genius and energy for many years pervaded and impressed the whole public opinion of Christendom. It was to answer some purpose not at present intelligible, that Napoleon and Josephine had ef- fected this ill-assorted match. The husband and wife were not only indifferent to each other, but even before their marriage had shown a strong mutual repugnance which afterwards ripened into hatred, and converted their palace at the Hague into a scene of the most painful dissensions. Two hostile parties divided the court, and carried on a perpetual warfare of bickerings, intrigues, ca- lumnies, outrages, and malevolence. Louis, on arriving in Holland, determined as far as possible to conciliate the Dutch, but had unfortu- EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 3 nately taken along with him a number of French courtiers, male and female, who, selecting the queen for their centre, revolved about her incessantly in a circle of vanity and frivolity, ridiculing the Dutch and their manners, and seeking to reproduce among the Dykes a second Paris. At length, under pretence of ill health, Hortense quitted the Hague, in search of better air, and proceeded to the chateau of St. Loo, situated at some distance from the capital; but very soon acquiring greater courage, effected her escape from Holland, and fled to be near the emperor in P;iris. The children of Hortense were at this time con- templated by Napoleon as the natural heirs of his grandeur. Her eldest son, about whose existence there hangs an extraordinary degree of mystery, died on the 5th of May, 1807, at what age writers are not agreed/ It was on the occasion of this * De Bausset, possibly through inadvertence, says the child died iit the age of Beven. Hut Hortense had at the time been married only five years and a lew months. Her union with Louis Bonaparte took place, according to some writers, .Ian. 2nd, 1802 ; according to others, on the4tb,or 5th, or 7th. Felix Wouters, who had carefully Btudied the affairs of Napoleon's family, is unable to fix the day of tliis unlucky marriage. When bespeaks of the wife (Lea Bonapartes, 271.), he says she was married Jan. 2nd; when lie speaks of the husband, he says In; was married Jan. 4tli (p. 351.). 4 LOUIS NAPOLEON, bereavement, that the idea of a divorce from Jo- sephine presented itself to Napoleon's mind. He at first imparted his views to a few friends, cau- tiously, rather alluding to the design as a thing which might be, than as to a fixed and organised plan ; though it can hardly be doubted that he had already in secret determined upon the course he should pursue. The divorce took place, the mar- riage with Marie Louise was brought about by policy, and in the spring of 1811 the King of Rome was born, to annihilate, as was then supposed, the hopes and prospects of the sons of Ilortense. The Bonaparte family, though united by interest and by affection, liable however to much fluctuation and caprice, was from time to time torn by discord, by jealousy, by inordinate ambition. Most of Napoleon's brothers adhered to him, and submitted to the des- potism of his temper. But Lucien, presuming to have a will of his own, was for this cut off, together with all his children, from the chance of succeeding to the imperial dignity. In case of accident therefore to the King of Rome, the sons of Hortense, Napoleon and Louis, were still regarded as the true heirs to the throne, which had been established with so much bloodshed, perfidy, ambition, energy, and genius. How soon the circumstances by which men are EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. surrounded begin to act upon their minds, and co- operate in funning their characters, philosophers have not yet been able to decide. It is probable that, from the moment of birth, everything which befalls an individual should be reckoned among the causes that combine to fashion his idiosyncracies, and render him what he afterwards becomes. It is a trite observation that men depend very much for their qualities, both moral and intellectual, on their mothers, who not only impart to them their physical tempera- ment, but influence, in their original springs, their passions and principles. Ilortense was a woman in all respects remark- able, — beautiful in person, in organisation peculiarly delicate, feeble in health, flexible in principles ; she yet, when a persuasion had once been adopted, dis- played so much tenacity of purpose as to expose her all her life to the charge of obstinacy. In courage, whether active or passive, she was indomitable. To the unfortunate, she was kind and generous, strongly affectionate in her friendships, and towards her children, tender, gentle, and full of solicitude. But her ruling passion was attachment to Napoleon, which, in times of great difficulty and danger, overmastered even her maternal feelings, and led her for his sake to set the whole world at defiance. j: 3 G LOUIS NAPOLEON, To comprehend the effect produced on the mind of Louis Napoleon by the instruction and discipline of such a mother, it will be necessary to follow his career almost from the cradle ; and if I appear too lavish of anecdotes and minute details, my apology must be the desire by which I am actuated to explain the character and account for the fortunes of the man, to whom the French people have sacrificed so much. Vicissitude is confessedly the law of human life. Everybody experiences it more or less ; but in the whole history of modern times, there are few examples of individuals who have passed through greater or more numerous changes than Louis Napoleon. Born in a palace, and for a while the heir presumptive of the greatest monarch in Europe, he was afterwards thrown headlong from that high estate, and con- demned in obscurity and exile to associate with the sons of humble tradesmen and farmers ; to be to-day the companion of cardinals, popes, and kings, and to sleep to-morrow on a heap of stones in the street, in the disguise of a livery servant ; to lie hidden during eight days in a burning fever, in the midst of Austrian troops, who were eager to take his life ; to fight as a common soldier and a rebel, in the hope of over- throwing a hateful form of despotism ; to have his EMPEEOK OF THE FRENCH. 7 brother die in his arms ; to wander about in sickness, hunger, and dejection ; to take refuge in common taverns ; to owe his life to an English passport ; to tread the soil of France as an outlaw at the peril of his life ; to organise repeated insurrections, to be in prison, to lie in a dungeon ; to write treatises on Pauperism and the Sugar Question ; to mingle with the haughty nobles of England at a tournament, to be the President of a Republic, to take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded him to make himself Emperor ; to be the ally on terms of equality of the strongest government in Europe ; and, in conjunction with Great Britain, to subdue the armies of Russia, and compel her Czar to sue humbly for peace in that capital which, forty-two years before, on the self-same day, he had entered as a conqueror. Such is the career of the man whose fortunes I have to describe in this narrative. I shall perform my task as far as possible with impartiality, praising what ifl praiseworthy, censuring freely what is wrong, and endeavouring in all cases to draw, from the ex- ample under consideration, lessons advantageous to mankind. When two years and a half old, that is, on the fourth of November, 1810, Louis Napoleon was bap- tized at Fontainebleau by his uncle. Cardinal Fesch, 11 4 8 LOUIS NAPOLEON, Napoleon and Marie Louise being his godfather and godmother. Hortense did not, as some writers appear to suppose, reside in the Tuileries, but in her own palace, whence she almost daily went to dine with the Emperor. Like most other great men, Napoleon was extremely exact in the observance of time, and used to scold the members of his family if they were not punctually at the Tuileries as the clock struck six. Frequently, therefore, Hortense was able to devote but very few minutes to dressing. Her valet de chambre on these occasions was put greatly out of humour by her haste and impatience. " Never mind," she used to say, " how my hair is done, only be quick, that I may be at the Tuileries in time." " But your Majesty," the man would reply deprecatingly, " will absolutely ruin me in the opinion of the Emperor. What will he say if he sees your hair huddled up after this fashion ? " " Don't be alarmed," she replied, " there are plenty of ladies about the court, on whose heads you can exhibit your skill. The only point I insist on is quickness." Hortense possessed the most beautiful and luxu- riant hair, of a light shining blonde, tinged with an ashen hue, which imparted to it an extraordinary ap- pearance. It was long enough to reach the ground, and when she sat upon a chair to have it dressed, she EMPEROR OF THE FRENCI1. 9 suffered it to fall over her whole figure like a veil, and trail on all sides upon the floor. Even at such times her two little sons were always with her, and used often to amuse themselves by hiding in turn under their mother's hair, and bolting out suddenly to pro- duce a laugh. "When she was dressed they generally went down with her to the carriage-door, one of the little fellows carrying her gloves and shawl, while the other performed the office of a page, and bore her train. Napoleon did not keep late hours, so that in most cases she returned to her children about nine o'clock. 10 LOUIS NA1-OLEON, CHAR II. THE MOTHER'S DISCIPLINE. The physical constitution of Hortense was peculiar, and no doubt affected to some extent that of her sons. She was liable to the most excruciating head- aches, during which her body became so cold that the hottest baths often failed to restore warmth to it, till nature recovered its empire. This peculiarity of temperament made her always desirous of possessing a bedroom with a southern aspect, and she used to bewail herself with extraordinary pathos whenever circumstances compelled her to sleep in a room look- ing towards the north. At that time she possessed all the luxuries and en- joyments which money or power could command. At St. Leu, five leagues from Paris, she had a charming country residence, where the Empress Josephine often came to visit her. Here the children passed their time in the midst of delightful gardens, abounding with tlic rarest and sweetest flowers, and enjoyed a healthy and bracing atmosphere. The queen occa- EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 11 sionally drove out in what the French call a char-a- banc, resembling in construction the Irish jaunting car, with a partition down the middle, in which people sit back to back. In this she went constantly with her children through the woods of Mont Morency, and visited all the picturesque points in the neighbourhood In the evening, the persons who happened to be visiting at St. Leu assembled in the drawing-room, and, to pass away the time, had recourse to all sorts of harmless amusements. Now and then the children were suffered to be present ; but when the hour of bedtime arrived, no prayers nor entreaties on their part could induce her to allow them to remain a moment longer. An anecdote is related, which at once shows how rigidly she adhered to her system of discipline, and the effects it produced on the dispo- sitions of her sons. One evening Louis the younger had been sent to bed, while Napoleon had been allowed to remain up a little later. In conjunction with her female attendants, he had projected for his mamma some little agreeable surprise, and wished to remain up to observe the effect of it. The ladies, however, had told him that it was to be a secret, which caused the poor boy great perplexity. When at length Ilortense thought he had staid up long 12 LOUIS NAPOLEON, enough, she wished him good night, and bade him go to bed at once. He entreated and cried, but to no purpose ; his mother's will was a will of iron, and he went. But when afterwards she learned the child's motive for desiring to sit up, she was so grieved, that it entirely spoiled the pleasure which had been pre- pared for her. Still she had the satisfaction to dis- cover that her gallant little boy would rather suffer punishment than betray a secret. It is of course no distinction, to sav that Hortense was extremely fond of her children ; — because in this she only resembled most other mothers ; but her care, tenderness, and solicitude, went beyond what is common in situations so elevated as that which she then occupied. Her maternal fondness exposed her at times to unnecessary suffering and alarm. On one occasion, she had permitted a young lady at the Chateau to take out the children for a drive through the woods. A large party of gay and fashionable persons from Paris had already assembled in the salon ; night was setting in, and numbers of those, who then professed themselves her admirers, entreated her to sing some of her own beautiful ballads. Her courtesy and good nature induced her to comply, but every one present could perceive that an unusual gloom, not unmixed with terror, had settled EMPEEOR OF THE FRENCH. 13 upon the mind of the queen. At length she heard a slight noise overhead, which made her stop in the midst of her singing. First a ] aleness, then a flush came over her. It was the sound of little feet running to and fro in the nursery. She turned to one of the ladies in waiting, and exclaimed, " What, are they come back, then ? " " Did not your Majesty know," replied the lady, " that they have been at home an hour or more ? " " If I had," observed Hortense, " I should have been spared an hour of no ordinary anxiety." As Hortense's health was far from good, she some- times found it necessary to undertake, for its improve- ment, little journeys into different parts of France ; and on these occ sions, it was not always thought advisable to take her sons along with her. They were then left under the care uf her mother, the Empress Josephine, whose tender and susceptible nature peculiarly qualified her to watch over children. M. de Marmold, steward of the queen's household, remained with the boys, as well as the Abbe Ber- tram!, who bad the care u? their education. "When Hortense returned from Aix in Savoy, she remained a few days at St. Leu, and then set out for the sea -In iic, taking her son:-; along with her. She was now a • impanied 1 y a mure numerous suite, and took up 14 LOUIS NAPOLEON, her residence at a chateau near the beach, in the vicinity of Dieppe, for the benefit of sea bathing and sea air. Louis Napoleon appeared at first to have inherited the delicate health and feeble frame of his mother ; and if he has since given proofs of great firmness and vigour of body, it is probable that he owes the happiness of possessing these qualities to his having been thrown, in early life, into positions of difficulty and danger. An anecdote is related of his childhood, which shows at once how easily he was terrified, and how quickly he could shake off his fears. At four years old, when he first saw a chimney-sweep, he was greatly alarmed, and threw himself into the arms of his governess. The theories of Jean Jacques were just then popular in France, among all who under- took the education of children. Madame de Boubers, who watched over the early development of Louis Napoleon's faculties, seized upon this occasion to in- culcate a lesson of humanity and self-command. Knowing that the apprehensions of children should not be violently repressed, she took him on her knee, soothed him with caresses, and dissipated for ever his fear of those little black men, who may almost be said to live in the chimneys of Paris. The future emperor's governess appears to have been a woman EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 15 of gentle sympathies. She pitied those wandering Savoyards, who, far from their homes, earned a scanty subsistence, by pursuing one of the meanest and most dangerous employments to which the exigencies of a great city give rise. The pity which she her- self felt, she sought to inspire into the mind of her pupil, and her sentiments, delivered in nurses' dialect, appear to have interested the child's feelings. A few months later, being asleep one morning with his brother, the nurse left the room for a moment. During her absence, a young Savoyard, as black as Erebus, descended the chimney, and coming out into the nursery, shook himself, and filled the whole chamber with a dark cloud. Louis Napoleon, a light sleeper, awoke, and was again seized with terror on beholding a sweep. But soon calling to mind what Madame de Boubcrs had told him about the poverty and misery of the little Savoyards, he climbed over the railings of his cut, and running across the room in his night-shirt, and mounting on a chair, took forth from a drawer his pocket money, and gave it, purse and all, to the little sweep. He then tried to climb back into his bed, but found it impracticable, upon which his brother called the nurse. He had hitherto been accustomed, when he went out for a walk, to carry about his pocket money with 16 LOUIS NAPOLEON, him; and his mother had taught him to regard it as a privilege to be allowed to give it away. But having now, however, disposed of his whole stock at once, his teachers, like genuine disciples of Rousseau, turned the incident into an occasion for a little moral lecturing. H;id this happened to any common boy, it would hardly have interested any one beyond his mother, or at most the family circle ; but the court adulators, converting the incident into an historical event, had the scene painted on a porcelain vase, which they presented to Hortense on her birth-day. Having more money than she knew how to spend judiciously, Josephine thought this an excellent op- portunity for indulging in a little domestic extra- vagance, and formed the design of reproducing the sketch on the vase in a grand oil painting. Possibly, however, the public disasters of France, which came soon after to occupy the minds of the Bonaparte family, prevented the execution of this project. At any rate, I have never seen such a picture referred to in the history of French art. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 17 CHAP. III. TERROR AND FLIGHT. Up to a certain age, the history of a child is in- volved in the history of its parents, which must therefore to some extent be related in order to convey a just idea of the child itself. Louis Napoleon had scarcely attained the age of six years, when the fortunes of the French empire were over-cast by those terrible reverses, which im- pressed a new character on the whole of Europe. I have already observed that from the period of his divorce from Josephine, Napoleon's star, to use his own jargon, began to pale. It may, or may not, have been affected by that circumstance. He pro- bably felt, that by allying himself with the house of Hapsburg, he had passed out of the category of a revolutionary chief, irresistible, through the attach- ment of the people, into that of a quasi-legitimate sovereign, upheld partly by ancient prejudices, partly by military force. The strength of Napoleon's character, together i 18 LOUIS NAPOLEON, with the resources of his mind, had been extrava- gantly exaggerated by the various populations of Europe, which found it impracticable to detach his figure from the vast ensemble created by the revo- lution, and contemplate it apart. His genius was military, mathematical, coordinating. He looked upon the whole world as a camp, in which every- thing was to be subjected rigidly to discipline, in exact conformity with a system invented and admi- nistered by himself. He viewed with extreme jea- lousy, or perhaps I should rather say with extreme dislike, the slightest symptoms of a creative mind in others, and hence the inveteracy of his hostility to literature and every form of independent thought. He hated, he persecuted, he crushed everything which had a tendency to excite the love of liberty. What he desired was obedience, servile, absolute, and during a long series of years he found it in the French people. Up to a certain point his conduct was regulated by new ideas, and so far he was victorious ; but being unable to lay aside altogether the traditional policy of the old worn out monarchies of the conti- nent, he attempted to amalgamate the moth-eaten with the new, and became the victim of this experi- ment. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 19 Having resolved on the conquest of Russia, and therefore considering it already his own, he refused to reconstruct the kingdom of Poland, which would, he fancied, have been to diminish the value of his prize, and by this act of selfishness ensured and de- served the total overthrow that succeeded. But it is not my design to dwell at any length on events so well known. After the Battle of Leipsic, Xapoleon retreated, and the shattered frag- ments of his army were hopelessly dispersed. His- torians, reviewing calmly from a distance the events of those times, have attempted to show how Napo- *leon mig-ht have concentrated his forces, recalled his generals from Spain, Italy, and the low countries, and baffled all his enemies, even at the eleventh hour. But the French people have no sympathy with a falling dynasty, and it was his familiarity with this characteristic of theirs which rendered Napoleon so solicitous to prevent all knowledge of his disasters from spreading, especially in the capital. Spies and informers had always formed a part of the govern- ment of France, and he had converted their calling into an institution of his empire. Anticipating universal defection, he determined by restraint, punishment, and terror, to coerce the babbling pro- C 2 20 LOUIS NAPOLEON, pensities of his subjects. He had taught them by experience the spirit of his government. The slightest symptom of disaffection had been sup- pressed by imprisonment, by dungeons, by death ; and now that he was beginning to stand, like the lion at bay, in the midst of relentless enemies, it was not probable that he would be slower to strike, or that his vengeance would be less terrible. It was only in faint whispers, therefore, and by slow degrees, that the approach of the allied armies was revealed. Everybody felt that the least allusion to a defeat of the Emperor would be regarded as high treason. Yet the whole body of his partisans, his dependents, his family, were profoundly interested in obtaining some insight into what was taking place beyond the walls of the capital. From them con- sequently it could not be long concealed that all Europe had risen against the tyrant, and that a prodigious army, animated by the fiercest passions, was already on the French soil. Napoleon in his day of power had displayed little moderation or mercy, and he and his now expected none from those whom he had driven into exile, or goaded by his oppression. As the allied army advanced, the rural inhabitants of France fled before it. Nothing was anticipated EMPEBOB OF THE FRENCH. 21 but the most fearful retaliation, the burning of towns and villages, slaughter, outrage, pillage. Under this impression, scenes of distress and misery were everywhere produced by the people's own fears. All those who could hope from their proximity to reach Paris, rushed in headlong flight towards it. The roads were thronged as far as the eye could reach with the humbler classes of all ages, some driving before them the little furniture they possessed, piled upon carts and waggons ; they who had no vehicles bore what they considered most valuable on their heads or shoulders, while the women carried their babies in their arms, and led their young children by the hand. Of the aged, they who were able to walk ac- companied their families ; but the majority, too feeble to keep pace with their more robust relatives, were either abandoned in their half empty dwellings, or dropped, and perished by the way. The French peasants, ignorant of the manners and character of their neighbours, pictured to themselves the allies as fierce, unrelenting savages, or even cannibals, and were terrified by the creations of their own fancies. While this vast multitude was rolling like a tumultuous ocean towards the capital, in the hope of finding protection there, thousands of opulent 22 LOUIS NAPOLEON, families were leaving it hastily in their carriages on the opposite side, imagining they would be more safe, far away in the chateaux of the central and southern provinces. The government had not as yet been completely paralysed. The defence of Paris, and the safety of Marie Louise with her son, the young King of Eome, had been entrusted to Joseph Bonaparte, more remarkable for social and civil qualities than for generalship or ambition. Feeling, however, the responsibility of his situation, he called together the supreme council, at which his brother Jerome was present, together with Marie Louise herself. This young woman, not then twenty years of age, listened in silence while Joseph read aloud that letter of Napoleon, in which he says, "I would rather my son were at the bottom of the Seine than in the hands of the allies." In obedience to the imperative orders of Napoleon, preparations were made for the defence of the city, — the Empress and her son were presented to the national guard, who solemly and with enthusiasm undertook their defence. A strong force under Marshals Mortier and Marmont was pushed forward in advance of the walls, and it was hoped that the place might hold out till Napoleon could come up with an army for its relief. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 23 The fears of the Parisians, which were now in a state of extraordinary activity gave rise to several incidents of an extremely ludicrous character. The old French houses abound with small closets, and in these the rich now huddled together their most valuable effects, jewels, plate, porcelain, costly dresses. In some cases the anxious proprietors, bewildered by terror, added to their other treasures magnificent time pieces, which, having been wound up for eight days, went on ticking and striking, and thus betrayed to the neighbours their place of concealment. Hortense and her attendants shared all the fears and agonies of the French people, and passed the hours which intervened between the news of Na- poleon's defeat, and her flight from Paris in a state of indescribable alarm. Louis, ex-king of Holland, was at this time living in Paris, at the house of his mother, .but no personal intercourse had for a long while taken place between the husband and wife. He was in fact a person of extreme insignificance, whom no one invited to take part in public delibera- tions, or ever thought of consulting on any subject. Into the grounds of his separation from Hortense, I bare not thought fit to inquire. If they did not live together, and seldom or never met, they some- tinu '.- corresponded on subjects connected with their C 4 24 LOUIS NAPOLEON, children, for whose well being Louis, at wide inter- vals, affected considerable solicitude. During the night of terror and anxiety which pre- ceded Hortense's flight from the capital, Louis at- tempted, in his imbecile way, to exercise his authority as a husband. Almost everybody in Paris, at the in- stigation of fear or self-interest, was labouring to impart to his or her countenance a legitimate expres- sion with which to receive the Bourbons. It was now generally discovered that Napoleon ought to be detested as a tyrant, that there was chivalry, poetry, with thrilling and superb souvenirs in the worship of the ancient dynasty, and upon nearly all lips im- precations fluttered against the falling empire. It was not in Hortense's nature, even had she not stood within the proscribed circle, to participate in baseness like this. If she clung to her friends in the palmy hour of their fortune, she clung to them still more closely in adversity ; and therefore, what- ever other faults may be laid to her charge, she never could be accused, like so many of Napoleon's friends, connections, and adherents, of bowing her knee to the rising sun. After having undergone extraordinary trouble and excitement, sheer weariness at length overcame her, and she sank into a profound sleep. The lady who EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 25 had served her in the capacity of a reader, and now watched over her with much kindness, was soon con- strained by a messenger from the ex-king to rouse her unfortunate mistress. There is no little confusion in the accounts transmitted to us of this night's pro- ceedings. Louis's letters, the contents of which had been represented to the queen's attendants as of the highest importance, merely stated that the empress Marie Louise, not considering herself in safety, was about to emit Paris with her son. Hortense replied to her husband that she knew all this before, and having dismissed her women, endeavoured to sleep again. Scarcely were her eyelids closed, however, when a second messenger arrived, bringing the intelligence that the empress, surrounded by her terror-stricken suite, had abandoned the capital, and that it conse- quently would not be safe for her to remain any longer in it with her children. What answer she vouch- safed her husband on this occasion is not stated, but being devoured by the desire of sleep, she once more lay down to snatch, if possible, a few moments of delicious oblivion. But Louis's marital solicitude was indefatigable; and again a third time he wrote to say, that she must decidedly leave Paris after the empress. It is probable that this time her answer 26 LOUIS NAPOLEON savoured less of submission and obedience than Louis thought becoming; for upon the receipt of it, he immediately sent to demand that the children should be given up to him. There are moments in all our lives when we appear to lay aside the principles by which we are habitually guided, and act like our own moral antipodes. This mother, so tender, so watchful, so absolutely bound up in her children, now without the least struggle or remonstrance, relinquished them to her weak and wayward husband, who, however, had no sooner gained his point, than not knowing what he should do with such a charge, he sent them back again, observing, very judiciously, that they were too young to be separated from their mother. In this way the whole night was passed ; and when the morning came, the poor queen, though her courage still held out, felt altogether exhausted with sleeplessness and fatigue. The women of her suite now crowded about her with tears and lamentations, some grieving that they must part from their friends, others that they must part from her. One poor lady had been confined during the night, and therefore could not choose but remain behind. Throughout her whole life, Hortense possessed the secret of attaching people to her, and EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 27 in spite of the fickleness of the French character, I make no doubt that her friends and dependents experienced much sorrow at the prospect of a sepa- ration, which, for aught they could then see, might prove eternal. All Paris was in an uproar. Everybody seemed to be running to and fro ; here a string of carriages shot along rapidly, there a body of national guards hurried towards the walls, swearing vehemently that they would defend them to the last drop of their blood ; generals were sitting in council, aide-de- camps, and other officers were bearing messages or brinn-inij; intelligence, and the wives of those soldiers who were absent with Napoleon clamourously be- sieged the palace of the queen. Everybody blamed Marie Louise for disappearing with the young king of Rome, whose presence might have inspired the national guards with courage to defend the capital. llortense promised to continue in Paris with her children, and the declaration of her resolve was received by the soldiers with loud shouts and acclamations. Even at the age of six years, therefore Louis Napoleon began to influence the dt -.-amies of France. Presently, however, the news spread like wildfire that the Cossacks had been u on the plains of Vcrtus, and it was felt that 28 LOUIS NAPOLEON, they were only the vanguard of the allied army. The military authorities, having examined the de- fences of Paris, declared the place to be untenable. Hortense was accordingly absolved from her engage- ment, and vehemently urged by all the friends of the Bonaparte family to escape, if possible, with her children. She in consequence determined to quit Paris that night, and remain till morning at Versailles. But ere she set out, Madame Doumerc, who had always expressed a strong attachment for her, came to say that her mother possessed a country house at Glatigny , where she entreated the queen to put up, rather than at an inn. This kind offer was accepted, and about nine o'clock at night the little cortege set out. Hortense herself, with the two boys Napoleon and Louis, occupied one carriage, governesses and nurses filled the second, the queen's female reader and her femme-de-chambre had along with them the royal jewels in a third carriage, and a fourth containing the women servants brought up the rear. As the Cossacks were out scouring the country in all directions, a courier was sent ahead, with orders if he discovered the enemy to fire off a pistol, upon which the carriages were to return to Paris. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 29 CHAP IV. THE QUEEN IK DANGER WITH HER CHILDREN. They reached Glatigny, however, without inter- ruption, though at a late hour in the night. The queen saw her children put to bed, and then retired herself, as well as her attendants, to snatch if pos- sible a little sleep. Overcome by fatigue, they did sleep, but were very soon awakened by the roar of the cannon with which the allies were battering the feeble defences of Paris. It was felt at once there was no further safety at Glatigny, and rousing the children, they dressed themselves speedily and prepared for further flight. But whither should they fly ? Xo doubt could be entertained that the whole country was now over- run by the Russian cavalry, so that they could only hope to escape by something like a miracle. Hortense consulted a map of the environs of Paris, and determined on endeavouring by a circuitous route to reach Trianon, where she might for a while at least be protected by General Preval, then stationed with a considerable body of troops at 30 LOUIS NAPOLEON, Versailles. While she was discussing with her at- tendants the means of flight, the explosions of artillery came constantly booming on the night air, making her heart sick. She had never before heard the report of a great gun, except during the cele- bration of military fetes, and her imagination was not sufficiently active to carry her to those many cities, which, while she reposed in luxury and indo- lence, had been attacked, and battered down by Napoleon to gratify the passion of the French for glory. As I have said, the roar of the cannon made her heart sick now. She trembled for her children, she trembled for herself, and preparations were made for instant departure. On arriving at Le Petit Trianon, General Preval waited on the queen, but brought her no intelligence about what was going on in Paris. The artillery still thundered, and they knew, therefore, that the Parisians were holding out. At length the firing ceased, and though it was altogether uncertain which party had been victorious, her gaiety in some measure returned to her. Presently a soldier was seen ap- proaching through the long avenue from Versailles. One of the ladies in waiting ran to meet him. "What news ? " she exclaimed. " That," he replied, " is what I am ordered to inform the queen alone." EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 31 When he had delivered his message, Ilortensc called for the first gentleman in waiting, and ordered the horses to be put to her carriage, because they must depart instantly. The gentleman replied, that sup- posing her majesty would sleep at Trianon, the men servants had gone to Versailles. " And yet I had ordered them," she said quietly, "to remain here with me. However, let all who are within call be bi*ought together, for we must set out at once. General Preval has sent to inform me that the French troops have evacuated Versailles, together with all the environs of Paris, and are in full retreat towards the south ; the kings, Joseph and Jerome, have just passed through the town, on their way to join Marie Louise. The allies are masters of Paris, and foreign soldiers will in all likelihood be here presently. With the utmost speed we can make, therefore, we shall barely be able to keep up with the last skirts of the rear guard. My desire is that we may sleep to-night at Kambouillet." Through the exertion of much energy, everything was speedily got ready. They set out, and reaching Kambouillet at a very late hour, found the kings at supper, and the ministers all huddled together in the ante-chamber, making antics and grimaces to keep their courage up. Their traditional politeness had 32 LOUIS NAPOLEON, entirely left them, kings and all ; for instead of ex- erting themselves to aid the queen in her flight, or even expressing the slightest sympathy for her forlorn condition, they only augmented her terrible anxieties, by observing coolly, that if she could not obtain the means of immediately pursuing her journey, she would probably, together with her sons, be taken prisoners that very night by the Cossacks. They themselves had engaged all the horses at Rambouillet, so that nothing was left for her but to take her chance. She had, as usual, seen the children safe in bed. Fatigue had probably taken away their ap- petite, which was fortunate ; since neither kings nor ministers offered them anything to eat. One of the principal ladies of her retinue considered herself lucky to obtain from a friend a crust of bread, which she bore off in triumph to her bedroom. Late in the night, loud voices were heard in the ante- room, and apprehensions of the Cossacks revived. It turned out only to be a French colonel, who com- manded the last regiment in the rearguard, and ex- pected to find the minister of war at Rambouillet. The queen saw this swearing colonel, and told him that since the minister of war had fled, she ordered him to remain there all night with his regiment to protect her and her children. When morning came, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 33 however, it was found that the gallant colonel had followed the example of the minister of war, and disappeared with his men during the night, leaving the queen and her sons to whatever mercy there might be in the Cossacks, should they happen to come up. As usual, poor Louis, ex-king of Holland, con- trived maladroitly, by his messengers, to prevent his wife from enjoying a wink of sleep. No sooner had she got into bed, than an officer came from him with a letter, ordering her — for he had become imperative during his troubles — to join him and the Empress Marie Louise at Blois. The patience of Hortense at length gave way. " I had intended," she said, " to le to foresee that the boy of six years old, of whom D 2 36 LOUIS NAPOLEON, they were now in pursuit, would in the course of a few years be Emperor of the French, they would have displayed much greater eagerness for his capture. For the moment, however, all that part of the country enjoyed the most delightful tranquillity, and they travelled through shady lanes, and among the windings of beautiful vallies, which presented an ex- quisite picture of pastoral life. They arrived late at Louis, and here the queen, believing herself to be in safety, dismissed her escort. KMPEKOR OF THE FRENCH. 37 CHAP. V. THE CHATEAU OF NAVARRE. Next morning, at five o'clock, they set out in fear- ful weather, and through extremely bad roads, towards the chateau of Navarre. On reaching her mother's residence, Hortense found herself evidently with no small surprise in the midst of royalists, who looked on her arrival as a sinister event. It is not quite clear that Josephine herself greatly rejoiced at it. She embraced her daughter and her grandsons, but exhibited her old weakness for people of rank, who belonged to the ancient regime. The whole country was in commotion. Napoleon had given orders that all the strong places in the provinces Bhould put themselves in a state of defence ; but the energies of the nation were exhausted, and notwith- standing the turbulence of its feelings, experienced very little inclination to prolong the contest with the allies. The situation of Hortense and her two sons at Navarre was not altogether pleasant. Josephine was d ■; 38 LOUIS NAPOLEON, weak and capricious, sometimes giving way to absurd lamentations, sometimes endeavouring to spoil her daughter's children. She was particularly partial to the younger one, Louis, whose countenance, she said, reminded her of her own daughter's in childhood. If there existed any resemblance out of her imagination, it is quite clear that Hortense never could have been beautiful. It is difficult to conceive a greater con- trast than that presented by Josephine and Hortense. The mother, capricious, timid, weak, fond of gaiety, and pleasure, was little better than a Sybarite; while the daughter, firm, resolute, adventurous, full of energy and courage, was both in principle and practice a Spartan. She had a profound faith in the destinies of her house, and wished to prepare her sons from their childhood to play a distinguished part in the world. It is not my intention to follow in this nar- rative the fortunes of the Bonaparte family, or to al- lude, except very briefly, to what regards the emperor. After the capitulation of Paris, he went to Elba, where he amused himself with acting royalty on a small scale. Very different accounts are given of the financial condition of Josephine and Hortense. The former, always thoughtless and extravagant, found herself, on EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 39 the fall of Napoleon, overwhelmed with enormous debts. Hortense, on the contrary, had preserved her diamonds from the wreck of her fortunes, and having taken them along with her, resolved to sell them, and live on the proceeds. Others say, and not apparently without reason, that all the Bonaparte family had contrived to secrete wealth, and to distribute it nearly over the whole of Europe. This is the more probable view, when we consider what afterwards took place. But it will be better to discuss this subject further on in the narrative. At this time Hortense had to choose between re- maining in France to share the fortunes of her house, and retiring to some foreign country, where she might live in peaceful affluence. The family of her mother possessed an estate in the island of Martinique, and her plan at this time was to go and settle in that bland. She hated her husband, with whom she had always lived on the worst possible terms, and her principal fear now was that he would take her sons from her. While in this state of doubt and perplexity, she was informed by a letter from Paris that the emperor Alexander took much interest in her fate, and hail Caused an article to be inserted in the treaty of Fon- Lainebleau, securing to her complete authority over her i. -4 40 LOUIS NAPOLEON, sons during their youth. It would be necessary, therefore, for her to remain in France, and she was strongly urged by her friends to return without delay to Malmaison, where she might deliberate, in con- junction with the Czar, on the future interests of her children. No explanation has been given of the policy pursued by Alexander towards Hortense at this period. He was a man of generous and susceptible nature, and may have been warmed into enthusiasm by the accounts he had heard of her beauty, de- votion, and maternal tenderness. At any rate, he expressed to one of her ladies his intention of going down himself to the chateau of Navarre, should Hortense find it impracticable to perform the journey to Paris. The character of this prince is one of the most curious in modern history. In the midst of nume- rous weaknesses which constantly made him the play- thing of fanatics or impostors, he exhibited several qualities of a strong mind, judged of men and things for himself, and judged correctly, cherished an extra- ordinary admiration for the genius of Napoleon, and yet, in conjunction with England, effected his over- throw. In the intervals between his fits of ambition he delighted to pass his time in the society of women, to surround himself with the elements of romance, EMPEROB OF THE FRENCH. 41 and to succumb to the influence of a gentle melan- choly, which was often succeeded by bursts of passionate resentment. For some reason or another Hortense was at this time considered separately from the Bonaparte family, perhaps because she no longer lived with her husband. She had made a strong impression on a number of persons who were all anxious to serve her, but desired in the first place that she should return immediately to the capital. At an interview Avhich one of her ladies had with the emperor Alexander, he inquired respecting the possessions of Hortense, and particularly about the chateau and grounds of St. Leu. Having ascertained that they were a sort of family apanage, he observed that they must be settled on her as her own exclusive pro- perty, and said he would cause Count Nesselrode to make the necessary arrangements for erecting St. Leu into a duchy. " Blacas," he added, " will then get the King's signature to the document, and you must persuade the queen to agree to it. The affairs of Eugene Beanharnais and the empress Josephine have been easily settled, but then' is more difficulty respecting the queen on account of the name borne by her sons. If nothing fixed and positive be established for them, 42 LOUIS NAPOLEON, the Bourbons, I fear, would be capable of taking away from her all she has ; whereas by creating a duchy, the possession of which the king shall make over to her by his sign manual, such a result would be rendered impossible, since they must respect a grant guaranteed by me and all the allies." The opinion entertained of the Boui'bons by the allied sovereigns and their ministers w r as anything but flattering; they appear, observed Count Nesselrode, to have come back from the other world, and to be very much surprised that the children they left at the breast a quarter of a century ago should now be grown up to men and women. Their folly, however, was not the worst trait in their character. Like our Stuarts, they indulged an impotent vindictiveness, which betrayed them into acts of malice infinitely petty. When Hortense ? s first child died in Holland, Napoleon, then in the zenith of his power, caused the body to be conveyed to Paris, and interred in the church of Notre Dame. The proceeding was at once vain and impolitic, because, if he desired the family of his brother Louis to take root in the Dutch soil, he should have begun the process by mingling with that soil the ashes of its early dead. However, he had, like other men, his weaknesses, and this was one of them. EMPEROB OF THE FRENCH. 43 But when the Bourbons returned, their keen- scented bigotry, regal and religious, speedily dis- covered that the remains of a Bonaparte had been deposited in the national cathedral. An article was immediately inserted in one of the journals, under the inspiration of the court, stating that the coffin was to be disinterred, and removed to one of the cemeteries of Paris. AVhen Hortense was told of this act of Louis le Desire, so becoming the de- scendant of a hundred kings, she observed coldly, " So much the better ! I shall claim the body of my child, and place it where it will be near me in the church of St. Leu." The coffin, having been dug up out of the hallowed earth of Notre Dame, was delivered to her, and she caused it to be ao;ain buried at St. Leu, where her sons Napoleon and Louis used, like good little Catholics, to kneel on the marble pavement, and pray for the soul of their departed brother. 44 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. VI. HORTENSE AND THE EMFEROR ALEXANDER. It would be beside my purpose to describe the intercourse between the Emperor Alexander and Queen Hortense. The politics and the gaieties of Paris ceased to have any charm for him ; he was perpetually at Malmaison ; conversations with Jo- sephine, with Eugene Beauharnais, with the children, now appeared to possess for him irresistible at- tractions. His mind, it was evident, had been thrown into a state of impassioned, effervescence, such as he had once before experienced under the potent influence of Madame de Krudener. During this period of illusion, a party was made up to visit the water works at Marly. It was one of the characteristics of Hortense, to which I have already more than once alluded, that she could enjoy nothing without the presence of her children. On this occasion she led her eldest son by the hand, while the younger found himself under the united care of the Czar Alexander, and her brother Eugene. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 45 They walked about, they laughed, they talked, they saw everything, they understood nothing, as is always the case with persons who are possessed by one absorbing idea. 'At length Alexander, in a state of complete abstraction, approached so near one of the great wheels, that in another instant he would have been caught by the skirts of his coat, whirled into the air, and dashed to pieces, together, perhaps, with the child whom he still held by the hand. Perceiving the danger, Hortense with a loud shriek, which made every one present tremble, rushed forward and pushed him away. Whatever might have been his inward emotions, he seems to have said little at the time, his attention having been directed towards the queen, whose excitement and alarm were extreme. However, he probably did not forget, that if she owed him her duchy, he owed her his life. It has often been observed that children who arc kept from other children, and live habitually with grown up persons, are what is called forward, and appear to have more sense than children in general of the same age. But nothing whatever is gained by this, for the progress they make when so young is altogether lost afterwards. Indeed, it has often been suspected that the mind rather loses than gains 46 LOUIS NAPOLEON, strength by premature development. Under the care of Hortense, Louis Napoleon and his brother were transformed very early into something like little men. One of her attendants remarks., that they were really above their age in many respects, which arose from the care taken by their mother to form their characters and develope their minds. They were, nevertheless, too young to comprehend the nature of the new and striking events which took place around them. Having been accustomed to see no other kings or emperors but those of their own family, they inquired naturally enough, when the King of Prussia and the Emperor of Russia were announced, if these also were their uncles, and to be so addressed by them. " No," their attendants replied, "you are simply to call them ' sire.'" "But in point of fact," inquired Napoleon, "are they not my uncles?" He was informed that all the kings they now saw, so far from being their uncles, had entered France as conquerors. " Then," replied the elder boy, " they are the enemies of the emperor, my uncle ; why do they embrace us?" "Because this emperor of Russia, whom you see daily, is a generous enemy, who desires to be of service to you as well as to your mamma. But for him you would possess nothing in the world, while your EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 47 uncle's condition would be far worse than it is." " Then we must love him," replied the boy. "Yes, certainly, for you owe him gratitude." The younger prince Louis, who in general spoke very little, had listened in silence, and with great attention to this conversation. The next time Alexander came, he took a little signet ring which his uncle Eugene had given him, and approaching the emperor on tiptoe, that he might attract no attention to his movements, he gently slipped the ring into the emperor's hand, and then ran hastily away. His mother called him to her, and inquired what he had been doing. " I had nothing but that ring," he replied, blushing and hanging down his head ; " my uncle Eugene gave it to me, and I wished to give it to the emperor, because he is good to mamma." The emperor Alexander embraced the boy, and putting it on the ring which held the bunch of seals suspended to his watch, said, with emotion, that he would wear it for ever. In persons who possess a commanding position in the world, there is no more certain means of suco 38 than the habit of giving. Louis Napoleon seems always to have acted upon this conviction. At first doubtless it was a generous instinct, which was afterwards cultivated by policy. When he was 48 LOUIS NAPOLEON, much older, his mother one day reproached him, with giving away something which she had bestowed on him as a present. " Mother," he replied, " you meant I am sure to afford me pleasure by presenting it to me, and I have now had two pleasures, first that of receiving it from you, and then that of giving it to another." The emperor Alexander and the other foreign sovereigns, then in Paris, when they saw the young princes daily at Malmaison, addressed them as Mon- seigneur, or your Imperial Highness, which greatly astonished the boys, who had never been used to that sort of jargon. It was one great wish of their mother to preserve them from being puffed up by the circumstances of their position. People about them were requested to use, in speaking to them, the terms of affection and friendship, and to set ceremony aside. They used to say, " My little Napoleon, or my little Louis ; " which accustomed them to greater simplicity than is usually found among princes. This no doubt produced a permanent effect upon their characters, and enabled Louis Napoleon afterwards to make himself popular among all classes. Hortense endeavoured to persuade them that greatness in itself was nothing, and that their real value consisted in what they themselves EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 49 were worth. She often took them both on her knees, and talked with them for the purpose of form- ing their ideas on all subjects. The conversation was curious, during that period of splendour when they were supposed to be the heirs of so many crowns, which Napoleon lavished upon his brothers, his relatives, and his generals. When she had questioned them respecting what they already knew, she would enlarge upon what they had still to learn, that they might be equal to their own destiny, and know how, in all conjunctures, to create themselves resources. During the interval between the capitulation of Paris and Napoleon's return from Elba, Hortense was visited at St. Leu by numbers of remarkable individuals, and among others, by Madame de Stael. This woman was, no doubt, what is called a brilliant talker, eaten up with vanity, eager for display, and gifted with precisely those qualities and acquisitions winch enabled her to succeed in that design. Having dazzled and bewildered everybody else, she turned to the children, resolved apparently to extort admiration even from them. But children form a world apart, and require to be subdued by very different arts from those which succeed with grown-up people. She overwhelmed the young princes with questions, she investigated, she made speeches, and at length E 50 LOUIS NAPOLEON, inspired them with intense ennui. "Do you love your uncle ? " she inquired. " Very much." " Do you think you shall be as fond of war as he is?" " Yes, I should be, if it did not cause so much evil." " Is it true that your uncle often used to make you repeat the fable which begins with these words — ' The reason of the most powerful, is always the best ? ' " " Madame, he often used to make me repeat fables, but not that one oftener than any other." The younger Napoleon, who had a very superior mind, and a judgment beyond his age, replied to her with great calmness and circumspection, and when the affair was over, came to Madame Boubers, saying, " That lady is a great questionmonger ; I wonder, now, if that is what people call genius ? " The occupations of Hortense, during the extraor- dinary period which separated Napoleon's abdication from the Hundred Days, were extremely varied. According to some accounts, she devoted her whole time to political intrigue ; and, in conjunction with the partisans of the empire, organised those numerous plots and conspiracies, by which the mind of the French people was prepared for the reinstallation of Napoleon. I am not by any means interested in de- fending her from this charge, which, even if well- founded, exposes her, in my opinion, to no very just EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 51 censure. But perhaps she did no more than excite, in an indefinite way, the hopes of the Bonapartists who thronged about her at St. Leu, where they na- turally conversed chiefly of their regrets and antici- pations. As her wealth was considerable, she indulged in something like indiscriminate hospitality. All who had suffered by the restoration flocked naturally to her house, which thus became the centre of the disaffected. The intelligence which reached France from Elba, came directly to her, and she im- parted to her friends just so much of it as seemed calculated to produce a good effect. The old generals, the half pay officers, the political function- aries out of employment, the multitudinous agents of the imperial government, who could extract nothing from the Bourbons, turned their eyes towards St. Leu, as the Muslims turn towards Mecca, in expect- ation that some ray of hope might at length break upon them from thence. But instead of enlarging on these subjects, I prefer to contemplate her in her maternal character, which the incidents of her sons' lives were often calculated to bring out into strong relief. All children have tectli drawn, and suffer more or less during the ope- ration. But Louis Napoleon seems to have suffered, on one occasion, more than the ordinary amount of E 2 52 LOUIS NAPOLEON, pain allotted to boys at such times. It often happens that in drawing a tooth a small artery is ruptured, and the hemorrhage thus caused would end in death, if not arrested by art. Louis Napoleon seemed in danger of passing out of life in this way. For two days after he had his tooth drawn, he bled almost in- cessantly, until the attendants began to be alarmed. His strength was nearly gone, and it was at length, late in the night, determined that his mother ought to be made acquainted with his state. On these occasions she displayed much self-command, saying scarcely anything, though it was easy to perceive, by her countenance, how great was the anguish she felt. By degrees the bleeding was stopped, and the child, overcome by fatigue and exhaustion, fell into a pro- found sleep in his mother's arms. He was then laid on the bed, and the nurse having been directed to watch him, everybody else retired. It was already one o'clock in the morning ; the queen had with all the others gone to rest, but was unable to sleep, for the face of her child, pale and covered with blood, rose perpetually before her. "Without waking any of her attendants, therefore, she got up, threw a night dress over her, and, lamp in hand, went into her child's room, where all was silent and perfectly still. Both nurse and child EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 53 slept soundly; she drew near the bed without desiring to wake the poor woman, who had been quite exhausted by the fatigues of the evening. She beheld her boy exactly as her fears had repre- sented him, pale and bloody ; she took him in her arms, he did not wake, and his limbs fell, as if without life. The blood gushed from between his lips, and by instinct, rather than from thought, she introduced one of her fingers into his mouth, and pressed it hard on the wound. The blood stopped. Fear almost arrested her breathing, but she in- wardly thanked God for having incited in her the thought of coming to her child, but for which he would certainly have died. As for him, feeble and fatigued, he continued to sleep, and from his breath- ing only, she perceived that he still lived. She passed the whole night in this position, with her finger pressed hard on his gums, without stirring or calling any one, and by the morning scarcely a trace remained visible of that wound which threatened at one time to be so fatal. The narrator of this anecdote exclaims, " Ah ! maternal love is the only real one in this world ! " It is in truth very powerful ; but love in any form is the same, and has given rise to nearly all the great * 3 54 LOUIS NAPOLEON, actions which shed a beauty and a glory on the history of mankind. It may be worth mentioning, though the fact does not bear on Louis Napoleon, that his mother was extremely fond of violets, especially those of Parma, at that time rare in France, since they were nowhere cultivated except in the gardens of Malmaison, St. Cloud, and St. Leu. Every day the gardener was directed to forward to her a tin box filled with bouquets of violets and roses, which she distributed among the ladies who loved those flowers. For herself, her taste was so remarkable, that her entrance into the drawing-room immedi- ately became known by the perfume of the violet diffused around her. In this partiality she resembled the Athenians, who were called the. violet-crowned people. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 55 CHAP VII. ESCAPE AND CONCEALMENT. On the 6th of March, 1815, intelligence reached the French government, which deeply alarmed, and almost paralysed the whole Bourbon family. Throughout the winter, strong suspicions had settled, as I have observed, on Hortense, who was accused of being engaged in plots for the restoration of the imperial regime. On the day above named, she had been riding in the Bois de Boulogne, and was returning in her carriage down the Champs Elysees, and making for the bridge leading from the Place de la Revolution, when she met Lord Kiunaird, who stopped her carriage, and asked her if she had heard the news ; she inquired what news. He an- swered, that the emperor had disembarked on the coast of France. The queen became as pale as death. " It is impossible ! " she exclaimed. " Who can have told you a story so absurd ? " " What I tell you is true," replied his lordship. E 4 56 LOUIS NAPOLEON, "I have just learned the fact from the Duke of Orleans, who is immediately to set out after the Comte d'Artois, who left Paris during the night." " Oh heavens ! " she exclaimed, " What calamities are about to overwhelm the emperor, France, and ourselves ! " Lord Kinnaird was of the same opinion, and observed " that the measures of the government had been well taken, that large bodies of troops had been precipitated towards the coast, and that it must, therefore, be soon over with Napoleon." It seems not to have occurred to his lordship that the soldiers might refuse to fight against their old commander, and that the larger the army sent against him, the stronger he would be. Hortense was still incredulous, but the idea by degrees made its way into her mind, especially when his lordship added that the whole court was in a state of con- fusion, and that the most vigorous measures were to be taken against the partisans of Napoleon. As a mother, Hortense's first fears were for her children, and she inquired eagerly whether Lord Kinnaird thought that any danger was likely to be- fal them. " It is very probable," he replied, '* that they will be seized and kept as hostages." " Oh, God ! " she exclaimed, her eyes filling with EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 57 tears, " to what dangers have I exposed them ! " Then her thoughts changing rapidly, she added, "But no; the French nation will not suffer them to be harmed." " The populace," he replied, " will soon become furious; and as it is not to be doubted that they have continued true to the emperor, the probability is that they will cut off every Englishman in Paris." " No, no, believe nothing of the kind, the people are no longer what they were in 1793. However, if you feel the slightest uneasiness, bring your wife and family to my house. I have nothing to fear from the people, and offer it to you as an asylum. But I am afraid of what the government may do to my children, and must return home immediately to watch over them." Lord Kinnaird then left her to look after his own family, and she hastened back to her palace. It was resolved that her two sons should leave home at once, and go into a place of concealment, where she Imped they would be safe. The plan of fight was arranged, and all the necessary steps were taken for carrying it into execution. It so happened that she was on that very evening to have a large party :it her house ; that, a celebrated singer had been invited, and that a number of her friends who were or professed to be fond of mu^ic were coining to 58 LOUIS NAPOLEON, hear the performance. Should she put off this party or not ? How could she bear to assemble around her a joyous and festive throng, while Napoleon on the one hand, and the friends of the Bourbons on the other, were perhaps at the very moment engaged in mortal combat, and while French blood might be shedding like water ? She might even be suspected of holding this gathering to celebrate the emperor's landing. On the other hand, the intelligence was not yet known to the public, and was only circulated cautiously among the members of the government, and the higher aristocracy. If she seemed to be acquainted with the news, she might be suspected of being in communication with the emperor, and thus augment the animosity of the Bourbons against both herself and her family. It was determined, therefore, that whatever might be the heaviness of her heart, she should endeavour to ap- pear gay, and go through her social duties as if nothing had happened. The guests assembled, — the music and the singing commenced, and the majority of those present exhibited the joyousness of ignorance, but on some few faces there was a cloud ; and Hortense, therefore, could not refrain from suspecting that the news had already begun to spread. The hour fixed for the departure of her children EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 59 had not yet arrived, and she trembled every moment lest the agents of the government should appear to seize and snatch them from her ; she could not even be sure that among the persons present there might not be some, secretly connected with the Bourbons and commissioned to watch her movements. As soon as night had fairly set in, one of the ladies about Hortense went to the apartment of the young princes, and taking them by the hand, led them down softly to the garden ; the nurse of the younger, who never quitted him, following close be- hind with a bundle of clothes. The valet had been despatched for a hackney coach, which was directed to wait for them at a considerable distance from the house. They passed out cautiously through the garden into the Hue Taitbout, where the elder boy inquired, " Whither are you taking us ? Why must we be concealed ? Is it that some danger threatens us, and if so, must mamma remain exposed to it ? " " No, prince," replied his companion ; " it is you and your brother only that are in danger ; your mamma need (ear nothing." u Oh, very well," he said, and went away quietly. Hortense had given strict orders that they should not be told of the disembarkation of their uncle ; but left in complete ignorance whither and for what reason 60 LOUIS NAPOLEON, they were taken away. They, however, were de- lighted with the mystery of being hurried out through a garden door, taken to a distance in the dark street, put into a coach, and cautioned against making the slightest noise. This last injunction was rather irksome to the elder brother, who loved talking ; but the younger, naturally silent and reserved, no doubt had his propensity strengthened by the events of his childhood. For a long while, to speak freely would have endangered him ; he therefore acquired early the command of his tongue, and to this habit, perhaps, owed much of his future success. When the lady returned, she made a sign to the queen that all was well, and this appeared to remove a great weight from her mind. The reader who takes an interest in the subject of this memoir, will not refuse to extend a portion of it to his mother, who, at the time of which I am now speaking, watched over him, like a domestic pro- vidence. When she had done all she could to provide for the safety of her children, it became necessary for her to think of her own. To remain in her palace was judged by all her friends in the highest degree imprudent ; she also must fly, and conceal her- self. There was a lady at that time in Paris who, together with her husband, owed everything to EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 61 Hortense, and she was justified, therefore, in supposing that this person would be but too happy to afford her an asylum for a few days. Attended by one female servant, she secretly quitted the palace at nine o'clock in the evening, and repaired on foot to her friend's house. What was her surprise, on being informed that she could not remain there longer than that night. Disgusted and angry, she left early in the morning, and returned at all hazards to her own residence. But those who loved her became so anxious for her safety, that she was at length persuaded to disguise herself, and seek another asylum. She therefore put on the cloak, bonnet, and veil of her female reader, Mdlle. Cochelet, and, escorted by that young lady's brother, again went out on foot in search of a tempo- rary home. This time, instead of seeking the protection of any great personage, she brought down her ambition to the level of her brother's old nurse Mimi, who had accompanied Josephine from Martinique, and had been secured a small but comfortable independence by her old mistress. At every step she ran new ri-ks. All day long men had been seen watching at the corner of the Boulevards, and parading up and down the street opposite her house. Her dis- 62 LOUIS NAPOLEON, guise was incomplete, for underneath her cloak she wore a magnificent dress of fine Indian muslin, with open embroidery and trimmings of rich lace. If any one in the street should catch a glimpse of such a dress, she would be lost. On occasions like these, however, so little was she mistress of herself, that the idea of going out alone with a young man, contrary to all the etiquette of the imperial family, appeared to her so ludicrous, that she burst into a fit of laughter which she could scarcely restrain. Her momentary protector was so alarmed by her indis- cretion that he hardly knew what he was doing. Nevertheless, she reached Mimi's apartments in safety ; and as that good woman happened to have some visitors coming to her in the afternoon, Hortense was stowed away in a sort of lumber room, entered" on one side by a little door, and on the other by a hole in the wall. Here she appeared to be in safety, and at night was visited by her female reader, who brought her the news. She soon, however, made a discovery which disquieted her considerably. In one of the lower floors of the house lived a man who had formerly been aide-de- camp to General De Broc, but who had now become a fierce Bourbonist. By his new patrons he had been placed at the head of a division of the secret EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 63 police, to the members of which he gave audience daily in an apartment adjoining Ilortense's lumber room. Paris always abounds in strange approximations ; but nothing more curious can well be imagined than the concealment of a queen in a garret, in the immediate vicinity of those who were employed by the government to hunt down and capture both her and her children. In this retreat Hortense, it may easily be supposed, received few visitors ; but Alexandre de Giradin, an ardent partisan of the Bonaparte family, was one day brought thither by a lady of her suite. Having ascended floor after floor, M. de Giradin began to feel uneasy as he penetrated into the darker and more suspicious parts of the house ; and when he approached the hole in the wall, through which it was necessary to crawl on all fours, he hesitated, and for a moment refused to pro- ceed. A loud laugh from Hortense soon put his timidity to flight. He descended into the dusky room, and conversed with her for a considerable time on the business about which he came ; he told her that the Bourbons, more especially the Due de Berri, suspected her of having conducted the conspiracy which had led to the return of Napoleon, and that. 64 LOUIS NArOLEON, she was sought for with the utmost vigilance and perseverance. The government, in fact, had deter- mined to arrest all persons connected with the Bonaparte family, but these had succeeded so well in concealing themselves, that the chief of the police declared before the council that they had defeated all his arts, and were nowhere to be found. This cir- cumstance is highly honourable to the French character. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 65 CHAP VIII. EPISODE OF THE HUNDRED DAYS. It would be beside my purpose to describe in detail the events of those agitated and exciting times. Hortense was delivered from confinement by the entrance of Napoleon into Paris, and his reinstallation in the Tuileries, on the 20th of March. The French are a people full of enthusiasm, which in general, however, is not long lived. They effervesce in a moment, and soon become flat again. But for Napoleon, the attachment of the lower orders was genuine. They felt he had done much for France, and not being able to comprehend his motives, imagined it had been done for them. On his return from Elba, therefore, their joy knew no bounds. But among the upper classes, the feeling was different. They knew, as was acknowledged by the Duke of Vicenza, that the country was too much exhausted to repel a second invasion of the allies, and dreaded the con- raences which this wild paroxysm of ambition must inevitably bring upon the community. F 66 LOUIS NAPOLEON, I have frequently observed that Hortense was never happy without her children, and therefore, on the very day of Napoleon's return, she sent to bring them from their retreat. The messenger found them playing and gambling about, perfectly ignorant, and careless of the political bustle of the world. The fortnight which had been so full of anxiety and disquietude for their mother and her friends, had been quite a holiday to them. No lessons, no themes, no Latin, — what a glorious state of idleness ! They learned with pleasure, however, that they were now to see their mother and their uncle. They could very well do without the Abbe Bertrand and the Latin grammar. Wrestling, leaping, sommersets had supplied the place of walking. Meantime their mother had gone to the Tuileries, where she experienced much difficulty in ap- proaching the emperor, through the vast crowd which surrounded him. When at length she came up, he embraced her coldly, and said, " Where are your children ? " " In concealment," she replied. " You have placed them," he observed, " in a false position in the midst of my enemies." It is not quite easy to see what he meant by these words, if they were really intended to be understood literally ; but as he EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 67 always felt himself to be on the stage, the whole was probably a piece of acting. On the following morning, Hortense, taking her two sons along with her, went early to the Tuileries. Napoleon received them with much tenderness, kissed them repeatedly, and kept them near him a long time. His own son being far away, he seemed desirous of lavishing upon his nephews those marks of affection which should have been his. He took them out to the balcony, and showed them with great pride to the people, who thronged beneath his windows. He carried them along with him also when he went to review the troops on parade, which of course afforded the boys extraordinary gratification. All Paris was intoxicated with joy. The regiment of Labedoyere, and a battalion of the imperial guard, had bivouacked on the Place du Carrousel, and the hearts of the Parisians leaped with delight as they beheld once more those old soldiers of Austerlitz, whose manly faces had now been doubly browned by the sun of the south. Some few traits in Napoleon's character, which became visible at this time, may be worth mention- ing briefly. The Bourbons and their ministers, having fled from Paris in extreme haste, had left behind them in the office for foreign affairs a treaty r 2 68 LOUIS NAPOLEON, between England, France, and Austria, against Russia, which, to conciliate the emperor Alexander, Napoleon caused to be shown to the Russian envoy then in Paris. But Alexander despised the Bourbons too much to take offence at any new act of baseness on their part, and was not at all the more disposed to tolerate the dangerous ambition of the Corsican. Josephine meanwhile had died, and Napoleon went to visit her daughter at Malmaison. He is said to have been much moved at the sisrht of her bedroom ; but this is scarcely reconcileable with a remark he let fall during the same visit. Goino- through the gallery with Denon, he appeared to be struck by the beauty of the pictures, and inquired how much they were worth. When the keeper of the gallery had informed him, he observed, appa- rently half murmuring to himself, "Had I known they were so valuable, I would never have given them to Josephine." He then ordered them to be purchased for the public gallery of the Louvre. No man understood better than Napoleon the effect of grand spectacles on the mind of the people. He had kept his hold on the French nation, in a great measure, by interesting their imaginations, partly by his military exploits, partly by the grand EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 69 monuments he erected, partly by the dazzling shows he caused to be exhibited before them. He now believed, that what had succeeded during twenty years could not altogether have lost its charm. He projected, therefore, a magnificent ceremony, called the Champ de Mai, which took place seventeen days before the battle of Waterloo. But his piercing eye must have beheld in everything around him proofs that the old spirit of the French had departed, that he had outlived the magic influence of his name, and entered upon a new era, in which everything was changed. It would be easy to call up before the fancy a gorgeous picture of this ceremony. I have myself been present in the Champ de Mars, when one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, animated by the revolutionary spirit, have defiled, with the pride of a new age, before republican generals. Great preparations had been made for the cele- bration of this ceremony, which may be called the Qsecrating of the colours of the army. At one end of the Champ de Mars had been erected a lofty platform supporting a throne for Napoleon, and behind it a suit of tribune for Ilortensc and her sons. In (rout of the throne was an altar, upon the atepe of which stood the bishops, who were to offi- ciate in the blessing of the colours. The weather i 3 70 LOUIS NAPOLEON, was beautiful, and the summer sun threw down floods of light upon long lines of golden eagles, which, as they moved in the hands of the standard bearers, reflected the glittering rays on all sides. The deputies of the people and the superior officers of the army surrounded the emperor, while the multitude extended in every direction in vast waves towards the city, the country, and the river. It was in some sense a new imperial election. A writer, who stood that day among the crowd, says that joy was universal, at least among the people. This, I think, may be doubted. No one then present could be ignorant that the armies of all Europe were at that very moment gathering together on the French frontier, preparing to dash that imperial phantom to the earth, to disperse into thin air the power he had erected on the fame of a hundred battles, and to bring once more devastation and slaughter to the very heart of Paris. Their affection for Napoleon may have been still unshaken, but their confidence in his fortune had departed, never to return ao;ain. It would be useless, therefore, to dwell on the theatrical exhibitions by which he sought to re- kindle their enthusiasm. He did his best, and they did their best ; but the play had been played out, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 71 and nothing remained to be done but to drop the curtain on the imperial pageant, and let the world enjoy, as well as it could, the farce after the tragedy. It is unnecessary to dwell on the battle of Waterloo. It was fought ; Napoleon lost it, and returned forth- with to Paris, with the conviction deep in his heart, that everything in this world was over for him. He had burnt down life's candle to the socket, and in hastening to extinction, it began to make an unplea- sant smell in the nostrils of the bystanders, and in his own too. Not a spark of energy was left in him, and he went to conceal with Hortense at Malmaison the last remnant of the shame and agony of defeat. Now it was that the character of this woman shone forth in all its lustre. Every act of her life had proved her to be a fond and good mother, watchful in her tenderness, indefatigable in her affection, ready at any moment to jeopardise her own life for her sons. But her attachment for Napoleon, especially dow that he was in irremediable affliction, rose above everything, and she determined to hide her children., that ?hc might give up for the moment all her care and attention to him. Many persons of opulence and distinction offered to take charge of the boys ; but not desiring to com- promise them with the Bourbons, or lor other 72 LOUIS NAPOLEON, motives which may easily be divined, she preferred trusting them to the care of Madame Tessier, an honest hosier on the Boulevard Montmartre. When this resolution had been come to, she sent for the valet- de-chambre of her elder son, and for the nurse of the younger, and told them to get everything ready immediately for taking the children to a safe place of concealment. Hortense, however, did not relinquish to them the care of these preparations, but presided over everything herself, and when all was ready, left them the necessary directions, and set out during the night for Malmaison to receive the emperor in the morning. The nurse of Prince Louis, who has already been mentioned several times, was a Madame Bure, whose name deserves to be recorded for her strong at- tachment to her charge. Her mild and affectionate character caused her to be beloved by the whole household ; she was a small, pretty brunette. One day when she went with the young prince to the Tuileries, Napoleon, fixing his eyes upon her face, exclaimed, " That young rogue has a very charming nurse ! " The writer who relates this anecdote observes, with much simplicity, that these words of the em- peror excited the only ebullition of vanity which EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 73 Madame Bure experienced during her whole life ; if so, she must have been the very black swan cele- brated by Juvenal. Her affection for the young prince was that of a tender mother, and constituted the strongest feeling of her life. "Wherever he went, she accompanied him, and many years afterwards she formed a part of the queen's household at Arenen- berg, where she was always treated with peculiar kindness and attention; a fact which is equally honourable to all parties. Napoleon at this time gave abundant proofs that the energy of his character was at length exhausted. His genius was extinguished, his imagination col- lapsed, and he sank at once into a state of hopeless weakness. He had really in some sort been the embodiment of the revolutionary spirit, and was kept up in his artificial elevation by the effervescing passions of the French people. Those passions had now subsided, and he ceased at once to be a Inro. On the 24th of June, six days after the battle of Waterloo, he quitted Paris, never more to return, and proceeded to Malmaison, whither, as I have said, Hortense had repaired on the preceding Dlght to receive him. All who took any interest in Napoleon, or in her, were alarmed by the sinister reports, every hour put 74 LOUIS NAPOLEON, into circulation. It was rumoured that 200 Bour- bonists, full of fanaticism and brutality, had set out for Malmaison to assassinate the emperor and the queen, and a lady who had just returned to Paris related that she had met these miscreants on the road on horseback, and fully armed. A messenger was therefore despatched to put the intended victims on their guard. Meanwhile, the Bourbonists in Paris believed themselves to be exposed to still greater dangers. The people, it was feared, would rise and renew the massacres of 1793. The nobility, therefore, shut their gates and their windows, and kept themselves secluded in the back rooms of their houses. It forms no part of my purpose to describe the scenes which now took place at Malmaison. Some determined to go along with Napoleon, others bade him an external adieu, and Hortense felt that she and her sons must be among the latter. She there- fore sent for them to take their leave. With much timidity and circumspection, they were withdrawn from the house of the hosier, on the Boulevard Montmartre, put into a carriage, and driven by a very round-about way to Malmaison. Napoleon was pre-eminently deficient in sensi- bility. His thoughts, his feelings, his hopes, his EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 75 fears were concentrated upon himself. When taking leave for ever of his mother, he merely said, " Fare- well, mother," and she, "Farewell, my son." They then embraced each other and parted, as if they had been going on a short journey. From the sons of Hortense, he is said to have separated with more external tokens of regi-et, and it is related, that the children cried much, and expressed a strong desire to go away with him. However, on the 29th of June, Hortense and her sons quitted Malmaison for Paris. The palace of Hortense had a terrace at the bottom of the garden overlooking the Rue Tait- © © bout, through which the carriages of the grandees " © © © drove towards St. Denis to salute Louis XVIII. Hortense stood on this terrace looking on, while a number of royalists shouted and menaced her fiercely. This frightened her attendants, who earnestly entreated her to take refuge in the house of some friend, and there to conceal her- self till Paris should be somewhat tranquilliscd. To this she at last consented, and the factotum of Count NY-srlmdc, under the impression thai she was a, Russian lady, took lodgings for her and her children in the very Hue Taitbout where she had been so lately threatened. Jiy chance or contrivance, the <"6 LOUIS NAPOLEON, lodgings were taken on a floor overhead a celebrated Bourbonist, who could hardly be suspected of having a member of the Napoleon family so near him. It may be observed that the house was opposite a small gate leading out of her own palace. Here she remained with her sons carefully se- cluded, and living, in fact, like a prisoner. July 6th, the day the allies entered Paris, one of the ladies of her court, who had always been most attached to her, went to give her some news of what was goinc? on. She found Hortense sitting in a little garden in the interior court of the house, with the two boys playing about her. This garden was nearly twenty feet square, and formed the only play-ground for the young princes, who however contrived, even in that confined space, to take sufficient exercise, while their mother followed mechanically all their move- ments with her eyes. While the boys continued playing, her gossiping visitor sat down and related to her all the news in the utmost possible detail. The queen, having become extremely tired of her confine- ment, was easily persuaded to go out and take a turn about the city. Leaving the boys at home, they went forth as completely disguised as possible and stationed the prince's valet far in the rear, with directions EMPEROR, OF THE FRENCH. i i not to appear to belong to them. On arriving at the barrier, they beheld the English uniform, at which Hortense gave a deep sigh. On their re- turn they encountered persons by whom they did not wish to be recognised, and rushing up to the first porte cochere they could see, knocked and rang. As soon as the porter opened the door, Hortense perceived Madame St. Martin, at sight of whom she rushed back, and ran out again into the street, her companion following her. The porter, of course, took them for a couple of mad women. At length they returned to the queen's retreat, tired and out of breath. 78 LOUIS NAPOLEON. CHAP. IX. GOING INTO EXILE. The events of the last few months had inspired Hortense with a strong desire to leave France for ever, and retire to Switzerland, where she might watch in peace over the education of her sons. Everything among our neighbours is accomplished, more or less, through the instrumentality of women. Mdlle. Ribout, who had always been much attached to Hortense, now called on Fouche, Duke of Otranto, and explained to him the queen's desire to obtain passports. The Bourbons were always weak, vacil- lating, and tricky. Louis XVIIL, in ordering the passports to be given her, professed to look upon her departure with regret, and said he acted under the conviction that, in the present disturbed state of the country, it might be advisable for her to retire for a few months : but that she and her children might then return with perfect safety. But the Bourbons were never remarkable for EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 79 generosity. She was informed she might go, but nobody told her with what funds. Her finances had probably been thrown into disorder by recent events, and she was therefore considerably at a loss for ready money, and found herself under the neces- sity of selling her pictures and other objects of art, in order to be able to travel in a suitable manner, with her children. Among the purchasers who pre- sented themselves was M. dc Talleyrand, who ob- tained possession of one of her best pictures for sixteen thousand francs. Who became masters of the others is not stated, but with the proceeds of her gallery, she 60on found herself in a condition to commence her journey. On the 17th of July, 1815, M. Devaux, Hortense's steward, received an order from Herr Muffling, the governor of Paris under the allies, stating that she must quit the city in two hours. The reason given for so offensive a proceeding was, that she had been concerned in a plot for assassinating all the foreign princes then in the capital. Devaux represented to Muffling that she could not leave in such haste, and obtained a few hours' delay, but was informed that she should not sleep within the walls that night, and must therefore set out before dark. She was to be escorted out of France by the Count dc Voyna, aide- 80 LOUIS NAPOLEON, de-camp to Prince Sckwartzenburg *, and chamberlain to the Emperor of Austria. Madame Nicolai, an old friend, offered the queen her chateau near Paris, where she might sleep the first night. The children were brought from their hiding place, and while they were preparing to start, all sorts of dark reports assailed their ears. It was said that some Bourbonists in- tended lvino* in wait for them on the road, and assassinating the whole party for the millions in jewels and gold which they were supposed to have with them. This threw the family into a state of terror. One of two things must be said of Hortense on this occasion : either that she had no time for acting a part, or that the suddenness of her movements had steeled her against everything, for she exhibited no emotion on quitting her friends, who were all in tears about her. The few necessary preparations having been made, Hortense quitted Paris at nine o'clock in the evening, July 17th. She and her two sons travelled in one carriage, M. de Marmold and the Comte de Voyna in a Berlin, Louis Napoleon's nurse and the femme- * M. Felix Wouters, in order, I suppose, to impart an ad- ditional air of grandeur to Hortense's departure, says that Schwartzenburg himself had the generosity to take her under his protection, and accompany her to Switzerland! (14.) EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 81 de-chambre in a third carriage, and Vincent, her eldest son's valet, rode in front as a courier. They slept the first night at the chateau de Bercy, belong- ing to Madame Nicolai, who received and treated them with the utmost hospitality. Nothing particular occurred till they arrived at Dijon, which they reached about dusk. At the hotel, while the horses were beino; taken from her carriage, a party of the royal guard came up, and surrounded it, attracted, probably, by the vast sums of money it was supposed to contain. Well-dressed ladies collected, and cried out, " Vive le roi." The Count de Voyna, leaving her at the hotel, went out to purchase for himself a pair of spectacles, and during his absence, several soldiers broke into her chamber, and said they were ordered to arrest her in the king's name. This they did with furious looks and gestures, displaying their bravery by insulting a woman. She replied, " Very well, gentlemen, I am your prisoner," and drew her children close to her. The Austrian soldier whom De Voyna had left to protect her in his absence, ordered these insolent Frenchmen out of the room, and during the dispute De Voyna returned, upon which they were ejected by main force. The row went on all night, the heroic Frenchmen drinking, swearing, and strutting G 82 LOUIS NAPOLEON, to and fro, flourishing their sabres, and letting the metal scabbards clink ag-ainst the ground to make more noise. But it was in vain they raged. Foreigners, now their masters, were in the town ; they endeavoured to deceive the Austrians by prodigious lies, but to no purpose. The queen was protected, and passed out of the city, while the ladies who cried " Vive le roi ! " complained that they were deprived of this enjoyment by the Austrian soldiers. The royalist general, in order to facilitate her escape, held a re- view early in the morning, and commanded all the French soldiers in the place to be present at it, which prevented any chance of collision between them and the Austrians. Beyond the last outposts of the army of occupation, the peasants, when they knew it was Hortense who was passing by, flocked in crowds about her carriage, throwing bouquets into it, crying, "Vive l'Empereur," and saying, " that the good went away, while the bad remained." This at least showed that Napoleon was popular in that part of the country, as, in fact, he was everywhere among the peasants. At Dole, there was another rising, very different from that of Dijon. The worthy people took it into their heads that the Count de Voyna was carrying the queen away prisoner, and wanted to kill him in EMPEKOR OF THE FKENCH. 83 order to deliver her. An old man, who was spokes- man for the rest, having listened attentively to the queen's explanation, that De Voyna was her friend, and that she was going with him voluntarily, replied, " I believe it : you have only to say one word." The rest was understood, and signified, " We will throttle M. de Voyna in a moment." The crowd at length dispersed, and Hortense arrived safely at Geneva. Here she was astonished to find that the magistrates, either because they detested the Bonaparte family, or wished to ingratiate themselves with the new French government, wotdd not allow her to settle in the canton, and she was ordered to quit next morn- ing. De Voyna requested a few days' delay, that he might write to Paris, and learn what was to be done with her. At the inn where she stayed, a number of officers were to meet next day to celebrate Na- poleon's overthrow, and as their proceedings could not have proved otherwise than offensive to her, De Voyna advised a short trip among the Alps, and in conformity with his advice, she set out early in the morning, taking her children alons with her. As you stand on the ramparts of Geneva, with your face towards Savoy, you behold an isolated and inked mountain, towering to a great height above the city, and forming, so to say, the vanguard of G 2 84 LOUIS NAPOLEON, the mighty ridges which, retreating and ascending tier above tier, terminate in those snow-clad pinnacles, which appear to pierce and support the amethystine firmament. Directing her course towards Mont Salis, she proceeded as far as possible in her carriage ; but the road soon terminating in a narrow winding pathway, she alighted, and continued to climb the mountain on foot. All around, nature wore a grand and rugged aspect. Rocks, gorges, glens, narrow defiles, and precipices succeeded each other rapidly, producing a new and powerful effect upon the mind. The path as they advanced became less and less distinct, but presently changed its character, and led over easy and pleasant slopes between neatly clipped hedges. Soon the rude air of the Alps began to be impregnated with the perfume of flowers, while marks of the hand of man were impressed everywhere upon the soil. At length Hortense perceived, perched high among the rocks, a little old man, very coarsely dressed, who, leaving his eyrie, descended slowly to meet them. When she had explained who she was, he replied, that he had heard of her persecutions, and invited her to enter his dwelling, a small, quaint, odd little edifice, covered all over for warmth with the bark of trees. It had two rooms, a kitchen, and a sleeping EMPEEOE OF THE FRENCH. 85 chamber, to the latter of which you ascended by a ladder. The furniture of the house was as simple as its structure; but the owner's looks and language soon convinced Hortense that she was not in the hovel of a peasant. By degrees the hermit became communicative, and told her he had formerly been a physician at Geneva, but that having, probably through some unsuccessful affair of the heart, con- ceived a hatred of human society, he had retired to this mountain, that he might be troubled as little as possible by the presence of man. Still, as he was too much of a Sybarite to attend altogether upon himself, he had to endure the perpetual penance of being accompanied by a servant. This unhealthy minded old gentleman had carried a few books along with him, and in his bedroom, which was also his study, there stood a table with materials fur writing. If addicted to self-examination, he might have written an excellent treatise on hypo- chondria^. From the neighbourhood of his cell, the commanded a view, scarcely to be rivalled on the surface of the globe. Far down lay the broad blue waters of the lake, traversed by the arrowy Rhone, and fringed all round by banks of emerald, thickly dotted with towns and cities, with Villages, hamlets, churches, and romantic homesteads, closely embosomed 86 LOUIS NAPOLEON, in trees ; on the left rose the verdant summit of the Jura, on the right the pinky snows of the Bernese Alps. On this scene I have looked from every possible point of view ; from the canton of Geneva, from the mountains of Savoy, from the summit of the Jura, from Meillerie, from Vevay, from Lausanne, in summer and in winter, in autumn and in spring — and yet so grand, so varied, so replete with beauty is the prospect, that it appeared to put on fresh charms every hour, and to engrave itself on the imagination and on the memory. As Hortense was a woman of much sensibility, which at that moment was enhanced by sadness, she could not have regarded this landscape without a strong bounding of the heart. Her children were, however, too young to share her feelings, though her companions, an Austrian and a French- man, probably could. Some days afterwards, Napoleon's mother, together with her brother, Cardinal Fesch, arrived at Geneva, on their way to Italy. They remained one day to dine with Hortense, and then continued their route. The members of this family were always possessed by so concentrated a selfishness, that they could meet and part with the greatest coolness. Letitia aped the Spartan, and perhaps had very little trouble in putting EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 87 on the appearance of insensibility. The situation of her daughter-in-law at this time, exiled, friendless, and altogether uncertain respecting the practicability of settling anywhere, might otherwise have induced her to linger for a few days at Geneva, to afford her such consolation as her presence was calculated to impart. The idea in all likelihood never occurred to her. She was hastening to play the part of a second female pope at Rome, and therefore cared very little what Hortense and her boys had to undergo. Exactly the same remark may be applied to Cardinal Fesch. lie had played out his game of advancement in France, and was impatient to make a new series of moves on a more contracted, though not for that reason a less exciting scene. U 4 88 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. X. INCIDENTS AT AIX. Being compelled to leave Geneva, Hortense with her children Avent to Aix in Savoy, whence De Voyna returned to Paris, in order to serve her, though appa- rently without any result. He was a young man of twenty, but as grave as a judge, and well fitted for diplomacy under Metternich. Here Hortense took a house, which . had attached to it a large court, where Louis Napoleon and his brother collected the little boys of the neighbourhood, and taught them to play at soldiers. Louis was drummer, and marched at the head of the troop, making all the noise he could, while Napoleon with a tin sword was commander. While her children were thus amusing themselves, Hortense was assailed by new troubles. The system of reaction was developing itself rapidly, and in a fearful manner throughout the south. Crimes against the partisans of the revolution became fre- quent ; Marshal Brune was assassinated at Avignon, and it came to the knowledge of the Austrian EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 89 general Rochemann, who commanded the allied forces at Lyons, and in all the neighbouring provinces, that the lives of Hortense and her sons were menaced. He conceived it to be his duty to inform her of this danger ; but because a letter might com- promise him, he despatched an aide-de-camp to Aix to describe his apprehensions verbally. Observing the delicate state of her health, the aide-de-camp explained his mission, not to her, but to the Austrian officer appointed to w r atch over her, and he confided the secret to her female reader. As reports of all kinds were at that time ripe in France, I know not what amount of credit should be attached to general Kochemann's communication. It imported, however, that by some occult authority in Paris, which suspicion can hardly fail to point out, several miscreants, armed with poignards, had been sent to take oti Napoleon's nephews, and thus diminish the number of pretenders to the throne. It seems perfectly certain that all members of the Bonaparte family were strictly watched. It was said that Joseph and Jerome had been arrested in Switzerland, Lucien at Turin ; and though this rumour proved to be unfounded, no doubt was entertained that they moved about perpetually with emissaries at their heels, ready to seize upon the 90 LOUIS NAPOLEON, slightest pretext for delivering them over to the ven- geance of the restored dynasty. That they were hostile to the restoration is certain, that they plotted against it is more than probable ; but for a while terror ren- dered them prudent, and whatever, therefore, their designs may have been, they contrived to envelope them in a mystery too thick to be penetrated by the Bourbon police. Such periods of history have always been marked by crimes ; we know, from our own annals, that ruffians infuriated with loyalty, or the thirst of gold, were always ready and even eager, to imbrue their hands in the blood of those whom they regarded as the king's enemies. By assassins of this kind, inspired by political fanaticism, Dr. Dorislaus was murdered at the Hague, and Mr. Anthony Ascham at Madrid. Cromwell himself had been marked out for their daggers, and though they failed in their design, yet in all likelihood the perpetual terror in which a full knowledge of their flagitious purposes kept him» shortened his days. Similar passions led to similar atrocities in France* Hortense, as I have already observed, had been expelled from Paris as an assassin, who contemplated the murder of all the allied sovereigns. Nothing is so suspicious as guilt. Her enemies thought her capable of such EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 91 a crime, because they themselves experienced no repug- nance to perpetrate crimes equally heinous. Through the humanity of those around her, however, she was for a while spared the agony which the knowlcdg e of what was meditated against her sons would have inflicted on her. All the members of her household appear to have co-operated enthusiastically for the preservation of her and her children, and that, too, without suffering the slightest indication of their so- licitude to be seen. No strangers were on any pre- text admitted into the house. When she and the children went out, they were accompanied and watched over, not as if through the fear of any special enemies, but merely as a measure of general precaution. It may be fairly presumed, therefore, that general llochcmann's kindness proved the means of preserving the present ruler of the French. The allied governments exhibited extreme littleness in all that related to the settlement of the Bonaparte family. The residence of Hortense and her sons em- ploy c(l the serious deliberations of England, liussia, Austria, Prussia, and France, which, while permitting her to inhabit Switzerland, directed their ambassadors, not only to watch strictly over her, but by their petty intermeddling to embarrass all her movements. Thia 92 LOUIS NAPOLEON, solicitude was obviously not so much aimed against her as against her sons, who, when they should grow up, might endanger the throne of the Bourbons. While this subject was occupying her mind, a new cause of vexation presented itself. Her husband having determined to settle in the Roman States, sent to Aix a certain Baron de Zuite with a peremp- tory demand that she should yield up to him her eldest son. For some time she had expected that the ex-king of Holland would take this step ; but the blow, though not unforeseen, was still severely felt. She was fond of her children, and to part with one of them under any circumstances was a misfortune, but in the present case she looked upon it moreover as an insult. The Baron de Zuite was a person by no means calculated to inspire an affectionate mother with confidence. Any other woman, though less care- ful than she was, of their education and safety, would have shrunk from confiding- her son to such a man. His countenance was truly the image of his soul, indicating, in the most unmistakable manner, the existence of every evil passion, and every vice. It was difficult to imagine where King Louis could have found such an individual, and, when he had met with him, how he could think of sending him on such EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 93 a mission. The queen formed a very different judg- ment of the baron, and refused to entrust her son to his care. This, however, she did with much policy. She informed M. de Zuite that it would be wrong for him to set out without taking a little rest, that it would be better for him to make the acquaintance of her son before he set out with him, and to allow time for the tutor to arrive from Paris, whom she wished to accompany his charge into Italy. This preceptor was not a man distinguished for abilities ; but his mo- rality was indisputable, and that, under the circum- stances, was the principal consideration. But Hor- tense did not become reconciled, by delay, to the idea of losing her son. The more she reflected upon it, the more it afflicted her, as appeared evident from the wasting away of her frame. When people contemplate history from the ortho- dox point of view, they are apt to regard it as some- thing very dignified. They persuade themselves that it has nothing to do with little people or little things, and that kings, emperors, and princes, are at once enlarged in their views, and generous and liberal in their appreciation of others. Experience teaches us that it is often quite otherwise. For example, Ilor- t' n- <\ in quitting Paris, imagined she had delivered both the Bourbons and their allies from all violent 94 LOUIS NAPOLEON, apprehensions on her account. But Louis XVIII. and his ministers belonged to that class of persons who behold a bandit in every bush. Having been informed by their intelligent emissaries of the amuse- ments of the young Bonapartes at Aix, they leaped at once to the conclusion that Hortense was organ- ising an army for the invasion of France, and that the youthful Napoleon's tin sword, and Louis's little drum, would prove more prolific of mischief and slaughter than the dragon's teeth of old. Meanwhile Hortense became desirous of cpiitting Savoy, and of settling for a time at Constance, in the grand duchy of Baden. But to reach that city it would be neces- sary to traverse nearly the whole of Switzerland, and this she soon found was not to be done without express permission from the government of each of the cantons through which she would have to pass. While she was engaged in this important negotiation, the day arrived for the departure of her eldest son. It is said there are few evils in life which might not be worse. Hortense thought so on this occasion, because the crimes perpetrated in the contiguous provinces of France, where generals Brune and La Garde had just been assassinated, made her fear for the lives of her children. One of them at least, she thought, would be in safety with her husband in EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 95 Rome, and this blunted the pangs of separation. But little Louis was incapable of deriving any relief from such philosophy. He had never before been separated for a single hour from his brother, and now threw his arms about his neck, and kissed him, and cried as if his heart would break. He is said to have been at the time a gentle, timid child, speaking little, but thinking and feeling a great deal. Sorrow for the loss of his brother — for separation at such an age seems equivalent to death — threw him into the jaun- dice, which however, though it weakened him consi- derably, by no means endangered his life. He had now practically become the only child of his mother, who thenceforward concentrated the greater part of her maternal tenderness on him. 96 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. XL ADVENTURES ON THE WAT TO CONSTANCE. At this time the health of the queen became so ex- tremely bad, that all who took any interest in her feared for her life. She could scarcely take any nourishment, and delighted in nothing but sitting alone, in solitary places, sketching the beauties of the Alps, or reflecting moodily on the misfortunes of her family. At length, on the 28 th of November, she quitted Aix, with her little son, and arrived on the evening of the same day, at her villa of Pregny, near Geneva, half dead with fatigue and cold. The authorities of the little republic once more took alarm, and in the course of the night despatched a body of cavalry, to see, in the language of old Rome, that the state received no detriment from the presence of this dangerous woman. One reason for so extra- ordinary a proceeding, was the belief of the council that Hortense's femme-de-chambre, who was as tall and robust as a man, was no other than Joseph in disguise ; and, considering the tricks and arts of the EMPEEOE OF THE FEENCII. 97 Bonaparte family, this was by no means an extra- vagant supposition. Their fears were of short con- tinuance, for the queen set out immediately on her way to Constance. It is very certain that she constituted at this time a centre of interest to all the wandering Bona- partists who, in disguise and poverty, were flying for their lives. It would be endless to relate all the anecdotes which might be collected in proof of this. In the course of her journey, just before arriving at the little town of Morat in the canton of Fri- bourg, she got out of her carriage and stopped to sketch a landscape on the way-side. The courier had been sent ahead to order dinner at the inn, while the other domestics were grouped in circle round the the principal commands in the insurgent army, but their youth and inexperience rendered it impossible for them to retain their posts, which were transferred to Generals Sercognani and Armandi. Nevertheless they had done much toward- strength- ening the cause of the insurrection. Tiny had K. '2 132 LOUIS NAPOLEON, organised defensive operations from Foligno to Civita Castellana. The youth both of city and country obeyed them : though imperfectly armed they sought to avail themselves of all the resources which the country afforded, and were preparing to take Civita Castellana and liberate the political prisoners who had been for eight years confined in its dungeons. Could they succeed in this enterprise, there would be nothing to obstruct their march to Rome. The father of the young men, who, during the previous part of his life, had treated them with neglect, appeared to be now inspired with ex- traordinary solicitude. But it moved him to no extraordinary exertion on his own part. All his energies were confined to tormenting their mother, and urging her to go after them into the disturbed districts, and bring them back to Florence. He left her not one moment's rest, but constantly renewed his entreaties. Hortense, on the other hand, contended it was beyond her power to induce them to relinquish the enterprise ; she could only engage to restore them to their family, if they themselves wished to return. But should they have taken any active part, she could not even endeavour to persuade them to desert their friends. Besides, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCII. 133 her going would be viewed with great suspicion, and she would be supposed to be carrying them millions to enable the insurgents to continue the war. In this case she would herself be compromised, and there would be no one left who could be useful to them. If we can entirely trust the representations of Hortense, her husband was at this time quite beside himself. Her reasoning produced no conviction on his mind, and his excitement was so great that he even went to the Austrian ambassador, to entreat what was impossible, namely, that he should demand his children from the advanced posts of the army. To account for the weakness, mental and bodily, of this poor prince, Napoleon, one morning at Verona, related during breakfast a very curious story. " Here in this very city," he said, " a circumstance occurred in one of our early campaigns, which pro- duced the most disastrous effect on poor Louis' health and understanding. About one o'clock in the morning a woman of whom he knew scarcely anything broke into the house ; and ever since that time he has been subject to nervous agitations, more or less violent according to the changes f the atmosphere, but of which no art can cure him." In some respects to calm her husband's mind, Ilor- tfense consented to proceed to the Tuscan frontiers, k a 134 LOUIS NAPOLEON, and from thence to write to her sons, requiring them to return immediately. From this point her history- becomes the same with theirs. She expected no result from what she undertook, but went merely to please their father. When she applied for her passports the Prince Corsini, brother of the Tuscan minister, called upon her. His object, no doubt, was to discover her real sentiments, and also, if possible, how far she was implicated in the proceedings of her sons. She explained that her only object in going to the frontier was to satisfy her husband's wishes. The prince then proposed a plan by which means he said she might bring her sons back. This plan, it must be owned, was highly complimentary to the affections of those sons, but not so perhaps to their patriotism or to her affection for them. It was this : that she should proceed to the frontier and thence write to them to say she was ill, upon which the prince did not doubt they would come to her. If they did, a troop of Tuscan horse was to be placed in ambush, who would immediately seize them and bring them back by force to the capital. Hortense, however, refused to put this stratagem in practice, preferring that they should take the chances of war than that she should be a party to laying such a snare for them. EMrEROR OF THE FRENCH. 135 It is certain that the whole Napoleon family was at this time in a state of much excitement. One of the sons of Lucien escaped from his father's chateau, with the obvious intention of joining the insurgents. But his mother remembering the obligations of the family to the Pope, who had in fact created the principalities of Canino and Musignano for Lucien and his eldest son, caused the young man to be Avaylaid, arrested and thrown into prison. This was the example they Avished Ilortense to follow, but, as might have been foreseen, without effect. It is difficult for any one but a mother to com- prehend the excitement and apprehensions of Ilortense at this moment ; she walked her room all night forming schemes for recovering her sons, and flying with them she knew not whither. At length she determined to take refuge with them in Turkey, which had been described to her in glowing colours by the Duke de Kovigo. Meanwhile their father Louis acted like a madman. lie caused their mother to write to General Armanai, who held the chief command among the insurgents, and who had been their eldest son's tutor, requesting him to dismiss them. lie refused to send them their horses or any assistance in money, and thus at once R 4 136 LOUIS NAPOLEON, neutralise their chances of being useful, and of escaping with their lives, in case of reverses. To some extent therefore he may be accused as one of the causes of what happened. The young men had set out with little beyond their courage and their enthusiasm, and their mother now thought she beheld them abandoned to their own resources in the midst of difficulties and dangers. Louis Napoleon and his brother were in the mean- time beset with still greater inquietudes. Nothing succeeded according to their expectations. The greatest consternation prevailed at Rome. People exclaimed on all sides, that their name was the signal for invasion, and diplomacy in fact made it the pretext of that intervention which had previously been decided upon. The letter of an ambassador, which fell into their mother's hands, spoke of her sons in the following terms : " These young men, who still fancy themselves imperial princes, if taken prisoners, will soon find what they really are, by the manner in which we shall treat them." No stress can be laid on the public acts and letters of the Bonaparte family at this period. To cover their real designs, it may have been agreed beween them beforehand, that while the young EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 137 men incited and led the revolt, their older and more influential relatives should appear to condemn their proceedings. Had success attended their efforts it would have been easy to explain everything. But in case of failure, the non-participation of the elders would still maintain the position of the family, and preserve resources for the future. At any rate there is much confusion in all the accounts I have seen of these transactions. As far as possible, I have endeavoured to render my own narrative clear and intelligible. A provisional government had been established at Bologna, and to its members, Cardinal Fesch, and Kinir Jerome who remained at Rome, wrote in con- junction with Louis to say that the young Bonapartes were injurious to their cause, and requesting General Armandi to remove them from the army and send them back. They likewise wrote to the young men themselves, at once commanding and entreating them to return. In one word, friends, enemies, family, everybody united their efforts to neutralise their exertions; while the greatest enthusiasm per- vaded all those parts of the country which they held ; and the brothers, measuring their success by their own ardour and courage, already saw themselves in hope masters of Rome, which they knew to bo 138 LOUIS NAPOLEON, in extreme consternation, and to possess very poor means of defence. In less than two days they did not doubt that the Pope would be in the hands of their small army. It is very clear that the presence of the youn^ Napoleon was looked upon by the Papal govern- ment as the chief strength of the insurrection. Jerome saw the Pope, a consultation was held, and an officer, M. de Stcelting, was despatched to the republican camp, authorised by His Holiness to enter into a parley with the insurgents, to inquire what they wanted, and promise compliance with their wishes. Stcelting saw the elder Napoleon, and desired him to draw up a statement of the demands and complaints of the army. He consulted its chiefs, and with their authority, delivered to the Pope's envoy a summary of the reforms for which the people asked. Whatever may have been their secret intentions, it seems probable, that the pertinacious interference of the effete and timid members of the family at length produced its effect. The provisional go- vernment of Bologna was seized with timidity, and refused to attempt the storming of Rome. It then dispatched General Sercognani with fresh troops, to replace the young Napoleons, who left, and EMFEBOB OF THE FRENCH. 139 repaired to Ancona and afterwards to Bologna, where they offered to serve as mere volunteers. Their father now imagined he had succeeded ; but irritated by the persecution to which they had been exposed from him and the rest of the family, they wrote to say, that if they Avere any further interfered with, they would go and serve in the Polish insurrection, and thus place themselves beyond the reach of family intrigues. But Louis did not the less persist in his idea that Hortense ought to £ro after them. It soon became evident, however, that they who had removed them from their command in the army had performed for them a most dangerous service, because the government fearing them no longer, became more severe. The Tuscan authorities now informed their father, that they should not again be suffered to reside in the grand duchy, and the Austrian ambassador added that they should henceforward be excluded from Switzerland. Jerome wrote from Rome to apprise their mother, that if taken by the Austrian army, they must be lost ; and it is extremely pro- bable that they would in fact have been immediately put to death. The news soon reached Florence that the enemy had entered Romagna, that the roar of artil- 140 LOUIS NAPOLEON, lery had been heard, and no doubt was entertained of the terrible result. Everybody perceived that the cause of the insurgents was hopeless. There happened at that time to be an English gentleman at Florence whose family Hortense had formerly obliged. She sent for him now, and said he would more than save her life if he could procure for her son an English passport, representing her as an English lady travelling with her two sons through France to London. The Englishman immediately did what she required, and armed with this docu- ment, she prepared to set out in search of her sons. Her husband was so weak and timid, that she could not venture to confide her designs to him. His plan was for them to embark at Ancona for Corfu, whence they might repair to Malta, or remain some- where under the protection of England. Hortense allowed him to suppose that she intended to do as he desired, because she knew that had the secret been confided to him, he would have betrayed it through mere imbecility. As it was, he no doubt whispered the secret of their embarkation at Ancona, wdiich, being fully credited, threw off suspicion from her real plan. In fact, she obtained from the Tuscan government a passport authorising her to proceed to the Roman EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 141 States, in furtherance of her ostensible design, while, as I have said, she secretly procured from her English friend another passport, with all the necessary signa- tures, which she concealed about her person. Her husband had lent her his travelling carriage ; but the difficulty was how to escape from Florence without betraying her purpose at the first step. It was necessary she should have both her passports signed, and to brinsr this about she must have recourse to stratagem. She therefore went out in the evening, and driving to a particular gate, produced her English passport, and with beating heart sat in the carriage while it was examined by the police. The officer on duty came to the carriage door, and re- marked that she was not leaving the city by the proper gate. She replied, "True; but I am first going to spend a few days at a villa before I proceed On my return to England." Not suspecting any- thing, he wished her a pleasant journey and dismissed her. She then drove out about a half a league, with the intention of returning to the city by a different ranee. Unluckily there was no cross road, so felt herself under the necessity of risking a discovery by coming back to the gate by which she had come out. She approached the spot where 142 LOUIS NAPOLEON, the police were at that inornent engaged with a diligence, and then dashing along the small road at the foot of the walls, reached another gate, through which she went in. The police asked her where she had been. She replied, " Out for a drive." " What," they exclaimed, " in that travelling car- riage ! " " Oh," she replied, " it is one that I am about to buy, and I am trying it." They allowed her to pass and she returned to her hotel. The English passport had been signed, and she could now start in the morning with that of Tuscany. This fact I relate to show at once the courage of the mother and the fears of the Tuscan government which surrounds it- self with such a system of passports and police. At a reasonable hour next day she set out for Foligno, where she determined to wait the result of the Austrian invasion. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 143 CHAP. III. HIS DISCOMFITURE AND FLIGHT. HoRTENSE arrived at Perusia, the inhabitants of which, intoxicated with a single draught of liberty aa with opium, had given themselves up to pleasure and rejoicing. Covered with cockades and ribands, they appeared to be celebrating some great festival, and seemed to imagine in their simplicity that because they had done no harm to any one, no one would do any harm to them. Here, from a gentleman in the interest of her family, she obtained all the informa- tion she needed respecting the cross-roads, places of concealment, the state of the country, and the move- ments of the enemy. Count Pepoli having come to Perugia in search of ammunition for the insurgent army, called upon her, and discussed the chances of the insurrection. Their hopes appeared to be en- tirely founded on the belief that there would be no intervention ; that France would keep back the Austrian.*, and leave them to deal as they could with the Pope. Put if a foreign army should appear, all would be over, sinee the recruits had neither 144 LOUIS NAPOLEON, common nor small arms, and were, in fact, altogether unprepared. Pursuing her journey, Hortense arrived at Foligno, where she had an interview with General Sercognani, who described his distress and the courage of his young volunteers, which he was compelled to re- strain because he did not possess the means of undertaking the siege of the smallest towns. " Were the Pope's soldiers," he said, " to make a sortie, the patriots would immediately rush upon them, and capture their cannon ; but foreseeing this result, the enemy keep completely within their walls." Hortense, having often conversed with able gene- rals in France, was competent to understand and discuss the details of a campaign, and suggested to Sercognani 4 the prudence of opening a communica- tion with the Mediterranean, so that they might be able to effect a retreat, supposing the Austrians should gain the upper hand. It appears evident that from this time no hope of victory was really entertained by the insurgents, whose best friends looked forward to nothing beyond the safety of the persons engaged. Sercognani having occasion to despatch a courier to Ancona, Hortense sent by the same messenger a letter to her sons, impressing upon their minds the EMFEBOB OF THE FRENCH. 145 duty of taking care of themselves. She desired them to inform her, at all events, what route they designed to take, especially in case of defeat, and said she would remain where she was to receive them. Her sons now saw, and ought to have seen from the first, that nothing could be done, because the leaders of the insurrection desired to remain friends with everybody. " Woe to them," she ex- claims with great justice, " who commence a revolu- tion without possessing the means of ensuring success, or at least of rendering it probable ! ; ' At a later period, her younger son no doubt thought of his mother's opinion, and determined not to fail through too great moderation. Considering things from this point of view, he was perfectly right. The most rose-coloured revolutionist that ever drew sword for liberty is hated by tyrants as much as the most ferocious. Whoever rises against them, therefore, should throw moderation to the winds, and strike immediately at the root of their power. For want of being swayed by this conviction, the Italians have generally failed in their insurrections. Whenever they make up their minds in earnest to be free, they must begin by striking at the root of the evil. If they fail afterward-, they can but die, and the same fate is certain to await them even for playing J. 146 LOUIS NAPOLEON, harmlessly at revolution, as the unhappy Romans did in 1831. Napoleon, the elder brother of Louis, seems to have been quite of this opinion, but to have wanted power to carry out his views. With a body of about two hundred men, he repulsed a considerably larger force of Papal troops, mingled with brigands, who emerged from the Bagne to capture the towns of Terni and Spoleto. With these ferocious enemies, Napoleon and his little band carried on a hand-to- hand contest in a wood. There was no generalship, but a great deal of courage- The leader fought like his men, and hazarded his cause that he might in- dulge the instinct of valour. In all wars you might find hundreds of examples of personal prowess in the most extraordinary situations, but it is only now and then in the course of many centuries, that a man appears who can think calmly in the midst of balls, pikes, 'and flashing sabres. Young Napoleon was successful, and led back his prisoners to Terni amidst the acclamations of the people. While this was going forward, Louis Napoleon with another detachment of the army was hovering about the skirts of Civita Castellana, which he was preparing to assault, the Papal garrison not having taken the necessary precautions for its defence. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 147 During these operations before the city, an officer who had remained faithful to the Pope, viewing from the walls the dispositions made by Louis Napo- leon, turned round and remarked to those about him: " Look at that young man, and observe how cleverly he sets about his work, and yet it was I who was his master, and initiated him in the knowledge of tactics." He had, in fact, given Louis Napoleon lessons in the art of war in Home; and was now proud of his pupil. While everything was in extreme uncertainty, Ilortense, in an obscure inn at Foligno, walked to and fro in her chamber. The walls were dirty, and covered with smoke, and here and there on the plaster were inscriptions written by travellers as a reminiscence of their passage through the town; perhaps the only signs remaining to show that they had ever existed. She was very sad. Her imagina- tion went back twenty years, to the birth of the King of Rome, when Napoleon was in the height of his power. She took up a pencil, and also wrote upon the wall, and while she was thus engaged her eldest son breathed his last. The courier she had despatched in search of the young men found them at Forli. The insurgents had already quitted i. 2 148 LOUIS NAPOLEON, Bologna, threatened by the Austrian army, then on its march towards Ravenna. On receiving this intelligence, Hortense found it impossible to remain any longer at Foligno, and set out on the road to Forli. At the very first post, however, a man approached her carriage, bringing her the disastrous news that Napoleon was danger- ously ill, words which were soon exchanged for others still more disastrous, — that he was dead. During a whole day and a night, this unhappy mother travelled alone in search of sons of whom one was now no more. She arrived at length at Pesaro, where, overcome with fatigue, excitement, and grief, she betook herself to the palace of her nephew, and was carried more dead than alive to bed. Here Louis Napoleon came to her, and embracing her as sons in deep sorrow embrace their. mothers, con- fessed that he was henceforward alone in the world, that his brother, his best and only friend, had died in his arms.* * Louis Blanc speaks of his death as mysterious, but in what sense I am unable to decide. No doubt very great uncertainty hanfs over it. We know very little of the circumstances which attended the young man's illness, or in what manner he breathed his last. It only seems clear that Louis never quitted his brother, but behaved towards him with the utmost affection while affection could be of any avail. EMFEROR OF THE FRENCH. 149 This might have appeared sufficiently calamitous for a mother. But immediately afterwards events occurred which made her look upon the speedy death of her son as a blessing from heaven. Had he lingered longer it would have been necessary to drag him about dying in her carriage, pursued by the enemy, and every moment in danger of falling into their hands, Nothing was now to be thought of but flight. The revolutionary authorities of Bologna had already taken refuge in Ancona, where, on the brink of the Adriatic, they were awaiting their fate. At no great distance in the rear, the Austrians, the most fero- cious and relentless soldiers in Europe, were rapidly coming up. The Podesta of Pesaro now came to Hortense and said: "The enemy are almost in Bight, and the sails of their ships are likewise visible in the offing, making towards Sinigaglia." This was enough. Ill or well, living or dying, .-lit' musi take instantly to flight. She had still one son left, and must endeavour to save him at all hazards. Horg is were procured, and fastened at once to her carriage, into which she was lifted, not being able to walk. In this state she set out, reached Fano by nightfall, and on the morrow found herself in Ancona. The possessions of the Bona- parte family were widely scattered over this part of i. ) 150 LOUIS NAPOLEON, Italy. Here also her nephew possessed a palace, on the very edge of the sea, the waves of which often leaped up to the window of the room she occupied. From this window, she could command a view of the whole port, and of the few frail barks in which alone the fugitive Republicans could possibly fly from the shores of Italy. Those wretched vessels constituted also her only hope, exposed as they would be to the ships of Austria, now complete masters of the Adriatic. To escape by land, she believed to be impracticable ; since, in the attempt to reach Foligno, she Avould have to penetrate through the Austrian lines with her unhappy son, who with General Zucchi and the Modenese had been excepted from the general amnesty proclaimed by the Austrian general upon entering the Papal territories. Events distressing beyond description now suc- ceeded each other without intermission. All foreigners who had joined the insurrection were to be put to death; there was therefore not a moment to be lost. This was the time to try the extent of her resources and the strength of her character. Looking far ahead she foresaw that should she even succeed in reaching the Tuscan territory, where it would be necessary for her to travel with the English pass- port, her progress would be inevitably stopped, EMPEROl; OF THE FRENCH. 151 unless she could discover some one who would con- sent to-personate her eldest son. Among those who were most deeply compromised was the young Marchese Zappi. She sent for him, and inquired whether he Avould place his life in her hands. He consented, and preparations were at once made for departure. While thus en- gaged she observed that Louis was not only sad and melancholy, but extremely unwell. She sent for a physician, who declared that he was in a fever, but that if he went to bed at once, and were taken care of, he might possibly be able to set out in the morning. When the morning came, however, his mother upon looking in his face saw it was covered with a fiery eruption. He had the measles. Ilortense now stood in need of all her presence of mind. She caused a place to be taken on board of a vessel still in the harbour ; she sent for her son's passport, signed by all the authorities, and made out for Corfu ; she spread the report that it was she herself who was ill, and made up a bed for her son in a cabinet close to her own room. Here she fell on her knees, and almost in despair, threw her whole soul on the protection of Providence. Her servants went backwards and forwards between her palace and the little vessel which was to weigh I. -4 152 LOUIS NAPOLEON", anchor that evening for Corfu, and thus imposed upon those persons whose curiosity led them to busy themselves in these matters. Next day it would have been too late ; but the vessel set sail at nightfall, and no one doubted that Louis Napoleon had left the shores of Italy. In truth, however, he still remained in the power of his enemies ; the slightest indiscretion might cause his destruction. Everything was to be feared, and in order to embarrass his mother still more a courier arrived from her husband. Being himself in despair he thought, of course, she had yielded to hers, and vehemently insisted that Louis should embark imme- diately. " Save, I implore you," he said, " the only son left to us." He then besought her to inform him of all the arrangements which had been made, but knowing the weakness of his character, she was very careful not to comply with his wishes. Al- lowing him to suppose with the rest of the world that their son had set sail for Corfu, she began to take measures for carrying out her own design. Scarcely doubting that her husband's courier would be stopped on the way, and the letters of which he might be the bearer read, she dictated a letter to her husband embodying the popular views respecting her son. To use her own expression, she gave him EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 153 all the comfort he needed, and kept her troubles to herself. She said their son had set sail for Corfu * with the passport made out in another name, that he was in good health, that she felt no uneasiness on his account, and that she would join him as soon as she should be well enough to leave her bed. When she found her husband had been terrified by the intelligence that a ship bound from Ancona had been taken by the Austrians, she got her son Louis to write with his own hand a short letter dated Corfu, in which he described his safe arrival, and said he would write next from England. The day after Louis fell ill, a courier came to announce to Ilortense that the Austrian general would take up his quarters in the very palace in which she was staying. Here was a strange in- crease of the danger of her position, for although she wraa not to be disturbed in the few rooms she oc- cupied, a single door only divided her apartment * This appears to have misled the public at the time, and many writers \v t, and vciy little resp id for the established order of things in any part of the world. His ideas, however, were rather those of his family than his own : besides, the " Reveries," which have often N 2 180 LOUIS NAPOLEON, been spoken of as a book, were only a few slight thoughts thrown carelessly together, and indicating the writer's strong desire to exercise power over the French people. Chateaubrand, who happened to be then on a visit at the Chateau of Arenenberg, looked over the manuscript and suggested several alterations, some of which were probably adopted, though the paper containing his suggestions having got mislaid, the author failed to derive from them all the benefit which he might otherwise have done. In a little piece entitled " The Exile," there is a passage which should be whispered nightly to the author's eai', by many thousand voices from the burning sands of Africa and the pestilential marshes of Cayenne. " Oh, you whom happiness has rendered selfish, who have never suffered the tortures of exile, you think it a slight thing to banish a man from his country ; you have to learn that exile is a perpetual martyrdom, that it is death, — not the glorious death of those who die for their native land, not the still sweeter death of those whose last breath is breathed forth beside the domestic hearth, but a death of wasting away, slow and hideous, which undermines you, hour by hour, until it at length lays you low in an obscure and desert grave." EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 181 If I conversed with Louis Napoleon, I would re- mind him of these words, and of all those others scarcely less forcible and eloquent which succeed them in the fragment. When he wrote them he was himself an exile, and experienced all the bitterness of his condition. Would it not be politic now to throw open freely the approaches to France to those thou- sands of brave men who must otherwise be gathered to their fathers in those distant and nameless graves which he has described so well. Every person who bore the name of Bonaparte thought himself constrained to favour revolution, not for the purpose of liberating nations, but as a means of self-aggrandisement. This was pre-eminently Louis Napoleon's case : he looked down from the Swiss mountains upon the rich plains of France, and conceived, not without some reason, that the terres- trial level before him represented pretty correctly the intellectual level of the nation. There was nothing very great to be seen anywhere. In the reunions of the Bonaparte clan, he had no doubt learned one very important Lesson, namely, that of keeping his mind free from the vulgar superstition of titles and distinctions. He looked upon a king as :i man, and nothing more. He therefore entertained very little respect for Louis Philippe, whose dis- 182 LOUIS NAPOLEON, honesty, political hypocrisy, mock piety, and real irreligion, inspired him with contempt. Still he beheld the regal Tartuffe imposing successfully upon the world. But there was another superstition in France, to which he now began seriously to think of addressing himself. I mean that superstition of the French mi- litary classes for his uncle's memory, which really partook of the nature of idolatry. He bethought himself too of another circumstance little less sia;ni- ficant or important — the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy and the Jesuits over the minds' of the people. Louis Philippe was a materialist, and favoured what the French were then pleased to call philosophy, which means hostility to all that is spiritual and noble in our nature. He surrounded his dynasty with freethinkers, scoffers, men without faith or truth, whose principal delight in life was turning religion into ridicule. Napoleon had done the same, and reaping as he had sown, found among the men of his own ideas, innumerable examples of baseness, treachery, and ingratitude. It seemed to Louis Napoleon that without being religious, it would be possible, by affecting a respect for the Church, to secure the co-operation of the clergy ; he therefore became, it is said, a member of the Society of Jesus, which, though attached to the Bourbons, would not EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 183 object to the Bonapartes, provided that through them they could increase the lustre and power of their order. Hortense, as I have already remarked, had entered upon the devout period of life, loved to visit churches, to pray before images and to interest the hierarchy in the fate of her son. He had been brought up, it will be remembered, by an abbe ; he had an uncle in the sacred college ; his grandmother had been a sort of femlae pope at Pome. All his traditions therefore, all his connexions, all his ideas were impressed with the character of the papacy. This was something to begin with ; still his visible and palpable inheritance was his uncle's fame. Upon that, it would always be safe to trade in France. Philosophers compliment man with the reputation of being a thinking animal. But in reality very few men think at all. The things which pass through their minds, and obtain the name of thoughts or ideas, are mere phantasms, prejudices, fallacies, puerile opinions, which it demands no effort to receive or to perpetuate. People in such a mental state are ready to worship anything, and these constituted the mass of Napoleon's partisans. Louis therefore very judiciously addressed himself in his writings to this large section of the French ■. i 184 LOUIS NAPOLEON, people; but, not possessing the art of interesting their imaginations, he mi^ht have continued writing till doomsday, without producing any impression on them, for in spite of the name upon the title-page, the world would not read his books. There was nothing new, nothing great, nothing absorbing in his ideas. What he wrote was not amiss. In his opinions, he was sometimes right, though very often wrong. But it was always the old Napoleon material that was worked up ; a thin film of republicanism on the surface concealed the deep stratum of imperialism which lay solid and compact below. Failing to move the world by his pen, Louis Napoleon essayed to move it by acting on the fancy of women. It is well known that the gentler sex are in general fond of titles, and very much carried away by respect for dynasties. Louis therefore now began to think of what could be done by making love, not as a matrimonial speculation, but as a means of creating partisans. Nature had denied him manly beauty, but fortune had made him a prince, and fortune in this instance was too powerful for nature. He went out into society, he made himself friends, he laid himself out for travellers, he became talked of, and every mention made of him, augmented his influence over the French mind. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 185 Our neighbours ave a very gallant people, very philosophical, and very witty, but nevertheless it is extremely easy to dupe them. Besides they have a habit of getting tired of everything. Louis Philippe, moreover, was growing old, and had all the vices which nature too often connects with age. He was greedy of money, and there were few things of which he would not be guilty to obtain it. Like Napoleon also, he wished to quarter his sons and daughters, as kings and queens, upon all the surrounding countries. He was always intriguing, always meddling with the funds, always filling his bags, and emptying other people's. Charles V. describes fortune as a true woman, who leaves the old to smile upon the young, and Louis Napoleon confidently reckoned upon finding her in this mood. .Military adventurers, in whom France always abounds came to him from time to time, assuring him of the attachment of the army, and demonstrating how easy it would be for a man of courage and capacity with all the pretensions which ho possessed, to make his appearance on any point of the frontier, win over a small number of regiments, and with these to march upon the capital and leaven the whole army with revolution. Napoleon's triumphant march upon Paris, after his 186 LOUIS NAPOLEON, return from Elba, was too obvious not to be cited as an example of what might be done. Of course there was this difference, that Louis was not his uncle, and had not led the soldiers to victory on a hundred fields. Still it might be worth while to try what could be accomplished. To organise an insurrection was something better than writing common-place books, spinning political reveries, or political considerations, and waiting until fortune should come across the troubled waters of this world, like the dove to the ark, bringing along with her a laurel instead of an olive leaf. These reflections maturely weighed at length decided him, and he determined to commence his career by making a dash upon Strasbourg. Many persons have called in question the morality of this enterprise as well as of that afterwards undertaken against Boulogne. But in my opinion, it was by no means more immoral than the return of the Bourbons to France. He had as much right as anyone else to make himself master of the throne, if he could suc- ceed in getting it. If he had no just claim, neither had Louis XVIII., nor had Louis Philippe. He merely invited the French people to make a new choice of a king or emperor. If they chose him, well, he would gain a crown. If not, he had a head EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 187 at the service of Louis Philippe, who was free to cut it off if he pleased. It must have been by some such logic as this that Louis Napoleon convinced himself of the justice and practicability of his enter- prise. In the mere matter of prudence, he was inferior to the Bourbons, as well as to Louis Philippe. The former had been forced upon France by foreign bayonets ; the latter had owed his throne to his own intrigues, to the weakness of Lafayette, to the precipitation and caprice of the Parisians. Louis Napoleon appealed likewise to bayonets, but they were at least French, and so far, I think, he was more respectable than Louis XVIII. or his successors. The country in which Louis Napoleon had found an asylum had been recently engaged in a quarrel with France, which, always addicted to the system of espionage, had been supporting a gang of emissaries on the Swiss territory, thus insulting the dignity of the Republic. But France was powerful, and Switzerland was weak. In the eyes of Louis Philippe, it mattered not at all on which side justice lay. It was sufficient for him that he possessed the means of overawing the confederated cantons, and insolence of his ambassador proved thai he re- I exclusively on force. The cantons Bubmitl 188 LOUIS NAPOLEON, but the whole population of Switzerland cherished in their hearts the most inveterate hatred against the government which had subjugated their own. It was while matters were in this situation between Switzerland and France that Louis Napoleon organised his conspiracy. AVhen the plan first sug- gested itself to him is not known, but probably it dates as far back as the revolution of July. Up to that time he may have thought with the rest of the world that the government of the Restoration was calculated to be durable, as it really was had the Bourbons known how to accommodate themselves to the genius of the age. Their fall is a proof of how absurd the attempt is to govern by obsolete ideas. Louis XVIII. and Charles X. never reflected that they were living in the nineteenth century. Their minds were filled with the traditions of Louis XIV., and they considered the French nation, with the country it inhabited, as entirely their property, and repudiated all notions of liberty, right, and justice as puerile innovations. The overthrow of such a government was as natural as it was easy ; and Louis Napoleon never forgave himself for the misfortune of not having been on the spot to pick up the crown which had been cast into EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 189 the streets of Paris in the month of July. It seems to me perfectly certain that from that day forward his whole life was a conspiracy, and numbers of officers in the French army, despising Louis Philippe's political inaction, were easily gained over by the agents of Louis Napoleon. He further took means to discover the state of parties in France, the inclinations of leading statesmen, and the general temper of the army. The reports of his friends were neither altogether favourable nor altogether the reverse; but, upon carefully balancing chances, it appeared to him that there existed good reasons for auguring well of an attempt at a military insur- rection. I lis greatest fears were of the republican party, which, in France, however, is the most unin- telligible of political combinations. It is not based so much on patriotism as on ambition. Real Ke- publicans do not desire the subversion of governments, that they may personally profit by it, but that their country may become greater and happier. In France it is to be feared the word republic lias been too often used to mask designs of personal aggrandisement, cither in politics or war. Louis Blanc, who professedly belongs to this party, observe* that, at the time of which 1 am speaking, it 190 LOUIS NAPOLEON, was compelled to defer its hopes, for want of a name and a chief. This remark of itself suffices, because it is founded in truth, to explain the failure of re- publican efforts among our neighbours. When the people require a name and a chief, they may be pre- pared for insurrection, for barricades, for war, for glory, for conquest, but they are not prepared for a Republic. This means the abnegation of self, hostility to the worship of great names and great personages, and an ardent love of liberty for its own sake. Yet they who considered themselves republicans at that time in France were formidable, because they were brave, and ready to shed their blood like water for what they called liberty, equality, fraternity, symbolised by the tri-coloured flag. Louis Napoleon therefore might well fear them, and desire to win them over to his side, as he afterwards, with the greatest ability, contrived to do, for their entire destruction and his own aggrandisement. For this result several democratic writers of eminence are partly answerable. They laboured to bring about the recal of the Bonaparte family ; they exhausted their remarkable abilities in impressing upon the minds of the French people the belief of Louis Napoleon's goodness ; and they are now ex- EMPEEOK OF THE FRENCH. 191 piating their mistake by an exile which will be co-lasting with their lives, or at least with Louis Napoleon's power, unless they choose to abjure their principles, and consent to write in the interest of a master. 192 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAR VII. HIS FIRST ATTEMPT AGAINST LOUIS PHILIPPE'S THRONE. When Louis Napoleon had in theory matured his design, he proceeded to Baden-Baden, nominally in search of pleasure, but in reality for the purpose of finding: fit instruments to work with. How far on this or any other occasion Hortense was acquainted with her son's designs does not very distinctly appear ; but it seems to me that she knew more of them than is generally imagined. When he left her at Arenenberg, ostensibly to proceed on a hunting party into the principality of Heckingen, she dis- played far more excitement and emotion than would have been called forth by the prospect of a se- paration of a few weeks. It seems evident that she understood the full extent of the danger he was about to encounter ; for throwing her arms about his neck, she pressed him to her heart, and then slipped upon his finger the marriage ring of Napoleon and Josephine, which she regarded as a sort of talisman calculated to protect him in the hour of peril. No EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 193 mother acts thus, when her son is merely going to enjoy the pleasures of the chase, and Hortense certainly would not have indulged in any such extravagance ; but if she understood the nature of the design which took him from her, and that he was going to strike for empire or death, the pro- foundness of her emotion was both natural and justifiable. A knowledge of the conspiracy had already begun to be diffused through those classes of French society which are must deeply infected with the passion for change. There are in all countries those who love mystery, intrigue, excitement for their own sake, and who will venture or lose their lives rather than remain in that state of stagnation, which to persons of an ambitious character is worse than death. There was at this time, hovering about the confines of tin. 1 political world, a certain Madame Gordon, the daughter of a captain in the imperial arn iy, by profession a public singer. To her the secret of the conspiracy was by chance disclosed, upon which she threw herself impetuously into the design, and coming in a professional way to Baden- Baden made known to Louis Napoleon the fact of her having been initiated. To what extenl she now became mixed up with 194 ' LOUIS NAPOLEON, his projects, it is not easy to decide. She had many patrons, friends, admirers, and devoted herself alto- gether to the winning over of new partisans to the Pretender. Other individuals, apparently more influ- ential, but in reality perhaps of inferior consecpuence, joined the conspiracy, actuated partly by dislike of Louis Philippe's lethargic government, partly by that mental intoxication which urges political adventm-ers to engage in desperate enterprises simply for the gratification they afford the craving mind. Among; these was Colonel Vaudrey, who com- manded at Strasbourg the fourth regiment of ar- tillery. The basis of a revolution was now laid down with considerable ability. The first step was to win over the democrats of Alsace, by holding out to them the hopes of calling the people lawfully together ; to allure the garrison of Strasbourg with the cry of Vive l'Empereur, to call- the people to liberty, and the youth of the public schools to arms, to place the fortifications under the care of the na- tional guard, and then, at the head of all the military force that could be collected, to march upon Paris. It was not doubted that at the sight of the imperial eagle the old soldiers who had conquered in so many wars would leave the plough, and hasten to aid in the construction of a new empire. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. '!).", But when men deal with calculations, they find everything easy. It is different when they descend to realities. In order to judge for himself of his chances of success, Louis Napoleon repaired to Strasbourg, where, on calling his friends together, and entering with them into deliberation, his enthu- -iii was damped. Some of those to whom he ad- dressed himself, betrayed his designs to the public authorities, and it appeared that among the indivi- duals immediately about him was an agent of the government. No doubt this man was one of the most ardent of the conspirators, because he was at once commissioned to excite and to betray. He urged Louis Napoleon to his ruin, affecting all the while to be his bosom friend; he took down his words, he registered his looks and gestures, and old Louis Philippe, in his snug cabinet in the Tuilerics, chuckled over the wild projects of the ambitious ith whom he coaxed into rebellion that he might have a pretext for crushing him. Let me not however be understood to attribute the origin of the Strasbourg expedition to Louis Philippe. The idea sprang from the mind of Louis Napoleon himself, but the ment it became visible the I'Yeiich Government had an emissary by his side. The history of this expedition has been too 196 LOUIS NArOLEON, often written, to render it either interesting or ne- cessary to enter with minuteness into details. Louis Napoleon having repaired to Strasbourg, concealed himself in the house of M. Persigny, where he re- mained till considerably after dark. He then left his effects and' papers in the charge of Madame Gordon and proceeded to another house in a distant part of the city, in which at a certain hour all the conspira- tors were to assemble on the ground floor. The weather was cold, but a bright autumnal moon lighted up the streets of Strasbourg, whose gloomy build- ings were converted by the force of his imagination into so many harbingers of success. All the arrangements practicable had been care- fully made, but in such undertakings the interval which immediately precedes the final blow is replete with so keen a sense of danger, and beset with so many solicitudes that even at the risk- of shipwreck- ing their design, the accomplices are under a sort of necessity of meeting, deliberating, and encouraging each other. They sat. in consultation all night, meaning to strike the decisive blow at six o'clock in the morning. No one in the house knew why these persons had met together, or what reasons they could have for sitting up so late. At length the other lodgers went to bed, and it is probable that in the whole house the conspirators EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 197 only remained awake. But when men are playing at so desperate a game, and have set down their lives as the stake, the animal spirits are too much excited to render sleep possible. A short time before day, the tramp of horse soldiers was heard in the street, and the members of the little plot, imagi- ning themselves to be discovered, ran to the window, threw it open and looked out. In a French country town, the streets at night are indescribably dark and dreary, especially on the verge of November. The prospect which met their eyes was cold and dis- couraging, and the noise and clatter still continuing, one of their number went forth to reconnoitre. While he was absent their solicitude and apprehen- sions increased ; but after keeping them in suspense he returned, and explained that the cause of their alarm had been a small body of troopers sent out from the cavalry barracks in search of some run- away horses. The noise they had made during their excitement awakened the people over head, who also went to the window, and had they listened might probably have heard enough to compromise the conspirators. But they returned to their beds, and left Louis NTapoL on and his friends waiting anxiously for the six o'clock chime-. length the bells in the old cathedral tower began o 3 198 , LOUIS NAPOLEON, to announce to the good Catholics of Strasbourg that the hour of devotion had arrived. The conspira- tors emerged into the streets which were still obscure, and proceeded towards the barracks of the artillery. Just as the dim light of dawn was creeping down between the tall houses of Strasbourg, the men of the fourth regiment were called out into the open space before their cantonments, where Colonel Yau- drey, with his drawn sword in his hand, exclaimed to them, " Behold the nephew of Napoleon," upon which the men, with as much enthusiasm as they could muster on a cold autumnal morning, exclaimed " Yive l'Empereur!" There were, however, many other regiments in garrison at Strasbourg, which it was necessary to gain over, together with their commander General Yoirol. Towards his apartments, Louis Napoleon, Colonel Vaudrey, and their friends now proceeded, and breaking into his chamber found him still un- dressed. Holding up before his eyes the eagle which they bore along with them, they invited him to recognise the symbol of the empire, and join their enterprise. General Yoirol, however, instead of giving his assent, endeavoured to convince Louis Napoleon of the hopelessness of his undertaking, and his words, delivered with decision and authority, cast EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 199 a damp over their enthusiasm ; placing him under arrest, they proceeded with a considerable abatement of confidence towards the barracks to harangue the troops. Throughout this affair, Louis Xapoleon displayed much courage, but very little sagacity. He suffered himself to be led up a narrow lane, into a small square, from which there was no other exit. But little time was left for reflection ; every moment was precious, retreat was hardly to be thought of, and yet affairs were already beginning to wear an unpromising aspect. The artillerymen stood behind their guns, to which the horses were already limbered, and it is probable, that had time been allowed for their passions to warm, they might have fired upon the infantry and commenced a civil war in the streets. But the several regiments of foot then in garrison at Strasbourg received Louis Napoleon coldly. They raised no shout; no exciting cry passed from rank to rank. Some one exclaimed, "It is not the nephew of Xapoleon, but Colonel Vaudrey's own nephew ; I know him well, for I have studied with him."' This produced sneers and laughs of derision among the soldiers, and Louis Napoleon saw in an in -taut that his hopes were at an did. Si ill .. i 2 00 , LOUIS NAPOLEON, be once or twice attempted to address the soldiers, but perceiving it to be all in vain, he besought one of the artillerymen to give him a horse, on which he might save himself by flight. It was to no purpose. His enemies closed round him. He retreated towards a wall, numbers of the infantry with fixed bayonets pursuing. The artillery horses scared by the noise and the flash of sabres reared and plunged, and the future emperor ran imminent risk of being trampled to death in an ignominious fray. It now at length became evident that no amount of intrepidity could any longer avail, so with as good a grace as he could command, he yielded himself up a prisoner to the soldiers, and soon found ample leisure to collect his ideas in one of the dungeons of Strasbourg. It generally happens, that conspirators commit their designs to writing, set down their names and numbers, and fabricate documents calculated to com- promise all their friends and adherents, who, but for these proofs, might escape suspicion. Louis Na- poleon had fallen into this grievous error, and left at his lodgings heaps of letters and papers full of fatal evidence against his fellow-conspirators. In a small city like Strasbourg, news spreads like wild fire. Madame Gordon soon learned the failure of the EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 201 enterprise; but instead of providing for her own safety by flight, she employed herself in committing hastily to the flames all the memorials of the plot. This act of courage and sagacity on the part of a woman defeated the vengeance of the French Government, and preserved many who must other- wise have shared the ruin of Louis Napoleon's cause. The men in authority under Louis Philippe were not permitted to behave insolently or harshly to- wards their prisoner. 1 laving been kept in confinement for several days, he was informed that a carriage was in waiting all the door, in which he was to proceed to Paris. None of his friends were allowed to accompany him ; all were left to face the rigour of the law, while his rank, and the relation in which he stood to a former dynasty, preserved him- from being treated as a imon political offender. Ilortcnse in this emergency once more quitted her retreal at Arenenberg, and in spite of the decree of banishment, which still existed in all its rigour against her, ventured into France, to intercede with Louis Philippe for her son. It was not consistent with this wily monarch's policy to [tut to death a endei t<> the throne. In less than two hoi after his arrival in Paris Louis Napoleon wae on 202 - LOUIS NAPOLEON, his road to L'Orient, where a frigate lay at anchor to bear him to the United States. It is said that on this occasion he wrote a letter to Louis Philippe, expressing his gratitude for the clemency which had been shown him, and pledging himself never again to make any attempt against the French Government. But as no such letter has ever been produced by the partisans of the House of Orleans, it may fairly enough be presumed that none was written. History is not a series of libels whether against the fortunate or against the unfortunate. Louis Napoleon was perfectly justified in thanking Louis Philippe for sparing his life, and granting him also his liberty, let the motives which prompted to this con- duct have been what they might. But he was always too little impulsive — too cautious — too cold to be easily betrayed into making written promises which he could not but know would either fetter his con- duct during his whole life, or expose him to the charge of perfidy and ingratitude. Whatever he said to the chief of the house of Orleans was probably eaid orally. Such language in certain circumstances is supposed by the Jesuitical moralists not to bo binding. " He that imposes an oath makes it, Not he who for convenience takes it ; So how can any man be said To break an oath he never mad* ? " EMFEROB OF THE FKLXCII. 203 Louis Napoleon emphatically denies the fact ; but in the act of doing so falls into a strange confusion of ideas, from which it would not be unfair to infer that there were circumstances connected with this transaction which he desired to conceal. His words arc — "They could not prevail upon me to sign an engagement, since I demanded to. be left in prison; besides they never sought to make me do so." The reasoning which appears to be implied in this passage is extremely illogical. The words " they could not make me sign" imply that they tried and failed. And why did they fail ? because he demanded to remain in prison. If no proposition had been made to him, to what was this demand a reply ? Was it said apropos of nothing ? When Louis Napoleon wrote these words, he must have possessed great faith in the dulity of mankind, for the words, "I demanded to be Left in prison," clearly imply that some pro- posal bad been made to him to deliver himself from captivity which did not meet with his approval. Yet he immediately adds that no endeavour of any kind was made to induce him to enter into any engagement. lonel Vaudrey, to whom these words were written, jto d them, but I. confess 1 don't. 204 LOUIS NAPOLEOX, CHAP. VIII. CROSSES THE ATLANTIC. Whoever studies without prejudice the life of Louis Napoleon must be inspired with admiration by the steadiness and consistency with which he has pursued the great purpose of his life. He measured the distance between his position as an adventurer and an exile and the imperial throne of France, and de- termined that nothing should be wanting on his part to narrow the interspace and render the passage easy. His great instrument always was the im- pression left upon the French mind by Napoleon. With this he worked, upon this he reposed his hopes. When condemned to transportation he remained ten days in the citadel of Port Louis, waiting for a fair wind. The authorities, through a sense of duty, or in obedience to positive orders, visited him daily, and he either saw, or pretended to see, in their lan- guage and demeanour strong proofs of attachment to the memory of Napoleon. It was his policy to EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 20,3 discover everywhere indications of the existence of" this sentiment, and when he did not find it he carefully sought by the ease and popularity of his manners to inspire it. On the 21st of November, 1836, the sub-prefect of L'Orient, entering the citadel, informed him that the frigate was ready to set sail. The drawbridge of the fortress was let down, and accompanied by the magistrates and the officers of the gendarmerie he passed out between two lines of soldiers stationed there to keep back the crowd which had collected to see the nephew of the emperor going into banish- ment For a moment this circumstance afforded him some gratification, but when he mounted the frigate's deck and observed the shores of France growing dim and disappearing in the distance he experienced that contraction of the heart which most men feel when bidding an adieu which may prove eternal to their native land. On board the frigate, the utmost care appears to have been taken to provide for his comforts. The captain, M. de Villeneuvc, a regular old sailor, gave him the best cabin; he dined with the principal officers and with two curious passengers who were proceeding tor very differed 1 ! purposes to Brazil. One of these, Don Pedro's librarian, a stiff courtier of the old 206 - LOUIS NAPOLEON, school, was going out to lodge complaints against the Brazilian Government for having subjected him to ill treatment ; the other, a savant of twenty-six, full of superstition and conceit, was sent out by Louis Philippe to make experiments in electricity. Secretly Louis Napoleon regarded him with well merited contempt. He believed in magnetism, and affected to possess the power to foretell future events. Of course he undertook to prophesy agreeably for his fellow-passenger, and in order to keep up the spirits of the exile, predicted that a member of Napoleon's family would soon appear in France and dethrone Louis Philippe. It would be a good speculation for any rich pre- tender to keep as many prophets and soothsayers as possible in his pay, for no class of men act so powerfully on the public mind and prepare the way for revolutions. Everybody laughs at them outwardly, but their mysterious words sink deep into weak minds, and gradually direct into the desired channel the current of the nation's beliefs and sym- pathies. Few are proof against the perpetual pre- dictions of skilful and intrepid soothsayers. It was nearly a furtnight before the frigate could get out of the Channel. Rough and contrary winds kept it rocking about perpetually on the waves, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 207 without power to make the slightest way ; but at length the weather proving more favourable it put out into the Atlantic, where the captain opened his sealed orders. But the giving of such instructions was in this instance a mere farce, since they had on board two passengers who were known to be bound for Brazil. The only point on which Captain Yilleneuvc may not have been previously informed was, that Louis Napoleon instead of being taken directly to New York was to make the voyage to liio Janeiro, where he was to be kept safely on board during the re-victualling of the ship, and after- wards to be conveyed to the United States. As the frigate was on its way to the South Sea, this curious arrangement augmented the length of its voyage by three thousand miles, but the climate of South America being somewhat unhealthy, Louis Philippe may have thought it would multiply his chances of delivering himself frOm a disagreeable rival. Louis Napoleon , when he writes of his own lings and opinions, writes well. He appears to have been always aeen.-tonied to reflect upon the movements of his own mind, upon bis sensations, upon his hopes and fears. lie is a reader of Chateaubriand and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and 208 , LOUIS NAPOLEON, sometimes writes in the manner of one, sometimes in that of the other. Among the great faults of his enemies is the determination not to recognise the power of thinking and writing which he un- doubtedly possesses. Authors who would be ex- tremely unwilling to be thought guilty of prejudice and partiality have suffered themselves nevertheless to be misled by their political antipathies. But, after all, self-respect and the consideration of what you owe to the public compel you to acknowledge that justice is due to every man, tyrant or slave. I repeat, then, that Louis Napoleon, when he writes of himself, of his sentiments, of his affections, of the incidents and circumstances of his life, displays no ordinary ability. His style becomes animated, picturesque, touching. He carries your sympathies along with him, and makes you acknowledge that, in certain situations, he has meditated, and reflected, and felt like a man of integrity and heart. Writing to his mother from within the tropics, he says, " We have got through the winter, and are again in the midst of summer," though it was only the middle of December. " To the storms of the North, have succeeded the trade winds, which allow me to remain as much as I please on deck. Seated on the poop, I reflect on what has happened to me, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 209 and think of Arenenberg and you. Our situations arc greatly modified by the affections of our minds ; two months ago, my strongest desire was never to return to Switzerland ; and now, if I were free to follow my own inclinations, I would fly eagerly back to it, and sit down once more in that little room overlooking the beautiful country in which I fancy I ought to have been so happy. But when we feel str< ugly it is generally our lot to be overwhelmed by the weight of inaction, or in the convulsions of painful situations." lie then alludes to a circumstance which has been little noticed by his biographers. "When, some months ago," he says, " I was bringing home Ma- thilde, we entered the park together, and beheld there a tree which had just been shattered by a Btorm ; upon which 1 said within myself that our marriage would in like manner be broken off by fate. What at that time presented itself to my mind vaguely has been since realised. Have I then dining this year exhausted all the little stock of hap- piness which has been allotted me in this world ?" To this question I will not undertake to furnish any reply ; but 1 maybe permitted to doubt whether, be sal there on the Atlantic surge, writing like an affectionate son to his mother, he was not really in a P 210 , LOUIS NAPOLEON, more enviable situation than any in which he has since been placed. He had not then sullied his mind by the bloody orgies of December and called up a nightmare which will hover over his conscience till death. The young lady to whom he alludes in the above passage, the daughter of Jerome Bonaparte, was then little more than sixteen years of age, having been born at Trieste on the 27th May, 1820. She is de- scribed by some writers as a person of great beauty, small in figure, but perfectly formed, with a head of classical mould, large sparkling eyes, and regular features full of expression. But from this account it is necessary, according to others, to make a consider- able abatement. She was probably very pretty in early youth, when her complexion was in its bloom, and her light brown hair in all its luxuriance. But soon after her marriage with the Russian Count Anatole Demidoff, her charms faded and her counte- nance wore an intrepid air of dissipation, not by any means uncommon in Frenchwomen of fashion. The voyage to Brazil proved extremely agreeable. He passed the line, and was exempted by the politeness of the captain from the necessity of going through those ridiculous ceremonies which are still suffered to disgrace the navies of most civilised EMPEROR OF TIIE FRENCH. 211 nations. Not being addicted to idleness he made good use of the captain's library, and read over again the works of Chateaubriand and Rousseau, together probably with many other books. But life on board ship is not favourable to study. The movement of the vessel, the shouting of the sailors, the troublesome routine interfere with the operations of the mind. lie has always studied in his letters as well as in his books, to introduce as frequently as possible passages calculated to awaken in the French mind ideas associated with Xapolcon. In describing his voyage to Rio, he does not say the ship was impelled by an easterly wind, but by a wind from St. Helena, this historic rock, in the depth of his emo- tions, he turned his eyes, but in vain. It would not appear, in fact it was much too far off, and no one, perhaps, but himself would have thought of alluding to it al all. Descriptions of sea voyages arc almost unavoidably monotonous, and perhaps therefore Louis Xapolcon did well not to enlarge upon his naval experience. On New Year's Day, which the French keep with much greater solemnity than we do, all the oilicers entered hi in to wish him a happy .V w Year. lie drank, be Bays, his mother's health at dinner, 212 , LOUIS NAPOLEON, and doubted not that at the same moment she was dining at Arenenberg, and forming similar fond wishes for him. In the portion of his letter written on that day, he names a long list of friends, and begs to be remembered kindly to them all. Four days afterwards, the frigate found itself in the midst of one of those tornadoes which vex the tropical portion of the Atlantic. The English ride through storms and hurricanes like lords of the elements, and almost appear to believe in the existence of no danger on their native sea. It is different with our neighbours; they never take kindly to the ocean, and through their very dislike and antipathy greatly multiply the perils they encounter. On the present occasion, one of the frigate's masts was blown away, while her sails were torn to ribands ; a fortunate circumstance, as she might otherwise have capsised* The rain fell in torrents, and covered the surface of the deep with white foam. Louis Napoleon does not say so, but he probably then thought his last hour was come. Tropical storms, however, are not of long continu- ance. The wind blew, the firmament was cleared of clouds, and a rich golden sunshine streamed down upon the waves. In the course of a few days, the frigate arrived at Rio, the grand approaches to which made a strong EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 213 impression on his mind. Previously to his leaving Europe, his mother, it seems, had expressed her in- tention of joining him in the New World. But from this he now dissuaded her. Do not come to me, he says, as I know not where I shall set up my abode, whether in the United States, or here in the south ; but wherever I am, I must toil to earn my bread, which will be some consolation, as it will carry away my ideas from the painful subjects around which they might otherwise cluster. The American packet having traversed the Atlantic more rapidly than the French frigate, he learned immediately on his arrival that his accomplices at Strasbourg had been put upon their trial and ac- quitted. In whatever light viewed, the conduct of the French Government throughout the whole of this affair was disreputable in the extreme. With the most profound contempt for justice, as well as lor public opinion, it merely condemned the ringleader to a pleasant voyage across the Atlantic, in a ship of war, and at the public expense, while the sub- ordinates, whether dupes or accomplices, were tried tor their lives. Impressed by the iniquity of the transaction, the jury indignantly acquitted the whole body of the accused. Connected with this process, Louis Napoleon P 3 214 LOUIS NAPOLEON, relates an anecdote highly characteristic of Louis Philippe's justice. Before leaving France, he had entrusted to the procureur-general a letter for Colonel Vaudrey, in which he had taken upon himself the whole culpability of the Strasbourg expedition ; but as it might have been of some service to the prisoners, it was withheld. Upon which he exclaims, " What infamy ! " It was infamous no doubt ; but since that time, France has witnessed numerous cir- cumstances connected with the prosecution of political offenders which posterity will acknowledge to have been considerably more flagitious. Louis Napoleon found at New York, two of his cousins, Achille and Lucien Murat, one of whom had been honoured with the rank of colonel in the American army, while the other held a lucrative civil appointment. These facts may be said to indicate one of the great dangers to which the Kepublic of the United States is exposed. To afford an asylum for refugees of all nations is at once humane and wise, because it procures for the State universal respect and esteem; but it is highly impolitic to bestow important offices in the army or in the civil service upon adventurers from other countries, who can entertain no respect for the institutions of the Republic, no affection for the people, and in most EMPEROR OF TUE FRENCII. 215 cases little or no attachment for liberty. Should times of trouble unhappily arise, these fugitives from the Old World, with their corrupt education and monarchical notions, would probably be among the foremost to promote discord and endanger the safety of the commonwealth. England throws open her hospitable shores to all classes of exiles, aristocrats and democrats, Republicans and legitimists, but she very prudently abstains from entrusting to them any department of public business. All history, ancient and modern, is full of the evils which exiles have brought upon communities, no less upon those in which they found refuge than upon their own. The former they have engaged, through the force of noble sympathies, in disastrous enterprises, while they have nearly always, when permitted to return to their homes, brought back along with them an accumulation of fierce and vindictive passions which have led to usurpations, revenge, persecution, and blood. The fact may be lamented in the interest of humanity, but a fact it is, and nations should endeavour at least to convert it into a lesson. r 4 216 > LOUIS NAPOLEON", CHAP IX. DEATH OF HORTENSE. THE SWISS IN ARMS. Louis Napoleon did not remain very long in Ame- rica, for his mother having written to say she was about to undergo a dangerous operation which might prove fatal, and expressing a wish to see him before her death, he set the government of Louis Philippe at defiance, once more traversed the Atlantic, and arrived at the Chateau of Arenenberg in time to close his mother's eyes, and receive her last blessing. Her remains were shortly afterwards conveyed to France and interred beside those of her mother in the church of Ruel near Malmaison, where her son, during his imprisonment at Ham, caused a monument with a dutiful and affectionate inscription to be erected to her memory. Whatever may be thought of Louis Napoleon in the other relations of private or public life, he always appears to have behaved with singular duti- fulness and affection towards his mother, who on her part was such a mother as is not often seen. In the EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 217 course of the preceding narrative it must have ap- peared that she frequently risked her life in order to watch over his, while her thoughts were constantly employed in the endeavour to promote his welfare. This maternal affection awakened in him a correspond- ing feeling. From the earliest childhood he looked up to her with reverence, and through life preserved the most tender attachment for her. They who are opposed to him on political grounds need not grudge him this praise. To have been nurtured in noble principles, to have acquired high notions of justice, truth and generosity, is to have impressed on our minds the great cardinal Christian virtue of doing to others what we would they should do to us ; and therefore republican writers should be above all others careful to give every man his due. It is very certain that even tyranny itself is not always able to quench the feelings of the heart. A man rendered cruel by ambition towards a whole community a may nevertheless be susceptible of filial piety towards his father or his mother. At any rate Louis Napoleon appears to have been always a good son, gentle, tender, and affectionate in the highest degree; and if ever mother was calculated to inspire these feelings in a brave and true son it was I [orter 218 ' LOUIS NAPOLEON, Whether or not she was gay and giddy in her youth, it is not my business to inquire. Great good fortune often betrays women as well as men into the excesses of frivolity, but the first touch of misfortune brought out all the great qualities of Louis Napoleon's mother, and rendered her during the remainder of her life an example for high minded women to imitate. Few of her sex have experienced greater reverses, or supported them with more heroic courage. It is no slight distinction to be descended from such a mother. Wherever she went, admiration, respect, and love clustered about her : she formed in Switzerland the centre of a wide circle of beneficence, and to her virtue probably was due much of the influence exerted by Louis Na- poleon over the government of the Cantons. Alto- gether there are few dwellings in Switzerland which deserve to be visited with greater reverence than that of Hortense Fanny Beauharnais, who lost much, and perhaps gained nothing, by having her name connected with the Bonaparte family. No doubt the name of Napoleon procured for Louis Bonaparte a degree of consideration which would not otherwise have been shown him. He possessed much ability, but many others who equalled or surpassed him in this respect were far from EMPEROR OF THE FREN< 219 sharing the same reward?, or commanding the same attention. The supreme government of Switzerland, as a mark of respect for imaginary services, honoured him with the rights of citizenship, and gave him a command in the Swiss army, which, however, was merely nominal, because in time of peace Switzerland maintains no standing forces. But his residence in the territories of the Republic was destined to bring upon the country no small inconvenience, and to expose it to no little danger. Louis Philippe, whose repose had already been disturbed by the expedition to Strasbourg, was very little inclined to look on quietly while preparations were making for a renewal of the attempt. Regarding things from a philosophical point of view, it appears to me that both these men were right, or else that both were wrong. Louis Philippe was in possession of a throne which he had acquired by intrigue, and upon which he had no just claim whatever; he was therefore a pretender in possession, a fortunate usurper, a tyrant who had gained his point. But if we allow any force to the law of Lf-preservation, we must admit that, finding him- self where lie was, he was justified in endeavouring to remain there. Louis Napoleon, on the other hand, am- bitiouSj restless, and intriguing also, thought lie had 220 - LOUIS NAPOLEOX, as good a right as Louis Philippe to be the ruler of France, provided he could cajole the people into the same way of thinking. I am amazed that authors not otherwise destitute of abilities, should yet, in writing the life of Louis Napoleon, be so weak as to descant like astrologers of the middle ages about stars, destiny, secret voices, and the religion of a man's blood. While reading their productions one appears to be listening to a number of ancient crones crowding around a country fire, and gossiping about fate and witchcraft. Old Napoleon had won numerous battles, defeated nu- merous kings and emperors, defrauded a great nation of its liberties, and raised himself to an imperial throne, only to be hurled down from it, and sent to expiate his ambition and his crimes on a solitary rock in the Atlantic. When this great act of justice had been ac- complished, the powers of Europe by whom it had been achieved should have paused before they took the next step. Had they been wise, they would have left France free to choose her own form of government, in which case it can hardly be doubted the nation would have established a Republic. This would have quenched for ever the Napoleonic idea, which is only another name for insatiable ambition. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 221 Had the Republic succeeded, the peace of Europe would have been preserved, for Republics are pacific governments; had it failed, France might still have had recourse to a limited monarchy, with a parliament and free press, like that which was introduced by the Revolution of July. But by going back to the eighteenth century, taking out of its repository two political mummies like Louis XVII 1. and Charles X., and forcing them down the throats of the French nation with bayonets, they entailed upon the country a series of shocks and changes, and made people desire, in the misery and the humiliation of the present, to return to the excitement, energy, and glory of the past. It was upon this sentiment, which the influence of foreigners had fostered in the French, that Louis Napoleon relied. What he aimed at was a fresh restoration. The Bourbons had been restored, why not the Bonapartes? Such was the state of things after the return of Louis Napoleon from America to Switzerland. \i' he did not plot, no doubt can be entertained it was merely for want of the means, not of the will. But though his will was Btrong, his means were few, and had he been left quietly where he was he might probably lm\< worn out. hie life in petty and fruitless machina- 222 LOUIS NAPOLEON, tions. But Louis Philippe, whom, nevertheless, the world still calls wise, determined to confer on Louis Napoleon an European celebrity, vast importance in his own eyes and in the eyes of the Napoleonist party throughout France, and at the same time to invest him with the interest of a political martyr. This was precisely the worst thing he could have done ; but he did it, prudent old man that he was ! He ordered his ambassador at Berne, the pompous and hollow-headed Montebello, to demand what the age had invented a new word to express — the extradition of Louis Napoleon. Expulsion might have done as well, but the world must have its novelties in language as in other things. The heart of Louis Napoleon swelled with joy at this foolish demand of the French Government. He felt that his fortune was made, and saw for the first time distinctly the star of empire twinkle in the remote distance. The cunning old man of the Tuileries had overreached himself. Up to this moment Louis Napoleon had been an adventurer, endeavouring, like Lambert Simnel or Perkin Warbeck, to do something for himself, but now he was elevated into the political opponent of the French king. From this time forward, he played his cards with EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 223 superior dexterity. The secret voice of the Tuileries hud proved itself to be less clever than the secret voice of Arenenberg. In the war of secret voices therefore, he had clearly the best of it, whatever the world might think to the contrary. The Swiss nation has by fits exhibited an immense amount of public spirit. It was in the humour to do so now, and therefore replied to the menaces of Monte- bello by evoking the ancient spirit of William Tell, and calling the citizens to arms. All its vallies flashed with bayonets and sabres ; the gorges of the Alps bristled with cannon, and the few but daring Republicans determined again to adorn the borders of their lakes with pyramids of French bones. The cry of a second Morat, re- sounded from rock to rock, and the nerves of all men were strung for a prolonged and deadly struggle. CO On the other hand, the French Government put its splendid battalions in motion — the tramp of foot and horse, the dull roll of gun carriages, the beating of drums, the loud notes of bugles and clarions rolled in one immense torrent towards tlic Alps, 224 , LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. X. THE SCENE CHANGES TO LONDON. At this moment, the voluntary act of an individual put a sudden stop to this vast dramatic exhibition, which might otherwise have stained half Europe with blood. Louis Napoleon having gained all he wanted — im- mense notoriety — quitted Switzerland, and came directly to London ; upon which the storm ceased. The Genevese returned to the making of watches, the chamois hunters betook themselves to their old haunts in the upper Alps, the husbandmen laid aside the sword and the musket for the plough, and everything in the confederated cantons resumed its accustomed course. Louis Philippe recalled his armies, and imagined he had gained a victory. He had only converted an insignificant enemy into a formidable one. But why did not the wise old man pursue the fugitive a little further? Why was not Due de Montebello sent over to bluster and threaten in London ? The right was the same. The only difference was, that the EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 225 Swiss were weak, and therefore, as Louis Philippe supposed, to be insulted with impunity, whereas the English were strong, and therefore not to be molested. This is the part of Louis Napoleon's career upon which it is least pleasant to dwell. His star, his secret voice, his faith, the religion of his blood, were forgotten amid the too powerful charms of pleasure. Dut it is nut my business to collect or publish scandalous anecdotes, and I leave it to those who may find the task congenial. I believe his life was not what it ought to have been, but even if so, I do not care to inquire into it. If he gambled in London, or betted at Newmarket, or did other things still less to his credit, I make no doubt he felt the usual amount of remorse. Nemesis never dies, never sleeps, never withdraws her eyes for a mum. nt from tin- career of man, to reward him for his virtues or punish him for his crimes. I onlv allude to this part of the subject to shame those literaiy sycophant- who crawl at the footstool of power, and labour to elevate success into a divinity. In the summer of 1840. Lord Eglinton amused and delighted the public by the revival of one of the magnificent exhibitions of the middle ages. lb- gave a grand tournament at hi.- castle, in .Scotland, Q 226 LOUIS NAPOLEON, to which Louis Napoleon was invited, and where he is said to have figured to advantage, even among the splendid nobility of England, by the tastefulness of his dress and the costliness of his appointments. The queen of beauty on the occasion was Lady Seymour, and the admiration of the guests was divided between her and the glorious scenery for which that portion of our island is remarkable. Even Louis Napoleon's eye, accustomed to the features of the Alps, must have dwelt with pleasure on the glens and forests and hills of Ayr. Louis Napoleon's excesses and embarrassments, however, may have contributed to his material good fortune. The history of mankind supplies us with other and far greater examples. Caesar overthrew the Roman Republic because he couldn't pay his debts, which manv will allow to have been a legi- timate cause, and Louis Napoleon made his descent on Boulogne for the same reason. He borrowed of all his friends, he took up money in London at ex- travagant interest, he connected himself with stock- jobbers, and having by such means raised the necessary sum, prepared once more to disturb the old man of the Tuileries in his enjoyment of regal state. On this occasion, Louis Napoleon collected together EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 227 in London as many disaffected Frenchmen as were willing to hazard their heads for the chance of re- covering their position in their own country. Yet the number was not great ; since they amounted altogether to less than sixty. It has been stated, but this is not credible, that they were ignorant of the design in which they were engaged. They carried along with them a wooden eagle, freshly gilt, and a tame living eagle, which was intended to fly to the top of Napoleon's column. But though the French are much given to the worship of eagles, it was rather too much to expect that a whole nation should be roused to insurrection by beholding one of its fetishes on the top of a pillar. This, therefore, may be regarded as the weak part of Louis Napoleon's scheme, though I am thoroughly convinced, that had his attempt succeeded, most of the writers who now throw ridicule on the idea would have considered it sublime. In fact, success is the only thing which makes divinities in the eyes of the vulgar. Had the coup d'etat failed, the same writers wonld have denounced Louis Napoleon as a san- guinary miscreant, whereas, because it succeeded, they look upon him as a hero, and employ their servile pens in accomplishing his apotheosis. lie no doubt •ard- with equal contempt their present praise and q 2 228 LOUIS NAPOLEON, former ridicule, seeing that both proceed from the littleness and baseness of their minds. Mankind have not yet become so paralysed by civi- lisation as not to sympathise with adventurous enter- prises. Everybody must acknowledge the daring courage which prompted a handful of men to proceed in a hired steamer, to attempt the overthrow of a strong government and the subjugation of a large country. As the " City of Edinburgh " steamed down the Thames, and traversed the British Channel, the hearts of the Paladin conspirators must have been agitated by many conflicting feelings. Somewhat to calm the nerves of his associates, and to inspire them with momentary enthusiasm, he kept them assembled round the social board, where the roast beef was plentiful and the champagne flowed like water. Yet neither beef nor champagne could entirely still the beatings of their "hearts as they neared the French coast, upon which they were about to land as enemies to the Government. At length they did land, French chiefly, and Italians, and Louis Napoleon, like a knight errant, presented . himself to the officers on duty, and invited them to abjure their allegiance to Louis Philippe, and accept him for their emperor. But the souvenirs of the empire were dying out in the army. A new gene- EMPBEOB OF THE FRENCH. 229 ration of soldiers had arisen who knew not Napoleon, save by tradition, and these could hardly be expected to hazard or throw away their lives for a man whom they had never seen. The conspirators rushed through the town, and ascended the heights to the foot of the column, shouting, " Vive l'Empereur." But the Picards proved unsusceptible, the eagle refused to soar to the summit of the column, the soldiers were immoveable. Nobody would pronounce in favour of this new Don Quixote. On the contrary, a number of officers advanced to arrest him and his companions, who, perceiving the failure of their enterprise, retreated towards the beach, and attempted to make their way through the waves to the steamer, which, faithful to its engagement, rode gallantly as nearly as possible to the shore for their reception. Seeing the smallness of their numbers, the partisans of Louis Philippe became courageous, pursued them into the sea, and captured Louis Napoleon himself, who, drawing a pistol, and firing at his assailants, shot a grenadier. However, all at length were made prisoners, and forwarded to Paris for trial. M. de la (iiKTonniere, who has written an official panegyric on Louis Napoleon, is at a loss, with all his grandi- loquence, upon what principle to defend the ex- Q 3 230 * LOUIS NAPOLEON, pedition to Boulogne. But it is defensible on various grounds. Regarding it as an invasion, of course the madness of the enterprise would exceed all descrip- tion. But it was not contemplated by Louis Napo- leon in that light. He believed, though as it proved erroneously, that the French army was eager to have once more a member of the Bonaparte family at its head, and that the French people generally shared the same sentiment. He therefore threw himself upon what he supposed to be a strong national feeling — he appealed to the prejudices of the French, to their military souvenirs, to what may almost be called their animal instincts. But the moment he selected was not propitious. Louis Philippe had not yet filled up the measure of his iniquities, and people were content still to hope that a certain amount of liberty might be enjoyed under his profligate and avaricious sway. For this reason, Louis Napoleon failed in his under- taking. But no one who understands anything of the French people will pretend that his attempt was absurd, or extravagant, or hopeless. It was a mere chance that he did not succeed ; and perhaps a little more previous arrangement, a more liberal distribution of five franc pieces, of beef sausages and champagne, would have completely answered his purpose, as it did afterwards on the plain of Satori. EMPEROB OF THE FRENCH. 231 Had his calculation been correct, Louis Philippe would have been sent into exile eight years earlier than he was, and the drama of the empire would have commenced. But through adverse circum- stances Louis Napoleon's plan failed, and he pro- ceeded under guard to Paris, to take the conse- quences. He knew as well as any man in Europe, that Louis Philippe's disposition was far from mild, when the fate of persons who had made any attempt against his life or his power was concerned. Along list of regicides had been already executed. He stood entrenched therefore within a circle of blood, and his fears having been excited, it was not altogether cer- tain that even Louis Napoleon's relationship to the ex-emperor would protect him from the guillotine. He himself however apprehended nothing of the kind. His former attempt had been punished gently, by exportation in a French frigate to Ame- rica. AYith something similar Louis Philippe might still be contented; but his mother Ilortense was dead, and he had therefore no eloquent intercessor of that high influence to plead for him, and tyrants generally grow fiercer as they advance in years. After the Strasbourg affair, Louis Napoleon was not brought to trial, but treated simply as a wild ■ill. who required a little parental chastisement. V 4 232 > LOUIS NAPOLEON, Circumstances were altered now. His case was brought before the Chamber of Peers, where he was arraigned and tried in due form. He selected as his defender the great legitimist lawyer, Berryer, who enjoyed an European reputation as much for his high honour and integrity as for his distinguished abilities as a pleader, a politician, and a statesman. M. Berryer undertook the task, and executed it in a masterly manner. His speech for the defence was remarkable for its logical acumen, and still more for its fervid appeals to the loftiest and noblest feel- ings of the heart as well as to the powers of the understanding. He did not hesitate to tell the judges home truths. He said, " Had M. Louis Napoleon succeeded, I can lay my hand upon my heart, and affirm most emphatically that I should not have profited in the slightest degree by his suc- cess. My feelings — my opinions — my principles — would have forbidden me. As many of you as can say the same are competent to be his judges, but none else. Not one should sit in judgment on him, who, had he accomplished his purpose, would have taken office under him and benefited by his power." But his appeal was thrown away. The Chamber of Peers condemned Louis Napoleon to perpetual imprisonment, and he was soon removed from the EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 233 Conciergerie to the Chateau of Ham. This castle, which is situated in the town of the same name, stands on the banks of the river Somme in Picardy, in the midst of dreary flats and marshes. The walls of its lofty towers are thirty-six feet in thickness ; it is surrounded by a wet ditch, and by ranges of inferior walls, with immense gates and drawbridges, so that the prisoner who happens to be confined there can experience but little hope of escape. A man perched on the summit of the keep can command a view far and wide, over the moist level covered with aquatic plants and marsh flowers and intersected by the slow snake-like windings of the Somme. 235 TART THE THIRD. CHAPTER I. THE < BATEAU OF HAM. CONSIDERING the character of the French Go- vernment in nearly all ages, it seems hardly too much to suspect that Ham was chosen to be a state prison as much for the malaria of the neighbourhood as for the thickness of its walls. We know that in the Papal States men of proud minds and enlightened principles have been sent to acquire humility in the pestilential dungeons of the Campagna, where their dimmed eyes, yellow complexion and trembling limbs, have avenged their attachment to liberty and the Republic. By views such as these Louis Philippe may have been guided in his choice of a state prison. Rut some men, like certain other animals, thrive in moist plac< Louis Napoleon felt inure than his usual vivacity in the Chateau of Ham, whose dull and sluggish atmosphere Beems to 236 » LOUIS NAPOLEON, have brought comfort to his imagination. He passed quite naturally from English field-sports, rouge-et-noir, betting at Newmarket, and other civilised amusements, to the enjoyments of this pleasant solitude. He had a garden on the terrace in which he may possibly have cultivated pansies and forget-me-nots. He had another garden inac- cessible to Louis Philippe and his myrmidons, in which he planted and trailed a different kind of flowers — ambition, intrigue, bitterness and revenge. Both these little plots Avere attended to with equal industry and equal gaiety, and he made some reso- lutions there which he has since kept. An old friend of mine, M. Frederick de George, was at that time editor of the " Propagateur du Pas- de-Calais." He was, and probably still is, one of those amphibious entities, half republican, half Bonapartist, which were once common in France, though they are so no longer. With the journal of this very able man, Louis Napoleon maintained a correspondence, not constant, nor even frequent, but at intervals sufficiently short to keep his name from fading out of public view. He unquestion- ably did not believe that his imprisonment would be perpetual. It was matter of astonishment not only to him but to all the world, that any French EMFEEOR OF THE FRENCH. 237 revolutionary government should have lasted so long as that of Louis Philippe already had. Having studied the law of political storms, he came to the conclusion that one of them must soon occur to blow open his prison doors, and indulge the French people with a little wholesome change. lie therefore set himself cheerfully to work, studying statistics, poor laws, organisation of labour, and such like, not at all doubting the speedy advent of some political tempest. He seems, however, not previously to have made the discovery that French governments may by chance last from fifteen to seventeen years. That was about the period allotted by his star to Napoleon ; the Bourbons, after their restoration, re- mained in their mummy-like state above ground for about the same period ; and he should therefore have concluded that Louis Philippe, by his superior cun- ning and adroitness, might dc^y the fates quite as long as any of his predecessors. The triumphs and public works of the old Napo- leon, had generally created the belief, that all the members of his family were equal to anything. They themselves also shared this prevalent super- stition ; and in reality the spirit of the French revo- lution had inspired them with the belief that most things in the world might be altered for the belter; 238 LOUIS NAPOLEON, that scarcely anything was impracticable ; and that whatever could be accomplished by human force or ingenuity could be accomplished by them. Joseph, during his reign at Naples, had constructed great roads over half the kingdom, and meditated the opening up of the canal between the Adriatic and Tyrrhene seas, originally projected by the Romans; Eugene Beauhar- nais had laid down a plan for deepening the channel and regulating the course of the Po ; and Napoleon himself, after having flung stupendous roads across the Alps, resolved to convert Paris into a seaport. These vast designs, though never fully realised, spread the fame of the Bonapartes even to the New World; and, in consequence, while Louis Napoleon lay a prisoner at Ham, a deputation from Central America waited upon him to propose that he should superintend the construction of the projected canal which was to unite the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On this point, however, there was some one else to be consulted. It was not for Louis Napoleon to decide whether he would under- take the mighty task or not. M. Louis Philippe had a potent voice in the matter, and he determined that the good people of Central America should organise their joint stock company and excavate their canal without the personal superintendence of his EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 239 state prisoner. He made no objection, however, to his writing on the subject, and accordingly Louis Napoleon with great patience and ingenuity drew up a sort of prospectus for the Nicaraguan projectors, in which he demolished, at least to his own satisfac- tion, the pretensions of all the other routas across the isthmus. This pamphlet, which was not published till some time afterwards, may still be read with pleasure. The writer had studied the subject thoroughly, and threw so much earnestness into his little work, that although he does not alwavs succeed in convincing the reader of the practicability of his scheme, he never fails to interest his imagination and excite the wish that the project might be realised. Just before leaving England he had published a political work entitled " Napoleonic Ideas," which though since discovered to be something wonder- ful, attracted at the time very little notice. But in the CiuUcau of Ham, he found some con- solation in writing. He had an active mind, and though without depth of thought or originality, could always put what ideas he possessed into a neat and agreeable form. This is more praise than can be bestowed on most emperors who affect to be literary. Old Napoleon himself when he took up the pen 240 - LOUIS NAPOLEON, produced nothing but gorgeous bombast ; and there- fore it is no small praise for his nephew to say that he can write agreeably, and that his letters are often models of adroitness and policy. If ever man made the most of himself it is Louis Napoleon. His abilities are not great, but he has the judgment to estimate them correctly, and to adapt them to the exgencies of an age in which greatness is a tradition rather than a contemporary reality. Louis Napoleon, with much patience and skill, studied the French people, their wants and their weaknesses, and then took into consideration the number and extent of his own faculties. Though his writings produced no great effect, he still persevered, and cast his bread upon the waters, not doubting that he should find it after many days. He corresponded meanwhile with se- veral persons, among others with Count D'Orsay and Lady Blessington, who appeared to him a poetical and high minded woman. Here in England, we form a different appreciation of her ; but there is no accounting for tastes. While in this prison Louis Napoleon, in one of those letters which were so many manifestoes com- posed with immense care, expressly for circulation, observed that he was in his place, for that he could only exist in the gloom of a dungeon, or amid the EHPEBOB OF THE FRENCH. 241 splendours of power. Translated into plain English, this phrase only means, that he had grown extremely tired of Plain, and would rather be an emperor if he could. The feeling was perfectly natural, and most persons in the same situation would have shared it with him. The fascinations of the sugar question, and pauperism, and stoicism, and Lady Blessington were soon exhausted. He became impatient of confinement as year after year passed, and no one presented himself to assas- sinate Louis Philippe or overthrow his government. "What was to be done ? He could no longer act the hero; the system of the Portico had become nauseous ; he felt no solace in uttering or writing big sentences, in affecting not to feel what he did feel, lie became convinced that he was not in his place, and that Ham, although situated on the be- loved soil of France, was far from being a pleasant re- sidence. Xo one had ever thought it so, and least of all Louis Napoleon himself. I sympathise with him sincerely, and so would all those Republicans who now linger out their lives in the tropical morasses of ('avenue or amid the fiery deserts of Africa, if he would Buffer them again to tread the French soil which thryjove as well as he. Buf 1 anticipate. France, by which he could now B 242 LOUIS NAPOLEON, understand nothing but the word Ham, became hateful to him, and he longed at all hazards to escape from it. To augment his strong desire for liberty, his father wrote to him from Florence saying that he was old, that his health, which had never been good, was now worse than ever, and that he wished to see his only son before his death. This supplied Louis Napoleon with a just and honourable reason for desiring to leave his prison, that he might go to comfort the ex-king of Holland on his death-bed in Tuscany. He wrote to Louis Philippe demand- ing permission to perform this filial office, and pledging himself in due time to return to his prison. The crafty old king found himself placed in a situation of much perplexity. If he refused, he knew he should be denounced both by republicans and Bonapartists as a cruel and unnatural tyrant; if he consented, he should let loose an enemy whose exasperated vindictiveness he had the greatest pos- sible reason to fear. Matters would not be greatlv mended even should Louis Napoleon's policy induce him to return to his prison, because the credit for magnanimity which he would thereby gain might prove extremely injurious to the house of Orleans. He took counsel of the spirit of Machiavelli, and having well deliberated on the matter, returned EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 243 through his ministers such an answer as Louis Na- poleon might have expected. The generous monarch, they said, respecting his filial piety, would not oppose his journey to Florence; but out of consideration for the peace of the country and the good of the French people, things always uppermost in his mind, he was constrained to insist on certain conditions, agreeing to which would for ever have frustrated the designs of Louis Napoleon. That stoicism is tolerably tough which enables a man for nearly six years to wear a close mask in prison. But Louis Napoleon was not in possession of this stern philosophy. He had in him nothing of the ancient Roman. He affected to be calm, hut his words betrayed his agitation; he pretended not to feel, but his letters revealed the anguish and impatience of his mind. He read, he wrote, he meditated; he planted flowers, he watched their growth; he heard from the Count and Countess de Montholon endless anecdotes of the" exile of St. Helena; he devoured novels he corresponded with their authors; but when in an honest mood, he con- fessed that these things filled up his time but not his mind. lie panted to bo at large. Yet he was far more fortunate than most prisoners. There have been it -j 244 LOUIS HAPOLEON, persons who for want of human society have culti- vated the partiality of a spider or a toad, and taught those loathsome and repulsive creatures to love and confide in them. They possessed life, and therefore were interesting to men who could associate with nothing else which enjoyed that blessing. Louis Napoleon had companions high and low, and among others his physician and his valet. Dr. Conneau had been the friend of his mother, and through mere attachment to him had sought and been permitted to share his prison. After the refusal of the French Government to allow him to visit his father, Louis Napoleon made up his mind to effect his escape in defiance of it. He. held, therefore, with Dr. Conneau numerous mys- terious conversations, the object of which was the recovery of his liberty. Upon the "means it was difficult to decide. Soldiers, the invariable in- struments of despotism, swarmed about the Chateau of Ham, mixing familiarly with the jailers, and differing from them in nothing but in name. But there is much wisdom in the old English saying, " Where there's a will there's a way." No- thing is impossible to energy, courage and resolution. The doctor and the prince put their wits together, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 215 and the result was a plan of escape, ingenious and novel, but attended with considerable risk. In the month of March 1846, that portion of the castle in which Louis Napoleon resided was thought to need repair, and a number of workmen were in- troduced for the purpose of effecting it. Now, therefore, was the time to try the value of their stratagem. Louis Napoleon, affecting to be ill, kept his bed for two or three days, and was carefully watched over by his physician. This worthy descendant of Machaon had meantime turned his anatomical knowledge to account, and constructed a lav figure in size and appearance resembling his patient, and destined to play an important part in the drama to be forthwith enacted. n 3 246 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. II. ESCAPE. — ANECDOTES. One morning very early a workman's dress was procured and brought into the prison by one of the masons. It was soiled and limed, and con- siderably worn ; a workman's hat, battered and slouching, covered the prisoner's head, and a pair of heavy sabots concealed his feet. When all was ready, the lay figure was placed in the imaginary sick man's bed ; the sick man himself, strong and active, took up a large plank, and placed it side- ways on his shoulder, so as partly to conceal his face. He glided out, and stood for a short time among the other workmen, then with a clownish gait passed on, descended the castle stairs through files of soldiers, passed the sentinel, traversed the spacious court, and approached the great arched gateway of the fortress, leading out over a draw- bridge into the town. But there, unfortunately, stood an officer, and the prisoner felt that to escape his lynx eyes would be far more difficult than to baffle the scrutiny of labourers and sentinels. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 247 But fortune is sometimes in good humour, even when least expected. The worthy officer was probal >Iy in love, and had just received a letter containing perhaps an assignation. lie opened it, and stood reading while Louis Napoleon with the plank on his shoulder, and with increasing anxiety in his heart, drew near. Plunged in Elysian dreams, or agitated with rage by indications of perfidy, the officer never raised his eyes from the paper. Nu- merous workmen were passing in and out, and many of them turned an inquiring eye upon their would-be comrade, the features of whose counten- ance they could not recognise. Several stopped to look at him; the moment was critical; with as much sangfroid as he could command, he threw down the plank, and walked at an accelerated pace down the street. Presently he had left the town, and in a shady lane close by leaped into a carriage which, by the contrivance of his worthy valet, had been stationed there to wait for him. lie threw oil' his sabots, laid aside his blouse and his workman's hat, and with all practicable speed made his way towards St. Quentin and the Belgian frontier. lie had not, however, proceeded fir on the road u 4 248 - LOUIS NAPOLEON, before suspicion began to be excited in the prison. When the time arrived for breakfast, Dr. Conneau ordered it to be laid out in his room, observing; that the prince was ill, and would be agitated by the entrance of the servants into his apartment. The doctor said he would himself take him what he needed. At the usual hour, the governor came to pay his respects to the prince, but was informed that having passed a very bad night, which was no doubt true, he was now asleep, and that it would be cruel to disturb him. With this reasonable account the governor was satisfied, and went quietly away. By and by, however, in due course of time, he pre- sented himself again, and was met with the same story. He now, however, became a little more in- quisitive, and insisted upon seeing his prisoner. The doctor took him into the room, and pointed to the bed on which he lay asleep : the governor was once more satisfied. Towards evening the man in authority came a third time, but when the doctor gravely re- presented his patient as still under the influence of his narcotic, the governor began to fear he had taken under his charge one of the seven sleepers of Ephesus. He determined this time to rouse the slumberer. EMPEROR OF TIIE FRENCH. 249 Dr. Conneau had hoped to postpone the discovery till the following morning, by which Louis Napo- leon, if undetected, might be beyond the frontier. But his ingenuity was exhausted. The governor would hear no excuse, he advanced towards the bed, he put forth his hand, he gently shook the supposed sleeper. lie was petrified with astonishment and dismay. Turning to the Doctor, he inquired, more in apprehension than in anger, " At what hour did the prince escape ? " " At seven o'clock this morn- ing," replied Dr. Conneau. The alarm was instantly given ; the gendarmes, the cliasseurs scoured the country in all directions. Everybody dreaded the anger of Louis Philippe, and panted for the five franc pieces which would no doubt be showered liberally on the fortunate captor. But Louis Napoleon had so much the Start of them, that they galloped, shouted, and swore in vain. He reached the frontier, he passed into Belgium, and was soon merrily on his way to London. On arriving in town, he drove down imme- diately to Gore House to sec Count D'Orsay. Thai individual, as is well known, stood in rather hostile relationship to certain tradesmen in London, wlm occasionally, by their agents, became rather trouble- 250 > LOUIS NAFOLEON, some. When therefore it was announced to him, that a man of somewhat sinister aspect was in the hall, who desired to speak with him, but refused to give his name, the count in apprehension sent back the servant to say that unless he would explain who he was, he must go away, for he could not see him. Louis Napoleon, having probably some suspicion of the true state of the Count's mind, soon began to see the point of the joke, and determined to keep alive his friend's fears. He therefore sent back the servant saying, " Tell your master that I have come on business ; that I positively must see him, and will not go away until I do." "What does he look like ? " inquired the Count. " Something like a foreigner," said the man, " with an odd looking mouth and very big mustachios." " It is Louis Napoleon ! " exclaimed D'Orsay, and rushing out went and embraced him in the lobby. • During his stay in London, Louis Napoleon accompanied a lady of rank to the neighbourhood of Windsor. We have arrived at that period in the development of civilisation, in which, as in old age, it is more customary to look backwards than for- wards. We love to recall the past, we almost dread to face the ominous future. Louis Napoleon has in his nature nothing whatever of this weakness. He EMrEROR OF TIIE PEENCH. 251 scorns equally the past and the future, and lives entirely in the present. The lady misunderstood him, and imagining he would share her dreamy political sentimentality, whether real or affected, took him to the forest, of which she related the following circumstance. Immediately after the execution of Charles I., by the order of no one knew whom, the summits of all the grand trees were cut off, that they might appear to share the fate of their king. But in order to prefigure the restor- ation, nature immediately undid the work of the destroyer, forcing up her abundant; and prolific sap through the trunks until the trees ajzain shot forth new heads and new branches far more luxuriant and magnificent than those which had been cut away. Louis Napoleon admired the forest, but expe- rienced no emotion at the story, and on their way to London rallied his friend on her poetical enthusiasm, lie cared no more for Charles or hie head than for the last breakfast of king Pharamond. I have heard many anecdotes of Louis Napoleon during this period of his life, but as they arc most of them discreditable, and may be apocryphal, 1 fop- bear to relate them. lie was admitted, no doubt. into good society, but his habitual associates we» 252 LOUIS NAPOLEON, at once Inferior in taste and rank. He saw in the English aristocracy no element with which he could work. Too proud and listless to meddle with foreign intrigue ; too opulent to be tempted by the chances of gain ; too full of honour and fidelity to compromise the interests of their country, by actively favouring usurpation or change of dynasties in a neighbouring state, they received Louis Napoleon at their tables, but refused to participate in any of his schemes of revolution. Whatever may now be pretended, he himself began to despair of discovering any opening by which he might make his way to power in France. The jargon about his star, about his secret voice, about his mysterious impulses, about the religion of his blood, gradually sank more and more out of sight. He affected less mysticism and more common sense. There exists in the English very little aptitude to be influenced by enthusiasm. We are a jolly, practical, and rather calculating people, and they among us are clearly the exceptions who suffer themselves to be carried away in real life by the fictions of the imagination. Perhaps we infuse too little poetry into our daily life, but the absence of this propensity at least enables us to steer very wide of those fantastic hallucinations, which, for EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 253 more than a century, have plunged the French people into extravagant and useless experiments in politics; into dreamy, unintelligible, unspiritual spe- culations in philosophy ; into a fantastical, gauzy, unnatural style in literature. Louis Napoleon has in his nature a large infusion of the English cha- racter, but greatly prefers having Frenchmen to work with. He very easily, however, made himself at home in England, and having no other employ- ment for his mind, betook himself, as in all former periods of his life, to the mingled excitement of plea- sure and study. In this way, he passed his time, till the re- volution of 1848 once more awakened his hopes. The circumstances of Louis Philippe's downfal have been too often described to render it ne- cessary for me to dilate upon them. La Guer- ronnicre describes, with vindictive delight, the old man of the Tuileries sneaking into a hackney coach on the Place de la Revolution, and making his way ns best he could towards the English coast. He had deserved his fate, and came here to die in neglect and obscurity. Upon hearing of his fall, Louis Napoleon went to his cousin, Lady Douglas, and observed, "In less than a year from this time, I shall be at the head of the French Government." 254 LOUIS NAPOLEON, His partisans affect to regard this in the light of a prediction, which was fulfilled on the 10th of De- cember. He had, however, uttered similar words in 1836 and 1840, but the miscarriages of Stras- burg and Boulogne overthrew his claims to be regarded as a prophet. When there is a revolution in France, there is generally a subordinate movement in England. The chartists were rendered vivacious by the events of February, and sought in the old jog trot way to promote their own favourite reforms — five or six points or more, by assembling in the open air, hearing bad speeches, and drawing up interminable petitions to parliament. A great majority of them never had the least idea of fighting. They had not been brought up to it, and did not know how to fight. There were moral chartists, and physical force chartists, but neither the one nor the other had any great or particular significance. Still the English Government felt uncomfortable, and observ- ing great gatherings here and there about the me- tropolis — in Trafalgar Square, for example, and on Kennington Common — thought it necessary to make a demonstration to prevent the Five Points men from imitating the military population of Paris. On the tenth of April, it should have been the EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 255 first, there was a great deal of noise on the other side of the water, and several timid people of both sexes urged the authorities to take precautions against the poor harmless multitude, which meant nothing in the world beyond exercising its ears and lungs in the fine open air of the southern suburbs. We have a peculiar way of doing business here in London. Silly people talked of cavalry and artil- lery, but ministers very wisely restricted their pre- cautions to swearing in an immense number of special constables, among whom Louis Xapoleon took his place. lie was always an active citizen, no matter whether he had any right or not. In Paris a member of my family nearly lost his head by joining the mob against Louis Philippe. The French dis- like the interference of foreigners, and in my opinion very properly. But it' Englishmen have no right to figure in French insurrections, Louis Napoleon had l new complications might have been created, but the final result would have been the same, for the army and its officers had been bought over, and were 304 LOUIS NAPOLEON, ready to cooperate with Louis Napoleon in striking a fatal blow at public liberty. It is generally admitted that there are some ques- tions connected with this subject with which con- temporary history must refuse to deal. In fact, the boldest pens shrink instinctively from the task. Let them remain therefore in the obscurity to which their moral character condemns them. Doubtless, however, there are persons at work, who through memoirs, diaries, letters written with closely locked doors at midnight, and involved in the mystery of cypher, will reveal to posterity what must remain hidden from us. Let us, however, proceed. We know enough to enable us to judge correctly of the character of Louis Napoleon, as well as to appreciate the merits and value of his instruments. E3IPEROE OF TIIE FRENCH. 305 CHAP. VII. THE COUP D'ETAT. I HAVE said that a vast system of machinery had been for some time in operation, for the purpose of diffusing terror through society. Clarendon, when drawing a picture of our own civil war, suggests by one single anecdote a terrible idea of the state of things in London. " I went down," he says, " to the Parliament House, and met Oliver St. John at the door. I was perplexed and alarmed at beholding a smile on that grim and dark countenance, usually so calm and inscrutable. Something sinister to royalty I saw had happened. When I inquired how matters were proceeding, he replied in the.se ominous words: 'We must be worse, before we can be better.' " All parties in France might now have adopted this phrase for their motto. It was evident that a crisis was approaching, and the only question was, whether liberty or despotism would be the result. Even this, however, was scarcely doubtful to those who could weigh Louie Napoleon and the Assembly x 306 LOUIS NAPOLEON, in the balance ; the latter all weakness, vacillation, incertitude ; the former all courage, resolution, and readiness for any crime. To enter into details would be to write the history of France. I confine myself to what is personal. Having admitted into his confidence the four men of whom I have already spoken, he took measures with them for paralysing the strength of Paris, and rendering effectual resistance impossible. Great ex- ploits, whether criminal or virtuous, require great resources for their development. Liberty alone rests upon the hearts and affections of men ; despo- tism must everywhere be based on gold. The poor man who desires to trample on the laws of society is immediately crushed in the attempt. To succeed in this bold enterprise, it is necessary to approach the task enveloped in the impenetrable armour of opu- lence. Thoroughly comprehending this truth, Louis Napoleon conceived the grand idea of invading the Bank of France, and making himself master of its treasures. He had an illustrious example for an act of this kind. Julius Cresar, when meditating the ruin of his country's liberties, broke into the Temple of Saturn, the bank of Republican Rome ; and having possessed himself of the gold he found there, went on triumphantly in the career of despotism till EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 307 the daggers of Marcus Brutus and his friends cut him short. There is a mysterious power in money. Once in the possession of a million sterling, Louis Napoleon felt that he had all France at his feet. Nevertheless, it was necessary to employ this mighty instrument with policy ; and, by means of which we are as yet ignorant, he contrived to dazzle and subdue the soldiers with gold, just at the very moment when he required them to become his accomplices. To what extent the same subtle influence had been at work among the leading statesmen of France is not known. The Assembly became conscious that a gulf was opening under its feet, and sent a number of its members to confer at the Elysee with its arch enemy. The scene was pre-eminently curious and original. Probably the members of the deputation were actuated by two very distinct motives: first, a desire to penetrate the designs of Louis Napoleon ; second, by menaces slightly disguised, to deter him from at- tempting their fulfilment. They succeeded in neither of their objects. lie had from a child been silent, rved, impenetrable. Experience had taught, him the value of the qualities bestowed on him by nature, which were never more serviceable to him than on lli*- present occasion. x -j. 308 LOUIS NAPOLEON, The deputation went away from the palace dis- appointed, irritated, confounded, — not, as some have supposed, to organise plots against the President, — which they knew too well could have led to nothing, — but to feel all the bitterness of a too late repent- ance. By subserviency and meanness of spirit, they had made him what he was, and now nothing was left them but to expiate, they knew not as yet how, the folly they had committed. On the first of December, 1851, Louis Napoleon received at the Elysee the officers of all the regiments then in Paris. These men, quick to understand the exigences of power, perceived, from the style of their reception, that some display of energy was expected from them. The President had in his manner all the winning gentleness, all the fascina- tion, all the graciousness of royalty. They beheld promotion in every smile, together with the badge of the Legion of Honour, and a glorious retirement for their old age. Their pulses beat quicker, their ideas of right and wrong became confused, and they resolved to look upon the President's enemies as their own. By a sort of military instinct not susceptible of explanation, they felt they were soon to be let loose against the people of Paris, and EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 309 instead of recoiling from the idea, they hugged it passionately to their breasts. The conspiracy now in progress was in e\( ry sense a military conspiracy. All that was practicable had been done to corrupt and win over the officers of the army. The few experienced and honourable men who bad proved beyond the reach of bribes wire superseded by younger generals, fetched ex- pressly from Africa, and promoted over the heads of their superiors. Several of the chief conspirators were persons who lived in continual dread of their creditors, who had long lost character and caste, and were regarded by those who knew them as reprobates, inimical to society, because they had forfeited all title to its respect. But in enterprises like that in which Louis Napoleon was now engaged, men must make use of such instruments as are at hand. Speculators, intriguers, libertines, gamblers, were therefore welcomed at the Elysee, provided they displayed sufficient zeal and eagerness to unite in effecting the overthrow of free institutions. Money was the great lever by which these men of desperate fortunes were moved hither and thither by the Presidi Experience, especially the experience of his own family, had taughl him that in -I men in France 310 LOUIS NAPOLEON, might be purchased, provided a sufficient sum were offered them. He himself has related, in illustration of this truth, a curious and remarkable anecdote. While the Congress of Vienna was sitting, Jo- seph, ex-king of Spain, having the most unbounded faith in the venality of his countrymen, counselled, his brother Napoleon to insure the support of Russia, by purchasing Count Pozzo di Borgo. In conformity with this advice, a friend, carrying five millions of francs in his carriage, was despatched post haste to the Austrian capital. He arrived towards evening, and without a moment's delay called upon the diplomatist. He was introduced: he explained his business; but Pozzo di Borgo, in mingled accents of regret and despair, exclaimed, " It is too late ! I have spent the whole of this day in prevailing on the Congress to outlaw Napoleon, and place him for ever beyond the pale of diplomacy." The imperial negotiator, however, having touched adroitly on the five millions, gave a new direction to the current of the Count's ideas. He determined to take the matter into consideration. He went over the ground a thousand times during that evening and the succeeding night; but, in spite of his ingenuity, stimulated and rendered fertile by the thirst of gold, he could discover no pretext for EMPEROB OF THE FRENCH. 311 unsaying all that he had said in the Congress ; and therefore, on the following day, was compelled to acknowledge his inability to espouse the -cause of the fallen despot. "Had you arrived a few hours earlier," he said, " I might have saved Napoleon!" Those five millions, then, had they been sent in time, might have warded off the agonies of Malmaison, the humiliations of Rochefort, and the dreary cap- tivity of St. Helena. With a thorough knowledge of these and similar facts, Louis Napoleon was perfectly justified in speculating upon the purchase of the army, which he undertook and accomplished, with infinitely less difficulty, perhaps, than he ex- pected to encounter. To throw the Parisians off their guard, the generals of the Elysee had for some time put in practice a clever manoeuvre. Several hours before day, now earlier and now later, the troops marched out with beat of drums from their barracks, and proceeded in large bodies to the Champ de Mars, ostensibly for the purpose of exercise. At firsl these movements excited alarm, and the citizens rushed half dressed to their doors and windows, per- suaded the hour of the coup-cFetat was come ; but when, nighl after night, the same drum-beating and tramp of horses were heard, without being succeeded 312 T.OUIS NAPOLEON, by any catastrophe, people became accustomed to the thing, and relapsed into their usual indiffer- ence. The Government so far had accomplished its purpose ; and it now only remained to select the best moment for striking the blow. Most of the necessary arrangements having been thus made, Louis Napoleon invited his four prin- cipal ministers to repair at a late hour to the Elysee. There the fate of France, for some vears, was decided upon. The National Assembly was to be annihi- lated, the press was to be gagged, and the people of Paris were to be. terrified into submission by an overwhelming military force. The conspirators sat up all night, and at four o'clock in the morning, St. Arnaud, Minister of War, wrote to his mother : " In two hours' time we shall be in the midst of a revolution, which I hope will save the country," — the phrase always employed by the" Bonapartists, when they desire to express the ruin of liberty. " The insane, blind, factious Assembly will be dis- solved. Paris will awaken in the morning, and the revolution will be accomplished ! Some hundred arrests or so, the door of the Assembly shut, and all 's done. I am waiting for the commander of the troops to give him my last orders. Everything is ready : the Ministry is changed, and I form part of EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. ."513 the new one. The whole course of actioD, and the regulation of the material force depend on me." The two hours ran on, and the cold grey dismal morning had not yet broken, when on a hundred walls and corners of streets revolutionary proclama- tions were seen posted up. They whose occupations compelled them to rise early, approached the mys- terious placards, and, by the light of the half dying lamps, read as follows: — " In the name of the French people, the President of the Republic decrees : — " Art. I. The National Assembly is dissolved. " Art. II. Universal suffrage is restored. " Art. III. The French people are to assemble in their Comitia from the 14th of December to the 21st of the same month. " Art. IV. Martial law is proclaimed within the limits of the first military division. " Art. V. The Council of State is dissolved. " Art. VI. The Minister of the Interior is charged with the execution of the present decree." In another proclamation he sought to defend at length his offence against liberty, by indulging in a fierce attack upon the constitution, which un- doubtedly contained many delects. But of these he was thoroughly aware when he put himself 314 LOUIS NAPOLEON, forward as candidate for the Presidentship, and when after his election he swore a solemn oath in presence of the National Assembly, and added to that oath a voluntary declaration to observe as sacred and invio- lable flie Republican form of government. It by no means diminishes the guilt of Louis Na- poleon, to contend that the constitution was so full of absurdities and contradictions, that it was quite impossible it should last, and that in fact its original framers — Bourbonists, Orleanists, Bonapartists, and Republicans — never meant that it should last. A real friend of his country would have laboured to introduce reforms. He had the example of England before him. Our constitution, in whatever it may be thought to have consisted, was at first imperfect enough ; but growing with the nation's growth, and strengthening with its strength, it has been con- verted by degrees into one of the noblest monu- ments of human wisdom of which history makes men- tion. There is no reason why the French people should not have built on the Constitution of 1848 a fabric of rational liberty. Few institutions are so bad as to be altogether incapable of improvement. Had Louis Napoleon been a patriot, he would have discovered the means of accomplishing, without violence and EMPEROB OF THE FRENCH. 315 bloodshed, what was needed by the country, and have taken care not to lay himself open to the charge of doing what he did for his own aggrandisement, not for the freedom and prosperity of France. Instead of this, he subverted the n-overnment of which he was himself the chief, by means which it is impossible too severely to condemn. He had then the hardihood, in a public document, to speak of the Constitution fiercely and vindictively as a dangerous enemy. AVhen lie asked the French people to make him President by their votes, it was obviously that he might stand at the head of the Republic ; but when he had overthrown that Republic, and entrapped and imprisoned its defenders, he was not ashamed to adduce the very fact of his election as a proof that the country was adverse to the Constitution. Six millions of votes, he says, were a strong protest against it. Yet when the nation was required to vote, the form of government was not in question — that had been previously settled, — and the business then in hand was simply to choose a man who, in conjunction with others, might manage public affairs. This, it appears to me, is a fair and impartial state- ment of the case. I am incapable of viewing it in any other light; and by indulging in sophistry, sarcasm, invective, and misrepresentation, Louis olG LOUIS NAPOLEON, Napoleon proves that it surpassed his ingenuity to defend by any other means what he had done. To proceed, however, with the narrative. Louis Napoleon had by decree dissolved the National Assembly ; but that body, becoming bold too late, re- solved not to die quietly ; yet every step it now took, while it proved its innocence of conspiracy, proved at the same time its incapacity and want of foresight. French public men must always be regarded more or less as tragic or comic actors. They look upon them- selves as on the stage, and are persuaded that they have the whole world for their audience. This in- spires them with the energy to perform occasionally brilliant actions, but oftener betrays them into bustle, rhodomontade, and intolerable exhibitions of ar- rogance. What the National Assembly was to do, in the emergency which had suddenly arisen, nobody could decide ; but it determined, at all events, to meet and talk, which would be some consolation. Large bodies of members therefore hurried towards the Legislative Palace, but there discovered, to their dis- may, that the President had been beforehand with them. Instead of admiring crowds, eager to listen to their eloquence, and disposed to respect in them the majesty of the French people, they encountered EMPEROB OF THE FRENCH. 317 regiments of drunken soldiers, who, without the slightest regard to their senatorial character, hustled and pushed them about in the most insolent manner. Not being able to enter the edifice in the ordinary way, they sought to steal in by the side-doors, but were everywhere met by portions of the military rabble with fixed bayonets. Jeered, scoffed, laughed at, and humiliated, these manufacturers of decrees and worshippers of ancient dynasties rushed angrily away to the Mairie of the Tenth Arrondissement where they resolved in their wrath to perform great things. Race prevented them from perceiving that they were caught like so many mice in a trap ; that their efforts would be of no avail, since the moment for action was over, and that Louis Napoleon now regarded their resentment with as little anxiety as that of any other portion of the rabble. In preferring the interest of princes before that of their country they had forfeited all title to the nation's reverence, and condemned themselves to witness the triumph of a dashing usurper, who despised them for that very faithlessness towards the Republic which had enabled him to accomplish its ruin. Saving assembled, however, in the Maine, to the number of about three hundred, they proceeded in a noisy and confuse d manner to vote the d< position ol 318 > LOUIS NAFOLEON, Louis Napoleon. The speakers were numerous, in- temperate, fierce, clamorous; but among them all, one man only really experienced solicitude for the fate of the Republic ; the others had their idols beyond the French frontier — Bourbons of the elder or younger branch, Counts of Chambord or Counts of Paris, Joinvilles, Aumales, Nemours, empty names and powerless frivolities compared with the iron phalanxes of the usurper in possession. Berryer, who had de- fended his offence at Boulogne, because it was only perpetrated against the younger branch, but which Louis Napoleon himself afterwards condemned as treason against the State, — Berryer, I say, now de- luded himself into the belief that his sonorous com- monplaces could rouse the people of Paris into the defence of a fragment of the Assembly. Accordingly, in company with another person, he emerged through a window, and standing on a narrow balcony, addressed the multitude below, composed almost entirely of Republicans. No one there felt any sympathy for M. Berryer, who had been the ad- vocate of the Bourbons for half a century : yet when he spoke, the crowd listened ; until, turning round to a little bustling, fussy, mean-looking individual by his side, he exclaimed, " This is the man upon whom the National Assembly has conferred the command of the army, — it is General Oudinot! " EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 319 At that name, so hostile to liberty and indissolubly associated with the fratricidal attack on the young Republic of Rome, the people burst in shouts of bitter and derisive laughter, which might speedily have proved the prelude to much more vigorous demonstrations of dislike, but that at the moment a number of strong arms were thrust out through the window, and in an instant the orator and the General disappeared, and a row of bayonets flashed along the balcony. In fact, while this section of the Assembly was in the midst of its deliberations, a large body of infantry had broken into the edifice, with loaded muskets, fixed bayonets, and furiously drunk. Re- sistance was impossible, and these infatuated parti- sans — Bourbonists, Orleanists, Fusionists, who, by their culpable intrigues, had brought about the ruin <>f the Republic — were marched off, under a strong escort, and with few or no tokens of sympathy from the people, to the prison of Mont Valerian and the chateau of Yinciiin It was now generally felt that, for a time at least, the political game was up. Fifty thousand men — infantry, cavalry, artillery — were posted in diffe- rent parts of Paris, ready at the slightest signal from the Elys6c, to cut down or blow to atoms any who should dare to raise a cry for the Republic. The sudd'Mi'" - of tli«' U'>w had paralysed the courage 320 LOUIS NAPOLEON, of the Parisians. Everybody feared everybody. Friends, relations, wives, children, brothers, were suspected. According to public opinion, wherever five men were assembled, one of them was sure to be a spy. Men of decided Republican principles, who were generally known, now suddenly disappeared; bodies were found in the Seine, in deserted houses, in unfrequented places, in the city, and in the sub- urbs.* This was the commencement of a Reign of Terror, and during many hours, fear the most abject per- vaded the whole body of society. But the Republi- cans, though they entertained no hope of success, were determined that free institutions, however im- perfect, should not perish without being hallowed by the blood of some at least of their defenders. They therefore, with hopeless valour, descended into the streets to die. The traditions of the eighteenth cen- tury were deeply engraven on their hearts, with all that France had done and all she had suffered for liberty. They spread themselves through the city, they carried about journals printed in secret, they col- * For a vivid picture of the interior of the French capital, during those days, see " Purple Tints of Paris," ii. 301 — 330. EMrEROR OF THE FRENCH. 321 lected crowds, they delivered harangues, fiery, but full of the melancholy accents of death. The blood of the Republican youth was once more kindled, and the general cry was, " To the barricades ! " " to the barricades ! " These words thrilled to the heart of Paris, and during the night of the third, hundreds of those dreadful fortifications of liberty sprang up in the streets as if by magic. There is a limit, however, to the efforts of human courage. The Republicans were few, dispersed, taken by surprise, destitute of leaders. But they could always die, and die they did gallantly, behind the barricades, and with their blood the flame of freedom was extinguished, if not for ever, at least, for many years, in France. 322 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. VIII. THE MASSACRE OF DECEMBER. The 4th of December, big with disaster and calamity, dawned like a day of doom upon Paris. In the Fasti of the Roman Republic, the day on which the soldiers of the commonwealth fell at Allia was not more deserving to be linked with dismal associations. Masses of soldiers, infuriated with brandy, extended in long lines through the great thoroughfares, to intimidate or slaughter the popu- lation. Louis Napoleon felt that it was possible to break the spirit of France, by deluging the streets of Paris with blood, and extirpating as far as pos- sible all the Republicans. Suddenly, on the Boulevards, when the thronging and excited passengers least expected it, a pistol was fired, by whom is not known. The soldiers imme- diately presented arms, a line of flame passed along the streets followed by the report of musketry, and the shrieks of men, women and children rolling upon the earth in mortal agony. The soldiers again loaded EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 323 their pieces, and raked the windows and balconies of the opposite houses, killing indiscriminately all who presented themselves. The streets were encumbered with the dead ; the kennels ran red with blood ; here the grey hairs of age were dabbled in the gory puddle, and there infants crawled over the dead bodies of their mothers. The drunken soldiers proceeded with their butchery until nothing that had life was seen in the streets. The corpses were then heaped together, and borne pell-mell to the cemetery of Montmartre, where they were buried with their heads above ground ; ostensibly, that their relatives might recognise them, but really, in order to inspire the most bewildering fear into the minds of the Parisians. How lung those ghastly grinning heads were suffered to remain in that situation is not Btated, but they disappeared by degrees, though not until the people of Paris had learned thoroughly to comprehend the Napoleonic idea, and the sort of blessings it is calculated to bring along with it. The victory over the people had been gained in Paris, but the provinces Still remained to be sub- dued. Risings took place simultaneously in various departments, but the army, the ready instrument of oppression, was everywhere at hand to crush the ittered insurgents. No people on earth are o v -2 324 LOUIS NAPOLEON, bitter against each other as the French when they differ on political or religious grounds. They then set no bounds to their ferocity: victors and vanquished heap upon each other for the present time, and transmit in memoires to posterity, the most fearful calumnies. According to the Napoleonists, the provincial insurgents all over France were odious savages, who delighted in crime, and had no other object in taking up arms. But they who circulated such reports lent them no credence. They knew them to be mere fabrications, intended to serve the purposes of despotism, for being transmitted to foreign coun- tries by the organs of government — and no others were suffered to exist — they would at least appear to justify the rigorous measures taken to repress popular commotions. No exact record has perhaps been kept of the massacres by which Louis Napoleon celebrated his inauguration as President for ten years. They supplied the place of those rejoicings by which the change of governments is sometimes commemorated in other countries. But from that time to this no means has existed of getting at the truth, because the freedom of the press being totally destroyed, the whole French people grovel in mental darkness, EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 325 scarcely beholding the grim idol, which, according to the organs of the Tuileries, they worship with the most profound devotion. When Louis Xapoleon abolished the freedom of the press, he stated his reason to the senators and deputies of his new constitution. Those reasons are always on the lips of despotism, that is to say, the abuses and inconveniences which must always accompany full liberty of speech. He recognised his incapacity to regulate journalism in France, and therefore destroyed it. Formerly, when writing on the affairs of Switzerland, he had made use of the following words : " Every citizen of a Republic must desire to be free, and liberty is a vain word unless it be practicable to express unrestrainedly in writing a man's thoughts and opinions. If the press experienced obstructions in one canton, it would be- take itselt with its enlightenments and blessings to another ; and the canton which should have ex- cluded it would not beat all the more secure against its attacks. The liberty of the press ought therefore to be general." Reflection on this passage must surely inspire the French people with a mean idea of their own cha- racter. Their emperor himself bas informed them, that in every country where the press is not i'n ■■, v 3 326 LOUIS NAPOLEON, liberty Is a vain word. By his own logic, therefore, they are slaves, and must now derive what comfort they can from that circumstance. From this time forward the history of Louis Na- poleon, losing all individual interest, becomes the history of France, which it is not by any means my intention to write. Besides, since no free press ex- ists under his government, it is impossible to collect materials which can be relied on. Yet the career of Louis Napoleon, though its characteristics be totally changed, still possesses a deep interest, and is fraught with instruction moral and political. The Republic having been destroyed in December 1851, he immediately set about completing the task which he had proposed to himself, namely, the re- construction of the Empire. This had been his object from the beginning, but his means varied according to his position. For awhile, even after the coup d'dtat, he sought to conceal his aim, though in this he was not successful, because most persons perceived distinctly what he meant to accomplish, though no one pos- sessed the power to thwart his designs. In the situ- ation in which he had now placed himself, it was ob- viously his policy to strike while the iron was hot ; during the terror which succeeded the massacre he issued orders and decrees, which fell rapidly like KMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 327 lieavy blows upon the French people, and terrified them into the most servile submission. To show any active opposition to the government was death, and to convince men that his menaces were not so many vain words, the slightest pretext was seized upon for having recourse to military executions. lie printed the phrase " Vive la Kepublique ; ' at the top of all his proclamations, but if any Frenchman, en- couraged by his example, shouted the same words in the street, he was seized and shot like a dog upon the pavement. Then appeared the denunciations against socialism and secret societies, to have belonged to which at any time rendered a man liable to transportation. By this edict two millions of persons at least were placed within the fatal grasp of the government, and might at any moment be torn from their families and their homes and sent to Algeria or Cayenne. The pro- cess was actually commenced on a grand scale. Eight thousand Republicans were arrested, and numbers of them having been allowed to pine and perish in French dungeons, the remainder were >int like the refuse of humanity to manure the soil of the colonics. In the midst of th< se fearful scenes Louis Napol vigorously pushed on his election. Orders were sent ^ 4 328 ' LOUIS NAPOLEON, down to all the prefects and military commanders in the provinces to see that everything was done to secure a vast majority. The voters were forbidden to use the ballot. They were to give their suffrages openly, and the enthusiastic Bonapartists set the ex- ample of coming to the poll with their votes pinned upon their hats. The electors with the fear of Cay- enne and Algeria in their minds, marched to the urns between double rows of fixed bayonets. And thus, sixteen days after the massacre, Louis Napoleon was rendered complete master of France. Foreign nations had long arrived at the conviction that the French people are incapable of liberty, and must therefore be subjected to despotic authority. It was accordingly a matter of indifference to them whether a Bourbon, an Orleanist, or a Bonapartist were at the head of affairs, since they considered it quite clear that some one invested with absolute power must occupy that place. To most of the governments of the continent this conviction was rather satisfactory than otherwise, and even here in England people had grown so weary of the perpetual revolutions which took place in France that they almost ceased to attach any importance to the form of government which might be established there. But they were not altogether without uneasiness at EMPEROE OF THE FRENCH. 329 the success of Louis Napoleon, because they could not rid themselves of the idea that he had inherited the animosity of his uncle towards this country.* For a considerable time this persuasion gained ground, and it seems perfectly certain that the French army as a body was animated by a very strong desire to avenge the disaster of Waterloo. How far Louis Napoleon shared this sentiment will perhaps never be exactly known, because circum- stances at length occurred which gave a different turn to his speculations, and even inspired the whole French people with the desire to form a strict alliance with England. After the coup d'etat and the massacre of De- cember, Louis Napoleon, as I have said, was re-elected President of the Republic, and this time not for four, but for ten years. ITe had not in vain read * If any opinion can be formed from the tenour of Louis Napoleon's writings and speeches, his hatred of England has always been exactly in proportion to the magnitude of the benefits he has received from it. When pleading for liis life in 1840, before the Chamber of Peers, hi' said: ",Je repn'sente devant vims nn principe, une cause, une deYaite. J>e principe, e'e-t la souverainete* dn peuple ; la cause, celle de I'empire ; la (h'faite, Waterloo." Wouters. 320. Several years before, lie had observed in his "Considerations sur la Suisse " (CEuvres, ii. •'>7l.), that if ever France Bhould avenge the battle of Waterloo, the liberties of Europe would be strengthened. 330 LOUIS NAPOLEON, the history of France. He knew that although a fortunate general, or a legitimate pretender, or a profound intriguer might raise himself to sovereign authority, public opinion immediately began to alienate itself from him, that discontents arose, that plots were formed, that new ambitions sprang to light, and that in this manner governments crumbled away, and were dissolved. He determined to do all in his power to avoid such a catastrophe. But the whole extent and nature of his exertions have not been brought to light. His friends and ministers dispersed themselves over the country, sometimes ostensibly in search of health, sometimes for the transaction of official business, but in truth always for the single purpose of preparing men's minds for the restoration of the Empire.* The real partisans of the Republic were every- where denounced as socialists, drunkards, rabble, cannibals. The imperial press swarmed with the most odious accusations against immense sections of the community. Yet when it came to sum up, it * On the 29th March, 1852, he delivered to a body of his crea- tures, assembled under the name of senators and deputies, in the palace of the Tuileries, a long and artful speech, in which he enumerated his reasons for not restoring the Empire. If, however, those reasons were valid then, they altogether ceased to be so eight months later. CEuvres, lii. 325. EMPEEOE OF THE FEENCH. 331 invariably decided that all France longed for the Empire as the only pledge of external peace and internal tranquillity. To make trial of the feelings of the country Louis Napoleon undertook a sort of tour of examination which by many journalists was dignified at the time with the name of a royal progress. The prefets, the mayors, the military commanders, and all the other authorities of the several provinces had long received their instructions. In ways properly understood only by those functionaries, they excited the enthusiasm of the people, bringing forward all those who ex- pected any favours however slight, and repressing and driving into the background all in whom lle- publican principles were known to have survived the trials of the last four year.-;. France, as one of the panegyrists of Louis Napo- leon observes, is fond of glory, especially when con- templated from afar. Already the public had begun to forget what tears and blood had been shed for those victories which were now become so many immortal memories cast in bronze and brass as the impre- scriptible titles of France to the sovereignty of the world! Bnt it is easier to imitate the language than to revive the virtues, the power, and the in- stitutions of ancient Koine. France never has been, 332 LOUIS NAPOLEON, and never will be mistress of the world, and her claims to be so considered provoke nothing save ridicule beyond her own frontier. But by en- couraging these vain opinions, the members of the Bonaparte family have always contrived to stand high in public favour. Louis Napoleon now went forth to gather the fruits of more than half a century of victories, blandishments and intrigues. Everything practicable had been done to excite alarms, and panic terrors connected with the spirit of socialism, represented as a political monster with a thousand heads, panting to assail and drain the blood of civil society. Between the triumph of this terrible phantom and the re-establishment of the Empire lay the only choice of France. The priests and the religious orders, diffusing themselves noiselessly, like a dark cloud over the land, excited the superstition of the people, and inspired them with the belief that religion was in danger. In various parts of his writings, Louis Napoleon, not foreseeing that he might some day stand in need of it, speaks with profound contempt of this sacer- dotal agency. After the great troubles of France which closed the eighteenth century, the clergy, he observes, were divided in two bodies, one consisting EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 333 of those priests who supported the new government, the other composed of such as were refractory. These, " the cherished children of the Pope," whose rule he elsewhere denominates " a brutal despotism,"' profiting by the support extended to them by the chief of their religion, exerted all the influence they possessed in misleading the populace by their writ- ings, which they poured from foreign countries into France. In another pas-age he says, " Unhappily the ministers of religion in France are generally opposed to the interests of the people ; and therefore to suffer them without control to establish schools would be to permit them to instil into the popular mind the hatred of liberty and the Revolution." Now, however, he stood in need of these enemies of freedom, who, on their part, readily became his emissaries in raising the hackneyed but terrible cry of " the Church in danger." But the priesthood is often found to be a two-edged sword, which alter- nately wounds both people and princes. Thus wc are told that Verger, the detestable assassin of the archbishop, ventured, in his fierce enthusiasm, to raise his indignation even to Louis Napoleon; for in his letter t < » him he says, " Take heed to yourself. Fanatical priests have in all ages been dang< rous enemies, and Verger perhaps bad been stinking the passages I have quoted. 334 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. IX. THE PROGRESS. THE EMPIRE. There is always hope for a country when it can be roused to exertion by the idea that any peril is impending over its faith. But it argues the possession of little useful knowledge by the French people, to have been so easily persuaded, as they were in 1852, that Christianity had really anything to fear from socialism. However, the instruments I have men- tioned were now unscrupulously employed in the service of Louis Napoleon, who sought personally to obtain an earnest of the people's suffrages in all provinces of France lying between Paris and the Mediterranean. Great efforts have been made to create and diffuse through Europe the belief that on this occasion nothing was anywhere discoverable but the most enthusiastic loyalty. St. Arnaud, who accompanied him, was at first deceived by appearances. The students of English history will call to mind the prodigious outbreaks of enthusiasm which greeted EMPEEOR OF THE FRENCH. 335 the younger Charles Stuart on his return from exile. Louis Napoleon's companions for awhile imagined they were witnessing a similar spectacle. He himself seems never to have been deluded for a moment. He understood his countrymen, and knew what their shouts were worth. However, at Bourges, at Nevers, at Moulins, at Grenoble, nothing was heard but " Vive Napoleon ! " " Vive l'Empereur ! " But as they proceeded the sky darkened, and there were persons in Louis Napoleon's suite who observed that in those southern provinces enthusiasm often came forward to mask the approach of fanati- cism, the word by which they designated Repub- licanism. They felt they were moving through a sultry atmosphere, and that the thunder was gather- ing, though no clouds as yet appeared. The Minister of War was filled with apprehensions, and scarcely believed in his own power to ward off danger from the decennial President by all the military arrange- ments he could make. The conviction became stronger and Btronger, as they approached the sea. that they were treading over the ashes of a volcano, which at any moment mighl explode, and blow them, aa the Minister of War expresses it, into a Letter world. He, no doubt at the moment, felt he had done hie besl to make this aa bad as possible. It was 336 » LOUIS NAPOLEON, evident that a vast conspiracy existed, having it's centre no one knew where, and spreading its rami- fications no one could divine how closely, or how far. The Minister's panic went on perpetually in- creasing. The blood shed on the fourth of December lay heavy on his soul. His days were uneasy, his nights disturbed. Louis Napoleon himself took refuge in his constitutional apathy, which after all was only the apathy of a mask, concealing the muscular indications of terror, which nevertheless stuns; and tortured him within. At Marseilles, still filled with reminiscences of the old Republic, a grand demonstration organised by the authorities awaited the candidate for the imperial throne ; the people by tens of thousands crowded the streets, the quays, the squares ; there were eries of " Vive l'Empereur ! " nosegays were showered in abundance on the courtiers. But the faces of the crowd wore a strange expression. They did not appear to be looking at anything before them, but at somebody or something which was to come. Suddenly, amid piles of roses, there was discovered an infernal machine, which, in a few minutes, perhaps in a few seconds, would have exploded, and blown all within reach to atoms. EMPEROIl OF THE FEENCH. 337 This little incident disturbed the economy of the President's ideas, and his Minister of "War keenly- felt how immense was the responsibility of his situa- tion. He made many pompous professions, he used many big words, he repeated the boast of Bossuet to Louis Quatorze, and said he would defend the President's life with his own body. Nevertheless the pleasure of the progress was spoiled. No one exactly knew to whom, or to what party, this tremendous invention was to be attributed. It might be the Orlcanists, it might be the Legitimists, it might be the Socialists. At any rate the fact had now become manifest, that the people of the South were dangerous. With no little precipitation therefore was the rest of the triumph hurried over. Their progress became much more progressive, and with chastened feeling- mingled with dark fore- boding- Louis Napoleon and his Minister of \\ ar returned to Paris. Notwithstanding the occurrence of these unto- ward events, the restoration of the empire was determined on, and the remainder of the year de- voted to conciliating the courts of Europe. Some writers, hostile to Louis Napoleon at all Btages of his caret]-, call in question hie talents. Bui what purpose can thifi serve? [f his talents be below z 338 LOUIS NAPOLEON mediocrity, what must we think of those who suf- fered themselves to be overreached and put down by him ? To adopt a French idiom, I would say of two things one, — either Louis Napoleon's genius and statesmanship are above the middle term, or those of his antagonists are very much below it. For myself, I by no means question his remarkable abili- ties or his knowledge, which, to confess the truth frankly, is greater than that of any other person who at this moment sits on a throne in Europe. Within the sphere of this knowledge I place his acquaintance with that art which enables men to read each other, to separate the original and highly gifted thinkers from those who depend chiefly on their acquisitions, or their rank, or the traditions of place, family, or employments. He had a great deal of peculiar work to do, and with admirable tact he chose the proper men to do it. He understood moreover, extremely well, the habit of mankind, when they are called upon to judge the actions of persons in power, and foresaw how lenient they would prove to the excesses of his ambition. In 1852, on the anniversary of the coup (Vetat, he caused himself to be proclaimed Emperor, and obliterated from the public acts of France the very name of the Republic. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 339 The state of the country since that period, it is impossible to describe. In a mitigated form, it has been one continued reign of terror. Any man's house may be entered at any moment, his most secret cabinets may be searched, his papers — even the letters of his wife and children, his marriage settlement, or the title deeds to his estate — may be seized, sealed up, and carried for examination to the office of a commissary of police. Nothing is held sacred. Louis Quatorze, it is well known, used to get the letters of his subjects intercepted by the police, scrutinised, assorted, and arranged for his perusal. Louis Napoleon does the same, but instead of reading them himself he delegates the task to his creatures. For some time after the proclamation of the Empire it remained altogether uncertain what course the French Government would pursue with respect to this country. A great deal of talk existed about the invasion of England, and it may be regarded as certain, that a large portion of the French army looked forward to the incidents of the expedition with no little hope and enthusiasm. The pillage of London was regarded as a thing quite within the limits () f probability. The idea, whether entertained 340 LOUIS NAPOLEON, by the Government or not, arose out of the declara- tion of Louis Napoleon, that he had the defeat of Waterloo to avenge. In all likelihood he never seriously meditated entering upon so Quixotic an enterprise, yet he adroitly contrived to insinuate the belief into the minds both of the French and the English people. On this side of the Channel the French invasion constituted for a considerable time the leading topic in all companies ; and the Government^ urged by Parliament, took precautions for protecting our shores. By degrees, another subject arose to absorb the mind of Europe. Russia, ever since the general peace, had been cherishing immense plans of ag- grandisement, developing its frontier on the east and south, menacing the integrity of Turkey, and meditating, it was supposed, formidable encroach- ments on the territories of Germany. All its resources had been applied to the creation of an army of unparalleled magnitude, and innumerable emissaries, salaried by the Court of St. Petersburg, insinuated themselves into every country in the west and south of Europe, where they laboured to create the belief that the power of Russia was irre- sistible. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 341 By these means, the ideas and opinions of the masses were subjugated ; and when that process has been completed, the material subjugation of states often follows as a matter of course. Between the Court of St. Petersburg and the British Govern- ment there took place, about this time, a curious correspondence. The object on the part of Russia was to obtain the connivance of the Western Powers, while she consummated her designs against the Ottoman Porte. England she sought to win over by bribes; Austria* she reckoned upon keeping still by menaces ; and ever since the elevation of Louis Napoleon, France in her eyes appeared little 1 utter than a political nonentity. That this was a grievous error it needs no subtle reasoning to show ; but the Czar nevertheless fell into it, and spoke of Napoleon the Third as an individual hardly worth the trouble of being consulted. The refutation of this opinion was afterwards written with blood and fire on the ruins of Sebastopol ; but legitimate sovereigns, until they arc taught better by ex- perience, are apt to look upon parwnus with more contempt and dislike than are reconcilable with sound judgment. 'Turkey had long been accustomed to endure with calmness the insolent threats of Russia. She be- /. 3 342 LOUIS NAPOLEON, lieved profoundly in her own weakness, and had not much faith in the politicians of Western Europe. The Russian ambassador at Constantinople, inflated with pride and arrogance, had brow-beaten and terrified the Divan, and there appeared to be little reason to doubt, that a campaign suddenly under- taken and conducted with vigour, would carry the double-headed eagle to the Golden Horn. A bold and skilful diplomacy had sown distrust and appre- hension in all the great capitals of Europe; many continental statesmen lived in affluence upon roubles from St. Petersburg, and writers of no mean talents had conjured up vast phantoms of Russian armies and Russian power in the minds of the ignorant and timid throughout Christendom. Even Louis Napoleon, an author as well as an em- peror, had suffered himself to be carried away by the belief in Muscovite omnipotence, and in two remark- able passages with which the inmates of the Winter- palace were, doubtless, familiar, had assigned to the czars the glorious task of regenerating the East. Into this theory he was partly perhaps betrayed by that sleepless jealousy of England from which no Frenchman is free. But when he gave vent to the opinion he was a private man, writing, if not for his bread, at least in the hope of earning a reputation. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 343 His ideas in the estimation of kings and czars had then but little significance, but when he came to occupy a different situation his notions also were regarded dif- ferently. The world, in general, and regal personages more especially, value the thought for the person, not the person for the thought. A sceptred expression has tenfold the force of much wiser words from the lips of an obscure philosopher. However this may be, it is probable that on the eve of the Russian war, Louis Napoleon earnestly wished he had never maintained the hypothesis, first briefly thrown out in the Napoleonic Ideas and after- wards at greater length in his pamphlet on the Canal of Nicaragua. In the former work, after strongly eulogising the despotism of the czars, he observes, " that the East can receive from Russia alone the im- provements of which it stands in need." This | as- Bage supplies a key to the following, which without it would be unintelligible. Having spoken of several renowned emporiums, he remarks : " There exists another city famous in history, though now fallen from its ancient splendour, whose admirable situation renders it an object of attention to all the great powers of Europe, which agree to uphold a govern- ment there, less fitted in their opinion than another Z 4 344 > LOUIS NAPOLEON, to profit by those advantages which nature has lavished upon it. The geographical position of Con- stantinople rendered it the queen of the ancient world. Occupying the central point between Europe, Asia, and Africa, it might again become the commercial entrepot of all three, and acquire over them an im- mense preponderance. Lying between two seas re- sembling two great lakes, of which it commands the entrance, it might keep up in them the most formid- able fleets, safe from the attacks of the whole world, and through these armaments establish its sovereignty over the Mediterranean and the Euxine. Mistress also of the mouths of the Danube, which would facilitate her entrance into Germany, and of the sources of the Euphrates, which would lay open the approaches to India, she would be in a position to dictate laws to the commerce of Greece, France, Italy, Spain, and Egypt. This is what the proud city of Constan- tine might be ; and this is what it is not, because, according to Montesquieu, the re-establishment of an empire which would threaten the equilibrium of Europe cannot enter into the minds of the Turks." No political reader can fail to perceive the bearing of this passage ; but when it actually came to be a question whether Constantinople should remain EMPEROR OF THE FUENCII. 345 in the hands of the Osmanlis or pass into those of the regenerating Russians, Louis Napoleon threw the brilliant sword of France beside that of England into the scales to prevent the realisation of his youthful theory. 346 LOUIS NAPOLEON, CHAP. X. THE RUSSIAN WAR. Having so far succeeded, the Czar Nicholas Ro- manoff suddenly determined to cross the Pruth, and invade the Turkish empire. This movement was in direct opposition to the policy of England, which it is well known has always regarded Turkey as one of the oldest and firmest of its allies. The idea imme- diately arose, therefore, of an Anglo-French alliance, and Louis Napoleon was easily persuaded to co-operate with this country in preserving that balance of power upon which the civilisation of Christendom reposes. One of the chief arguments employed to convince his imperial mind, is said to have been this : in language highly diplomatic and courteous, he was given to understand that England was bent upon the war with Russia, and would unquestionably under- take it, for the defence of the Osmanli frontier, whe- ther with or without allies. That it would be his in- terest to join with Great Britain was clearly implied in this fact, that it would be easy for us, by the ex- EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 347 penditure of a little money, to raise in France the standard of the Comte de Chambord, or the Comte de Paris, and bring about a Bourbon or an Orleanist restoration. The argument may not have been categorically stated, but it was suggested to the lniiid of Louis Napoleon, who immediately under- stood all the advantages which would arise to him from the friendship of England. Then followed the Russian war which obviously forms no part of my subject. It belongs to the his- tory of Europe. Many of the events by which it was diversified, were highly honourable to the French arms, and no doubt can be entertained that the two nations acted together with energy and good faith. But it may be questioned whether the alliance has ever been cordial ; in France, it has certainly not been regarded with a favourable eye; partly, per- haps, because it disappointed the hopes of the old military or Napoleonic faction, and partly because it thwarted the designs of the Legitimists, Orleanists, and Republicans. It was, moreover, little agreeable to what may be called the real Catholic party, the intelligent members of which must have perceived from the beginning that Lonifl Napoleon regarded the Church exclusively as an instrument and its ministers as sacerdotal slaves. 348 LOUIS NAPOLEON, All the traditions and associations of Catholicism in France are connected with the Bourbons, and if the Republicans were wise they would seek on this point to supplant their rivals, and connect themselves with religion, not merely out of reverence for the thiDg itself, but as the only means of political success. While these transactions were in progress, Louis Napoleon married the Countess de Teba, a Spanish lady of respectable family. His declaration on this occasion was full of manly and independent sentiments. In selecting a wife, he said he had consulted less the necessities of his position than the affections of his heart. This language would have produced more effect on the mind of Europe, had the fact not been well known that he had previously made overtures for the daughters of several royal families, and been rejected. When princesses proved coy, it was found that the Countess de Teba would do- well enough for a fortunate parvenu. Upon the attempt to assassinate him, upon his visit to England, and on the visit of the queen of this country to France, it is wholly unnecessary to enter into details, because they are events without any po- litical significance. The only remaining subject worthy of attention is the conclusion of peace with Russia, in which Louis Napoleon has acted a promi- EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 349 pent part. It is probable, however, that even the plenipotentiaries of the various Powers assembled in Paris, were not cognisant of all the facts which had led to that result. Louis Xapoleon imitates, as far as practicable, the home policy of Russia, which con- siders the internal movements of society as things too domestic to be disclosed to foreigners. "We are not sufficiently acquainted with the state of France to be able to decide how far the condition of the people influenced the resolutions of the Government; whether the resources of the country showed signs of exhaustion, and whether, in conse- quence, the population gave tokens of dissatisfaction, which suggested to the rulers that it would be pru- dent to lay on the people no more burdens, but to put an end to the war with all practicable speed. It is said, upon grounds which appear to be by no means .-light, that Bonapartisin is on the wane in the pro- vinces, where knowledge of some kind or another is diffusing itself, -and irivinjr rise to a strong desire for free institutions. If this desire be not gratified, the fault may in some measure perhaps be attributed to the Repub- lican party. After many years of disaster; after having been decimated again and again by despotism ; after having thrown up barricades over nearly tie- 350 LOUIS NAPOLEON, whole surface of France ; after having shed the blood of brave and devoted men in torrents ; after having been proscribed by every successive government from the eighteenth Brumaire until now, the members of that party have not yet learned wisdom. France enjoyed a considerable amount of liberty under the restored dynasty, which, by judicious management, might have been gradually augmented, until the nation was satisfied with the recognition of its rights and privileges. Through the intrigues of the house of Orleans, a revolution was brought about, and a revolutionary monarchy established with a citizen king at its head. But, somehow, royal houses in France find it difficult to ally them- selves with freedom. Louis Philippe was greedy of power, and the liberal party was intolerant of the slightest check. The consequence was the revolution of February, and the establishment of a Republic. What then ? Were the French people contented ? No; having conquered the government of their choice, they wished to proceed further into the un- known regions of politics, to explore the hidden foundations of property, to organise labour upon principles not recognised by nature, and instead of resting satisfied with having established a new government, aimed at reconstructing the whole me- EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 351 chanism of social life. This alarmed the wealthy, and made them ready to throw themselves into the arms of any one who would undertake to deliver them from the evils they dreaded. No harm would have befallen them, had they re- mained true to the Republic. Their taxes Avere mo- derate, their duties were light, their security and tranquillity complete. But wild people talked and wrote wildly, in conformity with their nature ; their speculations were daring, their paradoxes terrific; but practically they would have acted like other people, and left the whole social edifice much as they found it. But the opulent and the privileged are always timid, and being ignorant besides, were easily persuaded that there is no stability in freedom. They never had been free, and being therefore com- pletely without experience, and disliking the only free communities they knew, — Great Britain and Switzerland, - they fancied it would be better for their interests to have a strong government. In fact, they were afraid of the Republicans, who en- _j'»ved and laughed at their fears, instead of wisely seeking to calm or dissipate them. Hence Louis Napoleon came to be looked upon by capitalists, wealthy proprietors, dealers in stork-, in railway shins, in merchandise of all kinds, as a 352 LOUIS NAPOLEON, sort of social deliverer. The peasantry went like cattle in whatever way they were driven, and so the second Empire was established. Then, as might have been foreseen, the greatest possible disappoint- ment followed. Instead of a diminution of taxes, there was an immense increase, partly to pay the army which had been augmented the better to keep down the people, partly to defray the expenses of rebuild- ing half Paris, partly to meet the enormous expendi- ture of the Russian war. Now, therefore, it is said, even the rural population begins to look back with envy at the brief but golden days of the Republic, when they were asked to pay very little ; when fathers and sons were not taken from the plough to cut the throats of other fathers and sons in distant provinces ; when every man might think as he pleased, and speak as he thought ; when journals good, bad, and in- different, supplied those who read with new amuse- ment every hour ; when there was a constant succes- sion of harmless fetes, planting and blessing trees of liberty, meetings in the open air, meetings in cafes ; a kind of life, in short, not unlike what we enjoy here in these islands, except that there was a little more bustle, a little more gaiety, considerably more dancing, and a great deal less drunkenness. The French now look back upon all these things EMPEROR OF THE TRENCH. 353 as the several families of the world look back upon the Golden Age, that is to say, as a thing gone for ever. What they have at present to do is to work hard, to pay their taxes, buy images or engravings of Louis Napoleon to show their loyalty, and never to open their mouths on the subject of politics. If you ask them a question which has the most distant bearing on public affairs, they reply, " We know nothing about it, it is not our business; d'ye see there are gendarmes about ; and then what would you ? it is much better to be silent." Louis Napoleon has an car much larger and more terrible than that of Dionysius. Everybody in France knows this, and consequently everybody fears. The treaty of peace with Russia closed one par- ticular period of Louis Xapolcon's life, and opened another. The English alliance has borne fruit, — barren victories, and a war terminated from exhaus- tion. France is once more free to form new alli- ances mure in accordance with the principles by which her government is regulated, and public opinion already points to the North as the scene on which Louis Napoleon's diplomacy is likely next to develope itself. But a man may have more tendencies than appear on the surface of bis cha- A A 354 LOUIS NAPOLEON, racter, and he may therefore determine to disappoint by his prudence and moderation the anticipations of mankind. His position in France is beset with difficulties, I might perhaps say with dangers. A large portion of the nation, over which he holds sway, is inimical to his rule ; many sympathise with the Italians, with the Hungarians, with the Poles, with the Greeks. He has made himself responsible in some measure for the behaviour of the Papal Government, by crushing the Roman Republic and restoring the Pope's authority. After several years of expe- rience, however, it now appears that no progress at all has been made in Central Italy towards good government. The authorities dread the people, and the people detest the authorities. Nothing but foreign bayonets now upholds the sacerdotal des- potism. Withdraw the props, and down at once goes the edifice. Misgovernment is no less flagrant in the kingdom of Naples, where thousands of enlightened and liberal men, whose only crime is their attachment to, their country, lie rotting in prisons, in some cases far below the level of the sea, where reptiles, and damp, and noisome effluvia continue to sap the force of life. Louis Napoleon stands pledged to endea- vour in conjunction with England to abate this evil. EMPEROR OF THE FEENCII. 355 At the same time, to illustrate the anomalies of his situation, I may allude to his hostility to the liberty of the press in Belgium. His plenipoten- tiary at the Conferences invited the representatives of the other Powers to consider that question, with a view to curtail the freedom which public opinion vindicates to itself in that country. Louis ±s r apo- leon is not unacquainted with English literature, and may remember with profit an observation of Lord Bacon. The only way, he says, " to destroy bad books, is to write good ones.' Apply the re- mark to journals. If the Belgians encourage bad papers, let the journalists of Paris be let loose against them, and the genius of France, if Louis Napoleon can contrive to enlist it on his side, will soon make short work with the Brussels politicians. But he is afraid, it may be .-aid, of the press of his ou'ii country, and has therefore put it down. So much the worse for him, since this only pro\ that a majority of men in France who think and reason and write are against him. In other words, the intelligence of the country is inimical to his government. lie therefore rules in opposition to the will of that portion of the people which under- stands what it is to have a will of its own, and has nothing on his Bide but that physical force a a a 356 LOUIS NAPOLEON, with which despotism everywhere keeps down opi- nion. Still, so long as that force supports him, he will continue Emperor of the French. According to the report of many observers, public opinion in France is flowing rapidly away from the Tuileries. People have not found themselves in that millennium which Marshal St. Arnaud fancied he saw begin in 1852. On the contrary, even the Bonapartists themselves have been deceived in their hopes ; perhaps they looked for too much ; perhaps they were capricious ; perhaps events have occurred which have necessarily given a new direction to their ideas. Even the English alliance, useful as it has been in some sense to Louis Napoleon, may in other respects have tended greatly to abridge his popularity. Yet, having entered upon this policy, it will be his wisest course to persevere in it, and by enlarging the commercial intercourse between the two nations to give to the industrious classes a powerful material reason for attaching themselves to his government. Of course he has sufficient foresight to comprehend that if he resolves upon adopting this policy he will soon find himself under the necessity of opening and enlarging the political institutions of France; for free trade implies other kinds of freedom. An im- EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 357 mense commerce, carried on with energy and intelli- gence, presupposes in the people the existence of mental qualities which are irreconcilable with slavery. The interests of the trading classes can be properly watched over only by their own representatives in a parliament which has the power to make its decrees respected. Establish such a parliament in France, and Louis Napoleon must cease to be emperor, and pass into a new category of royalty, less pompous, but far more elevated. If he discovers in time the wisdom of this course, he may check a reaction which has already com- menced, and which will either restore the old legitimate line of princes or again lead to the procla- mation of a Republic. In any case I fear that France will not speedily see an end of her troubles. Her in- habitants an.' too enlightened for despotism without being sufficiently enlightened for freedom. They are therefore obviously in a transition state, and as the great pendulum of public opinion oscillates, will alternately retrograde and advance, until a knowledge of politics shall be sufficiently diffused among the people to render practicable the reign of liberty. I do not pretend to foresee what part Louis Na- poleon will choose to play in this prodigious drama ; but, judging from his antecedents, I am not at all A A 3 358 LOUTS NAPOLEON, inclined to arrnie that it will be a noble or honourable part. There is a taint in his blood ; he springs from a bad stock; he has no sympathy with free institutions, no love for the people. All his leanings are dynastic, and by professing faith in destiny, he has provided himself beforehand with an excuse for any crimes he may commit. He will always think it sufficient to attribute them to the overruling influence of his star. Against such a man the citizens of a free country cannot be too much on their guard. EMPEROR OF TIIE FRENCH. 359 CHAP. XI. ACTUAL POSITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON. If we now inquire what useful lesson is taught by the preceding narrative, the answer, it appears to me, is this: that no reliance is to be placed on the pro- fessions of Louis Napoleon. All men, it is commonly believed, make their own interest the centre of their ideas, plans, and actions, and the exceptions are perhaps too few to disturb the foundations of the general principle. Louis .Napoleon, however, greatly transcends what is ordinary in the application of tin- law. During his childhood, his youth, and his early manhood, he seems to have been remarkable rather than otherwise for his generosity, and had he succeeded peacefully to a throne, might have always continued so. But forty years of his life were given up to vicissitude — to struggles — to uncertainty — to plots — to stratagems- — to impostures -to dis- appointments. All tliis period he probably looked upon as thrown away, and when circumstances placed before him the chance of making up for lost time he Beized upon it A A I 360 ; LOUIS NAPOLEON, with eagerness, and resolved to make use of all means, no matter how iniquitous, to enjoy the in- toxicating sweets of ambition. Being a man of sa- gacity, he had been frank with himself if with no one else ; and had made and acknowledged the discovery that no road to fame lay open to him, save that which he has since trodden. While he possessed no other means of distinction he had tried literature, but tried it in vain. His books had no vitality in them ; they gave evidence of considerable knowledge, of talent, industry, and observation ; but the fire of genius was wanting. The author never being warm himself, necessarily failed to impart warmth to his readers. It was evident he had thought much, and passed under re- view the whole system of modern civilisation, the growth of states, the relations of empires, the probabilities and prospects of revolutions. But he had done all this from a peculiar point of view ; that is, to ingratiate himself with the French people in order that he might become their master. He had travelled through several countries and received much kindness from foreigners, but con- tracted no friendships, indulged in no confidences, believed in no professions, and never deserved that any faith should be placed in him. The opinions he EMPEROR OF TEE FRENCH. 361 put forward were such as he thought best calculated to promote his interest. Together with his brother Napoleon he was in early life a Republican, a con- spirator, and an insurrectionist, denounced the Pope as a tyrant, and the clergy as time-servers, and sought actively to put an end to sacerdotal domina- tion. When he had occasion to speak of his uncle's rule, he condemned it as arbitrary, and accounted for his overthrow by the excess of his despotism. Nothing could satisfy his mind but the extreme of democracy. lie came to England, he associated with our pri- vileged classes, and when to superficial observers it seemed likely that a contest would arise between the democracy and the government, he abandoned the former, and, as far as he was permitted, took up a position against them. When power came to him, he denounced all attempts at converting his demo- cratic theories into practice as mere Utopias, and spoke of his former friends as incorrigible persons, who were labouring t<> raise a storm by which they would be the first to perish. The study of his letters, speeches, proclama- tions, manifestoes, while creating a highly favourable opinion of his .-hill and abilities, must at the same time convince us of the entire want of high 362 LOUIS NAPOLEON, principle in his mind. He excels in short, terse, vigorous compositions, but appears to be soon ex- hausted, and to pause for want of materials. This is the reason why his books are inferior. He has no fixed principles or opinions, and his thoughts refuse to assume any settled form. When he is desirous of putting his hand upon them, they glide away like globules of quicksilver, enlarging, di- minishing, agglomerating, separating, in obedience to some law which regulates irresistibly the creations of his mind. But with all this fluctuation of means and in- struments, he has with inflexible steadiness pursued the track of his own advancement. From this he has never swerved, even for an instant. To gratify the cravings of his ambition, he has considered no means unlawful — fraud, deception, perjury, op- pression, exile, massacre. Nor when he had obtained his point did he shrink from acknowledging his crimes. He described them, it is true, by periphrases, by skilful, extenuating language, by sophisms, by fallacies ; but conscious he had been acting in the sight of all Europe he felt it would be absurd to affect disguise, and he has accordingly affected none. If this be a true picture of the man, it must EMrEROR OF THE FRENCH. 363 obviously be impossible to reckon very confidently on the stability of an alliance with him. His political principles are the antipodes of ours. Look- ing at the condition of Europe, he may for some time discover reasons for preferring the friendship of England to that of any other state ; but if the history of modern times teach any particular lesson, it is, I think, this, that no continental power, and least of all France, has any very cordial attachment for England. It could serve no useful purpose to disguise the fact, that we are a nation apart, that our in- stitutions, our laws, our manners, our religion, in short, everything in our civil polity and social life tends to make us different from our neigh- bours. The very fact of our being a free people renders us obnoxious to nearly the whole con- tinent. AVe arc considered and spoken of abroad as the originators and apostles of revolution, because they cannot distinguish between the quiet enjoy- ment of freedom and the desire to subvert and destroy. But as far as we have any political sympathies, they must obviously be extended to those governments which most resemble our own. No doubt when we have formed an alliance even with despotisms, we Bhall be careful honourably to 364 LOUIS NAPOLEON, fulfil all the conditions which such a state of things imposes on us. But in case of any great struggle on the Continent, our leanings would inevitably be towards the partisans of free institutions. It may consequently happen, that the complica- tions which cannot fail to arise in the affairs of Europe, will compel us to adopt a policy different from that of Louis Napoleon. As long as the alliance can be maintained with advantage to the two countries, I trust it will be preserved inviolate : but it seems probable that Louis Napoleon, clear- seeing as he is, may yet, when troubles again arise in Christendom, fail to understand his best interests, and through the influence of his feelings be tempted to form new political combinations. Several power- ful governments are at this moment intriguing for the support of France, and it is difficult to foresee in what direction her views of her own interest will precipitate her. If, in conjunction with England, she should attempt the reconstruction of the Italian States, a rupture with the court of Vienna would be the almost necessary consequence. On the other hand, considerations arising out of the state of Eastern Europe may render a proper understanding with Russia impracticable. In whatever light viewed, the alliance of England EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 365 ■with Louis Napoleon is surrounded by uncertainty. He may soon have to wage a civil war with his own countrymen. The elements of disaffection, which have never ceased to exist, though enveloped for awhile with obscurity, are diffusing themselves, and accpuiring fresh force every day. The working classes, for whom he has invariably expressed so much sympathy, have throughout the greater part of France witnessed the complete blighting of their hopes. A large portion of the country lies unculti- vated, because very little is done towards rendering rural industry profitable. Peace will throw large masses of men out of employment, and send them back into the provinces to augment the difficulties of the country. Commerce meanwhile languishes, and the new combinations which threaten to take place in the political world may tend still further to disorganise the resources of France. To accelerate this result, the ignorance and obstinacy of the people frustrate the endeavours of the government to introduce free trade. On this subject Louis Napoleon is far in advance of the French nation. lie seeks to remove the shackles from industry, the mass of the people resist; he offers them an immense boon, but they refuse it ; and at the least approach to an enlightened 366 LOUIS NAPOLEON, political economy assemble tumultuously together, and conjure the government to preserve their com- mercial chains. The new-born peace, whether short-lived or not, can hardly be expected to prove anything but a respite to the troubles of France. The government is widely unpopular; immense masses of ignorance on the one hand and a large amount of intelli- gence on the other are arrayed against it, and it is impossible to foresee to what extent Louis Na- poleon will be able to resist the pressure which may be brought to bear upon his government. The rivalry of the two nations sleeps, but is not extin- guished. An entirely free government in France mio-ht have gone far towards obliterating it ; but a military despotism, however disguised, is little calculated to produce this desirable result. Com- merce, industry, intelligence, a free, press, and complete personal liberty might have drawn closer the links of friendship with England. But the supporters of Louis Napoleon's govern- ment are the military classes, and it is among these almost exclusively that hatred of England exists. In proportion, therefore, as his situation is do- minated by the army will be the difficulty of pre- serving the present alliance. Diplomacy can achieve EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH. 367 k very little towards bringing two nations long hostile into a cordial disposition towards each other. This must be done by the diffusion of sound ideas and manly and honourable sentiments, and Louis Na- poleon has annihilated the only instrument by which it is possible to carry on this process. The French provinces are compelled to grovel in the thickest darkness, and must depend for all their ideas of us and our government upon the distorted traditions of the empire, which are all hostile to us. If Louis Napoleon desires to be the real friend of England, he must commence by becoming the liberator, not the enslaver of France, whose inha- bitants have at length been surfeited with military glory, and are desirous of. grasping something more tangible. In fact, they woidd prefer a little liberty — real, moderate, constitutional liberty, which allies itself naturally with industry, with the arts of peace, with the progress of civilisation. It would sometimes almost appear as if he himself likewise took this view. Towards the close of 1856, the hostility of several imperial prefets and municipal institutions received a cheek from the Minister of the Interior, who was commanded by the emperor to inform them that in all matter- qo1 bearing directly upon 6tate affairs the people were to be allowed to 368 LOUIS NAPOLEON, ETC. manage their own concerns. But from this solitary example it would be unsafe to draw any very cheering inference. Still evei'ything is deserving of notice which serves to indicate the inclination of the French government to improve its domestic policy ; and if Louis Napoleon comprehends this first necessity of France, and yields gracefully and in time to the wishes of the nation, he may continue to reign over one of the finest countries in Europe : if not, the fate of Napoleon, of Charles X., and Louis Philippe will be his. THE END. London : Printed by Spottiswoode & Co., New-street- Square. 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The t] logical paper is an estimate of the influence of the elder N< mnan, Mr. Coleridge, and Mr, Carly a, upon modern theology. The reader maj i peel to And ft paper of real Interest. To say that it i-- worth pera al would only be .small pi In a hackneyed phra-e It is worth thinking about; and that la saying something for fiiKil ve piece m h as 'be*e nnw-e-davs."- Qiebe, October 9, 18G6, " The article mi Shelley fs a masterly pine of Briticism. Shelley is s peel with whom, perhaps, we era more delighted mni m, cloth. Price 4s. 6d. HBAMUBT ATSJl BVAK8 , r RINTKOI, WHITEl'Si 1B». 193 Piccadilly, March 1, 1837. CHEAr EDITION OF CARLYLE'S WORKS. Messrs. CHAPMAN and HALL beg to announce that on the 1st of January 1857 they commenced the Publication, in Monthly Volumes, of a Complete and Uniform Edition of the WORKS OF MR. THOMAS CARLYLE, handsomely printed in Crown Octavo, price Six Shillings per Volume. To be completed in about Fifteen Volumes. Now READY, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION A HISTORY. In Two Volumes, price 12*. On the First of March will be published OLIVER CROMWELL'S LETTERS AND SPEECHES; WITH ELUCIDATIONS AND CONNECTING NABKAT1VE. Volume I., price 6*. To be completed In Three N - [Fur Specimen Fage see other side. 258 TERROR. [1793. of us. Ye children of men !— A sister of his, they say, lives still to this day in Paris. As for Charlotte Corday, her work is accomplished; the re- compense of it is near and sure. The chere amie, and neighbours of the house, flying at her, she ' overturns some movables,' en- trenches herself till the gendarmes arrive ; then quietly surren- ders ;' goes quietly to the Abbaye Prison : she alone quiet, all Paris sounding, in wonder, in rage or admiration, round her. Duperret is put in arrest, on account of her; his Papers sealed, — which may lead to consequences. Fauchet, in like manner; though Fauchet had not so much as heard of her. Charlotte, confronted with these two Deputies, praises the grave firmness of Duperret, cen- sures the dejection of Fauchet. On Wednesday morning, the thronged Palais de Justice and Revolutionary Tribunal can see her face ; beautiful and calm : she dates it ' fourth day of the Preparation of Peace.' A strange mur- mur ran through the Hall, at sight of her; you could not say of what character. 1 Tinville has his indictments and tape-papers: the cutler of the Palais Royal will testify that he sold her the sheath-knife ; " All these details are needless," interrupted Char- lotte; " it is I that killed Marat." By whose instigation?—" By no one's." What tempted you, then ? His crimes. " I killed one man," added she, raising her voice extremely (extremement) , as they went on with their questions, " I killed one man to save a hundred thousand ; a villain to save innocents ; a savage wild-beast to give repose to my country. I was a Republican before the Revolution ; I never wanted energy." There is therefore nothing to be said. The public gazes astonished : the hasty limners sketch her fea- tures, Charlotte not disapproving : the men of law proceed with their formalities. The doom is Death as a murderess. To her Advocate she gives thanks ; in gentle phrase, in high-flown clas- sical spirit. To the Priest they send her she gives thanks ; but needs not any shriving, any ghostly or other aid from him. On this same evening therefore, about half-past seven o'clock, from the gate of the Conciergerie, to a City all on tiptoe, the fatal Cart issues; seated on it a fan- young creature, sheeted in red smock of Murderess ; so beautiful, serene, so full of life ; journeying towards death, — alone amid the World. Many take off then hats, saluting reverently; for what heart but must be touched ? 2 Others growl and howl. Adam Lux, of Mentz, declares that she is greater than Brutus ; that it were beautiful to die with her : the head of this young man seems turned. At the Place de la Revolution, the ' Proces de Charlotte Corday, &c. (Hist. Pari, xxviii. 311-338). 8 Deux Amis, x. 374-384. , CHEAP EDITION OF LEVER'S WORKS. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. K. BROWNE. Messrs. CHAPMAN and HALL published on the 1st of January 1857 the First Volume of a Cheap and Uniform Edition of the NOVELS OF MR. CHARLES LEVER. This Edition is handsomely printed in Crown Octavo, and each Volume will contain Eight Steel Engravings by H. K. Browne. Bound in Cloth. The First Volume issued was HARRY LORREQUER. Price -Is. On the Hth of March will be published CHARLES O'MALLBT, THE IRISH DRAGOON. Volume II., with Six Illustrations, price is. Completing Hie Work in 2 vols. To he followed by JACK HINTON, THE GUARDSMAN. TOM BURKE OF "OURS." THE O'DONOGIH T. THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE. ROLAND CASHED THE DALTONS; OR, THREE ROADS IN LIFE. THE DODD FAMILY ABROAD. HO. ETC. ETC. [For Specimen Page see oilier side. 72 HARRY LORREQUER. " No, it isn't brandy." " We have got gin, ma'am, and bottled porter — cider, ma'am, if you like." " Agh, no ! sure I want the dhrops agin the sickness." " Don't know, indeed, ma'am." " Ah, you stupid creature ! Maybe you're not the real steward. What's your name ? " " Smith, ma'am." " Ah, I thought so ! Go away, man, go away," This injunction, given in a diminuendo cadence, was quickly obeyed, and all was silence for a moment or two. Once more was I dropping asleep, when the same voice as before burst out with — " Am I to die here like a haythen, and nobody to come near me ? Steward ! steward ! steward Moore, I say." '* Who calls me?" said a deep sonorous voice from the opposite side of the cabin, while at the same instant a tall green silk nightcap, surmounting a very aristocratic-looking forehead, appeared between the curtains of the opposite berth. " Steward Moore !" said the lady again, with her eyes straining in the direc- tion of the door by which she expected him to enter. " This is most strange," muttered the baronet, half aloud. " Why, madam, you are calling me!" " And if I am," said Mrs. Mulrooney, " and if ye heerd me, have ye no man- ners to answer your name, eh ? Are ye steward Moore ?" " Upon my life, ma'am, I thought so last night when I came on board ! but you really have contrived to make me doubt my own identity." " And is it there ye're lying on the broad of yer back, and me as sick as a dog foment ye?" " I concede, ma'am, the fact ; the position is a most irksome one on every account." ZD^V " Then why don't ye come over to me ?" And this Mrs. Mulrooney said with a voice of something like tenderness— wishing at all hazards to conciliate so important a functionary. " Why, really, you are the most incomprehensible person I ever met." " I'm what ?" said Mrs. Mulrooney, her blood rushing to her face and tem- ples as she spoke— for the same reason as her fair townswoman is reported to have borne with stoical fortitude every harsh epithet of the language, until it occurred to her opponent to tell her that " the divil a bit better she was nor a pronoun ;" so Mrs. Mulrooney, taking " omne ignotum pro korribile," became perfectly beside herself at the unlucky phrase. " I'm what ? Repate it av ye dare, and I'll tear yer eyes out ! Ye dirty bla— guard, to be lying there at yer ease under the blankets, grinning at me. What's your thrade— answer me that — av it isn't to wait on the ladies, eh ?" " Oh, the woman must be mad," said Sir Stewart. « AUSW AINf* 3Hi " o 17(N8Q1I1VJ it> -. -, u* 1- I i^cf" \ -i£ ft***»*W^ a - CALIFORNIA 6 « IHC «n THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. 100M 11/86 Series 9482 tttt> S . o Aitsii3AiNn am • . 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