THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES EaaŒŒaaasŒ DJ H. B W1NDRED, HI Bookseller and Stationer fli Oil ?.. n m^^ pt RA J^_^ \ ■,': ■ x OAwK-'V VJO (/ J f~D THE COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE BY 1MBERT DE SAINT-AMAND TRANSLATED BY THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY WITH PORTRAIT SECOND EDITION LONDON HUTCHINSON & CO. 25, Paternoster Square 1892 [All rights reserved] Copyright, 1S90, by Cbarlea Sciilmei's Sons, for the United BtateBof America. Printed by Berwick 8c Smith, Boston, Mass., U.S.A. DC IBISl CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE /v . L The Beginning of the Empire 1 II. The Journey to the Banks of the Rhine 20 ^^ III. The Pope's Arrival at Fontainebleau 29 o^ IV. The Preparations for the Coronation 39 V. The Coronation 49 VI. The Distribution of Flags 67 VII. The Festivities 70 VIII. The Etiquette of the Imperial Palace 87 IX. The Household of the Empress 102 X. Napoleon's Gallantries 110 XI. The Pope at the Tuileries 115 XII. The Journey in Italy 124 XIII. The Coronation at Milan L35 XIV. The Festivities at Genoa 147 XV. During the Campaign of Ai sterlitz L6S XVI. The Marriage of Prince Eugene 173 XVII. Paris in the Beginning of 1806 194 XVIII. The Marriage ok the Princh of Baden 200 V vi CONTENTS. i MAl'TKR PAGE XIX. I'm. Ni:«' hikkn of Holland 210 XX. Tin Empbess at Mayence 221 XXI. 'I'm Ki 1 1 i;\ op the Empress to Paris 243 \\11 I'm DEATH OF THE YODNG Napoleon 2G0 XXIII. The End "i the War 269 XXIV. The Emperor's Return 279 XX V. The ( !oi kt at Fontainebleau 291 XXVI. Tin. End ov the Year 1807 307 THE COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE THE COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. I. THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. TWO-THIRDS of my life is passed, why should I so distress myself about what remains? The most brilliant fortune does not deserve all the trouble I take, the pettiness I detect in myself, or the humil- iations and shame I endure ; thirty years will destroy those giants of power which can be seen only by raising the head ; we shall disappear, I who am so petty, and those whom I regard so eagerly, from whom I expected all my greatness. The most de- sirable of all blessings is repose, seclusion, a little spot we can call our own." When La Bruyère ex- pressed himself so bitterly, when he spoke of the court " which satisfies no one," but " prevents one from being satisfied anywhere else," of the court, " that country where the joys are visible but false, and the sorrows hidden, but real," he had before him the brilliant Palace of .Versailles, the unrivalled glory of the Sun King, a monarchy which thoughl itself immovable and eternal. What would lie say in this l ■J. COURT OF Till. EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. century when dynasties fall like autumn Leaves, and ii takes much less than thirty years to destroy the giants of power; when the exile of to-day repeats to the exile of the morrow the motto of the churchyard : // lie mihi, eras tibi? What would this Christian philosopher say at a time when royal and imperial palaces have been like caravansaries through which sovereigns have passed like travellers, and when their brief resting-places have been consumed by the blaze of petroleum and arc now but a heap of ashes? The study of any court is sure to teach wisdom and indifference to human glories. In our France of the nineteenth century, fickle as it has been, incon- stant, fertile in revolutions, recantations, and changes of every sort, this lesson is more impressive than it has been at any period of our history. Never has Providence shown more clearly the nothingness of this world's grandeur and magnificence. Never has the saying of Ecclesiastea been more exactly verified: "Vanity of vanities: all is vanity!" We have before us the task of describing one of the most sumptuous courts that has ever existed, and of re- viewing splendors all the more brilliant for their brevity. To this court of Napoleon and Josephine, to this majestic court, resplendent with glory, wealth, and fame, may well be applied Corneille's lines: — • All your happiness Subject to instability Tn a moment falls to the ground, And as it has the brilliancy of glass It also has its fragility." THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 3 We shall evoke the memory of the dead to revive this vanished court, and we shall consult, one after another, the persons who were eye-witnesses of these short-lived wonders. A prefect of the palace, M. de Bausset, wrote: "When I recall the memorable times of which I have just given a faint idea, I feel, after so many years, as if I had been taking part in the gorgeous scenes of the Arabian Tales or of the Thousand and One Nig Jits. The magic picture of all those splendors and glories has disappeared, and with it all the prestige of ambition and power." One of the ladies of the palace of the Empress Josephine, Madame de Rémusat, has expressed the same thought : " I seem to be recalling a dream, but a dream re- sembling an Oriental tale, when I describe the lavish luxury of that period, the disputes for precedence, the claims of rank, the demands of every one." Yes, in all that there was something dreamlike, and the actors in that fairy spectacle which is called the Empire, that great show piece, with its scenery, now brilliant, now terrible, but ever changing, must have been even more astonished than the spectators. Aix- la-Chapelle and the court of Charlemagne, the castle of Fontainebleau and the Pope, Notre Dame and the coronation, the Champ de Mars and the distribu- tion of eagles, the Cathedral of Milan and the Iron Crown, Genoa the superb and its naval festival, Austerlitz and the three emperors, — what a setting! what accessories ! what personages ! The peal of organs, the intoning of priests, the applause of the 1 I OUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOBEPHWE. multitude and of the Boldiers, the groans of the dying, the trumpet call, the roll of the drum, ball music, military bands, the cannon's roar, were the joyful and mournful harmonies heard while the play a iiit on. What we shall study amid this tumult and agitation is one woman. We have already studied her as the Viscountess of Beauharnais, as Citizeness Bonaparte, and as the wife of the First ( -ul. We shall now study lier in her new part, that of Empn Let us go hack to May 18, 1804, to the Palace of Saint ( !L Mid. The Emperor had just been proclaimed by the Senate before the plébiscite which was to ratify the new state of things. The curtain has risen, the play begins, and no drama is fuller of contrasts. of incidents, of movement. The leading actor, Napo- leon, was already as familiar with his part as if he hail played it since his childhood. Josephine is also at home in hers. As a woman of the world, she had learned, by practice in the drawing-room, to win even ter victories. For a fashionable beauty there is no great difference between an armchair and a throne. The minor actors are not so accustomed to their new position. Nothing is more amusing than the embar- rassment of the courtiers when they have to answer the Emperor's questions. Theybegin with a blunder; then, in correcting themselves, they fall into still worse confusion : ten times ;( minute was repeated, S s, G neral. Your Majesty, Citizen, First Consul. Constant, the Emperor's valet de chambre, has given THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 5 us a description of this 18th of May, 1804, a day devoted to receptions, presentations, interviews, and congratulations : " Every one," he says, " was tilled with joy in the Palace of Saint Cloud; every one imagined that he had risen a step, like General Bona- parte, who, from First Consul, had become a monarch. Men were embracing and complimenting one another; confiding their share of hopes and plans for the future ; there was no official so humble that he was not fired with ambition." In a word, the ante-chamber, barring the difference of persons, presented an exact imitation of what was going on in the drawing-room. It seemed like a first performance which had long been eagerly expected, arousing the same eager excitement among the players and the public. The day which had started bright grew dark ; for a long time there were threatenings of a thunder-storm ; but none looked on this as an evil omen. All were inclined to cheery views. The courtiers displayed their zeal with all the ardor, the passion, the furia francese, which is a national characteristic, and appears on the battle-field as well as in the ante-chamber. The French fight and flatter with equal enthusiasm. Amid all these manifestations of devotion and delight, the members of the [mperial family alone. who should have been the most satisfied, and cer- tainly the most astonished by their greatness, wore an anxious, almost a grieved look. They alone ap- peared discontented with their master. Their pride knew no bounds; their irritability was extreme. 6 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Nothing seemed good enough Eor them in the way of honors and privilèges; and when we recall their father's modest house at Ajaccio, it is hard to keep from smiling at the vanity ni' these new Princes of the blood. Of Napoleon's tour brothers, two were ab- sent and on bad terms with him: Lucien, on account of his marriage with Madame Jouberton; Jerome, on account of his marriage with Miss Paterson. Bis mother, Madame Letitia Bonaparte, an able woman, who combined great courage with uncommon good sense, had not lost her head over the wonderful good fortune of the modem Caesar. Having a presenti- ment that all this could not last, she economized from motives of prudence, not of avarice. While the court i.-rs were celebrating the Emperor's new triumphs, she lingered in Rome with her son Lucien; whom she had followed in his voluntary exile, having pronounced in his Eavor in his quarrel with Napoleon. As Eor Joseph and Louis, who. with their wives, had been raised to the dignity of Grand Elector and Con- stable, respectively, one might think that they w overburdened with wealth and honors, and would be perf tisfied. lint not at all ! They were indig- nant that they were not personally mentioned in the • . by which their posterity was appointed to succeed to the French crown. This plébiscite ran thus : " The French people desire the inheritance of the Im- 1 dignity in the direct, natural, or adoptive line of ' Erom Napoleon Bonaparte, and in the direct, natural, legitimate line of descent from Joseph THE BEGINNING OF THE EXPIRE. t Bonaparte and from I, nuis Bonaparte, as is determined by the organic Benatus-consultum of the twenty-eighth Floréal, year XII." For the Emperor's family, these stipulations were the cause of incessant squabbles and recriminations. Lucien and Jerome regarded their exclusion as an act of injustice. Joseph and Louis asked indignantly why their descendants were men- tioned when they themselves were excluded. They were very jealous of Josephine, and of her son, Eugene de Beauharnais, and much annoyed by the Emperor's reservation of the right of adoption, which threatened them and held out hopes for Eugene. Louis Bona- parte, indignant with the slanderous story, according to which his wife. Hortense, had been Napoleon's mis- fcress, Heated lier ill, and conceived a dislike for his own son. who was reported to be thai of the Emperor. As for Elisa Bacciochi, Caroline M mat. and Pauline Borghese, they could not endure the mortification of bring placed below the EmpreS8, their sister-in-la w, and the thought that they had QOt yet been given the title of Princesses <>f the blood, which had been granted t<> the wife of Joseph and the wife <>\ Louis, filled them with actual despair. Madame de Rémusat, who was present at the first Imperial «lin tier at St. Cloud, M i\ L8, 1804, de-ci'ibes this curious repast. General Duroc, Grand Marshal of the Palace, told all the guests in succession of the titles of Prince and Princess to be given t" Joseph and Louis, and their wives, but not to the EmpeJ sisters, or to their husbands. This fatal news : COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. trated Elisa, < aroline, and Pauline. When they sat down at table, Napoleon was good-humored and merry, possibly at heart enjoying the slight con- straint that this novel formality enforced upon his guests. Madame Murat, when she heard the Emperoi saying frequently Princess Louis, could not hide her mortification or her tears. Every one was embar- rassed, while Napoleon smiled maliciously. The next day the Emperor went to Paris to hold a grand reception at the Tuileries, for he was not a man to postpone the enjoyment of the splendor which his satisfied ambition could draw from his new title. In this palace, where had ruled the Com- mittee of Public Safety, where the Convention had sat. whence Robespierre had departed in triumph to preside over the festival in honor of the Supreme Being, nothing was heard but the titles of Emperor, Empress, My Lord, Prince, Princess, Imperial High- ness, Most Serene Highness It was asserted that Bonaparte had cm up the red caps to make the rib- bons <>f the Legions of Honor. The most fanatical Revolutionists had become conservative as soon as they had anything to preserve. The Empire was but a few hours old, and already the new-born court was alive with the same rivalries, jealousies, and vanities that fill the courts of the oldest monarchies. It was like Versailles, in the reign of Louis XIV., in the (lallery of Minors, or in the drawing-room of the Œil de Bœuf. It would have taken a Dangeau to record, hour by hour, the minute points of etiquette. THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 9 The Emperor walked, spoke, thought, acted, like a monarch of an old line. To nothing does a man so readily adapt himself as to power. One who has been invested with the highest rank is sure to imagine himself eternal; to think that he has always held it and will always keep it. Indeed, how is it possible to escape intoxication by the fumes of perpetual incense? How can a man tell the truth to himself when there is no one about him courageous enough to tell it to him? When the press is muzzled, and public power rests only on general approval, when there is no slave even to remind the triumphant hero, as in the ancient ovations, that he is only a man, how is it possible to avoid being infatuated by one's greatness and nm to imagine one's self the absolute master of one's destiny? The new Çsesar met with no resistance. He was to publish scornfully in the Moniteur the protest of Louis XVIII. against his accession, lie was to be adored both by fierce Revo- lutionists and by great lords, by regicides and by Royalists and ecclesiastics. It seemed as if with him everything began, or rather stalled anew. "The old world was submerged," says Chateaubriand; "when the flood of anarch} withdrew, Napoleon appeared ai the beginning of a new world, like those giants de- scribed by profane and sacred history at the begin- ning of society, appearing on earth after the 1 >eluge." The former general of the Revolution enjoyed his situation as absolute sovereign. lie studied the laws of etiquette as closely as he studied the condition of l'i COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE his troops. He saw thai tin- men of the old régime uviv more conversanl in the an of flattery, more r, than the ni'w men. As Madame <\<- Stai : l 3: "Whenever a gentleman of the old court re- called the ancienl etiquette, suggested an additional bow, a certain way at knocking at the door of an ante-chamber, a more ceremonious method <>ï present- ing a despatch, of folding a letter, of concluding it with this or that formula, he was greeted as if h<> had helped on the happiness of the human race." Napoleon attached, <>r pretended to attach, great importance to the thousand nothings which make tip the empty life of courts. He established in the palace the same discipline as in the camps. Every- thing became a matter of rule. Courtiers Btudied formalities as officers studied the art of war. Regu- lations " losely observed in the drawing-rooms as in the tents. At the end of a few months Napo- leon was i" have the most brilliant, the most rigid court of Europe. At times the whirl of vanities that surrounded him oiled with impatience the great cen- tral Bun, without whom his satellites would have been nothing. At other times, however, his pride was bified by the thought that it was his will, his fancy, which evoked from nothing all tin- grandees of the earth. He was not pained at seeing su ami [mperial I [ighnesses. The Empress's Maid of Honor was Madame de La Rochefoucauld; her Lady of the Bedchamber was Madame de Lavalette. Her Ladies of the Palace, whose number was soon raised to twelve, and Later still more augmented, were at firsl only four: Mad- ame de Talhouët, Madame de Luçay, Madame de Lauriston, and Madame de Rémusat. These ladies. i"<>. aroused the hottest jealousies, and Boon they Bori of p nod\ of the questions of vanin that agitated the Emperor's family. The 12 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. women who were admitted t<> the Empress's intimacy could uever console themselves for the priviL accorded to the Ladies ol tin- Palace. In essentials all courts are alike. On a greater or Bmaller scale they are rank with tin' same pettines tin- Bame chattering gossip, the same trivial squabbles as the porter's Lodge, ante-chambers, and servants 1 quarters. It we examine these things from the standpoint of a philosopher, we .shall find but little difference between a steward and a chamberlain, between a chambermaid and a lady of the palace. We may go further and say that as soon as they have places and money at their disposal, republicans have courtesies, as much as monarchs, and every- where and always there are to be found people ready to bow low if there is anything on the ground that they can pick up. Revolutions alter the forms of ernment, but not the human heart ; afterwards, as before, there exist the Bame pretensions, the same prejudices, the same flatteries. The incense may be burned before a tribune, a dictator, or a Csesar, there are always the same flattering genuflections, the same cringing. The new Empire began most brilliantly, but there was nu laek of morose criticism. The Faubourg Saint Germain was for the most part hostile and scornful. It Looked upon the high dignitaries of the Empire and on the Emperor himself as upstarts, and all the men of the old régime who went over to him they branded as renegades. The title of ''Citizen" I ill: BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 13 was suppressed and that of "Monsieur" restored, after having been abandoned in conversation and writing for twelve years. Miot de Mélito tells us in his Memoirs that at I'nM public opinion was opposed to this change : even those who ai the beginning had shown the greatest repugnance to being addressed as Citizen, disliked conferring the title of Monsieur upon Revolutionists and the rabble, and they pre- tended to address as Citizen those whom they saw- tit to include in this class. .Many turned the new- state of affairs to ridicule. 'The Parisians, always of a malicious humor, made perpetual puns and epigrams in abundance. The Faubourg Saint Germain, in spite of a few adhesions from personal motives, preserved an ironical attitude. General de Ségur, then a captain under the orders of the Grand Marshal of the Palace. observed thai in 1804, with the exception of several obscure nobles, cither poor or ruined, and others already attached to Napoleon's civil and militai"} fortune, many negotiations and various temptations were required to persuade well-known persons tip appear at the court as it was at first constituted. He goes on : " As a spectator and confidant of the means employed. I witnessed in those early days m,m\ refusals, and some I had to announce myself. I even heard many hitter complaints on this subject. 1 remember that in reply I mentioned to the Empress my own case, and told her what it had cost me to enlist under the tricolor, and then to enter the First 1} COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE Consul's military household. The Empress under- Bt 1 me bo wrell thai Bhe made to me a Bimilar confidence, confessing her own struggles, her almost invincible repugnance, at tin- end of L795, Lu Bpite of her feeling for Bonaparte, before she could make up her mind to many the man whom at that time Bhe If used i" call Genera] Vendémiaire." Although Josephine had become Empress, Bhe remained a Legitimist, ami saw clearly the weak points in ili<- Empire. At the Tuileries, in the chamber of Marie Antoinette, she felt out of place; Bhe was surprised to have for Lady of Honor a duchess of an old family, ami her Bole ambition was to be pardoned by the Royalists for her élévation to the highest rank. Napoleon, ton. was much con- cerned about the Bourbons, in whom he foresaw his successors. "One of his keenest regrets," wrote Princi Metternich, -was his inability to invoke legitimacy a- the foundation of his power. Few men have felt more deeply than he the precariousness and fragility of power when it lacks this foundation, its susceptibility to attack."' :• recalling the Emperor's attempt to induce Louis Will, to abandon his claims to the throne. Prince Metterni on: " In speaking to me of this matter. Napoleon said: 'His reply was noble, full of aoble traditions. In those Legitimists tl mething outside of mere intellectual force.'" The Emperor, who, at the beginning <<( his career, dis- played such intense Republican enthusiasm, was by THE BE01 V M\'. OF THE EMPIRE. 1 •" nature essentially a Lover of authority and of the mon- archy. He would have Liked to be a sovereign of the old stamp. Ili^ pleasure in surrounding himself with members of the old aristocracy attests the aristocratic instincts of the so-called crowned apostle of democ- racy. The trw Republicans who remained faithful to the principles wen- indignant with these tenden- cies; it was with grief thai the} saw the reappearance of the thr •: and thus, from different motives the unreconciled Jacobins and the men of Coblentz who had not joined the court, showed the same feeling of bitterness and of hostility to the Empire. The trial of Genera] Moreau made clear the germs of opposition which existed ill a latent condition. It is difficult to form an idea of the enormous throng that blocked all the approaches to the Palace of Jus- tice the day the trial opened, and continued to cioud them during the twelve days that the niai Lasted, which was as Interesting to Royalists as to Republi- The mosl fashionable people of Paris made a point (1 f being present. Sentence was pronounced .June 10. Georges Cadoudal and nineteen of the accused, among whom were M. Armand de Polignac, ami M. de Rivière, were condemned to death. 1 the Emperor's great surprise, Moreau was sen- tenced to only two years of prison. This penalty was remitted, and he was allowed to betake him to the United States. To Ea< ilitate his establishing himself there, 'he Emperor bought his house in the nie d'Anjou Saint Honoré, paying for it eight hun- 16 ' OURT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE, dred thousand francs, much more than it was worth, an»! t lnii he gave it to Bernadotte, who «liil not Bcru- ple tn accept it. The Bum was paid to Moreau oui of the Becrel fund of the police before he left for Cadiz. Josephine's argenl solicitations saved the life of the Duke Armand de Polignac, whose death- sentence was commuted to four years' imprisonment before being transported. Madame Mural Becured a modification of the sentence of the Marquis de Rivière ; and these two acts of leniency, to which great public- ity was given, were of great service in diminishing the irritation of the Royalists. Alter Moreau's trial, the opposition, haying become discouraged, and con- scious of its weakness, laid down its arms, at Least for a time. Napoleon was everywhere master. The Republic was forgotten. Its oame still aj>- peared on the ruins: "French Republic, Napoleon, Emperor"; but it survived as a mere ghost. Never- theless, tin' Emperor was anxious to celebrate in 1804 the Republican festival of July 11: but the object <»f this festival was bo modified thai it would have been hard to Bee in it the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille and of the first federation. In the celebra- tion, not a Bingle word was Baid about these two events. Tin- official eulogy of the Revolution was replaced by a formal distribution of crosses of the ! 'ii of I lonor. This was the firsl time that the Emperor and Empress appeared in public in full pomp. It was also the firsl time that thev availed themselves <>f the THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. IT privilege of driving through the broad road of the garden of the Tuileries. Accompanied \>\ a magnifi- oent procession, thej went in greal splendor to the Invalides, which the Revolution had turned into a Temple of Mars, and the Empire had turned again t<> a Catholic Church. At the door they were received by the Governor and M. de Ségur, Grand Master of Ceremonies, and at the entraîne t « ► the church by the Cardinal «In Belloy at the head of numerous priests. Napoleon and Josephine Listened attentivelj to the mass; then, after a speech was uttered 1>\ the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, M. de Lacépède, the Emperor recited the form of the oath; at the end of which all the members of the Legion Bhouted •■I swear." This sight aroused the enthusiasm of the crowd, and the applause was Loud. In the mid- dle of the ceremony, Napoleon called nji to him Car- dinal Caprara, who had taken a very important part in the negotiations concerning the Concordat, and was soon to help to persuade the Pope to come to Paris for tlie coronation. The Emperor tools from Ins own neck the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, and gave it to the worthy and aged prelate. Then the knights of the new order passed in Line before the Imperial throne, while a man of the people, wearing a blouse, took his station on the steps of the throne. This excited some surprise, and he was asked what he wanted; he t<>"k oui his appointment to the Legion. 1 he Emperor at once called him upland gave him the cross wit h t he usual kiss. 18 C0UR7 OF l III EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. The Empress's beauty made a great impression, as we Learn from Madame de Rémusat, who was generally prejudiced against her, but on this occasion was forced i" recognize that Josephine, by her taste- ful and careful dressing, succeeded in appearing young and charming amid the many young and pretty women by whom she was for the first time Burrounded. "She b1 1 there," Madame de Rému- sat goes on, --in tin- full light of the setting sun. wearing a dress of pink tulle, adorned with Bilver . cut very low after the fashion of the time, and crowned by a great many diamond clusters; and this fresh and brilliant dress, her graceful bearing, her delightful smile, her gentle expression produced Buch an effect that I heard a number of persons who had been present at the ceremony say that she effaced all her suite.'" Three days later the Emperor started for the camp at Boulogne. In spite of the enthusiasm of the people and the army, one thing became clear to every thoughtful observer, and that was that the uew régime, lacking Btrength to resist misfortunes, must have perpetual success in order to live Napoleon was condemned, by the form of his government, not merely to buo- i. but to dazzle, to astonish, to subjugate. I lis Em- pire required extraordinary magnificence, prodigious effects, Babylonian festivitii . intic adventures, I li^ Imperial 88CUtcheOn, to Bfi contempt, needed rich coats of gilding, and demanded glory to make up foi the Lack oi antiquity. In order to THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 19 make himself acceptable i" the European monarchs, his ik'w brothers, and to remove the memorj of the venerable titles of the Bourbons, this former officer of the armies of Louis XVI., the former second-lieu- tenant of artillery, who had suddenly become a I a Charlemagne, could make this sudden and Btrai transformation comprehensible onlj through unpre- cedented fame and splendor. He desired to have a feudal, majestic court, Burrounded by all the pomp ami ceremony of the Middle Ages. He saw how hard was the part he had to play, and he knew very well how much a nation aeeds glorj t" make it for- get liberty. Hence a perpetual effort to make every day outshine the one before, and firsl to equal, then to surpass, the splendors of the oldest and most famous dynasties. This insatiable thirsl for action and for renown was to I"' the source <>t Napoleon's Btrength and also of his weakness. But only a Ee^ clear-sighted men made these reflections when the Empire began. The masses, with their easy <>|>ti- inisin, Looked upon the new Emperor as an infallibly impeccable being, and thought that Bince he had not been beaten, he was invincible. Josephine in- dulged in no Buch illusions; Bhe knew the defects in her husband's character, and dreaded the future for him as well aa for herself. Singularly enough for one so Burrounded by flatteries, in her whole life her head was never for a moment turned by prick infatuation. II. THE JOURNEY TO THE BANKS OF THE RHINE. BEFORE having himself crowned by the Pope, after the example of Charlemagne, Napoleon was anxious to go to meditate ai the tomb of the greai Carlovingian Emperor, of whom he regarded himself as the worthj successor. A journey on tin- hanks of ilir Rhine, a triumphal tour in the famous German cities which tin- Prance "I tin- Revolution li.nl been bo proud t<> conquer, seemed t<> the new sovereign :i fitting prologue to the pomp <>t" tin- coronation. Napoleon was desirous of impressing tin- imaginations df people in his new Empire and in the old Empire of Germany. He wished the trumpets of fame i" Bound in his honor on both banks "t the famous an her, Augusl 6,1804: — lt Mi Dear: I have been here at Calais since mid- nighl : I am thinking of Leaving this evening for Dunkirk. I am satisfied with what I Bee, ami I am tolerably well. I hope that you will get as mueh 20 JOURNEY TO THE BANKS Of THE RHINE. 21 good from the waters as 1 get from going about and from seeing the campe and the Bea. Eugene has left forBlois. Hortense is well. Louis is at Plombi< I .mi very anxious to Bee you. You are always es- sentia] tu my happinef \ thousand kind messag The Emperor wrote again from Ostend, August 1 I. L804: — •• M y Dear: [have not heard from you for several days, though I should have been glad to bear that the waters have done you good and how you pass your time. I have been here a week. Day after to-morrow I shall be at Boulogne for a tolerably brilliant festival. Send me \\>>nl l>\ the messenger what you mean t<> « I « ». and when \<>u shall have finished your baths. I am much satisfied with the army and th<- fleet. Eugene i-; still at Blois. I hear in» more about Hortense than it' Bhe were at the Congo. I am writing t<> Bcold her. .Many kind w ishea for all." Napoleon reached Aix-la-Chapelle September : ». The Emperor Francis had, <>n the l"ili of August, assumed the Imperial title accorded to his house, of Emperor-elect of Germany, Hereditary Emperor <»f Austria, King of Bohemia and Hungary. Il< had then lt i \ < ■ 1 1 orders to M. de Cobentzel to go t<> Aix- La-Chapelle to present his credentials t<> Napoleon Napoleon received the Austrian diplomatic kindly, and was Boon Burrounded by a multitude of ■_mi ambassadors who came to paj their respects. He re-established the annual honors Long before paid 22 COUBT OF THE EMPBE86 JOSEPHINE. to tin- memory of Charlemagne, went down into the vault, and gave the priests of the Cathedral con- vincing proofs "I liis munificence. The Empress w;is >lio\\!i a piece of the true cross which the Carlovingian Emperor had 1 < » 1 1 lt worn on lii> breast as ;i talisman. She was offered a hoi} relic, almost the whole arm of that hero, l>nt she declined it. Baying that she "H<1 n<>t wish to deprive \i\-la- Chapelle of bo precious a memorial, especially when Bhe had tin' arm ut' a man a-> great as Charlemagne to support her. From Aix-la-Chapelle, Napoleon and Josephine went to Cologne, then to Coblentz, then to Mayence, travelling separately. The Emperor left Cologne September 1 * » at four in the afternoon, and reached Bonn a little before nightfall, to start again the next morning. The town pleased her very much, and Bhe was sorry Bhe could oot remain there longer. She fine house with a garden opening on a terrace that Looked out over the Rhine. After supper Bhe walked on the terrace. The delight of the people assembled below, the peacefulness of the night, and the beautj of the river in the moonlight, made the evening most enjoyable. At Eour the oext morning tin- Empress started off again in her travelling carriage, and at ten she entered Coblentz. The Emperor ix in the evening, having left Cologne the same «lay. At Bonn he got on horseback to examine l"i- himself everything that demanded close inspection. Prom Coblentz, where a JOUBNET I" THE BANKS OF THE RHINE 28 ball was given them, Napoleon and Josephine went tn Mayence, each 1>\ a differenl route. The Emperor followed the highway on tin- edge of the Rhine; the Empress ascended the river in a yachl which the Prince of Nassau Weilburg had placed at her posai. It was a picturesque voya The morning mist Boon cleared away. Josephine, who had breakfast served <>n deck, admired the many charming scenes between Boppard and Bacharach, the fertile fields, the towns perched on the steep banks; in the distance, the mountains covered with forests; then the narrowing river, the bounded view, the cliffs crowded together, where nothing ran be seen but the river, the sky, and the crags crowned by tin- mirrored towns of mediœvaJ castles. The light boat, a^ it glided sn thly over the stream, with its gilded Neptune at the bow, recalled < leopatra's barge. At times the Bilence was profound, then the church- bells would be heard, as well as the cheers of the peas- ants "ii the i i\ c i -hanks. The pettiest villages had sent guards of honor, had hoisted flags, and raised triumphal arches. Curiously enough, t ï i * - right bank, which display quite as much zeal and enthusiasm as the left bank, the French one; on both Bides were the same shouts of welcome, the same demonstrations, the same bs* liit>->. When she reached Saint Goar, <>n the left bank, the Empress saw the authorities of the town ooming out to meet her, with military music, in 1' decorated with branches of trees; and on tin- other •_'l I <>n; I OF THE EMPHJ SS J08EPHI* r Bide of the river, <>n the terrace of the castle of II Rheinfels, the Hi irrison was presenting aims. and their salutes joined with those of the inhabitants of Saint Goar. Further on, they shouted through a Bpeaking^trumpel to hear the famous echo of the '..•i. with its wonderfully distinct and frequent repetitions. Thru they passed th<- fantastic castle of the Palatinate, built in the middle of the stream, and in old times the refuge of the Countesses Palatine, where their children were born and kept in security during their babyhood. The Empress Landed at Bin- gen, where she spent the night, Btarting again the next morning. Towards three in the afternoon Bhe reached Mayence, where twelve young l^I ils belong- ing t<» the best families of the < • i t \ were awaiting her. Almost simultaneously, the cannon at the other gate announced the Emperor's arrival. < >n his way, Napoleon had noticed OH an island in tin- Rhine, at th.- very extremity of the French Em- pire, the convent "f Rolandswerth. II'- was told that th«- nuns who lived there had refused t<> leave it dur- the lasl war, and that very often tin- cannon-balls of tin- contending armies hid often fallen on the island without damaging the convent where those h<>lv women were praying. The Emperor became interested in their fate, and nia.!.' over to them the forty or fifty acres "t" which the Little island consisted. their arrival at Mayem e, S • mber 21, Na]><>- l.'Mii and Josephine were most warmly greeted. In J0URNE1 TO THE BJJfKb 01 THE RHINE. 25 the evening all the streets and public buildings « illuminated. The Prince Archchancellor of the ( < manic Empire, who owed to the French sovereign the preservation of his wealth and of his title, desired to pay his respects. The Emperor was surrounded by ;i real court of German Prim • i. I be Princess of the House of Hesse, the Duke and Duchess of Bavaria, the Elec- tor <>f Baden, who was more than seventy-five yi old, and had come with his son and grandson, ap- peared as if vassals of the new Charlemagne, the »nd Théâtre Français had been summoned from Paris, and played before this public of Highnesses. Every one was Btruck by the celerit) with which this crowned soldier had acquired the appearance of a sovereign belonging t<> an old line, while he Btill pre- ed the language and appearance of a soldier. One da} he asked the hereditary Prince of Baden: •• What did you do yesterday ?" The young Prince replied with some embarrassment that he had strolled aboul the streets. "You did very wrong," said Na- poleon. "What you ought t<> have done was t<> visit the fortifications and inspect them carefully. II<>w can \<>u tell? Perhaps some day you will have to besiegi M fence. Who would have told me when 1 was a simple artillery officer walking about Toulon that I should be destined to take that oitj It was at Mayence that the treasures unjustly extorted from the German Princes were restored to them. It w.i^ at Mayence that Gutenberg's name for the first time received formal horns 26 COURl OF I II I EMPRESS J08EPUINE. 1 reneral de Ségur, in his Memoirs, narrates an anecdote about Napoleon's Btaj in this <>ld (German city. The Emperor had gone incognito and without irt to an island in the Rhine, n<>t far bom the town. As he was walking in this almost deserted island, he noticed a wretched nul in which a poor woman was lamenting thai her son had been drafted. "Console yourself," said Napoleon, without Letting her know who he was. and giving her an assumed name: "Come to Mayence to-morrow and ask for me; I have Borne influence with the ministers and I will try t'> help you.*' The ]>"«• rebuilt, that he would give her a Little herd and Beveral acres of land, and that her son should be restored t<> her. A Letter in the MoniU m- thus described the depart- ure "i Napoleon ami Josephine : " Mayence, 11 Ven- démiaire (October •"• >. Th.- Empress hit yesterday for Paris, by waj of Saverne and Nancy. Tin- Em- peror i» just Leaving; In- means t-> \i-it Prankenthal, serslanten, and Kreutznach; then In- will take the i to Treves. The stay of Their Majesties has been for us a Bource of Lasting pleasure and advant Th.- most important interests of <>ur department have been favorably regulated. We have nothing now to wish for except an opportunity t<> show our gratitude, our devotion, and our fidelity, and the JOUBNST i" iiii: BANKS OF THE i:ar\r. 27 sincerity of the good wishes our citizens expressed by their unanimous cheers. The Electors, the Princes, and the many distinguished Btrangers who have given our city the appearance of a gréai capital, are now taking their departure." This journey on the banks of the Rhine made a deep impression in France and throughout Europe. It must be confessed thai no one has ever equalled tlir Emperor in the arl of keeping himself pictur- esquely before the public. Napoleon in the crypl ai Ai\-l;i-( Shapelle, bee to face with the shade of ( Iharle- magne is a Bubjecl to inspire a painter or a poei ! At Brussels, in the church of Saint Gudule, Napoleon evoked the memory of < lharlea V. : at Ai\-la-( Shapelle in the Cathedral vault he questioned the Bhade of Charlemagne. And as he meditated on the tomb of the Carlovingian hero, so now do monarchs on their way through Paris meditate in their turn over his tomb beneath the gilded dome of the Invalides. T1h-_\ go down into the crypt, Look at the porch up- held by twelve greal statins of white marble, each one commemorating a victory, at the mosaic p m. Mit representing a huge crown with fillets, the sarcophagus of red granite from Finland, placed on a foundation of green granite from the Vosges. Then they enter the subterranean chamber, the Mark mar* ble Banctuary, which contains, among numerous relics, the Bword thai Napoleon carried at A.usterlitz, the decorations he wore on his uniform, the gold crown 'I him by the city of < fterbourg, and final h sixty ■rai OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. flags won in his victories. The church <•!' 1 1 1 « - Inv.i- IhU's inspires the Bame thoughts as tin- Cathedra] <»t' -la-Chapelle. In the two temples kings and greal men may make the Bame reflection about glory, about death, about the handful of dust which is all that is Left of lui III. Tin: POPE'S ARRIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAU. r I lHE time t'"i' the coronation was drawing near. -X. Napoleon, who had already received the official gnitionof Foreign powers, was anxious to have his Imperial title consecrated by a greal religious cere- mony, the fame of which should resound throughout tli.- whole Catholic world. Tin' first date proposed the solemnity was the 26th Messidor, Year XII. (July 1 I. l v "! ». tlnn that of tl.-- 18th Brumaire, : XIII. ( Nov. '•'. l-"l ». But th.- choice in each was unfortunate. It was hard t<> combine the memory of the taking of the Bastille with the coro- nation of a sovereign, and the L8th Brumaire would have recalled the regrets <>i Republicans ami the ser- vices <>f Lucien Bonaparte, who, after being the main aid of his brother's Fortune, was Living at Rome, in disgrace ami exile. < >n the other hand, the Pope's hesitation, for it was with the greatest difficulty that he could make up his mind ti» ^>> t<> Paris, had further postponed the date, which was at last fixed foi the beginning of I December. Josephine Awaited with impatience and tear an 80 COURT OF THE EMPRE8A JOSEPHINE it on which, she felt, her future fate depended. The Pope, thai mysterious and holy person, had Btarted. Was he to prove her saviour? Was she to be b repudiated wife or a crowned Em p r e s s ? The clergy were untiring in their Laudations of Napoleon's glory. Bishops, in their charges, spoke "I him ss God's elect. One prelate, Bpeaking of the Empire, had said: "One God and one monarch] As tin- (■■■il of the Christians is the onlj one deserving t" 1" adored and obeyed, you, Napoleon, are the only man worthy to rule the French!" Another had said: "Napoleon, whom f I. .pu like another Moses, will bring peace between the wise Empire of Prance and the divine Empire of Christ. The finger of ( !
    here. Let us pray the Most High to protect with his powerful hand th.- man In- has chosen. May the new Augustus live and rule forever ! Submission is his due because he is ordered 1>\ Providence!" Yel in spite of these .int outbursts which came from every pulpit in the whole French Empire, this restorer of the altars, this saviour of religion was married only by civil ii,u r lit '■ From the ecclesiastic point of vif\v, he was living in concubinage. He had had his brother Louis's marriage with Hortense de Beauharnaia, and hiss I roline's with .Mm.it blessed by Cardinal ( laprara, but in spite of Josephine's entreaties, he had denied her this |>i<>us satisfaction. It was on the Pope that the Empress put all her hope; Bhe thoughl that he would take pity on her, and by bringing her THE P0P1 S ARRIVAL AI FONTAISEBLl 1/ I int.» conformity with the rules of the church, would put an end i" .t condition of tiling humiliating to her as a sovereign, and painful to her as a Catholic. At the same time Josephine was anxiously wonder- ing whether ihe was to be crowned. Her brothers- in-law became more venomous in their intrigues against her, and desired not only that she be ex- cluded from any part in the coronation, but also that she should 1"' condemned to divorce on the pretext of barrenness. Joseph Bonaparte was never tired oi saying that Napoleon ought to many some Eon Princess, or at least some daughter of an old French family, and he skilfully laid BtreSS OH his OWU u: fishness In urging a plan which would necessarily remove himself and his descendants bom the line ol Inheritance. The Emperor's Bisters showed the same hostilitj towards Jo thine, whom they hated, al- though Bhe well deserved their low. Since Napo- leon maintained an absolute silence about his inten- tions concerning the coronation, the Bonapai already imagined that Bhe was going to he divoi and hence exhibited an untimel) delight which dis- pleased the Emperor and brought him closer to his wife. At last, tired with family bickerings, he sud- denly put an end to them and filled Josephine with joy by telling her that she was to l.e crowned at Notre I lame. The leadel >l|oiild t 1 1 111 to tile CUXiOUS aeeollUt ill Miot de Mélito's Mi moirs of the council held at Saint Cloud, November IT. 1804, rmalities I 01 82 OF l III EMPRESS J08EPIIIX V of tlic coronation. Of Napoleon's four brothers, two ui'iv in disgrace, Lucien and Jerome, and the) were not t«> be present at the ceremony. As for Joseph and Louis, it was decided that they should appear, imt as Princes of the 1>1 1. but only ;i> high digni- taries of the Empire. Joseph, it will Ik- remembered, was Grand Elector, ami Louis was Constable. This decision once taken, Joseph Bald in the council of November 17: •'Since it has been recognized that, with the exception of the Head of the State, no «-m- else, whatever his rank, can he regarded a- partaking the honors of sovereignty, and that we especially aie not treated a- Princes, l»nt only as high dignitaries, it would not he righl that our wives, who henceforth are only wives of high dignitaries, should as Prin- tes e.iny the train of the Empress's robe, which consequentlj must 1»- carried by Ladies of Honor or of the Palace." This remark displeased the Emperor, and many members of the council cited many examples t<> refute it. notably that of Maria de' Medici. Joseph, who had Foreseen their arguments, displayed unexpected erudition: -Maria de' Medici,* 1 he said, "was accompanied only 1>\ Queen Margaret, the first wife of Henri IV.. and by Madame (Cath- erine of Bourbon), the King's sister. The train was i d by a very distant relative. Queen Margaret had. Indeed, offered a line example of generosity by being present at the coronation of the woman who took her place and who. more Fortunate than herself, had horne heir- to Henri IV. lint she w a- not THE P0P1 9 ARRIVAL AT FONTAINERLEAU. i'.ry the train of Maria de' Medici, aii the oeremouiea blished for the coronation. Only thin concession «res made to their susceptibilities: that in the rules tin' phrase! hear tht is substituted for carry the troth, " for," as Miol de Mélil ■• Vanity will clutch .it a >tr.iw .'* Madame Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother, she persisted in remaining at Rome with Lucien, [n Bpite of Erequenl messages from Paris, Bhe vas not to there until some days after the coronation, a ; which did nol prevent her appearing in the great picture commemorating the event, painted by David, win» was successively Jacobin and Imperialist, and inning with the apotheosis of Marat, celebrated that of Napoleon. Pope Pius VII.. then Bixty-two years «'Id. had left Rome November 2, after praying for ;i long time at the altar of Saint Petei a. I he populace had followed his carriage for a long distance, weeping with terror at his undertaking a journey to revolutionary Prance. At Florence he had been received by the Queen of Etruria, then a widow and her son 1 !.'■ ■■..:. \ Lyons he became Less anxious; a number of the in- habitants crowded about him, and fell on their kn asking for the blessing of the Vicar of ( Ihrist Mean- while, Napoleon was putting the Last touches to the kirs he had commenced .u the Palace of Fontaine- bleau, to put it in a suitable condition to receive the Pontiff, [n less than twenty days the fur- nishing of the palace had been completed, and the cas tit- had, as if by magic, resumed its old-time Bplendor. THE POPE - ARRIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 85 Every one wondered how the first meeting bet the Pope and the Emperor would take place. Many pointa «'t' etiquette arose which Napoleon managed t<> elude. Piua VII. was to arrive through the forest of Fontainebleau, and the Emperor was to go t" meet him through the forest of Nemours. To prevent all formality, Napoleon made an excuse of a hunting party. All the huntsmen, with their carriages, met in the forest. Napoleon was on horseback, in hunt- ing dress. When he knew that the Pope and his suitr were due at the cross of Saint Hérene -at noon, Sunday, November 25, L804 - he turned his horse in that direction, and a> soon as he reached the half- m i at the t"j» "i tin' liill. he saw the Pope's car- riage aiTN ing. A irding to the account given in the Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo, the carriage of Pius VII. stopped, and the pontiff in his white robes u r "' out by the left- hand door. The road was muddy, and he was avi to Btepping into it with his white >ilk slippers : but there was Dothing to be done. Napoleon L, r "i off his horse \<> receive him, and sprang cordially into his arms. These two famous men, who, although the} were entire strangers, had already thought so often ach other, and were to exercise Buch great influ- ence over each other's destiny, qom met with deep emo- tion. As they were embracing, one "t" the Emp hich had been ordered to drive up, pushed on a few Bteps as it 1>\ an oversight «»i the coachman : the footmen held both doors open ; the Emperor t<>v>k I OUST OF l m: EMPB1 98 J08EPHIX K thai on tin- righl ; a cqutI official pointed t<> that on the Left for the Pope, bo that the two sovereigns entered the same carriage simultaneously by the two doors. The Emperor Bal down naturally on the right- hand -iil>\ and this first Btep established the etiquette for the whole time of the Pope' without dis- cussion. At the entrance <>f the Palace of Fontainebleau, the 1 . the 1 1 î -_r 1 1 dignitaries of the Empire, the ierals, were formed in a circle to receive and salute Pius VII. He was welcomed with the utmost reverence. Ili> fine, noble face, hi> air <>! angelic kindness, his soft, yet sonorous voice, produced a deep impression. Josephine was especially moved by the presence of the Vicar of Christ. After resting a few moments in his private apartment. t<> which he had been conducted by M. de Talleyrand, High < ham- berlain, l>\ General Duroc, Grand Marshal of the Palace, and 1>\ M. de Ségur, Grand IVfaster of ( i monies, the Pope paid a visit to Napoleon, who, after an interview <>l about half an hour, conducted him back t" the hall that was at that time called thai of the High ( > The i\\" sovereigns dined ther, and tl, P ■■- wenl earlj to bed, t" himself after the fatigues of his long journey. The next evening Borne Bingers had been summoned t<> the Emprea tment, but Pius VII. withdrew just .i- the concert was about to begin. In the course of the day Josephine had had a pri- vate interview with the Pope, and had confided to THE POPE'S ARRIVAL .1/ F0N1 I / \ i:i:i.i:.\ I him the Becrel which bo distressed her. She who was reigning over the greatest of Catholic nations, the consorl of the successor of thi I hristian Kings, the wife of a ruler about to be crowned bj the Pope, was married only 1>\ civil rite! She en- treated Pius VII. i" use all his influence with Napo- leon to put an end tn a situation which was a con- tinua] torture and reproach to her as a wife and Christian. The Pope appeared touched by the confi- dence of his dear daughter, as he always called the Empress, and promised to demand, and, if accessary, to insist, upon the celebration of the Emperor's relig- ious marriage, as a condition of the coronation, and this promise filled Josephine with joy. The presence of the Pope and the Emperor, the throng of prelates, generals, courtiers, and beautiful women, the combination of religious and Imperial pomp gave to the Castle of the Valois, a few days before dilapidated and abandoned, new splendor and magnificence. N er in the most brillianl i I .< mis \l\\. had this sumptuous residence appeared in -t.it.-. This wonderful palace is renowned tperb and picturesque architecture, its m : tic façades, its five courts: that <•! the Whin II of the Fountain, of the Dungeon, of the Princes, of Henri IV. The Festival II. ill is ?erj beautiful, with its rich and abundant ornamentation, its walnut floor, divided into octagonal panels richly outlined with inlaid gold and Bilver, its monumental manl 38 COURT OF THE EMPRESS J08EPHUTE piece, with its figures, emblems, and fantastic frea- î, tlif brilliant masterpieces of Primaticcio, and "f Nicolo d'Abati. Alas! this splendid Fontainebleau, the L, r <>r^,.,,i ls palace where Pope and Emperor were then living in triumph, was Later t<> 1><' t<» both an accursed Bpot Thf I'.ijm- was tn ret urn to it a prisoner, maltreated though "I<1. though a priest, though the Vicar of Christ, anil there the Emperor was tn drink the cup "f humiliation, of d< Bpair, to the dregs. It was there that, c [uered, broken, betrayed by fortune, be was to sign his abdication. It was there that he was to utter those heart-rending winds: -It is right; I receive what I have deserved. I wanted no statues, for I knew that there was m» safety in receiving thmi at any other bands than those of posterity. A man t<> keep them while he Lives, needs constant g 1 fortune. I think of Prance, which it is terrible t«> Leave in this state, without frontiers when ii had such wide ones ! — that is the bitterest of the humilia- tions that overwhelm me. To Leave France so small when I wished t" make it bo great!' 1 It was there that, overcome by immeasurable L, r rirf, the conqueror many battles wished t" --• •< k in suicide a refuge from thf tortures of thought, and that In- was t<> fail to find death, he who on the battle-field had squandered so many Lives. () mortals, ignorant of your own fates, bow happy you are not to have foreknow Ledge of them ! IV. THE PREPARATIONS FOB THE CORONATION. THE Empress Left Fontainebleau, Thursday* November "J'. 1 . L804, in companj with Madame de La Rochefoucauld, .Maid of Honor, and Madame d'Arberg, Lady of the Palace, and reached Paris the Bame day, a few hours before the Emperor and the Pope, who Lefl Fontainebleau in tin- same carriage and entered the Tuileries al eight in the evening. A platoon of Mamelukes escorted the Imperial car- riage, and it was a singular sighl to Bee the Mussul- man escorting the Vicar of Christ. The Pope was installed at the Tuileries in the Pavilion of Flora. There were attached to his person M. de Yin. the Emperor's Chamberlain; M. de Luçay, Prefect of the I ' nul ( iolonel I )urosnel, Equerrj . All Paris was ex< ited 1>\ the approach of the lt i < •» ' event. The hotels were crowded; the population of the capital was niMi'h doubled, bo \a>t w.i-> the throng of provincials and foreigners. Tradesmen were working aight and daj to prepare the dresses and uniforms. In every workshop there was un- paralleled activity. Leroy, who previously had been 10 COUBT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. only ;i milliner, had decided for this occasion to undertake dressmaking, and had made Madame Raim- bault, a celebrated dressmaker of the time, his partner. From their Bhop came the magnificent robes to be worn by the Empress on Coronation Day. Ilv Odiot; it was «if solid silver, enlaced by a gold serpent, and surmounted by a globe on which was a miniature figure of Charlemi ted. The hand of justice, the crown, and the Bword came from the workshops of Biennais. The dress of the courtiers to be very magnificent : it consisted of a French «-...it of different colors according to the duties of the wearer under the Grand Marshal, tin- High Chamber- Lain, and the Grand Equerry, with Bilver embroidery for all; a cloak worn over one shoulder, of velvet, Lined with Batin; a Bcarf, a lace hand, and tin- hat caught Up in front, and adorned with a feather. '1 he PREPARATIONS FOR THE COROU ITION. 11 women were to appear in ball dress, with a train, with ;i collar of blond-lace, called a chérusque, which was fastened on both shoulders and rose high behind thf head, recalling the fashions of the time of Catherine de' Medici. There were rehearsals of the coronation as if it were a Bpectacular play. Every one, from the princi- pal actors i" tin- most insignificant assistants, studied his part mosl conscientiously; the Masters of Cere- monies were to acl as prompters to those who might forget. The [mperial carriages and those of the Princes and Princesses one i iiing were all driven empty to the neighborhood of Notre Dame, thai coachman, postilions, and grooms ought know the route they were to take, and when they were to draw up. 'I'll.- carriages were superb, the horses magnifi- cent, the Liveries Bumptuous. Never in the most extravagant «lays of the monarchy had Buch Luxury been Been. M. de Bau8set -ays that a week before the corona- tion the Emperor commanded "I the artist [sabey n drawings representing the seven principal cere- monies t.. take place at Notre Dame, which, however, could ii"t be rehearsed in the Cathedral on account of tin- Dumber <>!' workmen busy day and oighl in decorating it. To ask at once for seven drawings each containing more than a hundred persons in action, was asking for th<- impossible. Lsabej skil- fully eluded the difficulty. He bought at the toy shops all the little dolls he could find, dressed them 12 COURT OF un EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. uj» a> Pope, Emperor, Empress, Princes, high digni- taries, Chamberlains, Equerries, Ladies "I Honor, Ladies of the Palace. These dolls thus arrayed he arranged on ;i plan In relief of the interior <>ï Notre Dame, and carrying it to the Emperor, said: "Sire, I bring Your Majesty something better than the drawings.* 1 Napoleon thought the idea ingenious, and used the dolls and the plan to make every official understand bis place and his duty. The Moniteur of the 9th Primaire, Fear XIII. member BO, l v,| li. published in advance all the details of the ceremony, which the Emperor had ii\< receive the holy com- munion in public un the day "i" tin- coronation, and Napoleon bad given tin' matter thought. The Grand \\ ster of Ceremonies, M. de Ségur, brought up asl tin' proposition tin' necessity of a preliminary confession ami tin- possibility that absolution might h-- denied him. "That's not tin- difficulty," said the Emperor, "the Holy Father knows how t<> distin- : i between tin' sin-- of Cœsar and those of the man." Then he added: •■ I know that I ought to give an example of respect for religion and its minister iu see thai I treat the priests well, ilarly to mass, and Listen to it w ith all due ml solemnity. But everyone knows me, ami how would it be for me, ami t'en- others, if I should go too far? Would not that be setting an example PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. 13 ni" hypocrisy, and committing a sacrili The Pope did not insisl upon it. This dread of commit' ting sacrilege Napoleon referred to again a1 s.iim Helena, in l s l»i: "Everything was done," he >ai ing Rome, ami Cardinal Consalvi had written on this matter, tu which the Vatican attached great impor- tance, Llows: -All the French Emperors, all th"-> Germany, who have been crowned 1>\ tin: I' pes, have accepted the crown from them. The II lather, before undertaking this journey, re- quires t<> receive from Paris the assurance that there will he do innovation made in the present case, in the way of a diminution of the honor ami dignity of the reign Pontiff." At Rome 011I3 \.\^\i<' ami dila- tory answers hail been received. In Paris the Em- peror, Leaving tie- matter t.. !>.■ decided on the spur of the moment, had only said: "I will arrange that If." The preparations al Notre Dame hail come to an end. I'hey had been verj considerabl S reral I I >( HT OF ////' EMPRl — "<-/ /7// \ y houses thai hid the north Eaoade had been destroyed I I ore the greal entrance, still scarred by the rava of the Revolutionists, there bad been sel np a deco- ration of painted «rood, representing a \a>t Gothic porch with three arches upholding the Btatues of the thirl od cities, the mayors of which were to be presenl ai the coronation. To the right and the left - of Clovis and Charlemagne, sceptre in hand. Above, between two golden eagles, appeared the Imperial coat-of-arms. This waa intended for the sole entrance "t" the Pope and the Emperor. It waa connected with tin- Archbishop's palace by large, cov- ered, wooden galleries, adorned within by gobelin tapestry. This palace, to which Pius VII. and Na- poleon were to go before they entered the Cathedral, no Longer exists; it waa destroyed, February 1 1. I - l. in an insurrection. It used to stand ju>t by the ut' the church. It was buill in 1161 by Maurice f th<- Empire embroidered on the corn* On each Bide of the nave and around tin- choir had been huih three rowa of galleries, decorated alike PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. 16 with silk and velvet stuffs fringed with gold, and Bags had been arranged like a trophy about each pil- lar. Above ilic trophies were winged and 14 i i « 1 » • « 1 victories, holding candelabra with a vast number <>f candles. There were, besides, twenty-four chande- liers hanging from the roof. The galleries kept out the li'_ r lit. especially at the season when the days were short : consequently it had been decided that t lu- Cathedra] should 1»' artificially lit during the cere- mony, thus augmenting the pomp and beauty of the Bpectacle. The choir, shut off by a railing, was re- red for the clergy. To the right of the high altar, on a platform with eleven steps, had been raised the jioiitiiir.il throne, above which was a golden dome rned with the arms of the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church. In front and on each side of the jH.ntitir.il throne were benches with backs for the dinals and prelates. For the Emperor and the Em- press had been prepared what was called the great and the Little throne. The Little throne was formed of two armchairs, one for Napoleon, the other for - 1 sephine. These two chairs >t « >> >« 1 on a platform with four steps, nj.j.i^ii.- the high altar. The Emperor ami Empress were : scupy them during the first part of the ceremony. The grand throne was ;\ twenty-four steps. It b( 1 under a can- opy in the shape of .1 triumphal arch, upheld 1>\ eight 16 ' OUST OF THE EMPRESS J 081 rill S I . columns, and it overlooked the whole church. The Emperor and the Empress were not to ascend this throne till after the coronation. For the coronation Napoleon had given t<> the Cathedra] a number of holy vessels in silver-gilt, enriched with diamonds, and very valuable lace albs, a processional cross, chandeliers, and incense-burn At the same time he restored to the < 'at he< Irai a great number of relics with which the piety of Saint Louis had endowed the Sainte Chapelle. In 1791 they had been deposited in the treasury <>f Saint Denis, by order of Louis XVI.. thence in 1T'. , : > » thej had been transferred to the cabinet of curiosities in the Na- tional Library, and had been exposed under the Directory, in the Hall of Antiquities. The Emperor restored them to the worship of the faithful. The preparations were completed, and the cere- mony promised to 1"- magnificent. Madam.' Junot, afterwards the Duchess of Abrantès, breakfasted with the Empress at the Tuileries, December 1. L804, the da j before the coronation. Josephine was much excited and radiantly happy. At breakfast Bhe told how amiably th<' Emperor had talked with her thai morning and h<>\\ he had tried on her head the crown which Bhe was to put <>n the next <\a\ at Notre Dame. As Bhe said that she shed tears of gratitude. She spoke then of her pain when Napoleon had refused her requesl for Lucien's return. •• I wanted tn plead this great day," she said, "'luit Bonaparte Bpoke bo harshlj thai I had to keep silent. I wanted PBEPABATIOX8 FOB THE CORONATION. IT to Bhow Lucien thai I could return g 1 for evil; if you have a chance, lei him know it." In the evening i lu- Senate came to the Tuileries t>> announce to the Emperor the resull of the plébiscite which approved of tin- Empire and the matter o1 inheritance; 3,521,660 citizens having voted for, and 2,579 against. Napoleon replied to the Presidenl of the Senate with the infatuation iliai Bprings from success and the consciousness of strength : " 1 ascend the throne to which I have been called l>\ the unan- imous voices of tin- Smatc. the peuple, ami the army, with m\ hearl full of feeling of the greal destinies of this people whom, from the midsl of camps, I firel Baluted with the name of great. Since m\ youth all my thoughts have been devoted t<> it. and I musl here, my pleasures and my pains now are nothing bul the pleasures and the pains of my people. My descendants will Long till this throne. Thej \% i 1 1 never forgel thai contempt of laws and the overthrow of the Bocial order are only the résulta of the weak- and indecision of rul< The hour of disaster was approaching, but it had not yet struck ; the morrow was to be radiant. Sal- : t i llci \ were fixed ever) hour from six in the oing till midnight : at each Balvo, the toM spires, and public buildings were illuminated fora ten minutes bj Bengal Lights. Imperial insignia, among others the sword of < 'harlemagm . bread) in the ( Ihurch of Not Dame. I reneral d S ■ . then a captain under the command of the Grand Marsha L8 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS J08EPHINE the I ras charged to watch that precious relie during the night He records one tking about it which clearly shows the bellicose Bpirit of the men of the time. One of the officers guarding the Imperial sword conceived the mad i ember -. 1804. Since early morning all Paris had been alive. It was verj cold; the w.i- covered, but do one thought of the unpleas- ther. All 1 1 » • - Btreets through which tin- pro- to pass had been carefullj swept and sprinkled with sand. The inhabitants had decorated the fronts of their houses according t<> their tastes ami means, with draperi» try, artificial flo\* and branches "i" evergrei - rwo Lines of infantry wcif drawn up for a space "t' about half a League. Long before the hour of the departure <'i the Pope and the Emperor from tin- Tuileries, a \.i>t throng h i 1 gathi i ■ '1 in the Btreets, was crowdin win- dow, and assembling <>n every roof. Marshal Murat, ernor "t Paris, ■ »ff< red at an early hour a Btirap- tuous 1-: to the Prin< Gei many who had : the coronation the Elector Arch- chancellor of the German Empire, the Princ* m. of II - •. and "t" Baden, they drove I l'une in four superb carri ■ n by sii hoi h, with an escort under the 49 ( OUST OF l III EMPRESti J0SEPU1 \ /'. command of one of his aides-de-camp, and be himself mounted hi-> hoise to take his place at the head <>i" the twenty squadrons <>t cavalry which wen to u rn in front of the Emperor's carriage. At the Tuileries Napoleon ]>ut on what was called the umlivss attire; this he was to wear <»n his wa\ from the palace to the Archbishop's. He was nol to jiut on full dress, that is to Bay, the [mperial n and cloak, until he was to enter the church. The undress is thus described by Constant, the Emperor's valet: silk stockings embroidered with gold; 1<>w boots of white velvet, embroidered with gold on the ms; with diamond buttons and buckles on liis garters; a coat of crimson velvet faced with white velvet ; b short cloak of crimson lined with white satin, covering the lefl shoulder and fastened on the right-hand side 1>\ a double clasp of diamonds; a black velvet cap, surmounted by two aigrets, a dia- mond Loop, and for button, the most celebrated of th<- crown jewels, the Regent. The Empress's costume was do Less magnificent. She wore a dress, with a train, of silver brocade rered with gold bees; her Bhoulders w< l.nt on her arms were tighl sleeves embroidered with gold, the upper part adorned with diamonds, and fastened to them was a Lace ruff worked with gold which rose behind half up her head. The tight- lnti: had no waist, after the fashion of the time, but sh< i gold ribbon as a girdle, set with thirty-nine pink gems. Her bracelets, ear-rings, Tin: CORON i /'/"\ "-1 and necklace were formed of precious Btonea and antique cameos. Her diadem consisted of four rows of pearls interlaced with clusters of diamonds. The Empress, whose hair was curled, after the fashion of the reign of Louis XIV.. although forty-one years old, looked, according to Madame de Rémusat, no more than twenty-five. The Emperor was much struck by Josephine's beauty in this Bumptuous attire; all this Luxury impressed him. He recalled the days of bis childhood, and turning to bis favorite brother, he Baid: "Joseph, if father could Bee us!" Nine o'clock sounded, the hour Bel for the departure of tin' Pope, who was t<> reach Notre Dame before the Emperor. The Sovereign Pontiff, clad in white, went down the Btaircase of the Pavilion of Flora and entered his carriage, which was drawn by eight horses; above it was a Large tiara. At Rome it was the custom thai when the Pope went forth to officiate at one of the Lire, it churches, for instance, to Saint John Lateran, — for one of his chamberlains t" start a moment before him, mounted on a nude, and carry- Lng a great processional cross. Pius VII. asked that the -aim- thing might be done at Paris; consequent!) the pontifical procession was leaded by a chamber- Lain who» mule did not fail to amU86 the yasl crowd that Lined the quays; yet when the l'ope passed, all knelt down and received his I >l«s^i ult w ith due res] With cavalry in from and behind, the Pope's can and the eight cai in which were the cardinals, Italian prelates and officers who had come from I OUBT OF I III: I MPB1 98 JOSEPH 1 \ /.. Rome with him, drove slowly along tin- «mays to the Archbishop's Palace. There were awaiting him all the French cardinals, archbishops, ami bishops, ami he was received by the Cardinal du Belloy, the Arch- bishop of Paris, as be entered to pul on his pontifi- cal robes. The pontifical procession entered Notre Dame in tin 1 following order: a priest, carrying the apostolic en ren acolytes, carrying the seven golden candlesticks; more than a hundred bishops, archbishops or cardinals, in rope ami mitre, march- ing two by two: ami Last of all the Holy Father, his tiara on his head, under a canopy between two cardi- nals who held up the ends of his golden cope. The clergy intoned the hymn Tu es Petrus, which was very impressive, ami the Sovereign Pontiff, after kneeling for a few moments before the high altar, took his seal in the mi' Idle of the choir on the pontifi- cal throne, above which was a dome adorned with the coat-of-arms of the church. The Emperor ami the Empress, who were to leave the Tuileries at ten. did not Mart till half past ten. They L, r "t into the magnificent coronation carriage which excited the hearty admiration of the crowd, always fond of show. It was drawn by eight superb horses, splendidly harnessed; upon it was a golden crown upheld by four eagles with outstretched wings. The four Bides of tlu' coach were of g I in slender carved upright», BO that there was an unob- structed View of Napoleon ;i||d .lo-ephilie oil the back scat, with Joseph and Louis Bonaparte opposite THE < ORO vi no V. 58 tlirin. Salvoe of artillery announced the Emperor's departure from the Tuileries. Twenty squadrons of cavalry, with Marshal Mural at their head, Led the procession. Eighteen carriages, with six horses each, followed, conveying the high dignitaries and the courtiers. Bands played triumphal marches, and all along the way a vast crowd saluted this sovereign. The procession starting from the Tuileries by the Carrousel went along the rue Saint Honoré as Ear as the rue de Lombards, crossed the Ponl au Change, and thru along the quay to the rue «lu Parvis Notre Dame and the Archbishop's Palace. Just as the Emperor and the Empress were entering the palace courtyard, the oust, which had hern thick all the in< rning, cleared away, and the sun came oui glisten- ing on the gilded decorations "t' the [mperial coach. The Moniteur, with its official enthusiasm, spoke of "the orb of daj escaping, against every expectation, from the rigid rule of a stormy season to light up the festal day." At the Archbishop's Palace, Napoleon changed his dress, putting on his coronation robes. This differed entirely from the costume he had worn from the Tuileries to the palace, and consisted of a tight-fit- ting gown of white satin, embroidered with gold on every seam, and of an [mperial mantle of crimson velvet, all over which were golden bees; it was bordered by worked branches of olive-tree, Laurels, and oak, in circles enclosing the Letter N. with a crown above each >\ I 01 i:i OF I Hi: EMPRRSH J0SRPB1 \ I . the cape were of ermine. Thia cloak, fastened on the i i i_^ 1 1 1 shoulder, while Leaving the arm free, reached to jusl above the knee, and weighed n<> less than eighty pounds, and though it \\.i> held by four persons, Prince Joseph, Prince L<>iii-. the Archchancellor Cambacérès, the Archtreasurer Lebrun, was for t In- Emperor, who was a Bhorl man, a sumptuous, 1 >u t heavy load. He carried it. however, with fitting majest . . ( m hi> head he had put a crom o of golden laurel, the laurel <>t" Caesar; around his neck he wore tli<- diamond necklace of the Legion "t Honor; <>n hi> left side In- carried a sword with a large handle — the scabbard was of blue enamel adorned with gold eagles and bees. At the same time Josephine com- pleted her dressing, putting on a Long red velvet cloak, sprinkled with L, r <»l«l bees, and lined with ermine; its Bkirta were upheld 1>\ Princi ■' eph, Louis, Blisa, Pauline, and Charlotte. The Imperial procession proceeded from the Arch- bishop's Palace t<. Notre Dame through th<- wooden gallery, and entered the church, not through the 1 1 1 i « 1- ! the side-dooi». They advanced in the following order, with an interval of ten pa between each group: the ushers, four abreast, the heralds at arms, two abreast; the Chief Herald ;it Ai ma : the • four abreast : tin- aides <>f the masters of ceremonies; the masters of ceremoi tin- Grand Master "f" Ceremonies, M. de Ségur; V .-bal Sérurier, carrying on .i cushion tin- Empn THE ' OBONATIOS. ring; Marshal Moncey, carrying the basket which was to receive her cloak; Marshal Murat, carrying her crown on a cushion; the Empress, with her First Equerry on her right, and her First Chamberlain on her left; Bhe wore the [mperial cloak, which was Bupported by the five Princesses, the cloak of each one of these being supported by an officer "f her household; Madame de La Rochefoucauld, Maid of Honor, and Madame de Lavalette, 1 1 1<- Ernpn Lady of the Bedchamber; Marshal Kellermann, car- rying the crown "f Charlemagne, a diadem with Bis branches adorned with valuable cameos; Marshal Perignon, carrying Charlemagne's sceptre, at the «'lui of which was ;i l».ill representing the world, with a small figure Of the great Carlovingian Emperor; Mar- shal Lefebvre, carrying Charlemagne's sword; Marshal Bernadotte, carrying Napoleon's necklace; Colonel General Eugene de Beauharnais, the Emperor's ring; Berthier, the [mperial globe ; M. de Talley- rand, the basket destined to receive the Emperor's cloak. Then came the Emperor, the crown of golden laurel ">n lii^ head, holding in one hand hi^ Bilver . topped by an i agle, and encircled by ;i Lr>>l«lni serpent, and in the other liis hand of justice. II Bupported bj lii^ two brothi J eph, ad Elector, and l-"ui^. Constable, as well as by the Archchancellor Cambacérès and the Arch- i on. Then followed the Grand Equerry, the Colonel General of the Guard, ami the Grand M rshal of the P ■ . tli«' thr< I he rain- 56 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE isters, four Abreast, and the high officers of 1 1 1 * - army. \ Napoleon entered the church, the twenty thou- sand spectators shouted, " Long live th<' Emperor!" A cardinal gave holy water to Josephine; the Car- dinal, the Archbishop of Paris, presented it to Napo- leon ; and the two prelates, after complimenting the Emperor and the Empress, conducted them in a pro- rion, under b canopy held by canons, to the Bmaller throne in the middle of the choir. There they w to sit during the first part of the ceremony, near the high altar, on a platform with four steps. As the Emperor and the Empress entered the choir, the Pope came down from the pontifical chair, and in- tuned the Veni Creator. The Emperor handed t<> the Axchchancellor his hand of justice; to the A.rchtr< nit- 1 . his Bceptre; to Prince Joseph, lus crown; t<> Prince Louis, his sword ; to the Grand Chamberlain, his Imperial cloak; t" Colonel General Eugene <\f Bi kuharnais, his ring. The six objects formed what were called "the Emperor's ornaments." Tiny v. placed mi the altar by the representative dignitaries, and were to be handed again to the Emperor by the Pope in the course of the ceremony. The same was true of the "Empress's ornaments," her ring, cloak, and crown, which were placed on the altar ; the ring, by Marshal Sérurier; the cloak, 1-;. Marshal Mom the crown, by Marshal Murat. Charlemagne's io nia, his crown, sceptre, and Bword, remained during the whole ceremony in the hands of Marshals Keller- THE < <>i;<>\ dTlON. 57 maim, Periguon, and Lef< bvre, \\ li" stood at the right nt' the small throne in the choir. Ajb bood as the ornaments of the Emperor and Empress had been placed on the altar, the Pope I the Emperor in Latin if he promised to use effort to have law, justice, and peace rale in the church and among his people; Napoleon touched the gospels with both hands, as it «^ held out tn him by the Grand Almoner, and answered /'• fiteor. Then the Pope, the bishops, archbishops, and cardinals knelt before the altar and began the litany. When they reached the three vei »es used onlj at coronations, the Emperor and Empress also knelt. Alter the litany, the Grand Almoner, anothei dinal. and two bishops advanced towards the small throne, and bowed low befo N »leon and J< phine, and conducted them to the foot of the altar to Lve sacred onction. The Emperor and Empj knrlt mi blue velvet cushions placed on the first step ut" the altar. The Pope anointed Napoleon on the 1 and lii-^ two hands, uttering the prayer of conse- tion: "Mighty and Eternal God, who didst ap- point ll.i/a-1 to be king 3 ria, and Jehu to be king over Israel, making known th) wishes through the prophet Elijah; and who didst pour holy oil of kings ii|H)n the head of Saul and of David, through the prophet Samuel, Bend down through m\ hands. the tn i d "l" thy hie |»"n thy Bervant Napoleon, whom, in --j -it»- of our unworthi- oess, we const : • to d 13 ^ Emperor, in thy name/' I t' Chris! and the anointing of this "il ever aid thee, so that he \\li" on earth has given thee liis blessing may give thee in heaven the happiness the Archchan- cellor ami the Archtreasurer. The only ornament left t<> !>.• given t<> tin- Emperor was the crown. It will be remembered that there had been a long negotiation at Rome to ascertain whether tin- Emperor would be crowned by tin- Pope • •r would crown himself. The question was left uncertain, ami Napoleon had ->.i i< 1 that In- would Bettle it himself at Notre Dame when the time came. Still Pius VII. was convinced that In- was u r,, i"u r to place tin- crown on the sovereign's head. He had just handed him tin- ring, tin- sword, tin- cloak, the hand of justice, ami tin- sceptre, ami was preparing to do tin- same thing with the crown. But the Emperor, who had ascended tin- last step <>f tin- all ami w.i- following everj motion of tin- Pope, ^ 1 . 1 - 1 • » ■ < 1 from his hands tin- ûgn of sovereign power ami proudly placed it on his own head. Tin- VTL, out- witted and surprised, made no attempt si mce. An : : . iwning himself, Napoleon proceeded to crown ;hc Empress. This was tin- most solemn 60 ' OUST OF lllf EMPRESS JOSEI'IIl \ E. moment in Josephine's life; the moment which dis- pelled all her incessant dread of divorce, the brilliant verification <>i" her fondest hopes, the completion of her triumph. Napoleon advanced with emotion to this companion "t" bis happiesl days, to the woman who had brought him happiness; she was kneeling before him, Bhedding tears <>f joy and gratitude, with her hands clasped and trembling. He recalled all that he owed her: his happiness, for, thanks to her, he had been blessed with a requited love; bis g\ for it was she who, in 171»''-. had secured for him the command of the Army of Italy, the origin <>f all his triumphs. He must have 1 a glad at this moment that he had not followed his brother's malicious restions and had not separated from bis dear phine! The affection of the young General Bonaparte revived in the heart of the sovereign. He thought Josephine more gracious, more touching, more lovable than ever, and it was with an outburst of happiness that he placed the Impérial diadem on her charming and cherished head. The Emperor and Empress, once crowned, pro- Led to the great throne, at the entrance "t" the church, by the great door, being solemnly Led there by the Pope and the Cardinals. The Impérial pro- jion then formed again in the order in which it had come to Notre Dame, the Empress going before the Emperor. At this moment thePrin» med to hesitate about carrying the skirt of the Empn leon uoticed this, and said a !<•'■ THE ' "/>•(* \ ATJON. 'I linn words to his Bisters, and all was smoothed. The procession reached the fool <>! (J throne; the Emperor ascended the twenty-four steps and down in full majesty, wearing liis crown and [mperial cloak, holding i In- hand of justice and the Bceptre. At his right, on a seal Like his, but one Btep Lower, the Empress placed herself. Another Btep Lower, the 1'iii. on simple Beats. At the Empei Left, two Bteps below him, were the Princes and high dignitaries. On each Bide of the platform the mar- shals, high officers, and Ladies of the court took their places. The sight was most Impressive. The Pope in his turn ascended the twenty-four Bteps, and thus commanding the whole < iathedral, extended his hands . the Emperor and the Empress, and uttered ti Latin words, the formula used t"i taking the throne : •• /// A >■■ .v.//.. c nfirmare vot Dens, et in m regnart facial Christ us !" -" May God estab- lish you on your throne, and may Christ cause you to reign with him in hi- eternal kingdom!" Then he kissed tin- Emperor on tin' cheek, ami turning towards the assembled multitude, said: '* Yivat Tm- ■ '■ m mu .'" - ■• M.i\ the Emperor Live for- ever!" This was what had ■ ! ten oenturies before at Saint Peter's in Rome when th<- ruler of the iple, Charlemagne, had been proclaimed Em- ir of the West Applause broke forth and three hundred musicians intoned the I hymn comiiosed by the Abbé Re !!.'• pontifical procession and the 62 COUBT OF I m-: KMPKB88 J08BPHINI. Imperial procession returned to the ohoir; the Em« peror and Empress resumed their placée on the chaire, and ili<- Pope began tin- '/' Deum. After this, which was Bung by four choirs and two orchestras, the no which had been interrupted by the ceremony with the ornaments and the taking possession of the throne, went on. At the offertory, Napol i and Josephine, followed by the two Princes and the five Princei went to lay their offerings before the l'ope: these con- sisted of s Bilver-gilt ?ase, a Lump of gold, a Lump of silver, and a candle about which were inlaid thirteen pieces of money. At the elevation Prince Joseph removed the Emperor's crown, and Madame de La l; hefoucauld, Maid of Honor, that of the Em- press. Napoleon and Josephine knelt before the Host, and when thej rose, put their crowns on again. When mass was over, the Emperor took the polit- ical oath prescribed bj the constitution, which had aroused much opposition in Rome. The presidents of the great bodies of the Btate brought him the for- mula, and with one hand held over the gospels, the Emperor Bwore to maintain tin- principles <>f the Rev- olution, to preserve the integrity of the territory, ami t" rule with an eye t" th.- interest, happiness, and glory of the French i pie. The First Herald-at-Arms then called forth in a Loud voice: "The most glorious and most augnsl Emperor Napoleon, Emperor of the 1 nil, is crowned and enthroned: Long live the Emperor!" That was the end of the ceremony. Salvos «>f artillery mingled with the applause. THE > OROy ATION, The solemnity had been most successful, and Na- poleon could Bay with truth to his brother Joseph: ■■ For me it Lb b battle won : by my art and the meas- ures I took. I have succeeded beyond my « cpecta- tions." Had he nol prophesied accurately when he said tn his secretary ;it the Bigning of the ' dat : u Bourrienne, you will Bee what ose I shall make of the priests I" The golden chasubles had made a hril- li;mt Bpectacle by the Bide of the uniforms; the nul thr tiara by 1 1 * « - Bide of the Bworda and the Bceptre. Napoleon, always a master of theatrical i, had known how t<> Lend antiquity to his new- born glory by borrowing from tin- past all its majesty and pomp, and by skilfully decking himself with what most brilliant in thr chronicles of remote centu- ries. Prom Charlemagne he took his insignia; from I olden Laurel. The head of a nation that had grown great by the cross and the sword, he de- Bired to make bis coronation thr festival of the church ami of th.- army. The Imperial ami the pontifical processions re- turned to the Archbishop's Palace, ami half an hour Later proceeded t<> the Tuileries, through the Market, the Place du Ch&telet, the rue Sainl I 1 the boulevards, the rue and th.- Place de la Concorde, tin- Pont Tournant, ami tin- grand roadway "f thr lit had fallen; the QOUSeS WON illumi- nated. Five hundred torch their light on the two processions, and by their imposing and strange brilliancy, the crowd gazed with interest on the new Charlemagne and the \ I • - 1 COUR! OF ///// EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. ■Iron and Josephine I i half past six; the Pope at abort seven. The Em- peror, \\li<> was Bomewhat tired by all this ceremony, gladly resumed bis modesl uniform of Colonel of the Chas8eni8 of the Guard. He dined alone with Jo- sephine, asking her to keep on her head the beooming diadem which Bhe wore bo gracefully. That evening he chatted pleasantly with the ladies-in-waiting, and praised the rich dresses they had worn in such splen- dor ai Notre Dame; he said to them, laughing: • l - I who deserve the credit for your charming appear- ance." Thru they looked oui of the windows on the illuminated garden, the large fl< rdeii but- rounded with porches covered with Lights, the long alley adorned with Bhining colonnades, on the ten - of orange-trees all aglow, with a number of glasses of various colors on every tree, and finally on the Place de la Concorde, one blazing star. It was Lis of flame. It was the painter who had Ix'cn a lnrnnVr of the Convention, the montagnard, the regicide who had in- sulted Louis XVI., who had painted the apotheosis M it, and with s malicious hand had drawn the tures of Marie Ant.. in, tte on her way to the i fold; it was this artist, this fierce demagogue, the ardent Revolutionist, who was commissioned with painting the official representation of the coronation. Ih carried his gallantry so far as to cl se for his . not the moment when Napoleon crowned himself, but that of the coronation of the Empn THE < "/."\ ATION. ami when ;i critic accused him of making Josephine too young, he said: "Go and saj thai to h When the picture was finished, the Emperor and tin- court went to see it in the artist's studio. Napoleon walked up and down for half an hour, bareheaded, before the canvas, which is about twenty feel high, about thirty Long, and contains one hundred portraits. < It i> now at Versailles in 1 1 1 « - Hall of the Guards, at the t • »j » "f the marble staircase. ) The Emperor exam- ined it with the closest attention, while David and all who were present maintained a respectful silence. This long waiting made the artist \n\ anxious. V last Napoleon turned towards him and said: "It's i. I >a\ id, "!. Y* >\\ ha\ e di\ ined all my thought: you have made me a French knight. 1 thank y<>u i<>v transmitting to ages to come the proof of affection I wanted to give t" her who shares with me the pains of government." Then taking two steps towards the artist, he raised his hat and said, in a haul yoic i " David, ] 3 ilute \ ou." imetimes at Notre Dame in 1 1 < » 1 \ w • ak, ai even- ing service, when the Cathedral is lit np ;i> at the 1 call the \.t: inies «d this church: the royal baptisms and marriages tin ted; the banners hung from i t •- roof; th 7 D • and l> r • often Bung there : Bo »u< : u ing the funeral oration of the Prince of I : the shameless godde R profaning the sanctu I close my eyes in meditation, and seem to be pn at 1 \ II «in his pontifical COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. throne, and, before the altar, Napoleon crowning phine with his own hands. I hear the < < I «listant Litanies, of the trumpets, of the organ, and of tli>- applause. Then 1 think of the nothingness <>f all human glory and grandeur. < M' all the illustrious persons who have knelt in this old basilica, wh.a i> left? Scarcely a fewhandfuls of dust. I open my 'I'll-- days are Bilent; tin- crowd has quietly withdrawn. The Lights air out, ami at th.- end <>f (he church, in tin- shadow, lik<- a timid star in a cloudy «lay. burns a solitary Lamp. VI. nu: DI8TRIBC PU iS 01 I LAi TIIK coronation was the signal for a succession of festivities. Napoleon was anxious that all ict v Bhould take part in the rejoicii that commerce should be benefited : that Luxury should do wonders; and that Paris Bhould take the position of the first <-ity in the world, the capital of capitals. The !' the army. Monday, Decem- ber 8, booths were open on every Bide for the enter- tainment of the crowd. Adulation assumed every guise, even tin- humblest : and every form of Langu even that of the markets, was employed \>> Matter tin- new i). There was sung, ** The joyous round • •a the Lottery of thirteen thousand fowls, with an impaniment of fountains of wine." It w ription <«f the food distributed to the poor people of Paris. This song was Bung in every Btreet and place, as the Ça ira w as sung in The compliment of the marketmen and ot their ladies ran thus: u l hav< med it out with my COURT OF THE EMPBB8S J08EPHLNE wife that a house a thousand times as larj N Dame would n«»t be able t<> 1 1 « ► 1 « 1 all those \\li<> I ] «M-- -il to bless you." In the way i>f incense, nothing was too : the sovereign. One district said of Napoleon : — •• Be received for at G 1 formed him, l inn of Romulus, the mind of NTuma." The Empress too was praised: — •• Spouse of the hero whom the un scompany you t<> the temple, Ever} one sees in your face the 1» unity which yon distribute thi In allusion to her love <•!' (lowers tins quatrain was composed : "Jo 1 the new 8j Wl my eye. To join the Laureh \ ded than an immortal Bo? The Emperor was Bung, too, in mythological lan- guage, for his flatten I to exhausl all aorta of adulation. < >u Coronation Day the Prefect of Police had distributed a poem entitled The ( Napo- leon brought from Olympus by command of Jupiter: — ■• Mounl the proud Bellona, Mercury brii n from < »!s mp Il to tlic hero of i he French ■ ! a hundred time!) in the fioMs of glory, I hildren of victory, the impotent f iah, Sing N;i; ir Empero VUE hi-l i:ini VIO \ OF II. 1G - the pill. lie rejoicings organized by the government extended from the Place de La Concorde to the Arsenal. rleralds-at-arms walked through tin- « in, distributing medals Btruck t" commemorate the coronation. These medals bore mu one side tin- head ut' tin- Emperor, his brow wearing the crown of the 1 : nu the other, the im ige of a magistrate, ami .!i ancient warrior, supporting on a buckler a crowned hero, wearing an [mperial mantle. Beneath w.i- tin- inscription : ••Tip' Senate ami the People.*' As soon as tin- heralds-at-arms had passed by, the merry-making began, continuing till late in tin- n I : distribution of food, as well as Bports of all kinds, reminding <>nc .if the times of the Roman n et cir < >;i the Place de la Concorde had been built four Large wooden halls for public balls. Tin- cold was Bevere : there was a hard frost, Lut this did nui check tin- universal enjoyment. On the boulevards there were at every step puppet shows, wanderis bands of music. Prom the Place de la Concorde t'> the end of tin' boulevai 1 Saint Antoine 1 a double row of colored lighl Th' i Meuble ami th.- P Legislative ■■■ w ith Lights. I'll'' an ; S tint Denis ami of Saint Martin were all covered with Lighl 1 with the ti which ha«l m 'l'hc ; the fronts >f their ho ived either bv enthu- 70 COUBT OF III!' KMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. siasm or self-interest, they, had Bpeni large sums for this purpose. Among the notable illuminations was thai of tli<' engineer Chevalier, on the Pont Neuf. There was a transparency in which, amid enoircling laurels and myrtles, was to 1"- Been an optician turn- ing his glass up to the sky towards a bright star, aronnd which was this inscription: "In hoc rigno $alut!" --In this sign is safety!" I», ember 8 was the first day of the coronation festivities. The third day was devoted to what the i/ niteur called, "anus, valor, fidelity." This was the day when Napoleon formally presented to the army and to the National Guard of tin- Empire the "which they were always to find on the field of honor." This ceremony took place on the Champ de Mars. To quote once more from the Moniteur: "This vast field, crowded with deputations repre- senting France and the army, bore the asped of a brave family assembled under the eyes of its chief." The main front of the Military School had been dec- orated with a huge gallery, with several tents as high the apartments on the first floor. The middle one, ting on four columns which supported winged victo I the thrones of the Emperor and the Empress. The Princes, the high dignitaries, the ministers, the marshals of the Empire, the high offi- <»f the crown, the civil officers, the ladies of the court, were to take their places ;it the right of the throne. The gallery, in the middle of which was the Imperial tent, was in front of the Military School, 1 III. DISTRIBUTION OF FLAG 9. 71 and was divided into sixteen parts, eight on each side, representing the sixteen cohorts of the Legion ol Honor. A broad staircase Led from this gallery to the Champ de Mars; the firs! step vae for the presi- dents <>!' cantons, the prefects, sub-prefects, and the members of the municipal councils. <>n the other >trjis. there stationed themselves colonels of n mentB :in acknowl- e that ii was raining. Madame de Rémusat mads a \.-r\ true remark aboul this; Bhe said with truth that one of tin- commonest, though one <>t tin- al>- Burdest, flatteries of every time, was that "t" pretend* ing that a sovereign's need of fine weather was sure t<> bring it. " At the Tuileries," she said, " I noticed the opinion that the Emperor needed only t<> appoint a review or a hunt for a certain day, and that day would !><• pleasant Whenever that happened, a :t deal was said about it. while silence ".i- I about rain} or fogirv weather. This is exactly what ~'2 COUBT OF THE EMPRE88 JOSEPHINE, used to happen under Louis XIV. For the honor of sovereigns I should prefer thai they accepted this childish flattery with indifference or disgust, and thai in» one would think of offering it. It was impossible to deny thai it rained during the distribu- tion of the eagles at the Champ de Mars; luit how many people I met the next day, who assured me thai the rain had not wet them ! " In spite of the bad weather, an enormous crowd lined the road through which the Imperial procession was to pass. The tenaces of the Tuileries, the Placé de la Concorde, the quais were thronged. Number- Less - >rs covered the slopes of the Champ de Mars. The ever obsequious Moniteur, in its official account of the ceremony, said: "If the spectators were uncomfortable, there was not one who was not consoled by the feeling thai Jield him there, and by the expression of Ins wishes which the applause made very clear." At noon the Kmperor and the Empress, followed by their suite, left the Tuileries in the order ob- served at the coronation, passed down the broad road, over the pout Tournant, through the Place de hi Concorde, to the Champ «le Mars. Befor< their carriage rode the Chasseurs of the Guard and a squadron of Mamelukes; behind it came the mounted grenadiers and the chosen Legion. On reaching the Military School, Napoleon and Jo- sephine received the compliments of the Diplomatic Body; then they put on their coronation robes, and /'///: DISTRIBUTION <>!■' FLAGS. 78 took their place in the gallery in Eront of the build- ing. As Boon as the Emperor had seated himseli on the throne, cannon were fired, drums beat, bands played. The deputations Erom the army, who were assembled in the Champ i soaked through the canvas and BtufTs sheltering the throne. The Em- press was obliged to Leave, with her daughter, who had recently given birth t<> a child. The other Prin- illowed this example, with the exception <»f M lune Murat, who, although lightly clad, remained exposed to the showers, sin- said that Bhe was Learning how to endure the inevitable discomforts of the highest rank. At five o'clock Napoleon and Josephine were once more at the Tuileries wh< tte dinner was given in the Gallery of Diana. In the middle <>f this gallery the table of the Emperor and the Emj was placed beneath a magnificent canopy, on a plat- form. The Em] I therewith th.- Emperor on the right ami the Pope "ii her hit. The high offi< of the crown, as well a- i colonel-general <>f the Guard ami a prefect <>f the palace, remained stand- ing near the [mpei ial table. I' kited <»ll the tallies. The A reheliaiiee] 1, ,r «if the German Empire took his place at that of the Empei : . Ln th< tme •_■ ill< ry " other tables fort! I h Princes and for th.- hereditary Prince of Baden, for the mi: . for the Ladies ami offi< I in: DI8TBIBI il" \ OF FLAG 9. . .'» <>\ the [mperial household. After the dinner u.t~ .1 concert, a1 which the Pope consented t<> 1m- present When tint w.is over Pius VII. withdrew, and the oing ended with a 1 ».il 1« • i danced by tin- dam of the opera in the great hall (.•ailed since the Em- pire the 1 1. ill of tin- Marshals. VII. THE FESTIVITIES. ri lHE winter of 1804-5 was very brilliant. Napo- JL Leon was anxious to give the beginning of hie reign an air of splendor. He allowed his officials generous salaries, bul In- insisted on their Bpending all they received in sumptuous living, in entertaining freely, ami receiving distinguished foreigners. Lux- ury became compulsory, and trade Flourished beyond all expectations. Paris had never, even in the grand- days of ili>' "Id monarchy, known greater social animation. This martial generation, accustomed to desire a short but merry life aware thai the festivities of on.- day would be interrupted by the battles of the next, were as eager in the ball-room as on the battle- field. They hastened to enjoy their present pros- perity as if they foresaw tin- disasters to come. French gallantry, which had been forgotten during the Revolution, resumed its sway. The women were like the fair mis! Castles in the Middle A who gave their hearts t" the bravest knights. Love and glory both became the fashion. The former Lady of the Bedchamber to Marie Antoinette. Madame 71 THE FE8TIVITIS8. 77 Campan, who taughl most of the young women of tin- court in her school at Saint Germain, had formed a group of beauties, trained in aristocratic manners, at the head of whom was her ablest, mosl intelli- gent pupil, Hortense de Beauharnais, who had been married to Prince Louis Bonaparte. The Grand Chamberlain, .M. de Talleyrand, a poor bishop but an excellent specimen of a grand Lord, and the Grand Master of Ceremonies, M. de Ségur, whose success as ambassador of Louis XVI. at the court of Catherine was very great, Bet the tone in the households of the Emperor and the Empress. Napoleon set an example of Luxury and elegance. • I ad dinners, concerts, official entertainments suc- ceeded one another with startling rapidity. J - >.->. | >1 1- ine, who was wildlj fond of dress, was glad of an excuse to indulge her extravagant tastes. The Em- ir's three Bisters lived like real princesses, rivalling one another in magnificence. Princes Joseph and Louis displayed the pomp <>l future kings. Almost all the women of the court were voungand pretty. It would have been hard to confer <>n any one, to the exclusion of the rest, the palm of beauty. There were three who were especially distinguished: Madame M ■ el (later the Duchess of Bassano) ; Mad- am. Savar} (later the Duchess of Rovigo); and M lame de Canisj (later the Duchess of Vicei The la>t named had married M. de Canisy, tin* Emperor's equerry. Later, she i, r "t a divorc* and married M. de ( aulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza and Grand Equerry. 7^ C0UB1 OF 1 m EMPRESS J08EPH1 \ i . \- Saint Helena Napoleon thus recounted t In- origin of this famous beaut] : "Madame de I ténie, the Cardinal's niece, before being pul to death in the Revolution, entrusted to Father Patrauli her two young daughters. When 1 1 k* terror was over, Mad- ame de Brienne, their aunt, who had weathered the storm and still possessed u large fortune, demanded them of Father Patrault, \\ li«> refused to give them up for a Long time, on the ground that their mother had urged him to bring them up as peasants." Ami Napoleon wen! on: "] was then General of the Army of the Interior; and was able to secure 1 1 1 * - return of the two children, though with Borne difficulty, for Patrault resisted in every way in his power. Tiny were the women whom you afterwards knew as Madame de Marnésia and as the beautiful Madame de ( lanisy." The Duchess of A-brantès, In recalling the brilliant winter of 1804-5, says, in her Memoirs: "One espe- cially impressive beauty, particularly in the ball-room, was Madame de Canisy. I have often compared her to a muse. It would be impossible Eor a Bingle face to present a fuller combination of charms than hers : she possessed regular features, a delightful expres- sion, an attractive smile; her hair was silky and glossy. Seldom have I seen anything more charming than Madames de Canisy, Maret, and Savary in enter- ing a ball-room together." There was no lark of entertainments at which these beauties shone. The one given at the Hotel de THE FJffSr/1 ////>. 7'.' Ville, December 16, L804, to the Emperor and the Empress, was bo costly that it kepi the city of i' for many years in debt. Napoleon, Josephine, Princes Joseph and Louis drove to it in the coronation coach. Batteries of artillery, Btationed on the Pont Neuf, announced the moment of their arrival, while tables covered with poultry, and fountains of wine, attracted ;in enormous crowd to the place; almost every one had a slian- in this distribution of food, thanks to the precautions taken by the authorities of delivering it only to those who presented a ticket. The front of the Hotel i\<- Ville was illuminated with colored Lan- terns. When the Empress entered the apartments : vt d for her, slir found there a complete and mag- nificent u r "hl toilet-service: it \\a> ;i present from the City Council. The President of the Council thus addressed her: "Madame: How could the Parisians, who are bo capable of difrtringniahing whit is good, delicate, and coble, let Blip this opportunity of paying their homage to the profound tenderness, the touch- ing grace, the true dignity that characterize Your Majesty ? The happy influence of these rare i|u.iliti<"> already makes itself felt in all classes of society, and while your august Bpouse elevates Prance in glory, you inspire it to resume the first rank among the renowned for urbanity." The ball in which the Impérial banquet was to be given called the Mall of Victori< On the door was the inscription /'A- md at intervals, -• 1>\ militai*) trophies and standard Latin inscrip- COURT OF THE EHPBE8B J08EPH1 \ I (ions in honor of Napoleon. Before dinner he was presented with a table-service of Bilver-gilt by the city of Paris. Then he took his Beat, with the Em- as, "u a platform beneath a canopy, and the meal in. During dinner, a band, hidden behind green foliage, played a symphony of Haydn's, and then was Bung a cantata full of flattery for the Emperor and the Empi After the dinner there were magnificent fireworks. \ the tii --t rockets rose, a Becond cantata was Bung. One of the pieces of fireworks represented a man-of- war with eighty guns; its decks, masts, sails, and rigging were represented by glowing lights. Another, which the Emperor himself Bel off, represented Mount Saint Bernard sending forth a volcanic eruption from snow-covered rocks. In the centre appeared the im of Napoleon at the head of his army, riding up the steep slope of the mountain. This entertainment, which closed with a ball at which Beven hundred persons were present, \\ real apotheosis. Madame de Rémusat, Bpeaking <>t" the extravagant adulation .'f lin- Legislative Body was particularly bril- liant. 'Flii- assembly, which rivalled the Senate in obsequiousness, had decided that a marble statue Bhould be raised to the Emperor in the room where it sat , in honor "f the drawing np of the civil code. The day when this Btatue was to be inaugurated was chosen for the festivity. The Empress, followed by a magnificent suite, reached the Palace of the Legisla- Body .it about seven in the evening. As Bhe entered, musicians intoned Gliick's famous chorus, which used i<> 1»' Bung on formal occasions in the reign of Louis XVI., in honor of Marie Antoinette: — •• What charms I What majesty I" Unanimous applause emphasized tin- allusions. Then on th.- President's invitation, Marshals Mural ami V <>\ the veils that covered the Btatue, and all eyes beheld the figure "t Napoleon, wearing nu i a Laurel wreath, in which were mingled oak ami olive leav( L ter, at the time "i his abdication at Fontainebleau, Napoleon expressed a hat he had permitted his statue t" l*- made during his Lifetime. Tlun M. de Vaublanc ascended the tribune, and made •> speech full of extravagant praise; it ended thus : " You Live, all of pou, threatened by the perils 82 COVET OF I m: KMPRE88 J08KPHINK of the times ; you live, and you owe your life to him whose statue you behold. You return unfortunate exiles; you breathe once more the delicious air <>f your own country; you embrace your fathers, your children, your wives, your friends ; all this yon owe to him whose Btatue you behold. There is no longer any question of his glory; I say nothing about it: I invoke humanity the great man whose Btatue you behold.* 1 Throughout the whole speech, a perfect masterpiece of official composition, adulation came in like a chorus. The President in his turn uttered a similar eulogy: "Very few at the time," says Con- stant, who describes this occasion, "found this pi extravagant; possibly their opinions have changed since then." Alter the speeches, dinner was served to three hun- dred guests, followed h\ a magnificent ball. Though in the middle of the winter, then- was a great Bhow uf shrubs ami flowers. The Halls of Lucretia and of the Reunion, in which their w.i> dancin Like one large bed of roses, laurels, lilacs, jonquils, Lilies, and jasmine. Perhaps the finest <>f all the entertainments was that given to the Emperor and Empress by the mar- shals of the Empire in the Opera I T. >u-. . It cost each marsh. il ten thousand francs. The Opera House .it that time was in the rue de Richelieu, where it had TUB FJtSTIVITIl been since 1794. (It was the one torn down daring the Restoration, on account of the mnrder <>t" the Duke of Berry, who was killed "ii the threshold.) B means of a floor placed Level with th< over the orchestra and the pit, there waa made a magnifi- cent ball-room. Twenty-four chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and candelabra were Be1 on each side of : v I». >\. The decorations consisted "I Bil ver gauze, and wreaths of flowers. The uniforms of the men and the dresses of the women were almost equally magnificent The eyes of the spectators were dazzled trimmed with precious stones. NTever had there 1* Buch profusion of light, flowers, per- fumes, and diamonds. In this magical Betting, fash- ionable beauties, with their dresses \\ orked with silver and gold foil, their turbans of Eastern Btuffs, their jewels and ancient cam ios, appeared lik<- sultanas. It 1 1 1 « »-- 1 Bumptuous and fairy-like Bhow. The marshals arrived at eighl in the evening, the Empress .it ten, the Emperor ai eleven : as he entered the ball-room, the applause was bo violent that it was ■ I that the c indies would be put out. A military march n ; nd then there \\.i> a concert, clos- ing with the Abb I Rose's V I \ which had made Buch an impression on 1 1 » ♦ > Coronation I' After the concert, Prince Louis Bonaparte, Marshal Mn: ne de Beauharnais, and Marshal Berthier Opened the l>all with tin- I'rilicrssrs. The Kiiijm walked twice around the ball, as if hi dewing troops. Then be - it down by the side of the Empi M COURT OF THE EMPRE88 JOSEPHINE on a raised platform, and withdrew before the end of the ball. Besides all these entertainments there were the grand levees and concerts ai the Tuileries. The Hall of tin- Marshals was an impressive Bight on those evenings, filled, as it was, with young and pretty women, in gorgeous dresses, and with men resplen- dent with stars, epaulettes, feathered hats, and sword- belts Bel with diamonds. After the concert the company would go to the < rallery of I nana, w here the supper-tables were Bel : thai of the Empress, 1 1 1< >>«• of the Princesses, of the Lady of Honor, of the Ladj of th-- Bedchamber, of the Ladies of the Palace. "AH these tallies." Bays the Duchess of Abrantès, "were occupied by women with roses on their heads, and smiles <>n their lips, and often with tears in their - -. for vanity, everywhere triumphant, holds its court especially at court. There, favor is everything, disgrace is everything. A chance word or glance of the Emperor or Empress is a blow and a serions one. What, then, 1 1 » 1 1 — t be the result of an invitation Bent or withheld During the concert the Empress made op the sup- per-table; that is id Bay, chose the women who were to sit ;it her table, commissioning her chamberlain to notify those she had selected. The Princesses did the same, and the officers of their households Likewise informed the women whom they ha approach, wrote : "Even those who nowadays talk about the Corsican with a t Bhow of scorn, those very ones (I have Been them, and I am nol the only one, ) were the most timid before the very Bhadow of his hat." The women trembled even more. Thej dreaded the questions the Emperor might put to them, and. according to M lame de Rémusat, there was not one who would Dot gladly have been anywhere else. During the FHrst Empire, everything, even the festivities, wore a mili- I 01 1:1 OF THE EMPBE86 J08EPH1 \ I . tary air. The sovereign always bad the air of a com- manding general. Discipline prevailed at a ball as \\ «11 as in a camp, and the young men took pari in those pleasures only t" return with renewed zeal and courage t«» the battle-field. VIII. Tin: ETIQUETTE OF TEE DIPEBIAL PALACE. BY tin- beginning of 1805 the court was definitely formed. After laborious studies on the pari of a special commission, ;ini etiquette had been arranged, and the machinery worked with perfect regularity. The Emperor at- tached great importance t" the Bubject, from both a political ;ui« i;il point of view. In his eyes, eti- quette had the great advantage of drawing betwi 1 1 i m iiml those who had recently been lii> superiors, i distinct line "t" separation. He looked upon it asa useful tool of government, as an accompaniment of glory absolutely essential for a sovereign, especially for o : origin. He was very proud <>t his court, of the wealth it displayed, and of the vast its he obtained at a comparatively small exp< and at ^.lint Helena he liked to recall its agreeable memory. •■ The Em] onrt," we read in the M< pik "was in ever] n pect much more magnificent than 87 ^ COURT OF THE EMPRESS J08EPHINE. anything that had been Been uj> t<> thai time, and oosl infinitely Leas. The suppression of abuses, order and regularity in the accounts, made the great difference. His hunting, with the exception of ;i few useless or absurd particulars, such as the use of falcons, was splendid and as crowded as thai of Louis XIV. . and it cost only four hundred thousand francs a year, while the King's cosl seven millions. It was the same way with the table; Duroc's order and severity wroughl wonders. Under the kings, the pal were uot permanently furnished; the same furniture was transported from one palace to another; there were no accommodations for the people of the courl : every one had to provide for himself. Under him, however, there was no one in attendance, who, in the room allotted him, was ool as comfortable as at home, or even more comfortable, so far as what was essential and proper was concerned." The court moved as smoothly as a well-drilled regi- ment. Napoleon would have shown qo mercy to the slightesl disregard of the rules he had himself drawn up after long meditation. The courtiers were expected t'> be as familiar with the code of etiquette as were the officers with the manual >>( arms. The Emperor noticed the minutesl details, busied himself with everything, Baw everything. There had been much more latitude ai courl under the old monarchy, and those of the old régime who entered the Emperor's courl were soon wearied by the inflexible severity of its discipline. The court, moreover, was 7ery splen- ETIQUETTE OF TUE IMPERIAL PALACE 89 did. The Faubourg Saint Germain brought to it its politeness ami conversational charm. For bis part, Napoleon speedily assumed tin- manners of a European sovereign, while preserving liis martial character. He was at the Bame time Emperor ami commander-in-chief. Yet the military element did ma control his court; the civil element was more powerful there than in other European courts, the Russian, for example. Napoleon would never have Buffered in Ins presence the faintest sign of the fa- miliarity <>t tin- camp; every one win» crossed the threshold of the Tuileries was compelled to pre- serve tin- manners, the bearing, tin' Language of ;t courtier. Tlir Levees ami couchées of the sovereign were restored as in the time of the Bourbons; though under the monarchy they were real things, ami a mere Imitation under the Empire. These moments were not devoted to the pettj details of toilette, but rather t<> receiving, morning and evening, those mem- bers of the civil ami military household who had to receive his direct orders or enjoyed the right of "pay- ing their court at these privileged hours." At Saint Helena, Napoleon boasted that at the Tuileries he hail suppressed in the matter ( .f etiquette w all that wis irai and Commonplace, and had BUbstituted what merely nominal and decorative." "A king," he said, -is i,,,t a natural product : he is a result of civ- ilization. He does not exist nakedly, but onlj when ed." !"i I OUBT OF l m EMPB1 SS J08EPHM E Let us try to retrace the Lines of etiquette as t ln\ existed in 1805, ;it the Baine time indicating the prin- cipal members of the Emperor's household and the nature of their duties. There were many separate duties, each under tin- control of a 1 1 i î_t 1 1 officer of the Crown, with their provinces carefully defined and sedulously distinguished from one another. There were six high officers of the Crown: the Grand Almoner (Cardinal Fesch) ; the Grand Marshal of the Palace (General Duroc) ; the Grand Equerry (General de Caulaincourl ►; the Grand Chamberlain (M. de Talleyrand); the Grand Master of Ceremo- nies | M. de Ségur ). The colonels-general were: Marshal Davout, com- manding the foot grenadiers; Marshal Soult, com- manding the chasseurs-a-pieds ; Marshal Bessières, commanding the cavalry : Marshal Mortier, com- manding the artillny and Bailors. These colonels- era] "t" the Impérial Guard formed part of the Emperor's household, and enjoyed the same prer» tives as the high officers of the < !rown. The Grand Almoner was the bishop of the court, wherever that might be. He gave the Emperor and lus courl a dispensation from fasting. II'- accom- panied him i<> church ceremonies and gave him his prayer-book. At grand dinners In- said grace. !!»• the prisoners whom the Emperor pardoned ..il certain holy day-. The Grand Marshal "!' the palace had charg th«- military command in the Impérial residences; of ETIQUETTE OF THE TMPEBIAL PALACE. M their maintenance, decoration, and furnishing ; of t lie assignment of rooms, the supply of food, the heating, lights, silver, and livery. I [e commanded the detach- ments of the Imperial Guard <>n duty is the Imperial palaces, tie gave orders to beat the reveille and the tattoo, i'» open and shut the palace gates. WTieu the Emperor was with the army, <>r travelling, he had to find him quarters. In 1805 the Grand Marshal's budget amounted to 2,838,167 francs. In 1806 it reached the Bum of 2,770,841 francs. There were four tables in the palace, — that of the officers and ladies-in-waiting, thai of the officers of the guard and the pages, thai of the ladies \\ ho read to the Empress and introduced \ isitors. The Grand Marshal had under his orders 1 1 1 * ■ pre- fects of the palace : M. de Luçay, M. de Bausset, and M. de Saint Didier. They had charge of the provisions, lighting, heating, the silver, and the liveries. They inspected the kitchens, pantries, cellars, and linen- thai everything was in order. There was always one prefecl of the palace on dutj for a week al a time. He also carried word to the Emperor and the Empress when a meal was ready, conducted them to the table, and hack to their rooms after- wards. The Grand Marshal had also under his orders the ernor of the palaces and the marshals; these last wen- charged with choosing apartments for the Emperor and the Empress, and quarters for their suite in the Impérial residences and on journeys. 92 C0UR7 OF un: EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. They had for assistants the quartermasters of the palace. The Master of the Sounds had charge <>f all the coursing and hunting in the woods and forests belonging t<> the Crown. The Grand Equerry Looked after the stable*] the pages, the couriers, and the Emperor's arms ; he also had the supervision of the horses at Saint Cloud. He walked just before the Emperor when be came forth from his rooms to ride, gave him his whip, held his reins and the left Btirrup. H<' was responsible for the good condition of the carriages, the intelli- gence and skill of the huntsmen, coachman, and the postilions, the safety and tin- training of the hoi In a procession, <»r on a journey, he was in tin- car- riage just before the Emperor's. He accompanied the Emperor to the army, and if the sovereign's horse was killed or disabled, it was his duty t<> pick th.- Emperor up and to offer him his own hoi The Grand Equerry had four equerries under his ordere: Colonels Durosnel, Defiance, Lefebvre, Vatier, and two equerries in ordinary, M. de Canisy and M. de Villoutrey. An equerry <>n duty always accompa- nied the Emperor, whether he was driving or riding. It' the Emperor drove, the equerry on duty rode by th<- right-hand door of the carriage, unless the colonel- general <>n duty happened to he <>n horseback, in which case the equerry rode on the other side. The equerry on duty walked before the Emperor when he left or returned t<» his apartment; hi left WTIQl il i r OF i m i Mr /;/;/. \i. PAL Ai i:. the waiting-room during tin' day, and .slcj.i in the palace. The pages, whose governor teas General Gardane, wire also under the orders of the Grand Equerry. They were appointed when between fourteen and sixteen, and held the [»<••< i t i< n i until they were eighteen. At grand dinners and in the apartments <>i" honor, they waited on the Emperor and Empi ami mi the Princes and Princesses. When the Emperor rode out, one followed on horseback; it he drove, the page u r "' up behind the carriage. When tin- sovereign went forth in his state-coach, a^ many possible clambered up behind it and upon the boi by the Bide of the coachman. At receptions, and • »i i days when mass was Baid, there were eight m duty. The} st 1 in a row when the Emperor returned t" his apartment, and walked before him whi n lie left it. If the Emperor had not returned to the palace by nightfall, the pages would wait at tin' entrance-door to walk before him, carrying lights. The pages, too, served a- messengers, and when they carried letters of the Emperor, the doors thrown w ide "pen before them. The impression produced 1»\ the pages, when they i en duty at the Tuileries in 1804, i^ thus described by a contemporary: "They have been much noticed, especially in the evening, bj the ladies. The fact is, tin I good-looking 1 particularly the oldest; tbej h> and weai a new mid becoming uniform, and since they !'l ' OUST OF THE SMPBB86 J08EPH1 \ /' are in the Bervice of a severe master, and of a most kind and indulgent mistress, they have t" be rarj attentive and considerate. Their full dress differs from livny only by the lace of their coat which imi- tates embroidery, by the knot on their Left shoulder, and by the hue frill above their waistcoat. Besides, in l'n 11 dress the\ wear, like footmen, a green coat with all the Beams Laced with gold, gold shoe-buckles, a hat with a white feather, hut they have QO BWOrd. Perhaps this is well, for they would he playing with ii. They have all been chosen among the sons of erals of divisions ami of high dignitaries of the Empire." At Saint Helena Napoleon .-.aid, Bpeaking of tin' pages and the Imperial stables: "The Emperor's stables cost him three million francs; the horses cost three thousand francs apiece per year. A page, from si\ t.. eight thousand bancs; this last was perhaps the heaviest expense of the palace; hut there was every reason to he satisfied with the education they received, and with the cue taken with them. All th.- first families of the Empire sought to gel the places for their sons : and thej were right." The Grand Chamberlain had charge of all the honors of the palace, the regular audiences, the oaths taken in the Emperor's Btudy, the admissions, the levees alld etMlehees. the festivities, feee j ,t io||S. theatrical performances, the music, the b the Emperor and Empress at the different theatres, the Emperor's wardrobe, his library; he also Looked after the ushers and valets de chambre. / //',-//// / OF THE IMP EE I AL PAL Ai I . The Grand Chamberlain had under bis orders (this refers to 1805), a First Chamberlain, M. de I i •' 1 1 1 1 1-. 1 1 . ami thirteen chamberlains: MM. d'Arb A. de Talleyrand, de Laturbie, de Brigode, de Vin. de Thiard, Gamier < 1 « • Lariboisière, d'Hédouville, de Croy, de Mercy-Argenteau, de ZuidWyck, de Tour- non, de Bondy. In t li< ■ Imperial Almanack of 1 nii ">. these men are not named with their titles, even the ■/' is in all rases omitted or joined with tin' name, thus: M. Rémusat, M. Darberg, A. Talley- rand, Laturbie, Tournon, Dethiard, Deviry, Hédou- villi Tin- chamberlain on «lui \ was called the chamber- lain of the «lay. At tin- palace there were alv two chamberlains of the «lay. one for tin- grand apartment, the other i'm- tin- Emperor's apartmenl of honor, 'liny were relieved every week. The prin- cipal duties of tin- chamberlains were t" have ch of introductions t<> tin- Emperor, i" give orders to the ushers and valets de chambre, t" see that tin- "! about tin- receptions were carried "in, ami to attend upon tin- sovereign's Levees and couch Either a chamberlain or one <>f tin- Emper» ' : of tin- Wardrobe. I le had charge <»t* th.- clothes, the linen, tin- lac-, th.- h ami Bhoes, and of tin- ribbons of tin- Legion of I [onor. It' In- assisted at tin- Emperor's toilet, In- had t<> hand him hi . fasten his ribbon or collar, him his BWOrd, hat. ami gloves, in tin- < iiaml ( 'hainhci- Lain's al>.><-n. 96 ' OURl OF I HI I KPRB8& J08EPH1 \ I . The < rrand Master of < ereinoniea determined ques- tions <>i rank and precedence, «hvu up and enforced the rules for public, formal ceremonies, for the recep- tion of sovereigns and hereditary princes, and foreign ambassadors and ministei The colonels-general of the Impérial Guard and the Emperor's aides also made part "I the household. At ceremonies when the Emperor u.^ in ln> Btate- coach, there were two colonels-general of the Guard at the left door. When he rode, all four followed close behind. The Grand Equerry, or his substitute, had a place among them. The colonel-general on duty received directly the Emperor's orders relative to the different require- ments of the [mperial Guard, and transmitted them directly t<» the other colonels-general. II»' was quar- tered in the palace, in preference to any other officer of the < 'i'"\\ n. and as near as possible t<> the Empei apartment, whether at the residence or when travel- ling. In the field he slept in the Emperor's tent Napoleon had twelve aides-de-camp. The one on duty was called the aide-de-camp <>t' the «lay. He always had a horse saddled or a carriage harnessed ready in the stable, to carry any messages the Em- peror might giv< . \ "ii a> the Emperor had g to bed, the aide-de-camp on duty was especially entrusted with guarding him, and he slept in an adjoining room. In the field the Emperor's aides ed as chamberlains. There were two distinct elements in the Emperor's WTIQl I I II OF THE IMPERIAL PAL Ai 1 . 97 household: the military, and the aristocratic. Some nii'ii owed their position entirely t<> their merit ; others entirely to their birth; these were both j i.i 1 1 i ■ >t - of IT'.'l' and émigrés, but it must be confessed the Im- perial Almanack shows that the aristocratic element was the more prominent. Napoleon, though certain writers persist in representing him a-> the crowned champion of democracy and the emperor <>i the Lower classes, had a re aristocratic court than Louis Will. He was more impressed by great man- ners than were the old kin;.;-. Even after he had been betrayed, abandoned, denied, insulted by the aristocracy, he had a weakness for it. In 1816 he ,sai<> Little for the Faubourg Saint Germain. I make the opposition dissatisfied, and not enough to win it tn my side. I ought t<> have secured the émigrés when they returned. The aristocracy would have soon adored me : and I needed it ; it is the true, the only Bupporl "I a monarchy, its moderator, it-- Lever, it-- resisting j">int ; without it. the state is Like ■ >hiji without a rudder, a balloon in mid-air. N the strength, the charm "I the aristocracj Lies in its antiquity, the only thing I could not It must be confessed that from an old Republican gen- I m i; i OF I Hi: EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. rial, for the man who had Bent Aimcivau to 6X6CUte the coup d'étal of the L8th Fructidor, and who the 13th Vendémiaire, from the steps of the Church of Saint Roch had crushed the Paris conserva- tives, this was a very aristocratic way of talking, reminding one of the old régime. In 1816 Napoleon said again: "Old and corrupt nations cannot be governed like the virtuous peoples of antiquity. V<>v one man nowadays who would sacrifice everything for the public welfare, there are thousands who take no thought of anything except their own interests, pleasures, and vanity. Now to pretend to regenerate a people off-hand would be madness. The workman's genius is shown by his knowing how to make use of the materials under his hand, and that is the secret of the restoration of all the forms of the monarchy, of the return of titles, crosses, and ribbons." The old Republicans of L796, who used to denounce kings, "drunk with blood and pride," would not have readily recognized their old general under the golden canopies of the Tuilerie-, where he dined in state. His tahle stood on a plat form, beneath a canopy, and their were two chairs, one for himself, the other for the Empress. Aja lie entered the banquet-hall, he was preceded by a swarm of pages, masters-of-cere- monies, and prefects of the palace : he was followed by the colonel-general on duty, the Grand Cham- berlain, the Grand Equerry, ami the Grand Alm< p. The Grand Almoner advanced t.. the tahle ami Jed the dinner. A general of division, the ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 99 Grand Equerry Caulaincourt, offered a chair to Bonaparte. Another general of division, Duroc, the Grand Marshal of the Palace, handed him his nap- kin and poured out his wine. Not merely high dig- nitaries, bul the Princes of the Empire themsel deemed it an honor to wait npon him as servants. It a Prince of the Impérial family happened to he in the Emperor's room, any article of dress that he asked for was given by the chamberlain-in-waiting to the Prince, ami by the Prime to tin- Emperor. Tin- time of the Sun King seemed to have returned. The Imperial apartment at tip- Tuileries consisted of two distinct parts, the grand state apartments and the Emperor's private apartment. The state apart- ment contained the following rooms: 1, a concert hall (the Hall of the Marshals); 2, a first drawing- room (under Napoleon III. called the Drawing-room of the I-'irM Consul); 3, a second drawing-room (that of Apollo); 4, a throne room; 5, a drawing-room of the Emperor (afterwards called that of Louis XIV.); 6, a gallery (of Diana). The private apartment was itself composed of the apartment of honor, containing a hall of the guards ami ;i firsl and s,., ond drawing- room, and an interior apartment containing a hed- room, a study, an office, and topographic bureau. The ushers had charge of the apartment of honor; the valets de chambre of the other. A rigid etiquette determined the right of entrance into the different rooms composing the state apartment, according to a carefullj studied Bystem. The pages were authorized LOO COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. to enter the Hall of tli«- Marshals; members of the household of tin- Emperor ami Empress i lould enter the first and second drawing-rooms; the Princes and Princesses of the [mperial family, the high officers of the Crown, the presidents of the great bodies of the state, had admission to the throne room. Men and women had to bow to the throne whenever they passed it. The Emperor and the Empress alum' had the right of entering the Emperor's drawing-room. N<> one else could go in except by the Emperor's summons. An absurd importance was attached to these trivial- ities, to these empty nothings, to the right of entering this mom or that, of walking before this or that per- son, of handing tin- Emperor this or that article of die». --An honest, reasonable man." said Madame de Rémusat, "is often overcome with shame at the pleasures and pains of a courtier's life, and vet it is hard to escape from them. A ribbon, a Blight differ- ence of dress, tin- right of way through a door, the entrance into such and such a drawing-r n. art- the occasion, contemptible in appearance, of a host of ever new emotions. Vain is tin- struggle to acquire indifference to them. ... In vain do the mind and the reason revolt against such an employment of human faculties; however dissatisfied one is with one's Belf, it is necessary to humiliate one's self before ry one ami to desert the court, or else to consent i" take Beriously all the nonsense that tills the air and breathes there." Vanity of human events! What has become of ETIQUETTE OF lin: IMPERIAL PAL Ai 1 . 101 these drawing-rooms of the Tuileries, which ii \\;is Mi.-li an honor to enter, which were trod with such respectful awe? I k at the Lamentable ruins of this ill-fated palace. There may still be seen, black- ened with petroleum and stained by the rain. Mime of those drawing-rooms, once so brilliant, once thronged with an eagei and showy crowd. What an instruc- tive spectacle 1 When is one more urgently reminded of the emptiness <»f human glory and great aess? This nothingness fills the soul with melancholy when one thinks that booh these crumbling fragments will be razed and thai soon one can say with the pool : The ruins themselves have perished, Etiam periere ruinae! ' 1 The ruins have since been removed. — Tb. IX. THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE BMPBESS. WK have just Btudied the civil and the military household of the Emperor in lsoô; let us now study the Empress's household at the same period. The Empress's First Almonerwas a bishop, a great lord, Ferdinand de Rohan. Her Maid of Honor was a relative of her first husband, the Duchess de La Rochefoucauld, called in the Imperial Almanack of L805 simply Madame Chastulé de La Rochefoucauld. She was short and deformed, but distinguished Eor her intelligence, tact, and wit, void of ambition, with m. taste Eor intrigue, who only reluctantly accepted the position of Maid of Honor, and often wanted to hand in her resignation. The Lad} of the Bedcham- ber was Madame de Lavalette, a Beauharnais, an able and affectionate woman, who immortalized her- self, in the rarly day- of the Restoration, by saving her husband's life by her heroism. To the h.ur Ladies of the Palace at the beginning of the Empire, Madame de Luçay, Madame de Rémusat, Madame de Talhouët, Madame de Lauris- 102 THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRESS. LOS ton, were added thirteen other ladies: Madame Duchâtel, Madame de Séran, Madame de Colbert, Madame Savary, Mad. une Octave de Ségur, Madame de Turenne, Madame de Montalivet, Madame de Bouille, Madame de Vaux, Madame de Marescot. The Maid of Honor was for the Empress what the Grand Chamberlain was for the Emperor. The Lady of the Bedchamber's duties corresponded to those of the Keeper of the Wardrobe. The Ladies of the Palace were, so to Bpeak, female chamberlains. "We were all," said the Duchess of Abrantès, "at thai time radianl with a sorl of glory which women Beek as eagerly as men do theirs, thai of elegance and beauty. Among the young women composing the couri of the Empress and that of the Princesses it would have been hard to find a single ill-favored woman, and there were very many whose beauty made, with no exaggeration, tin- greatesl ornament of tin- festivities held every day in that fairy-like time." Al! ili'- Ladies of the Palace were young, and almost all were remarkable for their beauty. Among the most conspicuous was Madame Ney, a niece of Madame Campan; Madame Lannes, whose face re- called tin' most charming pictures of Raphael, and above all. tin- wife of an already aged Councillor of State, Madam.' Duchâtel (whose son was Minister of the Interior in the reign of Louis Philippe, and whose grandson was Ambassador of the Republic al Vienna}. The Duchess of Abrantès thus describes I'll COUBT OF THE EMPRE88 JOSEPHINE, this famous beauty: "There is one woman in the [mperial court who made her appearance In society shortly before the coronation, whose portrail is drawn in all the contemporary memoirs, especially in those written by a woman, and that is Madame Duchfttel. Madame Duchâtel would not serve as a model for a sculptor, because her features lack the regularity which his art requires. The indefinable charm of her fair, a charm which words arc unable to convey, lay in dark blue eyes, with long, silken lashes, in a delicate, gracious, refined smile, which disclosed teeth of ivory whiteness, ami. moreover, beautiful light hair, small hands ami feet, a general elegance which matched a really remarkable mind. All these things formed a combination which first attracted and then attached every one to her." Josephine's First Chamberlain, in 1805, was the General of Division Nansouty; the chamberlain who introduced the ambassadors was M. de Beaumont; there were four ordinary chamberlains, MM. d'An- busson-Lat'eitilladc, de Galard-Béarn, de Coutomer; de Gavrej a First Equerry, Senator de Harville; two equerries, Colonel Fowler and General Bonardy de Saint Sulpice; a private secretary, M. Deschamps. The Council of the Empress's household was com- posed of tin" Maid of Honor, the Lady of the Bed- chamber, the First Chamberlain, ami the First Equerry. The private secretary was also the secre- tary of the Council. Tie- Chief Steward of the household was also a member. THE HOI 3EH0LD OF TILE EMPRE8Z 105 The Lady of the Bedchamber had under her orders ;i first woman of the bedchamber, Madame Aubert, who had whole charge of the wardrobe. Madame Saint-Hilaire held this place under Josephine, as Madame Campari had done under Marie Antoinette. Madame Saint-Hilaire'a duties consisted in super- vising the chamberwork, in receiving the Empr< orders about the hours of her rising, and of her morn- ing and evening toilet. The firsl woman of tin' Bed- chamber had whal were called the honors of the ser- vice when the Maid of Honor and the Lady of the Bedchamber were absent. The Empress had also ushers and women who discharged the same duties, six ordinary chambermaids, a reader, the beautiful Madame Gazani; four ordinary valets de chambre, and two footmen, trusted men always in the ante- chamber. The ushers, who remained without the drawing-room where the Empress was, never opened both the doors to their full width except for the Princes and Princesses of the rmperial family; and they could not Leave their posts except to ash the Maid of Honor the nanus of those who were waiting to be presented. There were two pages in the Em- press's Bervice; the older carried the train of her dress when she lefl her apartments, and got in or out of a carriage; tl ther walked before her. The Empress's apartment consisted <>f an apart- ment of honor and an inner apartment. The first consisted of an ante-chamber, the first drawing-room, the second drawing-room, the dining-room, the music- 106 COURT OF THE EMPBE86 J08BPHINB. room; the other, of the bedroom, the Library, dress- ing-room, boudoir, bath-room. The entrance to the Empress's apartment \\.i- controlled by etiquette Like that to the Emperor's. Josephine played her part as sovereign as easily as if she bad been born on the steps of the throne. " ( me of her charms," says the I mchess of Abrantès, "was oof merely her graceful figure, but the way Bhe held her head, and the gracious dignity with which she walked and turned. I have had the honor of being presented to many real princesses, as they are called in the Faubourg Saint Germain, and I can truly say that I have oever seen one more imposing than Josephine. She combined eleganceand majesty. Never did any queen bo grace a throne without hav- ing been trained to it." Josephine had all the qualities that are attractive in a sovereign: affability, gentleness, kindliness, gen- erosity. She had a way of convincing every one of her persona] interest, she had an excellent memory, and surprised those with whom she talked by the exactness with which she recalled the past, even to details thej had themselves nearly forgotten. The sound <>r her gentle, penetrating, and sympathetic voice added to the courtesy and charm of her words. Everyone listened to her with pleasure; she spoke with grace and Listened courteously. She wanted do one to go away from her annoyed. She always ap- peared to be doing a kindness, and thus inspired af- fection and gratitude. Her courtiers and her suite lin: HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRE8B. 107 were her friends. Madame de Rémusat, who «ras Qevei too favorable, was Forced to recognize the charm which Josephine exercised over the courl by her tact, intelligence, and dignity. "The Empress," she - "is enchanted to be surrounded bj a large suite, and it gratifies her vanity. Her success in attaching Madame de La Rochefoucauld to her person, her pleasure in counting M M. d'Aubusson, de Lafeuillade among her chamberlains, Madame d'Arbry, Madame de Ségur, and the wives of the marshals among the ladies of the palace, turned her head a little, but even this feminine joy « 1 i « 1 no! Lessen her usual gracious- ness; she always succeeded in mamtaining her rank, even when most deferential to those men and women win» lent ii a new Lustre by their brilliant names." She was vciy kind, extremerj soft-hearted, and always overwhelming her companions with attentions and re- gards. Mademoiselle Avrillon, her reader, says: •• I do nol believe thai there ever lived a woman with a better character, or with a less changeable disposition." She never dared to utter a word of blame or reproach. ••It one of her Ladies," said Constant, the Emperor's vah-t de chambre, "ever gave her cause for dissatis- faction, the only punishment she inflicted was to maintain absolute Bilence for one, two, three f the case. Well! this punishment, apparent!'. slight, was for mosl of them verj severe. Tin- Em- press knew jo well how to make herself beloved ! " Her onh faull was extravagance. She had an un- L08 COUBT OF THE EMPRE88 J08EPHINE. bounded love of lu\ur\ and dress. The jeweln which had belonged to Marie Antoinette mu too small for Josephine. One daj when Bhe wanted t « » show some Ladies all her jewels, a great table had to he arranged to hold the cases, ami, sine.- that was not enough, much more of tin' Furniture was covered by thriii. Josephine had tin- fault that accompanies this quality, for generous persons an- commonly lavish. Her extravagant expenditures came From her kindli- 3. She had not the heart t<> dismiss a tradesman without buying something <>i' him. and it never en- tered her head t<> try t « » beat him down. Often Bhe bought for va-l Bums things she did not want, simply to oblige thr dealers. There was no limit to her Liber- ality. She would have Liked to own all the treasures of the earth in order to grive them all away. She Bought f"i opportunities for alms-giving. Man\ of the émigrés Lived entirely on her bounty, she was always in active correspondence with the sisters of charity. She was the Providence of the poor, and did good with delicacy, tact, and discretion. Giving i> not all : the art lies in knowing how to give. She med to he the debtor of those to whom she made gifts. Naturally, with this disposition, -he got into debt. Hut Napoleon was there to help her: and since he was economical by nature, he grew angry and Ided his extravagant wife, and ended by paying. In fact. Napoleon could refuse Josephine nothing, and she was really the only woman who had any influence over him. If he opposed her. -he had an I Hi: IKiI SEHOLD OF nu EMPB1 - ï. L09 infallible resource in her tears. She knew thoroughly her husband's character. She kn.-u ho^i to Bpeak to that mind and heart, sin- busied herself with seek- ing uli.it could please, with divining his wishes, with anticipating his slightest desires. It he was the leasl ailing or annoyed Bhe waa literally at his feet, and then lit- could nol live withoul her. II< fell thai when misfortune came Josephine alone would be aide to console him. She had brought him happiness with her gentleness, her tenderness, her devotion : »li<- had well deserved to receive the crown from his hands. X. napoleon's gallantries. JOSEPHINE appeared to hav< every wish sat- isfied; her good fortune exceeded her wildesl dreams; never had a more wonderful romance actu- ally happened, and yel the Empress of the French, thf Queen of Italy, was nol happy. A cruel passion which brings no pleasures, but only cruel sufferings, disturbed her happiness and tormented her heart. This passion, jealousy, which had tortured Napoleon in the early days of his wedded life, n<>\\ Josephine in her turn had t<> endure \\ itli ;ill its keen anguish. She felt thai for her, ;i woman of forty-one, to li"l triumph in an almosl hopeless contest. As was Baid by Mademoiselle Avrillon, her reader, she seemed nol t<> understand thai if the highest rank is a safeguard for a woman, rase few men are bold enough to pursue her, the same is not true of a sovereign whose glory dazzles the inexperience of the young, and whose slightesl attention coquetry and flatters vanity. 110 XAPOLEO* - '• ILLA \ TRI1 s\ 111 Josephine had ool a moment's peace. In the hope of pleasing 1 n - r. many women of the court, who w bo to speak, on the watch for the Emperor's attenti hastened t<> torture her with their interested revela- tions. For Beveral years dow her beauty had been fading. Napoleon, on the other hand, had ae ver been better looking. His health, which formerly had lx-ni delicate, had much improved. He had .Mown stouter, and this was very becoming. Hi-< head was likr thai of a CsBsar. Full of Belf-confidence, fortu- nate, nattered on every Bide, at the height of power, he imagined that in Love, as in war, he had l>nt t" appear I . •- 1 came, I saw . I con- quered." M.i::\ of the beauties of the time 'lit to confirm him in thi> good opinion of himself, and as Madame \ immorality, \\a^ giving Bcandaloua publicity t" relations which should h a kept Becret; these relations he was by do means disposed t<> refuse when they presented themselves before him." The faith- ful valet de chambre goes on in an attempl t" defend his master: "Others perhaps would bave buc- cumbed oftener. Heaven forbid that I Bhould under- 112 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. take bo apologize Eoi himj I will even acknowledge that he did not always practise whal he preached, but it was none the less a g 1 deal for a sovereign to hide hia distractions from the public, t«» prevenl scandal, and, what is worse Imitation; and from liis wife, to save her pain." Napoleon was by no means so indifferent to women as he professed to be. He was averse to being ruled by them, but he was Ear from being insensible to their charms. Opposition exasperated him; all his caprices found many obsequious allies ready to fur- ther his suit, and more than one woman made a deep, if brief, impression upon him. His disdain of woman lias, we are sure, been much exaggerated. At Saint Helena he declaimed against women, but his remarks were mere paradoxes, not meant in be taken seri- ously. ('..nut La- Cases, in ike Memorial, reports th remarks of the Emperor to the ladies who shared his captivity. " We Occidentals," he said, with a smile full of malice. •• have spoiled women by treating them too well. We have made the mistake of raising them almost to an equality with ourselves. The Orientals Bhowed more intelligence and justiee: they declared they were men's property : and. in fact, nature has made thrm oui- slave-, and it is only by OUT whimsi- calness that they presume t" he our sovereigns ; they abuse their advantages to mislead and control us. For one who inspires US to our good there are a hun- dred who m. ike n- do stupid thin. Then he went \ APOLEQ& - '..I/./..I \ TBU - 118 on to praise polygamy in a very unchivalrous ami unsentimental way, saying ironically: "What cause of complaint do you have, after all? Have we not acknowledged that you have a soul.' ïou know- that there are philosophers who have weighed it. Do you claim equality ? But that is absurd; women are our property, we are uot theirs; for she gives us children, men give them none. So she is his prop- erty, as a fruit-tree is a gardener's property. Nothing but a lack of judgment, of common mum-, and a defective education, can niakc a woman think that she is her husband's equal. And there is nothing degrading in the difference; each sex has its quali- ties and its duties : your qualities are beauty, grace, charm : your duties are dependence and submission." Napoleon was often malicious with women: often he teased them: but at heart he honored faithful wives and good mothers. His ideas were Ear more moral than those of the men of the I directory, and his court was far purer than that of the kings of Prance. We will add that Josephine was the only woman he ever loved for a Long time and seriously. The others appealed to his senses, not to his heart. Fortunately for herself, Josephine had a shallow- character; her impressions were keen, but evanescent. The pleasures of sovereignty outweighed the griefs. She felt that the crown was hea\\ at times, hut it adorned her ami kept her young; ami in spite ,,f the jealousy it gave rise to. the court satisfied her vanity and brought her sufficient consolation To the satis- Ill C0UB1 OF THE EMPRE88 JOSEPHINE. faction of her pride she found another purer and more Lasting emotion, which > 1 1 « ■ valued more, in the opportunity of doing good. She had, besides, passed through so many vicissitudes in her life thai nothing could surprise her, and her soul, accustomed to Buffer- ing, was prepared for the mos1 violent emotions, the mosl terrible anguish. She wepl readily, but her tears were booh dried; the rainbow followed close upon the storm, and Josephine would smile through her tears. XI. tuf. POPE a i tin: tiii.i:i:ifs. WHILE Napoleon, proud in the possession of his new empire, was exhibiting at tin- Tuileries his vast power and grandeur, the same palace was in- habited by a holy old man. whose humility presented a marked contrast with the conqueror's haughty spirit. Pius VIL, who was quartered in the Pavilion of Flora, Led the life of an anchorite, with all the modesty and piety of an old monk, Easting everj , his white robes tinged with red, the Sovereign Pontiff 116 116 COUBl OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. had in his whole person something strange and im- posing. He occupied the apartment on the first floor of the Pavilion of Flora, where Madame Elisabeth had lived from October, L789, to August 10, 17'.»± The Abbé Proyart, the author of the Letter to the prisoner of the Temple, came to offer the Pope a copy <>l this same life of .Madame Louise of France, which lie had Long sinee offered to the sister of Louis XVI. "I am living here," said Pius VII. . "in the apart- ments of another saint." What singular vicissitudes! The same place occupied in turn by Madame Elis- abeth, the members of the Committee of Public Safety, and by the Vicar of Christ ! The Pope had been very anxious before lie started for Paris. His fears were so great that just as he was leaving Lome, with a presentiment of the cap- tivity that awaited him, he had left his abdication in the bauds of Cardinal Consalvi, in case he should suffer any violence during his journey. It was only with trembling and prayer thai lie had set foot ou the volcanic soil of France, which, from a distance, seemed alive with impiety and terror. The unfail- ing respect with which he had been treated had comforted him somewhat. Whenever lie visited a church, the Parisians followed him with mingled curiosity, Sympathy, and veneration: they knelt to him as in- passed them, and received with all deco- rum his apostolic benediction. Every day a large crowd gathered under his windows. lb- had found THE POPE AT THE TUILERIES. 1 17 his rooms arranged and furnished like those he occu- pied ;it the Vatican, and he had been very grateful for this, which he called a really filial attention. General de Ségur, at thai time captain and aide of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, was entrusted with guarding the Pope's person. He Bays in his Memoirs: "The same attention and respect was shown to the Pope as i" the Emperor himself. His rooms had been so arranged and furnished as to recall Ro bo far as possible, and to suit his tastes. A.s for Napoleon, we all noticed his ever gentle and grateful gaiety, and his filial and. affectionate deference to his guest. When the Holj Father gave his blessing from his window, and more especially at his audiences in the gallery of die Louvre, which were always crowded, precautions were taken against any outbreak of the indiscretion or Levity to which the French are prone. We saw the atheist Lalande himself fall at the Pon- tiff's feet and kiss his slipper. In the public build- ings which the Pope honored with his presence he received as a sovereign. \ te dared to betray more curiosity than piety ; and it often happened t" me to see thi> real saint, the Buccessor of the Apos- tles, whose venerable face bore the stamp of the Berenest gentleness, bo frugal, simple, and austere for himself alone, and bo kindly indulgent to others, deeply moved by the intense and holy impression he made.* 1 Every day the Long -allers of the Louvre was tilled with two rows of men and women who had 11- COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, come i" ash his blessing. Preceded ly the governor of the Louvre, and followed by the Italian cardinals and Qobles of his household, Pius VII. advanced slowly between the two lines of the faithful, often stopping to place his hand on some child's head, to say Borne kind words to its mother, and to offer his ring i" be kissed. < me day, when he was surrounded by a crowd of prostrate and respectful people, he Baw a man whose worn face bore traces ut' irreligious passion, who was moving away as if to escape the apostolic benediction. The Holy Father approached him, and said gently, "Do nol run away: an old man's blessing has never dune any une any harm." This remark spread through Paris and made a most favorable impression. Pius VII. was not only re- spected, but, it' we may ose the worldly phrase, lie became the fashion. Dealers in rosaries and chaplets made much money all that winter. In January alone a shopkeeper in the rue Saint Denis who sold those articles is said to have cleared Eorty thousand francs. All who approached the Pope had chaplets blessed for themselves, their relatives, and friends in Paris and the provinces. " The prolonged stay of the Holy Father," Bourrienne, "was not without influ- ence in the return to religious idea-, si. greal was the respect inspired by the Pope's gentle appearance and kindly manners. When the time cam*; for him to be persecuted, it would have been desirable that Pius VII. had never come to Paris, for it was impos- sihle to look upon him otherwise than as a man whose holy gentlene i matter of notoriety." Till. POPE I / ////' n TLEBIE8, 1 19 At s.unt Helena, Napoleon spoke thus of this ven- erable Pope: "He was really a Lamb, a thoroughly I and upright man. whom I greatly esteem and Love, and who, I am sure, does m>t wholly hate me." It has been asserted thai the Pope made such an impression in Paris that the Emperor fell for the augusl «'hi man a sorl of Becrel jealousy. Bui even granting, what is by no means certain, that he suf- fered from this, lie hail at Leasl skill to conceal it. Always the Pope was overwhelmed with flattering attentions. The Presidenl of the Legislative r><»l\, M. <]<• Fontanes, said to him November 30, 1804: •• Everything else has changed : religion alone knows qo change. Ii sees tin- families of king's, and those of subjects, peiish ; bul resting on the ruins of thrones, it ever admires the successive manifestations of the eternal designs ami obeys them with confidence. ir has the universe beheld a more imposing sight, never have it ■> people received more important 1--— 'in-. This is ii" Longer the time of rivalry between the priesth 1 ami the Empire. They have joined hands t«> repel the fatal doctrines which threatened Europe with total overthrow. May they yield forever t«> th«' double influence of politics ami religion com- bined! Doubtless this wish will nol be disappointed; never in Prance ha- there l d bo greal a genius t" control its policy, ami never has the pontifical throne presented t<> the Christian world a more worthy ami more touching model." The Moniteur, in its report of tlu- coronation, spoke with the same official enthu- L20 COURT OF THE EMPRE88 JOSEPHINE. Biasm "of the most venerable apostolic virtues and of the most astounding political genius crowned by the highest destinies." David, th.- artist, once a member of the Convention and a regicide, thru an Imperial- ist, painted the portrait of Pius VIL, and the Moni- teur, in its number of March "-» 1 . 1805, thus praised the picture and the sitter: " A Large crowd gathered in tlic gallery of the Senate, to see the portrait of His Holiness by M. David, member of the Institute and first painter to the Emperor. This portrait is in every wav worthy of the master's réputation. If the first iiial in a portrait is an exact likeness, this one poss.-sses it to a very high degree. The head, which is admirably painted, expresses the indulgent and wise character, the gentleness and reasonable) that are so conspicuous in the model; the eyes an expression, affectionate and paternal; the expression of the mouth is most striking; one feels that it can utter only words of peace, consolation, and truth." Josephine had for Pius VII. a feeling of veneration full of gratitude. She was most grateful to him for having persuaded Napoleon to have the religious marriage for which she had long yearned. She, who had preserved her faith in the midst of an irreligious society, was happy to inhabit the same palace, to live under the same roof, with the Vicar of Christ, and (irmly hoped thereby to secure good fortune for her- self and her husband. For his pan. Pitts VII. appre- ciated Josephine's good qualities, especially her char- ity: he treated her as an indulgent father treats his child. THE POPE l l THE TUILEEU 9. L21 The second son of Louis Bonaparte and Elortense de Beauharnais was baptized by the Pope himself at Saint Cloud, March 27, l s,, ô. The ceremony was most impressive. Eight [mperial carriages conveyed thither Pius VII. and his suite. The gallery of the palace had been turned into a chapel. In one of the Empress's drawing-rooms had beeD placed, on a plat- form, beneath a canopy, a bed without posts. < >n the foot of the bed had hen spread a Large cloak lined with ermine, to cover the child. In the same room Were two tables On which were placed what weir called the child's honoré; that is to say, the candle. the chrisom-cap, and the salt-cellar, and the honors of the godfather and godmother, — tic basin, the ewer, and the napkin. The towel was placed on a square of golden broc de. and all the other things, except tl j candle, on a gold tray. Preceded by the Grand Mas- ter of Ceremonies, and followed by a colonel-general of tin' Guard, by the Grand Almoner, the Grand Cham- berlain, and the Master of the Hounds, the Emperor, who was godfather, and the godmother, Madanre Bonaparte, his mother, went to the room where the cereniorv was to be performed. The child was un- covered l.\ Madame de Villeneuve, Maid of Honor to Princess Louis Bonaparte, and by Madame de Boubers, who was serving as governess. The first one lifted tip the hahv and handed him to the god- father, who gave him t.» Madame de Boubers to carry t<> the font. The Grand Master of Ceremonies handed the salt-cellar to Madame de Bouille, the L22 •' i:i OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. chiisom-cap t.. Madame de Montalivet, the candle to Madame Lannes, the towel to Madame de Sérant, the ewer to Madame Savary, the basin to Madame de Talhouët. Then they went to the gallery, which had been turned into a chapel. Mesdames Bernadette, Bessièn -. Davout, and Mortier held the corners of the Empress's cloak. The godmother was at the Emper- or's left. After the baptism the child was carried back t" his room with the sum.- procession. That evening Athalie was given, with choruses, at the court theatre. The company «in their way thither passed through the orange house, which was aglow with colored lanterns. All day the pari of Saint Cloud had been open to tli«' public; the fountains 1 1; i < 1 1 d playing; shows of .ill Borts amused the crowd; the road to Paris was crowded with carriages and foot-passengers. In the evening there were fireworks : the palace :> n< 1 gardens were Illuminated : thru- wen- bands playing, and rus- tic balls. The Pope, who had reached Paris Nbvembei 28, 1804, left April 1. 1 806, jusl when tin- Emperor was starting for Italy, there t«» be crowned at Milan. Pius VII. had received some magnificent presents from the Emperor: a gold altar with chandeliers, and tlic sacred vessels of rich workmanship, a superb tiara, some gobelin tapestries, carpets from the Savon- nerie, and a statl N ipol 1 in Sèvres ware The Empress had given him a valuable vase decorated by the best artists. The Moniteur thus announced tho THE r<>ri: .1/ THE TUILEBIE8. 128 Pope's departure: '*To-day, April 1. .it half-past twelve, His Holiness lefl Paris with the prelates and others of his Buite. A crowd of both Boxes and all 3 assembled on the way he was to pass through, and received the 3 Lgn Pontiff's blessing; ■•• more he was the object of expressions of the deepest veneration, and plainly manifested the emotions which these expressions tailed forth." Yei Pius VII. was no! wholly satisfied with his journey. He had received much homage, but he had not secured any real political concessions of any im- portance. He had been unable t<> Bettle the impor- tant matter of the organic statutes, and nothing had been done abpul the restoration of the legation <>n which he was bo warmly set. Besides, he was much annoyed that he bad not himself crowned Napoleon, as the Popes, his predecessors, had crowned emperors and kings. He, who later was to 1"- a prisoner at Fontainebleau, wenl away distressed about the | rut, anxious for the future, and wondering whether his host might not Bay, with Voltaire, "It is all very well to kiss the Popes 1 feet, but it is better t<> have their hands tied first." XII. THE JOURNEY IN ITALY. THE Pope had Left Paris to return to Rome April 4, lso"). .\t almost the same time the Emperor and Empress bad started from Fontainebleau ti> go to .Milan, where Napoleon was to lie crowned King of Italy. The code of etiquette that prevailed at the Tuileries was observed on journeys. The house in which the Emperor Lodged at any stopping-place was the place where all who accompanied him were to meet. A great placard on which were written all the names, ami where they were to he quartered, was pasted on the front door. lu the villages where Napoleon -pent hut one night he received the local authorities, either before or alter dinner. In the towns where he spent more than one day. after he had eaten his hreakfast and held his receptions, lie rode ont to visit the fortifications and monuments. The evenings were generally taken up by the enter- tainments offered him. The Emperor and Empress reached Troves April ■2. A letter dated the 3d was printed in the Moni- teur. It Baid: "Everywhere the presence of the l.'l THE jour my i v ri ai. )■ \_:, Emperor has evoked the liveliest applause ; the peo- ple seem astonished to see him «rearing such a modest uniform, and conspicuous, in the midst of his court, by the plainness of his dress. The people of this de- partment exhibit this joy al] the more because it is here that was brought up the man who was destined to raise France to the highest glory and prosperity. Jt is at Brienne that the Emperor received his earliest instruction. His Majesty, being anxious to revisit the ] ilarcs that recall these agreeable memories, started at two o'clock to-day tor Brienne." On the .steps of the castle in this town Napoleon found Madame de Brienne and Madame de Loménie, who had been the guardians of his childhood. He treated them with the greatest respect, and took pleasure in recalling happy and touching memories of the past. lie recalled many anecdotes, and told them in his usual vivid, picturesque way. He ac- cepted their invitation to dinner, clayed cards with them, and having found out their liguai time of going to bed, asked to he shown at that hour to the room which had been prepared for him at his request. \ dawn the nc\t morning he went alone, without some of his old walks in the neighbor- hood. Ile remembered a hut where he and his com- panions used t<> Lunch, and recognizing the wood in which it wa>. he rode through the shady path that Led to it. It belonged to a woman who in old times used to Berve outs, cheese, and brownbread to the schoolboy 126 COUBl OF THE EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE. of Brienne, the future Emperor. He was delighted to see her once inure, ami asked her for the same repasl which had formerly been his delight. At firsl the poor woman did qoI recognize the Btran- ger; bul gradually he refreshed her memory by recalling many incidents >>t the past. Then she understood thai she was in the presence of the all- powerful Emperor, and flung herself at his feet. Napoleon Lifted her, and lefl her a purse of gold, promising as he left to provide for her old The Emperor and Empress arrived at Lyons April 1 ( >. A quarter of a League from the city, on the Boucle road, Btood a triumphal arch, on the top of which, as in the reign of Augustus, was perched an supporting the conqueror's bust. On the two side doors were two bas-reliefs, one representing the union of tin- Empire and Liberty; the other, Wis- dom, in the figure of Minerva distributing crosses of honor to soldiers, artists, and scholars. < >n these two bas-reliefs were statues of the Rhone and the Seine. At the top of the arch was a flattering inscription in \. April 12. the Empress held a reception. The Bulleti /. ns thus described it: "The assembly was most brilliant. As our sovereign has exhibited in his audiences profundity, affability, exact and varied Learning, and true greatness, so his augusl wife has shone with grace, courtesy, and gentleness. Thus we witness a revival of that old French urbanity and politeness of manners which have always dis* i m JOl l;\ i ■> / \ //I/, r. L27 tinguished our court, and have made it an example and .in object of admiration for all foreign cou The citj offered Napoleon and Josephine an enter- tainment at the Grand Theatre. The back-scene represented the Emperor, Beated, clad in a Long tri- umphal robe. Two allegoric figures, representing, one, France, the other, Italy, with their feel resting mi clouds, held in their hands a roll bearing this inscription: Sublimi feriam ridera vertice, " I shall strike the Btars with my lofty head"; with the other, they each offered a crown i<> Napoleon. Thus did flattery renew the apotheoses of ti I rs of ancient !: me. There was sung a cantata entitled OeriarC* Dream. The young men of the National Guard of Lyons and th«- Leading Ladies of the f restoring the vassal kingdoms and the whole \a>t Impérial edifice of Charlemagne. He, the Emperor of tin- French, the King of Italy, brother Jerome for making a Love-match. He would not even listen to liis defence of liis young wife, s 1 t" be a mother, and \\li<> deserved only respect and pity, and who, humiliated, abandoned, and broken- hearted, was about to be treated as a concubine, and driven away forever. Ambition had desta Napo- leon's natural kindliness. Set, if he had Been Jerome's wife, a devoted and interesting woman, warmly attached to her husband, and alive to her duties, probably he would have taken pity on her. Possibly he waa himself aware of this, for he forbade the unhappy young woman \>< enter anj part of the Empire, and compelled this innocent victim of politi- cal considerations t" take refuge in England, as if she : iniinal. February 22, l x ""'. Napoleon had compelled Ins mother, Mad. mi'- Letitia, t" place in the hands i ( 0UB1 OF THE EMPRESS J08EPH1 \ E aotary, Raguideau, ;t protest against Jerome's mar- riage, on the pretext thai he, having been born No- vember 15, L784, was not yel twenty at the date of his marriage, and according to the law «>t September l'i». L792, .1 marriage contracted by any one under twenty without the consent of his father and mother was null and void. The Moniteur <>i' the L8th Ven- tose, ïear XIII. | fiarch I. L805 >. had contained the following lines: "11th Ventose. By an act dated to-day, .ill the civil officers of the Empire are forbid- den t<> receive on their registers a copy <>t" the certifi- cate of an alleged marriage contracted by M. Jerome Bonaparte in a foreign country, when underage, and without his mother's consent, and without previous publication in the place where he is domiciled." A few days later this appeared in tin- Moniteur: " .M. Jerome Bonaparte lias arrived at Lisbon in an Ameri- can ship; in tin- passenger li-t were tin- names of Mr. and Miss Paterson. M. Jerome at once took port for Madrid. Mr. ami Miss Paterson have re-embarked. They arc supposed t<> l>" returning t>> Ajnerica." Jerome, in obedience to the Emperor's ord started from Portugal lui- Italy, posting «lav ami night at full speed, through Badajoz, Madrid, Perpig- nan, and Grenoble. Elesaysin bis Memoirs: "Amid the mountains <>1 Bstremadura, his modest carri encountered the almost royal train of tin- French Ambassador to Portugal. It was Junot whom he hail left a Bimple aide-de-camp of the First Consul, and saw again one of the first personages "f the THE JOURNEY IN ITALY 181 Empire. Madame Junot, an <>ld friend from childhood of Jerome, was with hex husband. This interview was a iim-i interesting one, partly from the deserted Bpot where they met, and parti) from the great events that had occurred since their separation." Junot and his wife found Jerome much improved. He had become more Berious; a certain gravity had taken the place of his youthful bubbling high spirits. He Bpoke with emotion, respect, and affection of his young wife whose pathetic situation was made even more disturbing by the Btate of her health. He pro- posed t>> throw himself at 1 1 i~> brother's feet, and by prayers and supplications to wring from him the consent he desired. •• X" one can doubt," h«' in his Memoirs, "that his heart was torn by the keenest agitations, t<> Bay nothing of the anxietj about his wife; the mortification at two years of inactivity, during which his comrades, friends, and relatives had worked, fought, and become great : the t for the lofty position he had Lost : the hope of lining it : his fear of bis brother's wrath which he had ventured to arouse, and which made kings trem- ble on their thron Napoleon was to be inflexible : be refused to admit that his brothers could l»' anything but members of the dynasty, future sovereigns. It was then thai accord- ing to Miot >\>- Mi'litn, he said : "What I have accom- plished bo far i> nothing. There will !>»• no peace in Europe until it is under a Bingle head, an Emperor, who shall have his officers for kings and divide the 132 '"//,'/ OF THE EMPRESS J08EPHINE, Ejdoins among his Lieutenants; who shall make one King of [taly, another King of Bavaria, one Lande- îiiaim of Switzerland, another Stadtholder of Hol- land, and all with high positions in the Imperial household, with titles as Grand Cupbearer, Grand Master of the Pantry, Grand Equerry, Grand Mastei of the Hounds, etc. It will be said thai this plan is only an imitation of that <>n which the German Em- pire is established, and thai these ideas are no1 new; but nothing is absolutely new ; political institutions only revolve in a circle, and what has happened necessarily recurs." A man with such aspirations and so mar to realizing them, could nol endure the idea of being the brother-in-law of a simple ship- owner. Jerome arrived at Turin, April 24, 1805. Napoleon was then at Alessandria. Eleven days passed before the brothers met. The Emperor had announced his decision. He was absolutely determined not to meet .1 rome until he had made perfect submission. The unhappy youth still ventured to hope againsl hope, hut soon he had to recognize his mistake. Then his heart and soul were torn by a hot conflicl : on one side were his love tor his wife, family feeling, the thoughl of the child thai was soon to be horn, his respect for marriage and for his vows: on the other, ambition, love of power, the visions of the kingdoms that he mighl rule; on one side, the smiles and tears of the woman he loved : on the other, the influence and glory of the genius who filled the earth with his ////: JOUR \ EY UT ITALY. 188 fame, and always exercised a powerful fascination. Jerome, who was Less sentimental and Less proud than Lucien, at Lasl yielded to bis terrible brother, and condemned himself «ait of ambition never to again the woman whom he Loved and cherished. May 6th In 1 went to Alessandria, having first senl a Letter "t" submission to the Emperor. Napoleon be- fore receiving him, replied to it in these terms: — "Alessandria, May 6, 1805. M\ Brother: Four Letter of this morning Informs me of your arrival at Alessandria. There is qo fault which cannot 1»' effaced in my eyes 1>\ repentance. Your marriage with Miss Paterson is null in the eyes <>l" both re- ligion and Law. Write to Miss Paterson to return t * > America. I will grant her a pension of sixt) thou- sand francs for life, on condition that she shall never bear my name, a right which does uot belong to her in the non-existence of the marriage. You must tell her thai you could not and cannot change the nature of things. When your marriage is thus annulled by your own will, I will restore to you ni\ friendship, and resume the feelings I have had Eor you since your infancy, hoping that you will show yourself worthy of them by the efforts you will make to win my grati- tude and t'> acquire distinction in the army." v days Later Napoleon wrote t<> the Ministei <>i the x "M. Déoi . M. Jerome has arrived. I le has confessed his errors and disavows this person as hi* wife. He promises t" do wonders. Meanwhile I have Bent him to Genoa for some time/ 1 L34 i or HT OF TEE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. After his reconciliation with Jerome, Napoleon went to Pavia, where the magistrates presented to him the homage of his new capital, and he entered that city, with the Empress, May 8, amid the roar of cannon and the ringing of bells. XIII. Till: CORONATION AT MILAN. BY descent, by his physical, moral, and intellec- tual nature, by his imagination and genius, Napoleon was much more an Italian than a French- man. His fat 1 ht ami mother were Italians, hi. s ances- tors were Italian, and Italian was his mother-tongue. Ili> family and Christian names were Italian. His mother spoke French with the strongesl Italian nt. He had loved Corsica before he loved France. As a child, he had fell the greatest enthu- siasm for Paoli, the Corsican patriot, and had then Looked upon the French as foreigners and oppressors. Ili- far.' imt only resembled thai of an Italian, bul that of an ancienl Roman. By a singular coinci- dence, he had the head of a Ca3Sar. 1 1 : 1 1 \ was Q01 only the home of his family, it was there that he laid the foundations of his glory. 'That unrivalled coun- try, as one of our poets calls it. had brought him g 1 fortune. There he wrote the fanions bulletins of his firsl victories; there he began to impress the popular imagination; and it was through Italy that he Bubju- gated France. There he fell at home. 'The people of 13Ô 136 I OUST OF 1 Hi: EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. that peninsula greeted him as a fellow-countryman. He liked to speak their language to them, charmed by its harmony and sincerity. His Southern genius rejoiced in its bright skies which lent everything such lustre, and well suited the conqueror's thoughts. lie perhaps preferred Milan to Paris as a place to live in. His formal entrance into the capital of his king- dom of Italy had been skilfully arranged. Cardinal Caprara, the Archbishop of that city, had great influ- ence there, and he was never tired of speaking to his flock about the services Napoleon had rendered to the Catholic religion. The Grand Master of Cere- monies, M. île Ségur, who reached Milan a few days before the Emperor, charmed the best society of Lombardy by his pleasant wit and delightful man- ners, and induced the most illustrious families to solicit the honor of figuring among the ladies and officers in waiting at the palace of the King and Queen of Italy, as Napoleon and Josephine were called at Milan. The first visit which the King and Queen made in this capital was to the famous Cathedral. There they fell on their knees, and the Milanese were much touched by the spectacle. The Italian Journal, in its official account of Napoleon's entrance into Milan, uttered these dithyrambics : "It is impossible to imagine a more brilliant day than that which yester- day adorned our capital, when Bonaparte, the hero of the age, our adored monarch, entered within our walls. This day will be forever memorable in the THE ' ORONATION 1/ K2Z I V 137 chronicles of our history. Milan saw entering its gates, bearing the proud name of King, the Bame hero who had already been proclaimed conqueror, liberator, peace-maker, and Legislator, and who to-day, under his august Empire, assures that greatness to which his victories and bis genius permit us to aspire. The Emperor entered by the gate named after his most glorious triumph, the Marengo Gate." On reaching Milan, Napoleon exchanged the deco- rations of the Legion of Honor for the oldest orders of chivalry in Europe. lie received from the Minis- ter of Prussia the Black and the Red Eagle; from the Spanish Ambassador, the ( rolden Fleece : Erom the Ministers of Bavaria and Portugal, the Orders of Saint Hubert and Christ respectively; and he gave them the broad ribbon of the Legion of Honor. When lie had received besides Foreign decorations for the principal men of the Empire, he granted an equal number of his own. May 12, wearing the broad ribbon of the Black Eagle, he went with the Empress to the theatre of La Seala and saw the Opera of Citsfor mal Pollux. The theatre, which was bril- liantly lit, was crowded with the fair Ladies of Milan. resplendent in full dress and jewels. The elegance and Bplendor of these deservedly famous beauties, the brilliant diversity of the uniforms, the Bumptu- OUSneSS of the Imperial box, and on the .stage the magnificence of the dresses and the Bcenery, the skill of the singers, all combined to make the per- formance most memorable. That day, after m 188 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Napoleon had ridden out, and had inspected th« troops \\ 1 1 ( > paraded on the Place of the Cathedral. The Empress's grace and affability aroused general admiration. At the reception of the upper clergy of Italy, May 25, she was thus complimented by the Archbishop of Bergamo: "Madame, It' charity were to descend from heaven to relieve the woes of humanity, it would seek no other asylum than the heart of a Queen adored by her subjects. The feel- ings of Love, gratitude, and respect which animate all your subjects are the same that lead to your feet all the bishops of the kingdom of Italy. Happy to find in your august spouse sublimity, glory, and genius, and in you all the charm of kindness, nothing is left for them but to pray for the happiness of your h, and to offer thanks to heaven f<>r having united in the souls of their sovereigns everything which can make supreme power loved and respeeted." This speech will Buffice t" show to what pitch the official flatteries were tuned. The coronation took place May l!''>, in the Milan Cathedral, which is the Largest church in Italy, with the single exception of Saint Peter's in Koine. The weather was magnificent. From early morning a numberless throng crowded the Place of the Cathe- dral, the court-yards of the palace, and tin- adjacent streets. Just as in Paris at the coronation, a wooden gallery had been built, connecting the Archbishop's Palace with Notre Dame, so here at Milan, a similar gallery led from the palace to the Cathedral. The THE ' OHONA 1 1<>\ A r MILAN. 139 interior of the church was decorated with crimson silk Btuffs. As at Notre Dame, a large throne had been built ai the entrance to the nave, approached by twenty-five steps. Four gilded statues, representing victories, upheld like caryatides the canopy above the throne. The four figures held in one hand palms; in tlif other, the green velvet mantle falling from the royal crown above the canopy. The Cathedral was brilliantly lit by forty chandeliers banging from the roof, and as many candelabra fastened on the columns. Josephine, who had been crowned as Empress in Paris, was not to be crowned at .Milan, although she hoic the title of Queen of Italy. She watched the ceremony fi ■ m a gallery. At half-past eleven she went to the Cathedral, preceded by her sister-in-law, the Princess Bacciocchi, and was conducted beneath a canopy to her gallery, amid loud applause. At noon the Emperor and King lefl his palace, and reached the Cathedra] through the wooden gallery. ()u his arrival there Incense was burned, and he w is welcomed by an address from ( iardinal < !aprara, Arch- bishop of .Milan, at the head of all his clergy. Pre- ceded by the ushers', the heralds-at-arms, the pages, the Grand Master and the masters of ceremonies, by the seven ladies carrj ing offerings, and l>v the honors of Charlemagne, of the Empire, and of Italy, he appeared in most impressive pomp. On his head he wore the crown; he carried in his hands the septic, and the hand of justice of the kingdom : on his hack 11" COURT OF THE EMPBE8& JOSEPHINE, he wore the royal cloak, the skirts of which were car- ried by the two Firsl Equerries of Prance and Italy. As he entered the Cathedral a march of triumph was played. He took his seal on the -mall throne in the choir, having on his right the honors of Italy, on his left, thi Prance. The Archbishop of Bologna, who held a place at the coronation of the King very like tliat of the Pope at the < rowning of the Emperor, carried to the altar the iron crown of the old Lom- bard kings, and began the mass. After the gradual, he blessed the royal ornaments in the following order : the sword, tin- cloak, the ring, the crown. Napoleon received from the Archbishop's hands the sword, the cloak, and the ring, l)iu he took himself the iron crown from the altar, and proudly placing it on his head, exclaimed, in a voice that thrilled all present : " I>1> ,,>> hi ,//.'./. ,guai n chilatocca!" — "God has given it to me : woe to him who touches it!" Then, having replaced the iron crown on the altar, he took the crown of Italy and placed it on his head, amid unan- imous applause. Preceded by the same officials who had conducted him to the chair, he walked down the nave and took his pla n the great throne at the other end by the entrance. The first herald-at-arms shouted, "Napoleon, Emperor of the French and King of Italy, i- crowned ami enthroned. Long live the Emperor and King." -am.- day, at half-past four in the afternoon, the King and thi Q een drove in a Btate carriage, with a brilliant escort, to the church of Saint Am- THE ' OROX I //" v I / \m. i \. Ill brose, one of the most revered sanctuaries of Italy, and there they heard a '/'■ Deum of thanksgiving. Mademoiselle Avrillon, Josephine's reader, tells us that Napoleon, when he had returned to the pal was full of the wildesl gaiety. He rubbed his hands, and in his good humor said to the reader: "Well! Did you Bee the ceremony? Did you hear what I said when I placed the crown <>n m\ head'.'" Then he repeated, almost in the same tone that he had used in the Cathedral: "God has given it to me! Woe to him that touches it!" •• I told him," says Mad- emoiselle Avrillon. "that nothing that had happened had escaped inc. He was very kind to me, and 1 oft. mi noticed that when there was nothing to annoy the Emperor, he ( liked cheerfully and freely with n-. as it we were his equals; hut whenever he Bpoke to ns he used to ask «[notions, and in order to avoid displeasing him, it was necessary to answer him without Bhowing too much embarrassment. Some- times he gave US a jut on the cheek, or [.inched OUT were favors not accorded every one, and we could judge of his good humor by the way thei hurt us. . . . Often he treated the Empress in the Bame way, with little pats preferably <>n the should it was no use her saying: 'Come, stop, Bonaparte! 1 he Wcllt oil aS long a- he j.h \l>rd." The Emperor greatly enjoyed his stay in Milan, and breathed with rapture the incense burned in abundance before him. The Italian J tuU in it- account of the coronation reached lyric heights: 14 li COUBT OF un: EMPRE86 JOSEPHINE. "The most brilliant day has lit uji Milan; it has had qo equal in the past, and it offers the happiest auguries for the future. . . . < 'Id men themselves, accustomed as they are to praise the past, have ex- hibited the liveliest enthusiasm. It was in vain that night struggled to thaw its veil over our city, it had to yield before the general and magnificent illumina- tion which brought out in lines of fire the Bhape and admirable form of the Duomo. Most of the palaces and private houses were covered with devices and inscriptions. The first one of the days consecrated to the liveliest national rejoicing was ended 1>\ a vast exhibition of fireworks, which were set off on the BDOt where so many have perished at the sta' The next day games were celebrated, in the manner of the ancients, in a circus rivalling the Roman amphi- theatres in size. This was the occasion of a dithy- rambic outburst inserted in the Moniteur: "The Italians have just offered Napoleon the same spectacle that their ancestors offered .Marcus Aurelius and Trajan ; but the presence of Napoleon has called forth more joy and admiration, because it has aroused greater admiration and higher hopes. They were hut the preservers of Italian greatness, he is its creator and its father. In the pomp of the games, amid the tumultuous applause, the immense ma-- of people were to he Been turning their eyes towards him alone, as if they were Baying to him : 'These festivities are hut feeble expressions of the gratitude that all Italy vows to you for all the good you have done her ; and THE COBOS i //" v i r Mil. A v. 1 |:', Bince you deign to accept it, Bince you like to -it among u- a- our Prince and our father, these festivi- ties lice. une an augury to as of -till greater benefit. The day will perhaps come when [taly, restored to this new Life, may be able to adorn its circus with the monuments of it- own bravery which will also be the monuments of your glory : and Italy, being never doomed to perish, whatever great deeds may be wrouehl by Italians in the course "t" centm will be tine to the hero who lias recalled them to life.' After the races there was a balloon ascension. Tin- courageous wife of the aeronaut Grarnerin companied him and threw down flowers to Napoleon and Josephine. Thus," the Moniteur goes "in "in a single 'lay. at one show, the rtalians have comb the proudest pomp of the ancients ami the boldest invention of modern science, together with the presence of a hero who excels both ancients and moderns." The 29th <>t" May was devoted t<> jugular festivities. All the afternoon the public gardens were crowded with musicians, Bingers, mountebanks, and pedlars. In the evening the via della Ricouoscenza, a- fa the East Grate, was lit by bunpstands, and at the end of a long row there was an eagle of tire holding on his breast an iron crown. Nothing lected to touch the national pride of Italy. An article in the Moniteur, speaking poem of Vincenzo Monti's, -aid : •• What interest the poet has aroused, in recalling the glorious titl< i Ill ( 0UR1 OF I m: EMPBE88 J08EPHIN1 ancient July, the disasters and degradation which followed this period of glory, in evoking the shades of those remote days, and after them, the shade of Dante who, by the wisdom of his maxims, is supe- rior to tin- poets of other nations; of Dante, the most enthusiastic admirer of the former glory <>f the Italians, the severest censor of the corruptioo into which [taly had fallen in his time; of Dante, wl sole ambition was to prepare the new birth of [taly! And how did he prepare it? By preaching anion to the inhabitants of the différent countries of [taly, and to the public authorities the consecration of power modified by the Laws." June 3 Napoleon and Josephine went to visit an industrial and artistic exhibition at the Brera. There they saw Canova's Hebe, and his colossal statue «.t ( Element XIII. " The desire of seeing and approach- ing the '■ / '''•"/% "had made the crowd Larger. An octogenarian who had in vain strug- gled to get t" a staircase before him, was hustled and knocked down on t: by the eager multitude. The Empress, who was following, ran to his aid. The Emperor turned back, questioned the old man. who was more disturbed by his joy than by bis fall, asked him his name and a memorandum, and promised to look out for him. This Bcene produced a deep im- pression, ami Their Majesties were Led back amid universal applause and thanksgivi Milan. Josephine, who had become Queen oi Italy, inhabited, with the Emperor, the magnificent nu. ' <>i;<>\ i //<-\ .1 / \iii.\\. 1 lô Monza Palace. But, perhaps, in all tin- splendor <>f the highest point of her ^>><»l fortune, she regretted tin- Serbelloni Palace, where, nine years before, she ! bo beneficent an influence <>n her husband's destiny, and had protected him with her affection, as with a talisman. Doubtless the Empress and Queen would have returned gladly to the time when she was called Bimply Citizeness Bonaparte. Then. instead "i" the imperial and royal diadem, she pos- ed youth, which is better than any crown, and hex husband gave her something preferable to any throni — his lovel There th<- generals used to wear leas showy uniforms, more moderate salaries, but they were more enthusiastic and unselfish. Then Bona- parte's glory was Less famous, but purer. When Bhe saw Milan again, after many years' ab . ■' eephine died all the happiness and all the misery thai had occurred meanwhile, all the grandeur and the tragedy that had filled this period so brief, but bo crowded with marvellous events. There were many happy memories, but also many shadows] This look backward was not without melancholy. When she saw the approach "i" the autumn of her amazing car< iuld not think without secret Badness "t' the splendor of it> summer. While her husband proudly enjoyed bis ified ambition, Bhe dreamed and pondered ously. She desired once more to see the p] which recalled the pleasantest mem her first journey: the las I mo, with the Villa Julia and 146 COUBT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. Pliny's house : the Lago Maggiore and Boiromeao Islands; the palaces of the [sola Bella and the Isola Madre; all the enchanting spots which recalled the gracious memories of youth and love. June 7 Napoleon appointed Eugene de Beauharnais Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, and three days later left Milan with Josephine. In all tin- principal cities of tlir Empire his coronation had Keen cele- brated by public rejoicings. Mural had given a ball at his castle of Neuilly, about which the Journal det /'-"its bad said: "At the Bame moment when the arts of ingenious Italy were displaying all their mar- vels under the eyes of Their Majesties, French gal- lantry and gaiety were rendering similar homage t>> the happy reign which had recalled them from along exile." Aix-la-< 'hajielle inaugurated the statue of the I irlovingian Emperor amid salvos of artillery and the applause <>f the Germanic populace, who sa- luted at the same time the names of Charlemagne and of Napoleon. XIV. Till: ÎT.STIYI tii:s AT GENOA. ri^IIK Italian journey closed as brilliantly ns it -L- began. Alter Leaving .Milan. Napoleon ap- proached the frontiers of Austria, againsl which he was to fight before the end of the year, visiting the celebrated quadrilateral, consisting of the four forti- fied towns: Mantua. Peschiera, Verona, and Legn II' was presenl at a mimic representation of the battle of Castiglione, in which twenty-five thousand men took part on the field upon which thai battle liai' Lucca." After Bologna, Napoleon visited Modena, Parma, and Piacenza. The cities lie passed through rivalled one another in flattery. They voted him medals, statues, and even a temple, which, however, the demi-god declined. June 30 Napoleon and Josephine arrived at Genoa, where they were to stay till July 7. amid unpn dented festivities celebrating the incorporation of tin' old Republic with the French Empire. It was a sin- gular sight, this enthusiastic reception <>f a Corsican by the Genoese. Wnile at .Milan, the Emperor had received M. Durazzo, the last Doge ft' Genoa, who had come to beg him to permit tin- illustrious Re- public, famous for its historical splendor, to exchange its independence for the honor <<\ becoming a plain French department. The offer was accepted. The borne of Andrea Doria, tin' city of marble palaces, that municipality once called "the Buperb" had begged as a favor to be Btricken from the li>t of independent Bt ites. It contented itself with being the principal town in tin- twenty-seventh military division, and its doge, dispossessed by his own desire, w.iii t., swell tin- number of the Senators <>f the Empire. Napoleon took formal possession of his THE FESTIVJTU - A / 01 SOA. 1 19 peaceful conquest, and Blept in the palace, and in the bed of Charlea V. I night festivity, giveu in the harbor, July 2, was. in the way of picturesqueness, one of the most inal and most beautiful ever Been. The Bky was i calm, the crowd of spectators enormous. Napoleon and Josephine, L.''"iiiL, r down Erom the ter- race in the garden of the Palazzo Doria, entered a large round temple, magnificently decorated, which was at once Bet in motion as if by magic, and trans- ported by many nais to iln- middle of the harbor. Pour raft ed with shrubbery, resembling float- ing islands, then drew up to the temple. The sover- eigns were thus, in open sea, enclosed in a 7ast den with trees, flowers, statues, and fountains. About garden of Axmida, thus radiant upon the wa were a multitude of boats, under sail or propelled by . moving about, and their Lights resembled the Bwarms of fireflies that in summer flutter above the fields of Lombardy. The mild temperature favored this joyous festival. The whole city, all the build- '.. were ablaze with a thousand lights, and the . fleeted aumberless flames. The darkness of night gave the signa] for the illumina- tinii nificent fireworks were Bet off from the mole, the jetty, and tin- ships lining the entrance the harbor. Music mingled with the joyous cri< the multitude. The temple in which were Napoleon and Josephine was rowed back t>» the terra e of the Palazzo I>"iia amid the applause of the crowd Lining tin- aho] 150 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. The next day the Emperor and Empress were at a ball given in the old Ducal Palace. "The presence of Their Majesties in tins superb building," says the Mollis m-, "the kindness with which they deigned to speak i" every one, gave this festivity a touching character. All who saw and heard our sovereigns, rejoiced in their new destinies. The concert was followed by a hall, and Their Majesties stayed through the several dances, leaving about midnight. Their path was lit by numberless candles. On their way they met a multitude, delighted even at that hour, to be able to discern some of our monarch's features." In spite of all these splendid ceremonies Josephine, though idolized, was not happy. "In general/' Mad- emoiselle Avrillon says with justice, "the public has a very faint knowledge of the real feelings of those in the highest station. Being often on show, they are obliged to assume a fictitious character, just as they dress themselves for great ceremonies. I have seen the Empress's sufferings, whom nothing could console for her separation from her children, whom she loved above everything. Ambitions were less to her than maternal love, her strongest feeling. The thought of leaving her son in Italy, the fear of never seeing him again, or the certainty of seeing him sel- dom, made her shed tears." <>ne day when she was in more distress than usual. Xapoleon said to her: "You are crying, Josephine; that's absurd; you are crying because yon are going to be separated from THE FE8TIVITIBB AT GENOA. 1"»1 your son. If the absence of your children gives you so much pain, judge what I must suffer. The affec- tion you show them makes me Eeel mosl acutely my unhappiness in having Done." These words sounded in Josephine's ears like a funeral knell. She saw the spectre of divorce rising before her, and turned pâle. From Genoa they went to Turin. Napoleon heard there of the coalition preparing against him, and Left suddenly for France with Josephine. Non-commis- sioned officers of the ( rrenadiers and the ( ihasseurs of the Guard served as escort, but they were unable to keep up with the carriages, so the Emperor thanked them for their zeal and pushed on without them. He did not stop once for twenty-four hours. Josephine. who never tormented her husband by complaining, did not say a word about the fatigues of this quick journey. After an absence of a hundred days, they reached Fontainebleau, July 11. No one expected them and no preparations had been made for their reception. Their departure from Turin had been so recent, and it resembled a flight. The Emperor did not wish to lie recognized on the way, and burst into Fontainebleau Like a bombshell. The palace por- ter was an old servant, named Guillot, who had Keen Napoleon's cook in Egypt. ••Well.'" the Emperor said tu him. "you must go hack to your old husitiess and cook us Borne -upper.'* Fortunately the porter had in his sideboard Borne mutton-chops and ej He Bet to work, and Napoleon ate this improvised meal with great relish. Josephine borrowed some L52 COURT OF THE EMPRE8B JOSEPHINE. linen from one of her old chambermaids. The Em- peror asked Eor a full account of everything that had happened in Paris during his absence, and began to draw up the plan- which were to be accomplished at Austerlitz before tin' end of the year. July 18, at one in tlic afternoon, he arrived at Saint Cloud, accom- panied by the Empress, amid the roar of the cannon at the Invalides. That evening they went into the city, called on Napoleon's mother, and went to the opera, where the Prétendue was given ; the audience greeted them most warmly. After all the splendor of the Italian festivities the time had come for mili- tary preparations and warlike thoughts. XV. DUELNG THE CAMPAIGN OF A r> Tl.KUTZ. AUSTERLITZ was to be for the Empire what Marengo had been for the Consulate: .1 con- solidation. In spite of the pomps of the double coro- nation, Napoleon «lid not feel firmly established od his [mperialand Royal throne. Opinions varied with ird to the stability of the oew régime. The Lib- erals missed the Republic, and the Royalists the Bourbons, [f the army and the people showed con- fidence in the Emperor's star, the Parisian middle class was always cool, and business men observed with anxiety the hostility of England, Austria. Rus- sia, and possibly Prussia. Paris was gloomy : busi- ness was dull; the absence of the court depressed the Bhop-keepers ; the theatres were empty; in short, the winter was infinitely Less gay than the one before. There was genera] uneasiness; wives feared for their husbands; hk.i1i.tv for their Bons. Every one had become used to the peace which had Lasted five years, and the renewal of war inspired the greatesl anxiety. As for Napoleon, he felt the need of some great stroke that should astonish and fascinate the world. 158 [54 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, He understood thai to maintain his fame he was con- demned to work miracles. S*>{ >t cml >ii- _'•'.. lso"), he had exposed to the Senate the hostile conduct of Austria, and bad announced his speedy departure to cany aid to the Elector of Bavaria, the ally of France, whom the Austrians Lad just driven from Munich. Five days later he had started, confident of success, and certain that he would find his people at his feet on his return. The Empress accompanied him as far as Strassburg, and established herself there to be near the scene of war and to receive earlier news than was possible at Paris. Napoleon's letters to Josephine during the Auster- litz campaign have been preserved; unfortunately, we have not hers to him. The Emperor writes very differently from General Bonaparte. His letters are not the ardent, passionate, romantic epistles recalling the fervid style and thought of the Nouvelle Héloise. They are substantial letters, concise and interesting, such as a good husband might write after ten years of marriage, but not at all a Lover's letters. Josephine, who was quite observant, must have noticed the dif- ference, but she had enough tact and prudence to avoid complaint. 180Ô was not 1796; Napoleon still Loved Josephine, but from habit, gratitude, and a sense "f duty, not with mad passion. He paid her much attention, held her in high regard, felt sympa- thy with her, deference, and friendship, but scarcely love. Beneath the vaulted roof of Notre Dame Napoleon had given to Josephine the Imperial dia- DUBINQ THE CAMPAIGN OF AU8TERLITZ. 155 «Inn. bat be bad do! given ber the true crown, — ■ Love. October 1 the Kmperor took command of his army, which had assembled with wonderful promptness on the Rhine. The aexl daj he wrote to the Empress from Marenheims: "I am still very well, and Leaving for Strassburg, where I shall arrive this evening. The advance has begun. The armies of Wiirtemberg and of Baden arc joining mine. I have a good position and love you." October I he wrote to her: "1 am at Ludwigsberg, and leave to-night. There is do aews. All the Bavarians have joined me. I am well. I hope in a few days t<> have something interesting to tell you. Keep well and believe that 1 love you. There is a verj fine courl here, a pretty bride, and the people are pleasant, even the Elector's wife, who seems 7ery good, although she is a daughter of the King of England." October 5 Napoleon Bent another Letter to Joseph ine from Ludwigsberg: "1 have at once to continue my march. You will be five or Biz days without news of me ; don't be anxious; i( is on aeeoiint of the operations we undertake. Aje you as well as I could hope/ Yesterday I was at the wedding of the son of the Elector of Wurtemberg with a n oi the King of Prussia. I want to give her a present of from thirty-sis to forty thousand francs. Have i- made and Bend it by one of my chamberlains to the bride when the chamberlains are coming tonic. Do this at o Good by j [ love and kiss you." 156 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. These five or six 'lays of silence were taken up bj the opening of hostilities on the road from Stuttgart to Dim, the crossing of the Danube, and the occupa- tion of A.ugsburg. From this city Napoleon wrote to phine October 1": -I spenl Last night with the former Elector of Treves, who has comfortable quar- ters. I have been on the move for a week. The campaign opens with noteworthy successes. I am very well though it rains uearly every day. Things have moved very quickly. I have sent to Prance four thousand prisoners, eighl flags, and have cap- tured fourteen cannon. Good by, my dear; I kiss yon.*' Two days later the French army entered Munich in triumph, the Austrians having been driven out of Bavaria. The Emperor wrote to the Empress, October 1-: "My army h;is entered Munich. The enemy LS partly on the other side of the Inn ; the other army of sixty thousand men I have blockaded on the Hier between Dim and Memmingen. Tin- enemy is lost, has completely Losi its head, and every- thing promises the Luckiest, shortest, and most brilliant campaign ever known. I Leave in an hour for Burgan on the Hier, [am well; the weather is frightful. It rains so that I have to change my clothes twice a day. I love you." The first successes of the campaign caused great excitement in Paris, as is shown by the letters of Madam* >}<■ Rémusat, no greal Lover of military glory, to her husband, who had accompanied the Empress to Strassburg; every day this lady wonld jot down what DURING THE ' I »//'.!/'. Y OF 1/ STERLITZ, 15 had happened, and her interesting correspondence brings the period vividly before us. October 12, she wrote, tli»- absence of the Empress Leaving her time heavy on her hands: " How gloomy and ill we are in this odious Paris ! Please tell M. de Talleyrand thai it is really something pitiable. Nbl even a word of sip] In short, we are as bored as we are virtuous. I don't know which is 1 1 1< ■ cause and which the effect, Imt I do know that I am horribly bored. The Bolitude of this great city is really remarkable; the theatres are empty : I hardly ever go to them." In two there was a complete change. Paris woke up as if to a joyous trumpet-call, and Madame de Rémusat was full of happiness: •• My dear, what good uews!" sin' wrote October 11. •• . . . This morning th«- cannon announced the victory to the city of Paris ; it produced a great effect. Every one was inquiring aboul it in the street, and congratulating himself: in short, I send the Empress word, the Parisians "• French. I have already written twenty uotes, and received all the visits of congratulation. . . . But what a great victory! How proud I am of being a Frenchwoman] I couldn'1 Bleep tor joy. Perhaps by tin- time you have heard of others, and when we are rejoicing over the first victory, you have forgotten it with another. M;i\ Heaven continue to protect this noble army and it- glorious leader I" This en thusiastic letter ends with these somewhat harsh criti- cisms of the Parisians: "This victory was n< for thoe sad Parisians hail begun to complain. The 158 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, emptiness of Paris, its quiet, the lack of money which continues to make itself felt, gave to the malevolent a good opportunity to excite dissatisfaction, and they did their best to spread it. I was wondering this very morning why in a nation so devoid of national feeling there should be in the army such unity of action and thought. It seems to me that honor has a good «leal to du with this difference, and that it takes the place of public spirit in many who in ordinary times are too happy, too rich, and too careless to care for any- thing beyond their own belongings." Napoleon went from one victory to another. Octo- ber 18, just before the capitulation of Ulm, he wrote to Josephine from Elchingen : "1 have been more tired than I should have been; for a week getting wet through every day, and cold feet, have donc me a little harm, but staying in to-day has rested me. T have carried out my plan and have destroyed the Austrian army by simple marches. I have taken sixty thousand prisoners, one hundred and twenty cannon, more than ninety flags, and more than thirty generals. I am going to attack the Russians; they are lost. I am satisfied with my army. I have losl only fifteen hundred men, and two-thirds of these are but slightly wounded, fin. id by. Remember me to every one. Prince Charles is coming to cover Vienna. 1 think Masséna ought to be at Vienna at this time. Assoon as I am easy about Italy I shall make Eugene fight. My Love to Hortense." The capitulation of Ulm was ananged by Napoleon DUBING THE CAMPAIGN OF AU8TEBHTZ. L59 with Prince Liechtenstein, Major-General of the Aus- trian army. A heavy rain fell without cessation, and the prisoners were amazed to see the Emperor, who had not taken off his boots for a week, wel through, covered with mud, and more tired than the humblest drummer. When Borne one spoke of it, he said to Prince Lichtenstein : "Your Emperor wanted to remind me that I was a soldier. I hope he will acknowledge that the throne and the [mperial purple have not made me forget my old trade." October 21, the day after the capitulation. Napoleon wrote to Josephine: -I am very well, my dear. I Leave at once for A-Ugsburg. 1 have made an army of thirty- three thousand men surrender. 1 have taken from sixty to seventy thousand prisoners, more than ninety flags, and more than two hundred cannon. In the military annals there \a no Buch defeat. Keep well. I am a little worried. For three days the weather has been pleasant. The first column of prisoners starts for Prance to-day. Bach column contains six thousand men." Never had war been fought with Buch art. An army of eighty-five thousand men had been destroyed almost without firing a gun : it- adver- saries had lost only three thousand men. After this il victory Napoleon's soldiers said, ••The Emperor heat the enemy with our Legs, not with our havoi,, These chronicles of war have a -el Bide even when they commemorate the most brilliant victories. Even while he counts the trophies the historian cannot avoid melancholy reflections. What capitulations 160 C0UB1 OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE, awaited Prance Bixty-five yean after this capitulation of rim! Bui in this intoxication of victory, people have eyes only for their success. Were they reason- able, they would then reflect on the calamities of war. rlortense, who was as kind as her mother, Josephine, had this wisdom and pity. Sin- said. " When I read these accounts I am surprised to find myself ready to weep eveu when I am happy at the victories." At tin- .same time Madame de Rémusat wrote t<> her 1ms- 1 Kind : "Poor creatures thai we are, how restless we are on this sandhill, and too often only to hasten our end! A goodsuhject f« >r the philosopher is this glory, with which we adorn our eagerness in killing one another." The triumphal music should not drown the sobs and eiics of the mothers; we should think of the dead and wounded. lint nations are like indi- viduals : they never reflect. Napoleon pushed on the war with real delight. He felt about war as a good workman feels about his work, as a great artist about his art. To war it was that he owed his power and glory. Without it, he said, he would have hern nothing : by it, he was everything. Hence he felt for it not merely love, but gratitude : loving it both by instinct and calculation. He preferred the bivouac to the Tuileries. Jusl as the Bnipe-shooter prefers a marsh to a drawing-room. he was more at home under a tent than in a palace. To men who like the battle-field, war is the most intense of pleasures. They love it as the gamester loves play, with a real frenzy. They defeat the enemy, DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF AU8TERLITZ 161 imt merely without Feeling, but with ;i fierce joy, if it were their prey. They feel the same emotions as the Romans in a circus, or the Spaniards al a hull- fight. The rattle of drums, the blare of trumpets, shouts of Soldiers, arc what they hear ; their car- are deaf to the cries of the wounded and dying. The varying chances of the combat, the uncertainties fear and hope produce in them emotions thai they prefer to all others, however poetic and charming. It i- with a Bort of intoxication that they inhale the sin. '11 of gunpowder, perpaps even that of M I. A hotly contested victory is more agreeable to them than one to,, easily gained. Fortune is, in their eyes, a difficult mistress, who-, seem the dearer, the harder they are of attainment. What a satisfaction for a proud man to he absolute commander of an army which, before th.- fight, shouts like the ancient gladiators: Ave, Cœsar, morituri te salutant ! "Hail, ir, those aboul to die salute you!" an army in which even dying men ghoul applause, with their la^t breath, to their sovereign, their idol 1 Ami yel how petty is all this glory I Bossue! was righl when he ; : "What could V0U find on earth Btrong and dignified enough to bear the name of power? Open your eye-, pierce the dusk. All the power in the world can hut take a man's life: is it then such a ;t thing t" shorten by a few moments a life which i< already hastening to it> end ' '* phine did not in the Least Bhare her husband's warlike tasto Gentle, kin«ll\. affectionate, full 162 COUJtl OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. of pity for human woes, she would have Liked to reconcile all parties, all nations, — to have universal peace. This woman, who had all the graces and charms of her Bex, never inspired Napoleon with ambitious or haughty thoughts. While the war Lasted, Bhe was anxious, unhappy; waiting anxiously with bated breath for news, scarcely Living. Napoleon wrote to her from Augsburg, < >ctob "The Last two nights have rested me completely, and I Leave lor .Munich to-morrow; lam summoning to me .M. i\ days. To-morrow I expect the Elector. At noon I start to strengthen my move- ment on the Inn. My health is very fair. You mustn't think of crossing the Rhine in less than two or three week-. You must he cheerful, and amuse yourself in tin' hope ,,f our meeting before the end of the month (Brumaire). I am advancing on the Rus- DUBINQ THE CAMPAIGN OF AU8TBBLITZ. 168 sian army. In a few days I shall have crossed the Inn. (iiiod by, my dear; much love to Hortense, to Eugene, and to the two Napoleons. Keep the wed- ding present for Borne time yet. Yesterday I gave a concert to the Ladies of this court. The Leader is a worthy man. I have shot pheasants with the Elector; you see I am uot worn out. M. de Talley- rand has come." Again, from Haag, Nbvemb 180"): "I am advancing rapidly ; the weather is very cold; the snow is a foot deep. This is not pleasant. Fortunately, we have an abundance of wood : we are continually in the forests. I am fairly well. Every- thing goes "ii satisfactorily; the enemy has more cause for anxiety than I. I am eager t<> hear from you, and to know that your mind is easy, (i 1 by, my dear; I am going to bed." poleon continued his operations with startling rapidity. He wrote to Josephine Nbvemberô: -I am at Linz. The weather is fine. We arc within twenty-eight Leagues of Vienna. The Russians are retreating without making a stand. The house <»t" Austria is much embarrassed ; all the belongings of the court have been removed from Vienna. You will probably have Borne news in live or six days. I am very anxious to see you. My health is good." The Emperor <>f Austria! compelled to Leave Vienna, had sought refuge at Brunn, where he joined the Czar and the second Russian army; and Napoleon entered the capital whence the Emperor Francis had fled. He wrote to Josephine Novembei L5: •• I have been for 164 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. two days in Vienna, a little tired. I have not yel Been the city by daylight, but have only passed through it by night. To-morrow I receive the authorities. Al- most all my troops are beyond the Danube in pursuit of tin 1 Russians. Stuttgart, and thence to Munich. At Stuttgaii you will give the present to the Princess Paul. Fifteen or twenty thousand francs will be enough for it : the rest will In- enough for a present t » » tin 1 daughter of the Elector <»f Bavaria at Munich. All that you heard from Madame de Sérent is definitely arranged. Bring presents for the ladies and officers in waiting on you. Be pleasant, but receive all their homaj they owe you everything, and you owe them nothing, except in the way of politeness. The Electress of Wurtemberg is a daughter of the Bang of England; y<>n should treat her well, and especially without affectation. 1 shall be glad you as soon as busint ss w ill permit. I am leaving for the front. The weather is admirable; there is much snow, hut everything is in g I condition. Good by, my dear one.' 1 On the receipt of this letter, Josephine, who was most anxious to Bee her husband, hastened away from Strassburg to go to Munich through Baden ;m ilxuit Raynouard's Templars, about Racine, Cor- neille, ami tin' lair of tin 1 ancient drama. 'I'lnn. l.\ lingular transition, he began t" talk about his ptian campaign. "Il' I li.nl captured Acre," he said, •• I should have put my army into long troue ami have made it mj sacred battalion, m\ lnini.iit.il-. ami have finished my war against tin- Turks with Arabians, Greeks, and Armenians. Instead "t" fight- ing here in .Moravia. I should 1><' winning a battle of [ssus, ami l>c making myself Emperor of tin' West, returning to Paris through < lonstantinople." After dinner Napoleon wished t" make a final onoissance of the enemy's position by their biv- ouac fires; he mounted his horse and rode <>ut between tin- lines. ih\<- moment he came near [>a\- ing dear for his imprudence : he went t"<. Ear forward and suddenly fell on a posl of I ks, and had it not Inch for the devotion of the cha who :t.'.l him. he would have been killed or captured, and he was Bcarcely able to full gallop. m which the front of L66 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. the French army, he dismounted and returned t<> his bivouac, from < >ii<- watch-fire to another, on l'<>"t. On his w;iv he Btumbled over the stump of a tree and fell in thf ground. Thru a grenadier took some straw, rolled it up to something like a torch, and lit it; other soldiers < I i < I the Bame thing; the camp was illuminated, and the face of the great conqueror was plainly to 1»<' seen. The next day was December 2, the anniversary of his coronation. " Emperor," shouted an his tent, snatched a little Bleep, and when he rose in the morning, Baid, "Now, gentlemen, we are begin- ning a greal d.i\ ." DURING THR > IMPAIGX OF \i -7/7.'//// 167 A moment Later, the commanders "l tin- differ- ent army corps, Mm. it. Lannes, Bernadotte, Soult, Davout, came galloping up tin- Little mound which the soldiers called tin- Emperor's lull. t<> receive his final orders. Ii was a solemn, impressive moment. " If I were to live," says 'uncial de Ségur, "as long as the world Bhall last, I shall never forget that scene. . . . Times have changed quickly since then. II bvensl how great everything was then, how brave the men, how glorious the time, how imposing the appearance of fatel" Never was their a more bril- liant triumph. •• I have fought thirty battles like that." said the conqueror, "hut I have never seen so décisives victory, or one where the chances were ao unevenly balanced." Ami then full of admiration fur hi- soldiers, lu- exclaimed, "I am satisfied with you; you have covered your eagles with undying glor From a military point of vie* Austerlitz was Aeon's greatest triumph. War, which he 1 with all its risks ami emotions, then showed him its most tempting side. He was always tempting I ami fate hail always favored him. The hour hail not yet struck when In- was to ask more of fortune than it could give. \ S te-Bi live truly says, it was not fill in the icy plain of E&ylau, from the cemetery covered with blood-stained Bnow, that receiving the warning of Providence, he had ■ Bort of terrible vision of what the future held in Btore for him. Thru he had before his • >r1 <>f rehearsal "f the : 3 in! •/;■/■ OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Illinois awaiting him in Russia, and at the sight of bo manj corpses, and tin- awful scene, he said with deep melancholy, "This Bight Lb one t<>lill kings with love of peace and horror of war."' But a1 Austerlitz it was very different. The shrieks of tin' Russians sinking through the holes torn in the ioe by cannon- balls were drowned in the Bhouts of the victors. The bright sunlight of that day of triumph dispelled all traces of gloom in the conqueror's heart. December 3, Napoleon wrote thus to Josephine about his victory: •• 1 despatched Lebrun to you from the battle-field. I have beaten the Russian and Aus- trian armies commanded by the two Emperors. 1 am a little tired. I have bivouacked Eor a week in the open air, and the oights have been cool. To-night I am going to Bleep in the castle of Prince Kaunitz, where I shall gel two or three hours 1 rest. The Russian army is uot merely defeated, but destroyed. Much Love." December :> >, he had an interview in his bivouac with the Emperor of Austria; and as if to apologize for the wretched quarters in which he received him, he said. "This is the palace which Vniir Majesty has compelled me to inhabit these three months." The Emperor of Austria replied. ••Von make such '_ r "<'d use of it, that you certainly can't blame me on that account." And then the two Emperors embraced. The Ile\t day Napoleon Wl'ote to .! o.sej illilie : " I have made a truce. The Russians withdraw. The battle of Austerlitz is thi l\ I have won: forty- DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF AU8TERLITZ. five flags, more than one hundred and fifty cannon, the standards of the Russian guards, twenty generals, more than twenty thousand killed, a horrid aighl ■ The Emperor Alexander is in despair, and is leaving for Russia. Yesterday I -au the Emperor of G many in my bivouac; we talked for two hours, and '1 en a Bpeedy peace. The weather is nut yet very bad. Now thai the continent is at peace, we may hope for it everywhere: the English will be unable to face as, I shall see with pleasure the time that will restore me to you. For two «lays a little tioulile with the eyes baa 1 ii ] ne valeii t in the army. I have do< yet been attacked. Good by, my d I am fairly well, ami wry anxious t" Bee you." 1 » eml was another Letter, also from Austerlitz : " I have concluded an armistice, ami j» will be made within a wei !.. I am anxious to ; that yon have reached Munich in good health. The Russians are going back after Buffering immense losses: more than twenty thousand killed and thirt\ thousand captured : they have losl three-quarters of their army. Buxhovden, their commander-in-chief, is killed. I have three thousand wounded ami seven or eight hundred killed. I have a little trouble with my eyes : an epidemic ; it amounts ti< nothing. < i 1 by; lam anxious to Bee yon once more. To-night I sleep in Vienna." 1 unbaeérès -aid that the news of the riotorj Austerlitz filled the populace with the wildest joy, which expressed itself in th.- m< inl tl.it- 170 COUBl OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. teiy. The Emperor was treated like a god, and naturally a sovereign bo flattered n his deathbed that Louis \IV. Baid, "1 have been over-fond of war!" II said nothing of the sort when the gatea of Saint Martin ami ni' Saint I )i-i i is were buill in liis honor, when his statue was put up in the Place dee Vic- toire8, when Lebrun painted the proud frescoes in the gallery at Versailles. Like Louie XIV.. Napoleon reproached himself with excessive Love of war; but it was not alter AnMerliiz, bul afin- Waterloo. No man is worthy of adoration; it belongs to God alone. V7oe to the princes who are fed on lattery I Ex- travagant laudation brings its punishment : even in this world pride has its fall. I he enthusiasm was universal ; the victorious nch could not contain themselves for joy, and wholly lost their heads. Thus even Madame de RémUSat, who. after the defeat, had shown herself re, one might almost say so cruel, towards Napoleon, wrote thus to her husband, December 18, L805, after the news of Austerlitz: "You cannot imagine how excited every one is. Praise of the Emperor is on every one's Lips ; the most recalcitrant . • d to lay down their arms, and to say with the Emperor of Russia, ' He is the man of destiny! 1 I» yesterday I went to the theatre with Princ I. 'us to luar the different bulletins read. The crowd was enormous because the cannon in the morning had announced the arrival of news; every DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF WSTERLITZ. 1,1 thing was listened to, and then applauded with i Buch as I had never imagined. I wepl copiously all the time. I was so moved thai I believe it the Emperor had been present, I Bhould have flung my anus iilxnit his neck, to beg for pardon afterwards at hi> feet. After this I supped out : every one plied me with questions. I knew the whole bulletin by heart, and kept repeating il ; and was glad to 1»' able t" tell the news to bo many people, to repeal those .-. i r 1 1 j > 1 « • impressive words, with a Feeling of owning them, which you can understand better than I can define. I missed you much in all mj joy, which I should have gladly shared with youj bul in your absence I tried i" communicate my admiration t" our son. [nstead of making him finish the lit'.' of \ cander, which he has been reading for two d it occurred to me to have him read aloud the Monir t>i/,\ and he was bo much pleased that he said he thought it all much greater than Alexander." Alas! thoughtful people should never forget how much greater is virtue than success. In this Low world no one takes a lofty enough view of things. N I after defeat, but after victory, is the time t<> Bpeal Beriously and Badly. If Napoleon in the hour of triumph had ool been flattered to i . if at the proper moment the Lessons of history, philosophy, and religion had been enforced upon him, he would have rushed blindly into the gulf that finally Bwal- Lowed him. Nothing is Less humant , I hristian, than the extravagant praise Lavished on the conqi L72 COUBT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE ors of the earth. Laymen and priests are equally bo blame, for the flatterers of conquerors bear perhaps a heavier responsibility than the conquerors themselves. In the ancient triumphs, at Leas! there was a slave charged with reminding the hero thai he was bu1 a man: in modern times, there is aothing of the sort; the hero can imagine himself more than mortal. Why does not the clergy, instead of intoning a Te Deum, take the pari of that slave'/ Is it well to forget that those nations who are most modest in success are bravest and mosl resigned in misfortune? Those whose lira. Is are turned by prosperity cannot endure reverses. For society, as for individuals, nothing is more baneful than outbursts of joy and pride. The vaster a monarch's power, the greater his need to meditate on the fickleness of fate; but the lessons of wisdom are never recalled till they are useless; they are whispered into his ears only when they can but add a sting to defeat. XVI. THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGEN] . 1)OTH before and after the battle of Austerljtz a ' great pari of Germany was at Napoleon's feet. The Electors of Baden, Wurtemberg, and Bavaria, the last two of whom were to become kings by the consent of tin- new Charlemagne, testified an enthu- siastic admiration for him, and were all to profit 1>\ his victory. The pettj princes who were about to enter the Confederation of tin 1 Rhine were his hum- ble vassals, and paid obsequious court to lii> Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. de Talleyrand. The archives of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have t«> be consulted for an exact understanding of their servility and flattery. Moreover, the populace itself shared the feelings "l their princes. The Bavarians re- garded Napoleon as their Liberator. French manners and ideas were more than ever prevalent on the banks "t the Rhine, and Germanic patriotism pardoned France the possession of the left bank of this river. It Napoleon had not abused fortune, what grand and pacific things might he not have accomplished in concert with Germany, and what progress might 173 17 1 COUBT OF nil' EMPBE8S J08EPHLNX. not bave been made for the harmony of nations, for civilization and humanity '. We quote a Letter written before the battle of Austerlitz, November - ,; . L805, bj the Elector of B nia in M. «If Talleyrand, then in Vienna: "You are the most amiable of men, my «liar Talleyrand. Your two letters which I received Last evening have given me the greatest pleasure. Hov« grateful I am that you should have thought <>f me and of Munich when you are in the most beautiful city in Germany, and hearing every day the famous < irescentdni ! 1 do as much for you, Sour Excellency, but tin- merit is not the same. Every evening I express myregret that you are not here. M. de Canisy has announced tin' arrival of the Emperor in a week. Six days have passed, and I am hoping to see him in three days at tin- outside, and the Empress, Saturday next. M\ wife arrived day before yesterday, very anxious, as is lier chaste Bpouse, to pay our court to Their [mperial M jesties, and to offer them all the honors of Munich. Lay me before the feet of the hero to whom I owe my present and future existence, and Bpeak to him often of my respect, of my enthusiasm for liis virtues, and of my heartiest and incessanl gratitude. I hope that the coalition will soon grow tired of war: in any nt, the Lessons the Emperor has given it the Last two months are of a nature to inspire disgust \\ itli it. November 10, L805, Napoleon had written to Jo- sephine to leave Strassburg for Munich, stopping Carlsruhe and Stuttgart. In t his Letter he had said: Tin: MARRI I'./' OF PR1 \' /' ri GENE. IT.". •• Be pleasant, bul receive all their homagi - : they owe you everything, and you ov «• them nothing, except in the way of politeness." He was no! mistaken. l'\\\< trip ut' the Empress's through Germany was t<» be one series of festivities and ovations. Before Bhe lefl Strassburg Bhe received a visit from tin' Elector of Baden, whose grandson, the hereditary prince, was, the nexl year, to marrj Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauharnais, in >\>\\<- of the opposition <>! liis mother, the Margravine. M. Massias, chargé d'affaires of 1 nee al Baden, wrote to M. de Talleyrand, N vember 18: ••\\\ Lord, His Mosi s ' :• me Highness the Elector, lias returned with liis family from Strassburg, where he was mosi kindly received 1>\ 1 1er Ma jest) thi En i and Queen. I [e invited her in honor Carlsruhe with her presence, and to accepl quarters in his castle when she should go to join His Majesty tin- Emperor and King. Her the Empress Beemed pleased with the invitation and promised to accepl it if circumstances Bhould permit. Before liis departure, the Elector s.-m the Prince Electoral to the Margravine liis mother, to beg her t-> come to Strassburg to pay her respect Ili-i Majesty the Empress. She replied that when the Empress of Austria was ai Frankforl and the Queen of Prussia a1 Darmstadt, she had nol Left 1 Lsruhe to \ isil them, and thai it" the Em the French Bhould pass through thai town, she should gladly pay her all tin- reaped and honoi due her rank and chara< ter." 176 COUBl OF THE EMPRE8B JOSEPHINE. Charles Frederick, Elector of Baden, was then seventy-seven years old. He had lost his son, and his heir was his grandson, Charles Frederick Louis, Prince Electoral, then twenty years old. The mother of this young Prince, the Margravine of Baden, enter- tained no friendly Feelings towards France; and he was the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Russia, who had married his sister, and was at war with Napoleon. His other sister, Frederica Caroline, had married the Elector of Bavaria, and he was betrothed to the step- daughter of this Electress, the young Princess Au- gusta. They were said to be much attached to each other, but their plans of happiness were destined to be sacrificed to Napoleon's imperious will, for he pro- posed to arrange the matches of the German Princes as he did those of his own brothers. The Electoral Prince of Baden and the old Elector, his grandfather, far from complaining, only showed to the Emperor most unbounded devotion. \W may judge of their attitude and their respect by this despatch of M. Massias, chargé d'affaires at Carlsruhe, addressed to Talleyrand, under date of No- vember 23, 180Ô: "My Lord M. de Canisy reached here from headquarters at four o'clock this morning, and asked me to inform His .Must Serene Highness the Elector that he had been sent by Her Majesty the Empress, who meant to come to Carlsruhe within two or three days. I promised to do this as aoon as pos- sible, and told him that great preparations had been made to receive Her Majesty in a suitable manner. THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 17 The Elector, to whom I communicated this news at seven in the morning, expressed the greatest satisfac- tion, and he has sent me word thai in order to carry <>nt his desire to give Her Majesty a proper reception, he wishes me to send a message to Strassburg to find out, 1, the exact day when she will arrive; 2, the number of persons in her suite, and how many horses she will Deed : 3, whether she desires to cat alone or with the principal persons of her own and the Elec- toral COUrl : \. to a>k to liavc at «nice .vent an official of the court to arrange the quarters ami the cere- monies according to the Empress's wishes. At Kehl, Her Majesty will find a carriage and eighl horses from the Elector's stables. Similar relays will he placed as Ear as the frontiers of Wurtemberg. Her Majesty will be escorted by the Electoral cavalry. She herself will determine the etiquette i>> he ob- served at the court ut' Carlsruhe during her entire stay. "His Most Serene Highness, the Prince Electoral, will go as far as Rastadl to meet Her Majesty. The Margrave Louis will meet lier outside of Carlsruhe at the head of his body-guard. Bells will he rung wherever Her Majesty passes. The city will he brill- iantly illuminated." November 28, at six in the evening, the Empn formally entered Carlsruhe, which was amid a general illumination. At the Miihburger gate stood an arch of triumph under which she passsd. In front of the aich was this inscription: Pro Tmperatria Jo%ephina\ 178 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. on the other, Vbtiva lumina ardent. At the entrance of the castle gate stood a little temple bearing this Inscription : Salve. In the middle of the garden was a Larger temple, in which was to be Been on a pedestal the Emperor's bust, crowned with laurels and sur- rounded with palms. The inscription ran: Maximii triumphiè sacrum, — " ( lonsecrated to the greatest tri- umphs." On two pyramids was to be read this motto: "Love leads to glory." November 29, there was a grand reception and concert in her honor at the court. At nine o'clock in the morning of the 30th, she Left Carlsruhe for Stuttgart, after an affec- tionate farewell to the Electoral family. At seven that evening she made a similar formal entrance into the capital of Wurtemberg, passing under an arch of triumph hearing her name sur- mounted by an Imperial crown. Soldiers lined the way from the gate to the Elector's castle. The main street was decorated with Egyptian altars, and was brilliantly illuminated, as was the castle also. The Elector, his wife, a daughter of the King of England, and all the courl received the Empress at the castle door and escorted her to her rooms, where she supped. The next day she sat on a platform at a state dinner in the white hall. Afterwards the company went to the Opera House, where Achilles was given. After they had returned to the castle there were some fine fireworks. These festivities continued until Decem- ber 2, when Romeo and Juliet was given for the first time, and the 3d, at seven in the morning, Josephine, THE MABRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 179 after bidding the family farewell, pushed on towards Munich, while the troops presented arms and cannon were fired. The Empress was not to stop between Stuttgart and Munich, but mi her way she saw many places thai bad just become famous in the war. As she drew near them Bhe Looked at the plain where, a few days before, the enemy's army bad marched out before Napoleon and laid down its anus. From Augsburg to Munich everything made her journey most brilliant : arches of triumph, bands of music bo numerous that often their notes mingled with one another, wreaths of leaves, successive guards of honor who joined her, composed of the Royal Guard of Italy, at nearly every parting station. As a let- ter in the Moniteur says, "Enthusiasm succeeded to fear, the whirl of festivities to the lamentation of battle; all that had been said of the Empn benevolence seemed still to make pari of her suite, and it was as if the Angel of Peace had come to vi>it these countries." The Empress reached Munich December 5, eight days after Leaving Strassburg. A salute of a hundred guns welcomed her. In almosl every Btreet even houses wen- draped, windows adorned with trans- parent and complimentary figures; the illuminations of private bouses rivalled in expense and Bplendor those of the publie buildings. State carriages were sent out to the city gates for the Empress and her suite, but Josephine did not gel into any of them; 180 COURl OF nir EMPRESS J08BPHINE. she kept on her travellii This . the following despatch on the Bubject to M. de Talleyrand: "My Lord, — [mmediately after the arrival of Her Majesty the Empress, the rumor Bpread that His Mos1 Serene II ghness Prince Eugene was likewise mi his way to Munich, there to conclude a marriage with Prin- - Augusta of Bavaria. The rumor has taken such Bhape in the Lasl Eew «lays that a foreign lady, who has been most kindly received by the Electoral family, ventured \<> ask tin- Elector if Bhe might congratulate him on bo desirable a marriage. This Prince replied that In- knew nothing about it: that his daughter was promised to th.- Prince of Baden; that the two young people had tin- strongest attach- ment for each other; ami that only day before yester- day th.- Electress had received from Baden a most affectionate letter on tin- subject; ami that he Loved hi- daughter too much t<> wish to oppose her inclina- tions. This i- th«- first time that mention has been THE MARRIAGE OF PR1 VCE EUGEA /'. 1M made .it court of a matter which the public Bupposed settled quite differently. The Electa jent at thia conversation, and corroborated everything thai was >.iiui1<1. i ugh not handsome, Bhe was not devoid of i harm, her figui ood, her manners were amiable and dignified. The young Prin Augusta w.ts the ornament of the Munich court. She had all tin- -. brilliancy, and charm of a young German girl of eight • A for the El an L82 COURT OF i Hi' EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. attractive, sympathetic man. who combined frank joviality with tact. wit. and delicacy. II».' was tall; lhs fare was noble and regular. lie Liked the French, and they Liked him; it was in Prance that he had spent many years of hi> j outh. As a \ ounger prince of the house of Deux Ponts hi' became Elector only by the extinction of the branch of his family that reigned in Bavaria. In his early lite he had no for- tune. En the reign of Louis XVI. he served in the French armies, commanding the regiment of Alsace. At the courl of Versailles, as in the garrison at Strassburg, he had hit behind him a reputation of good manuels and chivalrous gallantry. His soldiers, who adored him, called him Prince .Max. At that time he might have married a daughter of the Prince of Condé, hut his father and his uncle objected to this match, because, since he was not rich, he would doubtless have been compelled to make some of his daughters canonesses, ami certain chapters would have been unwilling to receive them on account of their illegitimate descent from Louis XIV. and Ma- dame de Montespan. He was fond of recalling the Lasl years of the old régime in France; and spoke m08t affectionately of that country, in which lie had been very happy. lie was worshipped by his family, his .servant-, and his subjects. There was never a kinder, more amiable prince. Often he would stroll unaccompanied through the streets of Munich, going to the markets, bargain over grain, enter the shops, talking to every (die, especially to the children, whom THE MARRIAGE OF PBINi E EUOEK E. 1 B8 he urged to go to their Bchools. He was at once fa miliar ami full of dignity, and he was as much re- spected as loved. There were many points of resem- blance between his character and thai of the Empress Josephine, and they had a \n\ strong sympathy for each other. The Empress was ailing during a good part of her stay in Munich, and whether for this reason or luse Napoleon, \\ln> was always moving from place to place, did not gel his letters regularly, he for some time withoul news from his wife. He wrote to her from Brunn, December LO, L805: " It is a long time since I have heard from you. Have the grand festivities of Baden, Stuttgart, and Munich made you forget the poor soldier who lives cov with mud, rain, and blood? I am going to leave soon for Vienna. They are trying to make peace. The Russians have left and arc fleeing far from here, L, r "iii'_: back to Russia badly beaten and sorely hu- miliated. [ am anxious t<> be with you once more. 1 ! • ! by, my dear; my eyes arc well again." Napoleon wrote again December 19, renewing his complaint: "Great Empress, not a letter from \<»ii Bince I left Strassburg. ïou have passed through Baden, Stuttgart, Munich, without writing as a word. That is cot very land or very affectionate! I am still at Brunn. The Russians are gone; we have a truce. In i few days I Bhall Bee what is to become of me. Deign from the giddy height of your gran- deur to interest yourself a Little in your slavi 184 COUBT OF TEE EMPBEB8 JOSEPHINE. From Schonbrunn he wrote to Josephine, December 20, 1805 (20th Frimaire, Vrai- XIV.): "1 have your letter of the 25th [ Frimaire]. I am sorry to hear thai you are not well; that is not a g 1 preparation for a journey of a hundred Leagues at this time of pear. I don't know what I shall do; that depends on what happens. I have no will of my own; I am waiting t « > see how matters settle themselves. Stay at Munich, amuse yourself : that is not hard, amid so many pleasant people, in such a charming country. I am tolerably busy. In a few davs I shall have made up my mind. Good by, my dear." December 26, peace was Bigned at Pressburg between France and Austria. The treaty gave to the King- dom nï Italy, [stria, Dalmatia, and Friuli; to the Elector of Wurtemberg, the title of King and the Suabian territory ; to the Elector of Baden, the Breis- gau, Ortenau, and the town of Constanz; to the Elector of Bavaria, the title of King, the Vorarlburg, and the Tyrol. Bui Napoleon had determined that these indemnifications should be paid for by three marriages, — that of his step-son. Prince Eugene, with the daughter of the King of Bavaria; that of a rela- tive of his wife, Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauhar- oais, with the hereditary Prince of Baden; that of his brother Jerome with the daughter of the King of Wurtemberg. Napoleon, accompanied by Murat, entered Munich beneath an arch of triumph, December 31, 1805, at a quarter to two in the morning. This entrance in the THE MARRIAGE OF l'l;i\< i: EUOENE. 185 night, lit up by torches, was very impressive. The m At day, January 1, 1806, a herald-at-arms, escorted by numerous horsemen, passed through the diffei 'it quarters of the city, and read the following proclama- tion, after a flourish of drums and trumpets, while an immense crowd gathering in everj street and crossway Loudly applauded: "By the grace of God, the dignity of the sovereign of Bavaria having re- covered its old-time splendor, and this State having resumed the rank it formerly held for the happiness of its subjects and the glory of the country, be it known thai IIi> Mosl Serene Highness the power- ful Prince and Lord Maximilian Joseph i^. by these presents, solemnly proclaimed Kin-- of Bavaria and of all the countries on it dependent. Long live and happily .Maximilian Joseph, our very gracious King] Long live, and happily, Caroline, our very gracious Queen!" That evening the whole city was full of joy, and the next day was celebrated as a national festn it v. Napoleon, having recaptured the twenty-nine can- non and the twenty-one Bavarian flags thai had fallen into the hands of the Austrians by the chances *<\' war and the occupation of the country, had decided to »re to his faithful allies the trophies which the) had valiantly defended and whose loss they mourned. In the morning of January 2, all citizen Boldiery was under arms, lining the Btreets through which was to pass the procession ami their precious burden. 'I "he cannon weir placed on carts adorned with L86 C0UB1 OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. toons and garlands, each carl was drawn by two hoi belonging to the citizens; the houses were also deco- rated with different colored ribbons. All the young people in tin- city accompanied these raits. The Btudents of the Royal College of Cadets carried the flags. When the procession reached the grand square, a large chorus, accompanied by a large band, Bang a : of thanksgiving and victory. The populace and the soldiers mingled their cheers with this song. The procession then made its way to the Church of Our Lady, where a '/' l> m was Bung with great solemnity. .i.uiii.i! \ 1. Napoleon wrote t" Prince Eugene: "My Cousin, — Within twelve hours at the most, after the receipt of this letter, you will start with all speed for Munich. Try t" gel here as soon as possible, so that you maybe sun- to Bee me. Leave your com- mand in tin' hands of the general of division whom you judge \<< 1»' most capable and upright. You I not bring a large -nit.-. Start at once, and . ami so avoid both dangers and delays. Send un' .i messenger t<> give me twenty-four hours' notice of your arrival." The Emperor had decreed the marri 1 1 i -« step-son with Princess Augusta of Bavaria, but In- had to go through certain formal- ities i" overcome tl ejections of the Queen of B nia, who wanted lui brother, tin- hereditary l'un i Baden, to marry the young Princess. Her family pride ami her iinii"-i feelings revolted against the admission into her family of a young man whom THE CARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 1 S T she Looked on .1- an upstart She sought for prêt and devices to delay, if qoI to prevent, tins alliance. No one would have dared tosaj ai Munich thai the Emperor's Btep-son was nol great enough to marry a kind's daughter, bu1 Bhe found fictitious excuses : it was Baid thai the young Princess was ailing, and ai another time that she was Buffering from a sprain. Napoleon, win» sometimes played the diplomatist, feigned to believe in these alleged ailments, and ^ai you know that while I am here, your Faubourg Sainl Germain is making a run OU my hank, and that ni\ stay in Munich COStS me fifteen hundred thousand francs a da M. de Thiard insisted, and dared to Bho* Napoleon the Queen of Bavaria's ever-present recollection <>f the Duke of Enghien, which was the Becrel cause of her rsion to the projected alliance. But this opposi- tion could hold out for only a few hours ; n<> one then dared n> brave the rmperia] wrath. The Queen, og thai Napoleon's surgeon would discover that the Prim d sufferii • only an excuse/ yielded t" the wishes of the hem <.f Austerlitz. The marriage was announced even before the couple had ' OUST OF l m: EMPRESS J08EPIUX E met. Everything was done in military fashion. Orders were issued that they should Love, and they Loved. There is this l" be said in behalf of Napoleon: thai in tin- whole matter he made no ose of harsh words or rough manners. He appeared in an attractive, not in a threatening Light, and by dint of appearing smitten with the Queen of Bavaria, even aroused Josephine's jealousy. Prince Eugene arrived, as commanded, January 10. He had the good fortune to please; nut even if he had nnt pleased it would have made no difference. As soon as he reached Munich, after travelling day and eight, the Emperor took possession of him and never Left him. The Empress was still in bed when her son's arrival was announced. She was much moved, and began to cry at the thought that his first visit was not to her. A moment Later, while she was still agitated, she saw the Emperor burst into her room, holding the young Prince by the hand, and pushing him forward as In- exclaimed: "Here, Madame i> your greal booby of a SOU wlmni I'm bringing to you." Josephine hurst into tears, and • d her Bon to her heart. I . 'De de Beauharnais, a French Prince, and Vice- of Italv. was then twenty-four years old. Mad- emoiselle Aviilloii. reader to the Empress, thus draws bis portrait: "Prince Eugene's face, although in no way remarkable, was rather well than ill favored; he of medium height, well proportioned, and stoutly lin: MARRIAGE OF ri:i\< E i i 1 39 made. He excelled in all suits of corporeal i -.and was .in accomplished dancer. Kind, frank. Bimple in bis manners, \\ i 1 1 1« »u i haughtinec In- was courteous to every one; and although he was not devoid of deep Feelings, his mosl Btriking trait was persistent good Bpirits. II»' was very fond of music, and sang very well, especially Italian soi which all his family preferred. As In' was young, he naturally paid many women attention, as I have often i, but he always treated them with great respect.' 1 Napoleon was verj fond of him, and Looked upon him a- his iaij.il. as his own child. He was delighted with tin- way Eugene discharged his duties a- \ . ami when he received bis despatches he claimed in the present :1 marshals, " I knew very well to whom I had entrusted m\ sword in Itah." He often gratified Josephine 1»\ saying, "Eugene maj serve as a model to all the young men of hi- a. 'lin' young Prince Bhowed greal tact and Lntelli- e in hi- first meetings with hi- future wife. He sought every means <-f pleasing her, paid her assiduous cant, a- it' their marriage was still undetermined. 1 1 was able to overcome tin- Princess's prejudices, for she had given her consent only at the Last moment, i victim sacrificed for reasons of Btate. Il ai father, the King, dreading the excitement «'fan inter- view, had written to her a Letter, in which he Bet cut all the advantages of the match desired by the Emperor, vaunted the u r 1 qualities of the young 190 COURT OF THE EMPRE88 J08EPHINE. and dashing Viceroy of Ltaly, and to prove thai it was a brilliant match, revealed to her what was then unknown, thai at Pressburg the Austrian Min- ister had offered to Napoleon for his Btep-son the hand ut' one of their Archduchesses. "Consider, dear Augusta, thai a refusa] would make the Emperor as much the enemy as he has been hitherto the Eriend of our house." And he ended his Letter with a lasl appeal to his daughter's patriotic devotion. The young Princess replied by writing: "I place my fate in your hands; however cruel it may be, it will be softened by the knowledge thai I am sacrificed for my father, my family, and my country. On her knees your daughter prays for your blessing; it will aid me to hear my sad Loi with resignation." The girl's unhappiness Boon gave way to joy. The Em- press had spoken to her mosl warmly of Eugene's qualities, his bravery, Loyalty, and gallantry, and the Princess found out that Josephine was right. She forgot her cousin, the Prince of Baden, fell Instanta- neously in Love with Eugene, and this marriage for reasons of state turned oui to be a love match. It was celebrated with greal pomp in the Royal chapel, January 14, four days after the bridegroom's arrival at Munich. The Emperor adopted Prince Eugene, and gave him in the marriage contracl the name ,,f Napoleon Eugene of Prance. This adoption wrought change in their correspondence; previously the Emperor when he wrote t<> the Viceroyaddre him as, "My Cousin"j henceforth he' always wrote, THE CARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 191 ■ W\ Son." Madame M mat. who was then at Munich, was pained to Bee that the new Vice-Queen, aa wife of the Emperor's adopted son, took precedence of her at all ceremonies, and she Feigned an Illness avoid what seemed to her an affront. On her wedding day the Princess charmed ev< one by her grace. She was tall, well Bhaped, with the figure of a nymph, and a face in which Bweetness blended with dignity. Moreover, Bhe was very well educated, was pious ami modest, ami the possessor of all tin.- family virtues. In short, sin- was a model wife and mother. She wrote to the Emperor a Letter of thanks that touched him. II.' answered it. Jan- uary 27: "My Daughter, — Your letter i-- as amia- ble as you are yourself. My feelings for you will only grow from «lay t<» day; this I know from my -me in recalling your line qualities, ami from the 1 I feel t'ir your frequent assurance that you are ified with every one ami happy with your hus- band. Amid all I have to '1". nothing will be i- Be Bure, Augusta, that I love you Like a father, ami that I count <>n a daughter's affection for me. Travel Blowly, and be careful in the new climate when you get there, ami take plenty "t" n ■i 21, Prince Eugene Lefl Munich with his ag wife for Milan. The next «lay M. Otto, the 1 nch Minister, wrote t" M. de Talleyrand: "H - Imperial Highness Prince Eugene left yesterday morning with his young wife. The King i COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. them i" their carriage with every Indication of affec- tion. It was noticed that in taking have of the Prince he embraced him several times. The separa- tion cost the Princess Bome tears. Their departure was announced by firing a hundred guns. The best wishes of all good Bavarians accompanied the pair. The stay of the French court ai Munich has left the deepest and most Lasting impression. The Emperor's greatness and power were known, but the effect of hia extreme kindness and magnificence had to be - at a closer view to 1»' appreciated. I feel abL assure IIi> Majesty that the Bavarian nation will always be his faithful and devoted allies. So many happy memories are attached to this period of our history that His Majesty ran flatter himself that he has accomplished the most difficult of all conqui — that <>f the love of the people who have witnessed his Buccef While the Viceroy and Vice-Queen of Italy were proceeding towards Milan, the Emperor ami the Em- preî m their way to France, Btopping at Stutt- gart and Carlsruhe, where they were warmly greeted. January 20, L806, they found an arch of triumph built on a Roman model at Entzberg, in Baden. It hore this inscription: Tmperatori Napoleoni trium- phatori augusto. The bas-relief represented the cap- ture of rim and the delivery <>f the keys of Vienna. Columns and obelisks had been erected at Carlsruhe with these inscriptions: Hoitium victori. — Patriam P mreitituit. [n front of the castle had I m: VARRIAOE OF PRIXt E EUGEA E 193 l built a temple of Peace. At the French frontier 1 an arch of triumph with this inscription : II r> duet Qallice plaudunt, -" ( raul applauds the return- ing hero." The bas-reliefs represented the battle of Austerlitz and the interview between the t\\<> Em- perors. In the night of January 26, Napoleon and Josephine were back at the Tuileries. Prince Eu- gene's marriage put a happy ending to the campaign just finished. T'> create .i king and to give to his step-son tlic hand of this king's daughter \\a> a Btroke of imagination on Napoleon's part that LE( ).\ arranged his return with the iitmosl -Li skill. His prolonged stay at Munich kept alive the impatience of the Parisians for his return, and meanwhile there was a constant stream of flattery and enthusiasm. January 1. L806, had just put an end to the Republican calendar, which had existed for thirteen years, three months, and a few days. The Fear XIV. found itself suddenly interrupted bj the return to the Gregorian calendar. Thus vanished the Last trace of the Republic. The same day the new year was inaugurated with a patriotic ceremony. The Tribune carried with great solemnity to the Senate the forty-four Russian and Austrian flags which the hero of Austerlitz had entrusted to it All the houses in the streets through which the procession to pass were decorated. In front of many of them were to be Been the Emperor's bust crowned with Laurels. The ever Lyrical Moniteur said: "At the sight of these noble spoils, these startling proofs of the heroism of the French army, all hearts seemed to meet in a common feeling of admiration and grati- r.'i PARIS IN 1 111: BEGINNING 01 196 tude which was but faintly expressed by the shouta iteming from the crowd and from every window, of 'Long live the Emperor!' 'Hurrah for the Grand Army!' ' Victory, victory ! ' 'Longlivethe Empe- ror!' It was in this way that the people of Pari-. of all classes, of both sexes, of all ages, manifested in the most vivid and unanimous way their devo- tioD and gratitude to His Majesty and his victorious armii ( )iu- Tribune, M. Joubert, exclaimed : " [s uol Napo- leon the man of history, the man of all ages? May we uol Bay that there is something supernatural in him, since it is true that God disposes <»t" tin 1 fate of empires, and that Napoleon the Great gladly Bubmits everything to Providence and ascribes everything to religion?" In their official enthusiasm tin- Tribunes, as accomplished courtiers, made one motion after another. One proposed that the Emperor <>n Ins return Bhould receive triumphal honors, Like thosi ancient Rome, and the city <>f Paris should go t<» ; him. Another suggested that tin- sword which DC he wore at the battle of Austerlitz Bhould be Bolemnly and placed in some public monument. \ ither expressed a desire that on one of the prin- cipal places in the city a column should !><■ set up, bearing th.- Emperor's statue, with this inscription: ■ 1 \ poleonthi G] b, the grateful country." The ;t«-. with similar seal, hastened to .any out the plan by a de< Tin Parisians, who always worship su mon- 196 COUBT OF THE EMPRE8& JOSEPHINE. archs, generals, or artists, then felt the wildest admi- ration for the victorious Napoleon. The Moniteur was full of dithyrambic eulogies, in prose and verse. Flattery appeared as it had never appeared before. Bishops became conspicuous for their ardent praise; some phrases from their charges may be quoted. Tims tin- Bishop of Versailles said: "God says: 'No one shall resist liim whom I have clothed with a special mission to re-establish my worship, to lead my chosen people; no one will resist him because 1 am with him, and he is with me. Deus cum eo. ,,: The Bishop of Bayonne: "Behold our enemies once more defeated. Let incredulity be silent and the atheist confounded. Our annals will be the story of the wonders of Providence. . . . Widows, cease to bemoan the loss of a loved husband; you are not left alone; you belong to the country. Orphans, you have fourni another father; Napoleon has adopted you." The Bishop of Rennes: "Did not those kings know, or did they forget in their delirium, that the French nation is now the first nation in the world? Did they not know that the man who governs it is the most astounding man in the world, and the greatest warrior history has ever known?" The Bishop of Coutances: "The Almighty wishes Napoleon to attain this new glory and hence impre upon him a BOrt of divine character. He wishes him to attain it on the same day and at the same hour that the Sovereign Pontiff, one year ago, poured on his brow the holy oil.*' PARIS IN THE BEGINNING OF t 197 The Bishop of Montpellier: "Lei the earth 1*' shaken, and the mountains casl into 1 1 1 « - bosom ol the sea-; : our God blesses the views, tin' wisdom, the talents, and the courage of our august monarch." The Emperor, in dividing the flags which he had captured from Russia and Austria, had given fifty- four to tli«' Senate, eight to the Tribunes, eighl to the city of Paris, and fifty to the church of Notre Dame, which he wished to adora with his trophies as the Marshal of Luxembourg had done in the reign of Louis XIV. The day when these fifty flags were given to the Cathedral the Cardinal Archbishop of Prance said, " < > Posterity, when yon read our history you will imagine that you are reading anew th.- tall of the walls of Jericho, ami listening to the miraculous deeds of Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabasus. !>■ n- edictus Dominus quifacit mirabilia solus. . . . God of Marengo, you declare yourself the God of Auster- litz; and the German eagle, the Russian eagle, aban- doned by you, became the prey of the French eagle, which you never cease to protect." A singular piece of flattery this, to .all th.- Creator of the universe — of which this earth is not a millionth part — the < rod of a village, because near this village a man lias Wrought the (hath of many other men ! Paris Beemed to have recovered it> ardor of the first days of the Revolution in order to Balute the triumphant hno. The <\^\ <>\ his arrival, January liT. 1806, the managers ^i the bank, anxious that his presence .should he the signal for public prosperity, 198 COUBT OF THE EMPBE8B JOSEPHINE. ordered the resumption of specie payments. The Opera celebrated his return and thai of the Empress by a grand performance which took place February 4. The bills announced the Prétendus and a advertise- ment. The publie knew that this divertisement was to be a BOrt of apotheosis in honor of the Imperial glories. The house was crowded, and the passages themselves were crammed by the enthusiastic crowd. During the second act of t lie Prétendus there was great excitement over the arrival of Napoleon and Josephine. Applause resounded from every side. Ladies distributed laurel branches, which all the spectators waved, shouting, --Long live the Em- peror!" Musicians played the chorus of the Caravan. Meanwhile, the scenery of the Prétendus disappeared, and applause began over the magnificent decorations that took its place. It was a semicircular enclosure with trophies forming a colonnade showing the course of the Seine from the l'ont Neuf to the western limit of Paris, show in-- the LoUVTe, which Napoleon had promised to complete, the l'ont des Arts, the Palais de la Monnaie, the Tuileries, and in the misty dis- tance tin' champs Elysées overlooking this line view. The interior of the enclosure was adorned with gar- lands and crowded with people, awaiting the return of th»- Grand Army. This appeared with a military march: the sappers in front with their axes and wdiite aprons; tin- grenadiers of the Guard with their high fur caps : tic artillerymen w ith their black cap-; the dragoons with their double armor; the PARIS i \ TEE BEGIN m ÏQ OF 199 Mamelukes with their Bcimetars. Then eame the Bavarians, worthy comrades of Napoleon's soldiers. The people applauded theii defenders. Pupils of the military schools sprang into the rank- bo wel- come their fathers, while old men embraced their children. A general chorus was heard. Then a warrior came to the Eronl of the stage and celebrated in a livnin the marvels of tin' campaign <>t' Austerlitz. This was followed by a ballel of foreign nations, in which joined French peasants ami -ills in the dress of their provinces, from Caux and Alsace, Provence, Béarn, Auvergne, and the Alps. After the dances came songs, — the words by Esménard, author of the Navigation, the music by Stobelt. The marches, evolutions, and ballei wen- arranged byGardel. The principal stanzas were sun-' by the mosl distinguished artists, Laine/., Laïs, .Madame Armand, Madame Branchu. When it was all over, the Emperor and the Empress withdrew amid applause, and there was Bung (he Vivat of Abbé Rose which had made such a Buccess at Notie Dame on Coronation Day, and was as warmly applauded at the Opera as it hid been in the ( lathedral. XVIII. THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN. IF anything is capable of proving the admiration, tenor, and fascination that the hero of Austerlitz exercised over Europe, and especially over Germany, in 1806, it is certainly the marriage of the hereditary Prince of Baden with Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauharnais. It was a curious Bight ! A Prince belonging to one of the oldest and most illustrious families in the world, whose three sisters had mar- ried, one, the Emperor of Russia ; another, the King of Sweden ; the third, fche King of Bavaria; a Prince wlio might have allied himself with the oldest reign- ing houses had come to regard as an honoi a mar- riage with the plain daughter of a French senator, — ;i -iil not united by any ties of blood with Napoleon, hut only by adoption; that is to say, by a whim. One might have supposed that the Empire of the new Charlemagne was centuries old, and the German Princes bowed before it like devoted vassals before their suzerain. What a vast power lie had attained, and how easily he could have kept it, if he had lim- ited his ambition, and put bounds to his power, and 200 M ABRI AGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN. 20] had Dot asked of docile Germany more than it could give him ! The marriage of Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beau- harnais with the hereditary Prince of Baden was ai first warmly opposed by the Margravine, this Prince's mother. M. Massias, French chargé d'affaires at Baden, had written on this matter to M. de Talley- rand. Minister of Foreign Affairs, January <>, 1806: "My Lord, — For some days there has been a rumor quietly circulating among the principal persons of the court of Carlsruhe that the object of M. de Thiard'a last journey was to arrange the marriage of the Electoral Prince of Baden with the daughter of Senator I leauhai nais. Last evening arrived a mes- senger from the Electresa of Bavaria for the Margra- vine, the mother of this Prince. I have Learned by chance the contents of this missive to his mother. She says substantially that she has had a talk of more than an hour with the Emperor Napoleon; that His Majesty promised thai the marriage of the Electoral Prince of Baden with Mademoiselle Beauharnais should never take place without the consent of the Margravine; and in case of her refusal of tins con- sent, he Would Only reserve t" himself the right of being consulted mi the choice of the wife to he given to this young Prince. . . . The Electoral Prince called on his mother after she had received this despatch, and was with her alone for two hours ; he came away in great dejection. When lie got t" his grandfather's, lie exclaimed, involuntarily, 'That woman is losl : she wants to ruin herself I ' " 202 COUBl OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. The chargé d'affaires ended his letter with this sketch of the Margravine: " I have known the Mar- gravine for m\ years, and I think I ean say that if she judges the match in question opposed to the pride inspired by the firsl ideas of her education, qo persuasion ean move her. She possesses to a very marked degree the confidenl obstinacy of feeble and timid spirits. She docs not dare to dismiss an incom- petent footman : and when she has once made up her mind, which is only possible in matters about which her opinions are rigidly formed, neither ton e nor per- suasion can modify lie!-. That is my reading of her character, and I think it the true one." The nunc the Margravine opposed this match which the Emperor had suggested, the more the young Prince of Baden and his grandfather, the Elector, desired it. M. Massias wrote again t<> M.de Talleyrand. January '.'. L806: ••His Mosl Serene Highness, the Prince Electoral of Baden, is to leave to- morrow for rim and A.uersbure, to invite, in his errand- father'- name. Hi- Majesty the Emperor and King to honor Carlsruhe with his presence, and to «tay at the castle on his way back to France. But, he tells me himself, tin' main objecl of his journey is to convince II Majesty th.it the marriage of which I had the homn- to speak to 5Tour Excellency in my last letter, i> far from opposing his desires : and he hopes to dis- sipate without difficulty the doubts which it has been sought to raise regarding this in the mind of His Majesty, Eor whom lie always manifested a profound devotion and a sincere attachment.*' MARRIAGE OF THE PBINi E OF BADEN. 208 W" liit was th.' origin of this young girl w hose hand was thus sought by the hereditary Prince of Baden? The Marquis of Beauharnais, the father of the Vis- count of Beauharnais, the firsl husband of the Emp Josephine, had a brother, Count Claude de Beauhar- nais, who was a commodore, and married Mademoiselle Fanny Mouchard. Countess Fanny, a friend of Dora! and Cubières, took much interest in Literature and Wrote many novels. She was a blue-stocking, and it was about her that Lebrun wrote the malicious epigram : — ■I. .'. fair and a poetess, has then two slight faults: She makes her face and does m>t make her verses.'' By her marriage with Count Claude de Beauhar- nais, the Countess Fanny (born in l"-' 1 .*. died in L813) had one Bon, named ('land.' after his father, wlm married the daughter of the Count of Lezay- Marnésia. Tiny had a daughter, Stéphanie de Beau- harnais, born August 28, IT^'. 1 . who was adopted by Napoleon, married the hereditary Prince of Baden, be ame the grandduchess of this country, and died in 1860, much loved by her family and the people of Baden. Her father, Claude de Beauharnais, was a ktor in the Empire, a peer of France at the Et t> Tatimi, and died in L81 '■'. During the childhood of Mademoiselle Stephanie de Beauharnais no one would have predicted the lofty destiny that await, -d her. Her father, having lost his wife, entrusted her to a pious old aunt, who Lived at M ntauban, and there Bhe remained in obscurity until 204 COURT OF THE EMPBE8B JOSEPHINE. it occurred to her uncle, M. de Lezay-Marnésia, to take her to I'aiis, ami presenl ber to the wife of the First Consul. Josephine, her cousin once removed, thought ber pretty and bright, became very fond of her, and sent her to finish her education at Madame ( !ampan's boarding-school at Saint ( rermain. .Madame Campan wrote to .Madam»' Louis about her young pupil as Follows: " I am certainly surprised at the way Ma- demoiselle Stephanie has turned out since she returned Erom Saint Leu. She may heroine a very charming woman, but not if she stays at Saint Cloud. Royal pal- aces have never been L, r <>"d schools : pleasures, the taste for excitement and flattery, corrupt not merely those who are young, but even those who go there alreafy matured, unless they are protected by the highest principles. If you have tin- power, do try to let me keep Stéphanie until sin- manies; you will thereby render her a great service, and to me, too; for the result will condemn me in the eyes of the Emperor, who will say. w ith a sharp glance, ' That's very had * : and will not have time to ascertain the real reason. I can assure you that in a year she will be very charming, if I can only keep my hand on her." In the -âme letter Madame Campan thus describes her pupil's character: "It is a curious compound of ease at learning, Belf-love, emulation, idleness, amiability, clear-mindedness, levity, haughtiness, ami piety. There aie a good many qualities to dispose of. and on this proper arrangement depends her hap- piness «>r unhappiness, and my success or failure." WABRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN . 205 In personal appearance Mademoiselle de Beauharnais was very charming j she bad a good figure, an exj countenance, ;i brilliant complexion, bright blue -, Light hair, ami an agreeable voice. Moreover, her manners were good, she had keen mother wit, much gaiety and enthusiasm, and was, in short, a very attractive 3 oung person. The Emperor had a sort of infatuation for her, and treated her with exceptional kindness that did not fail to excite comment. Although her father was still living, he decided to adopt her, and this was thought a singular thing to '1". The voung Stéphanie became an [mperial Highness and took precedence of the Emperor's sisters, while her Esther was merely one of the herd of senators. In the e of March 3, l x(| »'>, it was said: "Our inten- tion being that our daughter the Princess Stéphanie Napoleon, shall enjoy all the prerogatives due to her rank; at receptions, festivities, and at table she shall sit at our side, and in our absence she shall take her place at the right of Her Majesty the Empress." Josephine p<>s>ibly thought that her young relative was a Little t"<> well treated by the Emperor, and that his feelings f<>r her were Dot whollj paternal. Evil tongues asserted that Napoleon \\a^ in Love with his adnj.tr. 1 daughter, but in spite of those malicious in- sinuations, do Berious charge can be brought against her innocence. Her betrothed, the Prince of Baden, was madly in Love with her, and Bhowed l>\ his con- duct that it was he who was makioga fine man. 20G COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. Mademoiselle de Beauharnais from the moment that Bhe assumed the name of Napoleon Imagined that nothing was too good for her. It was only by con- descension that she married the bod of an elector, for she was never tired of saying, to her adopted father's great delight, that an emperor's daughter could many either a king or a king's BOIL The marriage was celebrated with great pomp in tla- chapel of the Palace of the Tuileries, April 8, 1806, at eight in the evening. The witnesses for the bridegroom were the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Baron de Gueusau, and M. de Dalberg; those of the bride were M. de Talleyrand, M. de ChampagnyJ and M. de Sdgur. The procession went from the grand apartments to the chapel in the following order: the Empress, preceded by the officers of the Princesses, accompanied by the Prince of Baden, the Princesses, and the Crown Prince of Bavaria, and followed by the ladies of her household and of those of the Princesses; the Emperor, conducting the bride, and preceded by the officers of the Princes, his own officers, the Grand Dignitaries of the Empire, the Ministers, the High Officers of the Crown, and followed by the colonel-general of the guard on duty. At the chapel door the clergy received Napo- leon and Josephine beneath a canopy, and they took their places on two small thrones in front of the altar, while the Prince of Baden and the bride took their places on two stools at the foot of its steps. The ceremony began with the blessing of thirteen pieces u.i/.'/;/. I'./: OF THE PBINi E OF B \hl\. of gold which the Cardinal Caprara, Legate a la gave i" the Prince of Baden, who presented them to his bride. The Cardinal gave them the nuptial blessing. Meanwhile Afonsignor Charier-Lavoche, Bishop of Versailles, the Emperor's Firsl Almoner, and Monsignor de Broglie, Bishop of Acqui, hia Almoner in Ordinary, were holding a canopy of silver brocade over the head of the kneeling Prince ;in\ the best dancers from the < >p- ra, was very successful. Then 208 COURT OF nu: EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. the company went to the Gallery of Diana, where tables had been Bel for two hundred ladies, and a magnificent supper was served. The grace and distinction of the bride aroused general admiration. II.t father, Senator Beauharnais, kept Bilence and wept for joy. Never had the court been mon' dazzling with its glittering uniforms, gorgeous dresses, and sumptuous pomp. The Emperor in his gala dress, the Empress in lier Imperial Bplendor, the Princesses vying in luxury, the new Queen of NapL jering under her load <>t" precious stones, tin' Princess Louis covered with turquoises Bet in diamonds, Princess Caroline Murat decked with a thousand rubies, Princess Paul- in.' with all the Borghese diamonds besides her own, the ambassadors, grand dignitaries, marshals, gener- als, with their coats covered \\ ith gold ami decorations, the chamberlains in red, the master of ceremonies in violet, the masters of tin- hounds in green, the equerries in blue, all the ladies in dresses with long trains; tin- two fashionable women, .Madame Maret ami Madame Savary, who each spent fifty thousand francs a year in dre8S; Madame de Canisy, tall, hlaek- haired, bright-eyed, with her aquiline nose ami her impressive air: Madame Lannes, with her gentle face Like one of Raphael's Madonnas; Madame Duchâtel, fair, with blue eyes; ami that proud duchess of the Faubourg Saint Germain, a lady of the palace in spite of herself, the Duchess of Chevreuse, who. if not the most beautiful woman there, had perhaps the M ABB I AGE OF THE PRINi E OF BAD1 \ grandest air. It was a most animated festivity, with its flowers, Lights, and splendor. The II. ill of the mais was radiant with its militai \ portraits, its chandeliers, and air of triumph, . . . Now consider the ruin- of this palace of Caesar, this Olympus of Jupiter, this sanctuary of glory, majesty, and domin- ion. See and reflect ! Nothing is left of all that pomp and grandeur! The proudest buildings have vanished! Such is the end of human splendor! XIX. THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. AT the beginning of 1804, Napoleon regarded himself the absolute master of fortune. His twofold title of Emperor of the French and King of Italy no longer sufficed him ; he yearned for that of Emperor of the West. He created kings, grand dukes, sovereign princes. He made his brother Joseph King of the Two Sicilies ; his brother-in-law Murat Grand Duke of Berg and Cleves; his sister Pauline Princess of Guastalla; he conferred the principality of Massa upon his sister Elisa, who was already in possession of the Duchy of Lucca; his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand, became Prince of Benevento; his Major-General, Berthier, Prince of Neufchatel ; and his brother Joseph's brother-in-law, Bernadotte, Prince of Ponte Corvo. He also elevated members of his wife's family as well as of his own to high positions. Josephine's son was Viceroy and son-in-law of a king. Joseph- ine's daughter was about to become a queen. France, which, fourteen years before, had wanted to convert every monarchy into a republic, was now 210 TUE NEW QUEEN OF ÈOLLAND. -11 endeavoring to turn the oldest republics into monarch- ies. The illustrious republics of Genoa and Venice had become an integral part, the one of the French Empire, the other of the Kingdom of Italy. The Batavian Republic was about to be transformed into the Kingdom of Holland. When it became known in Paris that this new kingdom was to be created by the Emperor's will, people wondered who was to Jill the throne; some were betting on Louis Bonaparte; others on his brother Jerome; still others on Murat. The Emperor, however, had settled the question, and without even consulting him, had decided that Louis was to be King of Holland. This new monarch, who was horn September 2, L778, was then twentynseven years old. Four years before he had married Josephine's daughter, Hortense de Beauharnais, but the marriage had been an un- happy one. As he himself wrote his marriage was celebrated in sadness. The author of a wry remark- able study. Holland and King Louis, M. Albert Réville, says with great truth: •• Like Hortense, Louis had literary tastes: but there the resemblance ceases. It was nol that there was nothing romantic in Hortense's character: Bhe was anion-- the first to become interested in the Middle Ages, the Gothic revival, the imitation of the troubadours; but her romanticism was wholly different from that of her husband. Her ideal was, perhaps, a young and hand- some soldier, pensive when awaj from the lad\ of his thoughts, but oot when in her company." M. Réville 212 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. "Such a character could Dot understand the sensitiveness, the shrinking, morbid melancholy of the husband thrust upon her. Her gaiety, her devo- tion to pleasure, the frivolity of her talk, could only pain more and more a man of a gloomy temperament, win» took the greatest care of his health, who fretted himself over the most trivia] details, and whose dis- trust amounted to injustice.*' Hortense was expansive, merry, ardent, enthusias- tic, young in heart tu.d mind, a thoroughly open nature. Her husband, on the other hand, was of a morose, sombre, melancholy, reserved nature. In spite ut' her superior intelligence Hortense had a sort • ■I' childlike air; but Louis, though young in year-, had the character and appearance of an old man. As much as Hortense loved liberty, her suspicious hus- band wished to hold firmly the reins of conjugal au- thority, lie was prematurely afflicted with various infirmities, almost always morbidly nervous and im- pressionable, disposed to take a dark view of every- thing, and bore ii" resemblance to the type of hero which Hortense had imagined. Moreover, the un- happy husband endured a bidden anguish which he had to conceal from every one and which tortured his heart : he imagined that his rival with his wife was his own brother, Napoleon. Thiers says in discuss- ing this delicate subject : " Louis, ill. puffed-up with pride, assuming virtue and really upright, pretended that he ua- sacrificed to the infamous necessity of covering, \>\ bis marriage, the weakness of Hortense THE NEW QUEEX OF HOLLAND. 213 de Beauharnais for Napoleon, — an odious calumny, invented by the émigrés, spread abroad in a thousand pamphlets, about which Louis did wrong to betray Buch anxiety thai he seemed to believe ii himself." In ;i word, there existed between husband and wife a real Incompatibility of temper, and the con- straint of their position only added to the mutual repulsion which they fell for each other in private, though they did not dare confess it through fear <>( Napoleon's reproaches. They were married January }. 1802, and had a son bom the next October, whom their enemies asserted was the son of the Emperor, and the greater the interest and affection the Emperor showed to this child, the more freely were calumnies circulated. Louis Bonaparte imagined his honor tainted, and suffered toiture-, Ajb for Hortense, Bhe was unhappy, but she had consolations. Her mother's Love, the society of her old schoolmates, her interest in art, w orldly successes, the distractions of Paris life, made her forget some of her domestic troubles. The thought of Leaving that congenial spot to Live alone with her husband in the cold dampness of Holland filled her with gloom. She did mu «are for a throne, for she felt that a royal palace would be for her nothing but a prison. Louis, too, seemed devoid of ambition for the crown that was held before him. Annoyed at nol being consulted in the negotiations on which depended his call to the throne, he maintained a passive attitude. But as he was accustomed to comply with every wish 21 I I OUST OF THE EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE of a brother who had taken charge of his education, and thereby acquired special authority over him, be invariably obeyed his orders. The Batavian depu- tation, of which the most important member was Admiral Verhuel, had jusl arrived in Taris, and with it the Emperor was settling the fate of Holland. Baron Ducasse, inan interesting paper in the Revue Historique for February, l sv(| . has recounted all the unfortunate Louis Bonaparte's attempts to escape having royalty forced upon him. He gave as a pre- text for his reluctance, the rights of the old Stadt- holder. The Batavian deputation in replj announced i«» him the death of thai official. "The hereditary Prince," they Baid, "has received in compensation Fulda; hence you can have qo reasonable objection. We come, in accordance with the votes of nine-tenths of the nation, to beg of von to ally your Eate with ours, and to prevent our falling into other hands." Napoleon used even plainer language. He declared to hi- brother without beating the bush that he had accepted tor him. ami that, even if he had not con- sulted him, a Bubject could not refuse obedience. A Eew days later, Talleyrand, the Minister of For- eign Affairs, went to Saint Cloud and read to Louis and Hortense the treaty with Holland, and the con- stitution of that country. It was of no use for the King to say thai he could not judge such important documents Erom a Bimple reading, he was not granted a moment's reflection. In vain he pleaded his health. which could not fail to suffer from the damp climate Till: SEW <>i ir\ <>/• HOLLA \ />. i<{ Holland. Napoleon was inflexible, and said, "Il is bettei t<> die mi a throne than t.. live a French Prince." There was nothing for him t" <1" lmt t" give hia consent. The new King's proclamation was delivered at the Palace of the Tuileries in the Throne Room, June 5, Early in the same day, the Emperor had for- mally received Mahib Effendi, Ambassador of the Sultan Selim. The Oriental diplomatist had greeted liim as "the first and greatest of Christian monarchs, the brighl Btar of glory of the western nations, the one win» held in a firm hand the sword of valor and the sceptre of justice." Naj.nl bad replied: "Whatever g 1 or bad fortune may befall the Otto- mans will be fortunate or unfortunate for Prance. Report, I beg of you, m\ words to the Sultan Selim. Bid him never to forget that m\ enemies, \\li<> are also his, would like to eet at him. II»' has nothing to fear from me; united with me, he need not fear the power of an} of his enemies." When the audi- ence was over, the Ambassador made three deep b and withdrew, but stopped in the next room, where the presents of the Grand Porte were set out <>n a table : they consisted of an aigret of diamonds, and a costlj 1«'\ Bet with gems and adorned with the mono- gram of the Sultan. Mahib Effendi, after offering the presents t<> the Emperor, showed him those Bent to tin- Empress. They were a pearl necklace, perfumes, ami Oriental stufEs. Napoleon examined them, and then went to the window Borne superbly bar- 216 COURT OF THE EMPRESS J08EPHIXE. h.--.. I Arabian hopses, presented to him in the name of the Sultan. The proclamation of the King of Holland was read a few momenta later. Admiral Verhuel took the floor and began t<> speak of the happiness assured t<> his country when it should have made Easl the ties thai bound it to tlif "immense and immortal Em- pire." The Emperor said to the Dutch représenta- tives: " France has been so generous as to renounce all the rights over you which were given it bj the events of the war, but I cannot confide the fortress* - that guard my northern frontiers to any unfaithful or even uncertain hands. Representatives of the Batavian people, I grant the prayer you present to me, and proclaim Prince Louis King of Holland." Then turning to his brother, he said: "You, Prince, reign over this people; their fathers acquired their independence only by the constant aid of France. Since then II. .Hand was the ally of England; it was conquered; and still owes it- existence t<> us. She will owe to US the kings who protect its laws, its lib- erties, its religion! Put do not ever .case to he a Frenchman. The dignity of Constable of the Empire will ever belong to you and to your descendants: it will define for you your duties towards me and the importance 1 attach to the guard "f the fortresses protecting th.- north of my -tat.-, which I confide to you. Prince, maintain among your troops that spirit which T have seen in them on the field of battle. Encourage in your new subjects tin- feeling- <>f union THE v/;ir QUEEN OF HOLLAND 217 and love which they oughl always to have for Prance. B the terror of evil-doers and the father of the aprighl : that is the character of a great king." The vassalage of the oew monarch was thus defi- nitely established; he remained Constable of the Empire; li» 1 was ordered to 1»' French and not Dutch. Hi> first duties were to the Emperor, his brother and rain. He respectfully approached the throne, and said with evident emotion: "Sire, I have made il my highest ambition to sacrifice my life to Your Majesty's ice. I have made my happiness consist in admir- ing all those qualities which make you so dear to those who, like me, have so often witnessed the power and the effects of your genius; I may then be per- mitted to express my regrets in leaving, but my lift- ami my wishes belong to you. I shall go to n over Holland, since thai nation desires it and Your Majesty commands it. I shall be proud to reign over it: but, however glorious may be the career thus opened t<> me, the assurance of Your Majesty's con- stant protection, the love and patriotism of my new subjects, can alone inspire me with the hope of heal- ing the wounds of the many wars and events that have crowded into a few jr< u • Aiter the royal speech the usher threw open the door, and as in the time of Louis X I V.. ni the acceptation of the Spanish accession, the new King was announced to tin' as- sembled crovi d. A- M. Alberl I!« : \ill<' Bays, n<> one in Prance re- gretted the Batavias Republic when it was stricken 218 COURT OF llli: EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. from the r<»ll <>f history by the will of a despot : or, rather, the Parisians, in their occasionally exagger- ated infatuation, fancied thai the Dutch would be overjoyed to have a French court. The next day, after breakfast, the Emperor was playing with the new King's oldesi son, the little Napoleon, who was only three years and a half old, bul was very brighl for his age, and already knew by heart La Fontaine's fables. The Emperor made him recite the fable about the Erogs who wanted a king, and listened to it, laughing loudly. He pinched the Queen's ear, and asked her, " What do you say to that. Hortense?" The allusions to the poor king ami to his poor people were only too clear. The melancholy monarch, or rather, the crowned mon- arch, was to he, according to the Emperor's plan, a mere tool in the hands of his powerful brother. He was condemned to discharge the functions of receiver of dues and of recruiting officer in the Emperor's ser- vice, lie had a presentiment of this degraded posi- tion, and took his departure with much anxiety. For Hortense, leaving was sadder. No exile ever tinned towards foreign parts with heavier sorrow. Her diadem was a crown of thorns. Her mother's grief augmented her own. Without her children, Josephine, naturally unambitious, found no consola- tion in the thought that her son was a Viceroy, her daughter a Queen. Before Bhe left Paris Hortense, in terror before the thought that the Emperor would no longer be near to defend her, told her all her THE V/-.-II QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 219 domestic unhappiness, and said that if her husband treated her too ill, she would abandon her throne for a convent. Nevertheless she had to ohcy. June 1 •">, \s(u), Lonis started from Saint Leu to go to his kingdom. He veaa accompanied by Ids wife and hia two Bons, the elder, Charles Napoleon, who died in I lull and the 5th of the next .May. and the other, Louis Napoleon, who died ;it Porte, in L831, in the insurrection of tin' Stan's of the Church againsl the Pope. His third Bon, later Napoleon III., was born in 1808. The uew King entered The Elague .lune -J:'.. 1 nui;. He coun- termanded a body of French troops which the Em- peror had designed for his escort at his entrance into the capital, being unwilling to appear before his sub- jects as a sovereign imposed upon them by actual force. " You may be sure," he said to them, "thai from the moment I set foot on the soil of this king- dom, I became a 1 Dutchman." The same day < reneral Dupont Chaumont, French Minister at The Hague, wrote to Prince Talleyrand: "To-day, June 23, His Majesty made his formal entrance into his capital. lie went to the Assembly where he recieved the oath of the representatives of the people and made a speech which was milch applauded. The French camp obtained permission from the Governor of the Palace to surprise Their Majesties by fireworks and military music. These festivities naturally put a Btop to all business, except for His Majesty, who finds time to examine and decide the most urgent 220 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. matters, the ease with which he works greatly sur- prising a nation unaccustomed to such activity. Already the King and Queen are spoken of most enthusiastically by those who have had the honor to be presented to Their Majesties. The satisfaction will be general, when many shall have had the op- portunity to approach the throne." In spite of the optimisms of this despatch, the new King was to have an unhappy reign. His loyal and upright intentions were to be shattered against the inflexible will of his formidable brother. Louis was a just man and sincerely devoted to his people. lie was called, and is still called, "the good King Louis"; but the Emperor, who ironically reproached him with trying to win the affection of shopkeepers, was to write to him in 1807: "A monarch w r ho is called a good king, is a king that's ruined." As for Queen Hortense, more and more tormented by her husband's suspicions, with her health impaired by the moist climate, and her ever-growing melancholy, she was to feel like a condemned exile in her kingdom. No woman ever gave a completer lie to the expression, "As happy as a tpueen." XX. THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. IX spite of all the honors that encompassed lier, the Empress was ever more and more unhappy. The departure of bei daughter Hortense Lefl a void in her life that nothing could till. She wrote to the new Queen from Saint Cloud, July lô. 1 su*.'» : "Since you left I have been ill. sad, and unhappy; I have even been feverish and have had to keep my bed. I am now well again, hut my sorrow remains. How could it be otherwise when I am separated from a daughter like you. loving, gentle, and amiable, who was the charm of my life? . . . Sow is your husband? Are my grandchildren well? Heavens, how Bad it makes me Dot to see them ' and how is your health, dear Hortense? If you are ever ill, let me know, and I will ha>ti h to you at once. . . . Good by, my dear Hortense, think often of your mother, and be sure that never was a daughter more Loved than \<>u are. Many kind messages t" your husband : kiss the children for me. Jt would he very kind of you to send me some of your songs." Josephine was aboul to baye another cause for 221 222 covin OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, :". A new war was imminent, hut tin- Empress hid her uneasiness in order not to distance Hortense. "All your letters," she wrote to her, "are charming, and you are kind to write bo often. T have heard from Eugene ami his wife : they arc evidently very happy, and so am I, for I am going witli the Emperor, and am already packing. I assure you, that even if this war breaks out, I have no fear; the nearer I am to the Emperor, the less I shall care, and I feel that I should die if I stayed here. Another joy to me is our meeting at Mayence. Tin- Emperoi has hidden me tell you that he has just given to the King of Holland an army of eighty thousand men, and his command will extend to Mayence. He thinks that you can come then and stay with me. Is not that an agreeahle bit of news for a mother who loves you so dearly? Every day we shall have news of the Em- peror and your husband ; we will be happy together. The Grand Duke of Berg spoke to me about you and the children; kiss them for me till I can kiss them for myself, as well as my daughter ; this will be soon, I hope. My best regards to the King." Napoleon was about to begin a gigantic war against Prussia and Russia. In spite of his confidence in his star, he was not without some apprehensions, and he left reluctantly. A «loud seemed to hang over Saint Cloud. "Why aie you so gloomy?" the Emperor asked Madame de Rémusat, whose husband, the First Chamberlain, had just been sent to Mayence to pre- pare the Emperor's quarters. "I am gloomy," she THE EMPRESS AT MATE Ni replied, "because dtj husband has left me." And as Napoleon sneered at her conjugal devotion, she added: "Sire, I take no pari in heroic joys, and for my part, I had placed my glory in happin* Then the Emperor burst out Laughing and Baid: "Happi- ness? Oh yes, happiness has a great deal to do with this century ! " The Empress hoped to accompany her husband as far as Mayence, and remain there during the war, with her daughter. At the last moment she came near missing even this. Napoleon wanted to go off alone, but she wept so much, besought him so earnestly, that lie took pity on her and gave her leave to enter his carriage : Bhe had but a single chambermaid with her. Her household was to join her some days later. Napoleon and Josephine left Saint Cloud in the night of September 24, 1806. Aiter stopping for some hours at Metz, they reached Mayence the 28th. The Emperor Btarted again, October 2, at nine in the evening, for the head of the army. At this moment he bad an access of affection and a revival of bis old tenderness for the woman win» long since bad inspired him with much love. Seeing that Bhe was weeping bitterly, he, too, Bhed tears, and was even attacked by convulsions. Thej made him sit down and gave him a few drops of orange-flower water. In a few mo- menta he controlled Ids emotion, gave Josephine a farewell kiss, and Baid: "The carriages are read}, they not? Tell those gentlemen and let us be 224 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. The Empress remained a1 Mayence. Napoleon wrote to her October 5, 180G: "There is no reason why the Princess of Baden should not go to May- ence. I don't know why you are so distressed ; it is wrong of you to grieve so much. Hortense is inclined to pedantry; she is liberal with advice. She wrote to me, and I answered her. She should be happy and gay. Courage and gaiety, that is the recipe." It is plain that the Emperor's gloom had been of brief duration. When he was once more at war, in his element, he had quickly resumed his customary eagerness. He wrote to his wife from Bamberg, October 7 : " I leave this evening for Kronach. The whole army is in motion. All goes on well ; my health is perfect. I have not yet received any letters from you, but I have heard from Eugene and Hor- tense. Stéphanie ought to be with you. Her hus- band [the Prince of Baden] wishes to take part in the war; he is with me. Good by. A thousand kisses and good health ! " Again, October 18 : " To- day I am at Gera. Everything goes on as well as I could hope. With God's aid, the poor King of Prus- sia will be in a lamentable state, I think. I am personally sorry for him, because he is a good man. The Queen is at Erfurt witli the King. If she wants to see a battle, she will have that cruel pleasure. I am wonderfully well, and have gained flesh since I left; and yet I go twenty or twenty-five leagues every day, on horseback or in a carriage, — in every possible way. I go to bed at eight and get up at Tin: EMPRESS Al ilATENCE. 225 midnight, sometimes, I think, before you have gone to bed. Ever yours." In these campaigns Napoleon was not yet sur- rounded by ibc comforts which later made vrai Less fatiguing for him, perhaps too easy. He endured all the toil and privation of a private soldier. In five minutes his table, his coffee, his bed were prepared. Often in less time than that the bodies of men and horses had to be removed to make room for his tent. His longest meal lasted no more than eight or ten minutes. The Emperor would then call for horses and leave in company with Berthier, one or two riders, and Roustan, his faithful Mameluke. At night, when lying on his little iron bed. he took but little rest. Hardly had he fallen asleep when he would call his valet de chambre who slept in the same tent : '•Con- stant ! " " Sire. v " See what aide-de-camp is on duty." "Sire, it i-> BO-and-80." "Tell him to come and speak to me." The aide-de-camp would arrive : " Fou must go to such a corps, commanded by Marshal so-and-so: you will tell him to place such a regiment in such a position : you will ascertain the positi< I' the enemy, then you will report to me." The Emperor seemed t" tall asleep again, but in a few moments he was call- ing again: " Constant I " "Sire." "Summon the Prince of Neufch&tel." The Major-General would appear in a great hurry, and Napoleon would dictate some orders to him. Thai is the way his nights were passed. The night before the battle of .leiia w a-- an eXCCp- 226 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. tion, and tin' Emperor slepl soundly. " Yet," Bays General de Ségur, " cuir position was so perilous that some of us said the enemy could have thrown a bullet across all our lines with the hand. This was so true that the first cannon-ball tired the next day passed over our heads and killed a cook at his canteen far behind us." At about five o'clock Napoleon asked of Marshal Soult : - Shall we beat them ? " - Yes, if they are there," answered the Marshal; "I am only afraid they have left." At that moment, the first musketry fire was heard. " There they are ! " said the Emperor, joyfully ; " there they are ! the business is beginning." Then he went to address the infantry, encouraging them to crush the famous Prussian cav- alry. "This cavalry," he said, "must be destroyed here, before our squares, as we crushed the Russian infantry at Austerlitz." The victory was overwhelm- ing. Napoleon thus recounted it in a letter to the Empress, dated Jena, October 15, at three in the morning: "My dear. 1 have done some good manoeu- vring against the Prussians. Yesterday I gained a great vie tory. They were one hundred and titty thousand men; I have made twenty thousand pris- oners, captured one hundred cannon and flags. I was facing the King of Prussia and very near him; I just missed capturing him and the Queen. I have been bivouacking for two days. I am wonderfully well. Good by, my dear, keep well and love me. If Hor- tense is at Mayence, give her a kiss as well as Napo- leon and the little one." And again from Weimar, THE EMPRESS .1 / MA ) I \< /■;. JJT October 1<> : "M. Talleyrand will have shown you the bulletin and you will have seen our success. Everything 1 has turned out as I planned, and never was an army more thoroughly beaten and destroyed. I will only add that I am well : that fatigue, watching, and the bivouac have made me stouter. Good by, my dear, much love to Hortense and the great Napoleon." I lortense had joined her mother at Mayence with her two sons, meeting their her relative, Princess Stéphanie of Baden, the Princess of Nassau and her daughters, many generals 9 wives, who had desired to be near the scene of war to gel early mus. With what impatience tidings were awaited ! With what curiosity and respect were read and discussed the two or three words scrawled by the hand of the Emperor or of his lieutenants ! A lookout had been placed a league away on the high-road, who announced the coming of a messenger by blowing on a horn. At the same time the files of prisoners were seen passing on their way to France. Josephine, ever kind and pitiful, tried to soften their lot and gave aid ami com- fort to officers and soldiers. Meanwhile Napoleon continued his triumphal march. Prom Wittenberg he wrote to his wife, October 23: "I have received a number of Letters from you. T write but a word: everything goes on well. To-morrow 1 shall be at Potsdam, the 25th at Berlin. I am perfectly well ; fatigue agrees with me. lam glad to hear of you in company together with 228 COURT OF THE EMPBESS JOSEPHINE. Hortense and Stéphanie. The weather has so fal- lu. mi very pleasant. Much love to Stéphanie and to every one, including M. Napoleon. Good by, my dear. Ever yours." At Potsdam the Emperor visited the celebrated palace of Sans Souci and Found tin- room of Frederick the Great as it had hern in his litVii , and guarded by one of his old servants. He then went to the Protestant church which contained the hero's tomb. k - The door of the monument was open." says < Jeneral de Ségur. "Napoleon paused at the entrance, in a grave and respectful attitude, lie gazed into the shadow enclosing the hero's ashes, and stood thus for nearly ten minutes, motionless, silent, as it' buried in deep thought. There were five or six of us with him: Duroc, Caulaincourt, an aide-de-camp, and I. We gazed at this solemn and extraordinary scene, imagining the two greal men face to face, identifying ourselves with the thoughts we ascribed to our Em- peror before that other genius whose glory survived the overthrow of his work, who was as greal in ex- treme adversity as in success." The eighteenth bul- letin said of this tomb: "The greal man's remains are enclosed in a w Len coffin covered with copper, and aie placed in a vault, with no ornaments, trophies, or other distinction recalling his greal actions." The Emperor presented to the Invalides in Paris Freder- ick's sword, hi-- ribbon of the Black Eagle, his gen- eral's sash, as well as the flags carried by Ins guard in the Seven Years' War. The old veterans of the THE EMPRESS AT MA FENi W. 229 army of Hanover received with religious respect everything which lia unworthy fac- tion, indulging in odious joy and applauding t li«* presence <>i foreign soldiers! We Frenohmen, on- 230 COURT OF THE EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE, happier in our defeats, have known this abominable joy; forwe have seen everything in this century : the extremes of victory and of defeat, of grandeur and of abasement, of the puresl devotion and of the blackest treacherj I" Alas! What Frenchman could have foretold in 1806 the disasters of 181 1 and L815? The army deemed itself invincible and was wild with joyful pride. Davout, whose men the Emperor had jusl congratulated, wrote to him in great enthusiasm: "Sire, we are your tenth Legion. Everywhere and .it all times the third corps will be for you what that lesion was for Caesar." Never did soldiers have greater enthusiasm or more confidence in their leader. One might have said that Josephine, amid all these triumphs, had a presentiment of the future. Victo* rics could Dot dispel her sadness. Her husband wrote to her November I: "Talleyrand has come, and tells me that you do nothing but cry. lint what do vim want/ Yon have your daughters, your grandchildren, and good news ; certainly you have the materials for happiness and content. The weather here is superb; not a drop of rain has fallen in the whole campaign. I am in g I health, and every- thing is progressing favorably. G 1 by. I have received a letter from M. Napoleon ; I don't think it is from him but from Hortense. Love to all." Napoleon was not modest in his triumph. He pur- sued with sarcasms the nobility of Prussia and ( c >ueen Louise who had warmly counselled war. This fair THE EMPRESS .1 / MJ Yi:\> //. 281 ereign, the mother of the late Emperor William, was then thirty years old; she was the daughter of a Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and of a Princess of I [esse-] Darmstadt. She was a most thorough German, hated Prance, and especially the French Revolution. She was a fearless horsewoman, and had been Been being great dangers at the battle of Jena. When she rode before her troops in her helmet of polished L, Bhaded by a plume, m her glittering golden cuirass, her tunic of silver Btuff, her red boots with gold spurs, she resembled Tasso's heroines. The soldiers burst Into cries of enthusiasm, as thej Baw their warlike Queen; before her were bowed the flags Bhe had embroidered with her own hands, and the old. t<>r:., and battle-stained standards of Fred- erick the Great. After the battle she was obliged to take flight, at full gallop, to avoid being captured by the French hussars. In his bulletins the Emperor had made the serious blunder of speaking of Queen Louise in a manner wanting in proper respect fora woman, and especially fora woman in misfortune. Josephine, who was full of tact, was much pained by tins lack of generosity, and reproached her husband for it. Napoleon Bought to excuse himself, writing, November 6: "1 have received your letter in which you seem pained bj the evil I >ay of women. It i> true thai I hate, more than anything, intriguing women. I am used to kindly, gentle, conciliating women; those are the I love. If they have Bpoiled me, it is not my COUBT OF THE EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE. fault, lmi yours. Now I will show you that I have been \ ery good for one \\ lin has shown herself sensible and kind. Madame HatzfelcL When I Bhowed her her husband's Letter, bursting into tears, she said to me with great emotion and simplicity: 'It is cer- tainly his hand-writing I ' As she read it. her accent touched my heart and gave nie real distress. I said to herî 'Well. Madame, throw that letter into the fire. I shall not he strong enough to punish your hus- band.' She burned the Letter and seemed to he very happy. Her husband has ever since been very calm; two hours more, and he would have been a ruined man. You see then that T love kind, simple, gentle women; but it's because they are like you. Good by, my dear, I am well." The kingdom of Prussia was eonqnereel, but the war was not over. After fighting the Prussians he had to fight the Russians; the war in Poland was beginning. Napoleon wrote to the King of Prussia: " Your Majesty has announced t<> me that you have thrown yourself into the arms of the Russians. The future will decide whether this is the best and wisest choice. Y'Hi have taken the dice-box and thrown the dice: the dice will decide it." At Paris, in spite of the splendors of the Imperial glory, then- existed a vague uneasiness. Peace had been expected after Jena, and som< apprehension was felt about the renewal of the struggle in the northern steppes. Madame de Rémusat wrote. November !'. to her hus- band, who was at Mayencewith the Empress, "There THE EMPRESS I / M I ) / \' /'. is something in the Emperor's career which confounds ordinary calculations, and, so to speak, goes beyond them. It is most impressive, and, I mighl say, alarm- ing, and yel he Beems so Ear above customary condi- tions that there is no need of fear about the points to which he exposes himself, and still Less, draw the line at which he shall stop. But I shudder to think how far he is from us at this moment. May God be with him, I am ever praying, and preserve him! While this great part of the French nation which is under his orders, is marching to great victories, we arc veg- etating here in complete dulness. There is very little society, ami no houses arc open." phine was very anxious to join her husband who held it before her .1- ; possibility, bul never per- mitted it. Il«' had written to her, November 16: "I am glad to Bee that my views please you. ïou were wrong to think I was flattering; I spoke of you as you Beem to me. I am Borry to think that you liored at Maveiicc. It the journey was nut bo long you might come here, for the enemy has left, and is beyond the Vistula j that is to Bay, one hundred and twenty Leagues from here. I will await your decision. I Bhall I"- glad to Bee M. Napoleon. Good by, my dear. Ever yours." And November 22: "Be satis- fied and happy in my friendship, in all I feel for you. In a few days I shall decide t«> summon you or to send you t<> Paris. Good by. ïou may go now, if you wish, to Darmstadt and Frankfort; that will amuse you. Much Love t<> Hortense." After sign- 234 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. ing the decree establishing the continental blockade, Napoleon had left Berlin November 25. The next day lu- again held before Josephine the prospect of a speedy meeting. "] am at Custrin," he said in his letter, " to make some reconnoissances : I shall you in two days if you are to come. Y"ou can hold yourself in readiness. I shall be glad to have the Queen of Holland come too. The Grand Duchess of Baden must write to her husband about coming. It is two o'clock in the morning; I have just got up. Thai is the way at war. Much love to you and every one." A letter from Meseritz, .March 27, was still more explicit : "] am going to make a trip through Poland; this is the most important city here. I shall be at Posen this evening, after which I summon you to Berlin, that you may arrive there the same day. My health is good, the weather rather had: it has been raining for three days. Matters are in a good condi- tion. The Russians are in Bight.*' Josephine, who had trembled with joy at the thought of seeing her husband, fell into great gloom when she saw that she had been deceived by a vain hope. The tortures of, alas! too well-founded jealousy were to be added to her sufferings ! Napoleon reached Posen November 28, and wrote the next day to his wife: "I am at Posen, the capital of Great Poland. The cold La beginning; I am well. I am going to make a trip in Poland. My troops are at the gates of Warsaw. Good by, my dear, much love. I kiss you with all my heart. THE EMPRESS AT VI YENCE. 235 To-day ia the anniversary of Austerlitz. I have been at a ball given ly the city. Ii is raining. I am well. I Love you and long for you. My tr< are at Warsaw. It has not yet been cold. All the Polish women are Frenchwomen, but there is only one woman for me. I'" you know her? I should draw her portrait for you: but I should have to flatter it too much for you to recognize it ; neverthe- less, to t'-ll the truth, my heart would have only good things to tel] you. I find the nights long in my solitude. Ever yours." Perhaps Napoleon would not have been so amiable to Josephine had it not been that he was going to 1"- very unfaithful to her in Poland, and in a movement of pity wanted to console h& in advance. From there he sent her, December 3, two letters, one at noon, the other at six in the evening. Tins is the first: "1 have your letter of November 26. I notice two things: yOU Bay, don't read your letters; that is unjust. I am Borry for your bad opinion. You tell me you are not jealous. I have long observed that people who are angry always say that they are not ai that people who are afraid sa \ they are QOt al'iaiu 1 ; lonvicted of jealousy; I am delighted! Besides, yon are mistaken, and in the deserts of fair Poland one thinks but little about pretty women. \ : i'.m. : "I have your Letter of November -7, ami I see that your little head is much excited. I remember the line: -A woman's wish is a devouring flame,' ami I must «.•aim you. I wrote to you that I was in Poland, that when we should have got into winter- quarters you might come; so you must wait a few days. The greater one becomes, the less will one must have ; one depends on events and circumstances. You may go to Frankfort or Darmstadt. I hope to summon you in a few days, but events must decide. The warmth of your letter convince- me that you pretty women take no account of obstacle-: what you want must be: but I must say that I am tin' greatest slave that lives: my master has no heart, and this master is the nature of things." Napoleon should have said: Providence. Man proposes, but God db] Napoleon again spoke a little of having Josephine come. He wrote to hef December 10: " All officer has brought me a rug fi' -ni you; it is a little short and narrow, but I am no less grateful to you for it. I am fairly well. The weather is wry changeable. Everything is in good condition. T love you and am very anxious to see you. Good by, my dear ; I shall write to you to come with more pleasure than you will come." THE EMPRESS à I V \ Y I \ < I . D< ember 12 lie spoke once more of this projected journey which became ever more and more remote, likr a mirage in the deserl : " My health is good, the weather very mild ; the bad season lia- not begun, but tlit- roads are bad in a country where there aie no highways. So Hortense will come with Napoleon; I am delighted. I am impatienl to have things settle themselves bo thai you ran come. I have made peace with Saxony. The Elector is King and belongs to the confederation. Good by, my dearest Josephine. Yours ever. A kiss to Hortense, to Napoleon, and to Stéphanie. Paër, the famous musician, his wife, whom ynii saw at Milan twelve years ago, and Brizzi, are here; they give me some music every evening." Napoleon left Posen in the middle of December. The evening before his departure he wrote a Letter t'> his wife which showed the unlikelihood of her joining him, as she hoped to do; "1 am Leaving for Warsaw, and shall be back in a fortnight. I hope then to have you here. Still, if thai is too Long I should be glad to have you return to Paris where you are deeded. You know thai 1 have to depend on events." The unhappy Josephine already had a foreboding of Ids devotion to a great Polish Lady. poleon reached Warsaw December I s . L806. He was to Btay there till the 28d, return there Jan- uary -. 1*<»7. and imt to go away till the 81s1 of tliat month. He was greeted there with enthusiasm. He had said to his soldiers in his proclamation on enter- ing Poland: "The French eagle is soaring above the 238 C0U11T OF THE EMPRE88 JOBEPHEtE. Vistula. The brave and unfortunate Pole, when he sees you, imagines that he sees the legions of Sobieski returning from theii memorable expedition." No one understood better than the Emperor how to Impress the imagination of a people. At sight of him the inhabitants of Warsaw were thrilled with patriotic joy. It seemed to them thai their grand nation was rising from the tomb. The Polish women, with their lively, poetic, ardent nature, regarded Napoleon as a sort of Messiah. In the intoxication of their ecstatic admiration, the most beautiful of them — and Poland is the eountry of beauty — turned towards him, like sirens, their most seductive smiles. This coquetry they regarded as a patriotic duty. Josephine had good grounds for jealousy. Napoleon was in the field during the last days of December. War at that time was particularly fatiguing. The dampness, worse than any cold, sad- dened the eyes and wearied the body. The tempera- ture "was. forever changing between frost and thaw. Fighting took place in the most unfavorable condi- tions. But the Emperor, pitiless for himself and every one else, uttered no complaint. He wrote from Golimin to the Empress, December 20, at five in the morning: "I write but a word, from a wretched barn. I have beaten the Russians, captured thirty cannon, their baggage, and six thousand prisoners; but the weather is frightful; it pours, and we are knee deep in mud." And from Pultusk, December 31: "I have laughed a good deal over your last two let- THE I. UPRE88 at LATENCE. 239 tere. You have formed a wry Inaccurate notion of the beautiful Polish women. Two or three 'lavs I have had great pleasure m hearing Paër and two women who have given me Borne very good music. I received your Letter in a wretched barn, with mud, wind, and straw for my only bed." In spite of what her husband said. Josephine was right about the charm of the Polish ladies, and Napoleon, on his return to "Warsaw. January -, ISO", was to become seriously interested in one of them. Soon there was do question of Bending for the Em- press, who would only have been in the way. Napo- leon wrote to her, January 3: "I have received your Letter. Your regret touches me, but we must submit to events. It is too long a journey from Mayence to Warsaw; we must wait till events permit my going to Berlin before 1 can write for you to come. Mean- while, the enemy is withdrawing, defeated, but I have a good many things to settle here. I should advise your returning to Paris, where you are needed. Send back those ladies who have anything to do there : you will be better for getting rid of people who tire you. I am well ; the weather is bad. I Love you much." The Emperor, utterly taken up by his Love for the Polish lady, was anxious that Josephine, instead of coming to him, should at once return promptly to France. " My dear," he wrote to her, January T. •■ I am touched by all you say. but the cold season, the bad, unsafe roads prevenl my giving my consent to yOUI facing BO man\ fat LgU6S. Return to I'ari> for the 240 C0UB1 OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. winter, (il» to tin- Tuileries, 1 1* >1 « 1 your receptions, and live as you do when I am there; that is my wish. Perhaps I shall join yon there without delay; but yon must give up the plan of travelling three hun- dred Leagues ai this season, through hostile countries, in the rear of the army. Be suit thai it is more painful to me than to you to postpone for a few weeks the pleasure of seeing you; but this is com- manded by events and the state of affairs. Good by, my dear, be happj and brave." The next day he wrote again on the same subject: "I have yours of the 27th, with those of Hortense and M. Napoleon en- closed. I have asked you to go back to Paris: the m is too had, the roads too insecure and detesta- ble, the distance too great for me to allow you to come so far to me when my affairs detain me. It would take you at least a month to get here. You would be sick when you got here, and then, perhaps, you would have to start back; it would be madness. Your sojourn at Mayence is too dull. Paris calls for you; go there; that is my desire. I am more disap- pointed than you: but we must how to circum- stances." [n a letter of January 11, he says : "I see very few people here."' But he saw the Polish lady, and that was enough. Josephine, who suspected a rival, was in despair. Her husband wrote to console her, January 16: "I have received yours of January 5. All that you say of your disappointment saddens me. Why these tears and lamentations'/ Have you not more courage? THE EMPRESS AT MA Y I \< l . 241 I shall soon Beeyou; do qoI doubt my feelings, and it' you wish i" 1»- still dearer to me, Bhow character and Btrength of soul. I am humiliated to think that my wife can doubl my destinies. Good by, my dear, I Love you and Long t<> Bee pou, and want to hear thai ymi arc contented and happy." In another Letter, January L8, Napoleon tried to cheer u\> Josephine, who was even more anxious and uneasy : " I tear yon are unhappy about our separation which must Last some weeks yet, and about returning to Paris. T beg of you to have more courage. I hear that you arc always crying. Pie, that is \r\y had! Your letter of January 7 gives me much pain. Be worthy of me and show more character. Make a proper appearance at Paris, and above all. he contented. I am very well, and I Love you much : but if you are always in tears. T shall think you have no courage and no character. I do not love cowards j an Empress ought to have some spirit." Napoleon's will was not to be altered. Josephine Was forced to Leave her daughter and to return to Pa is. Her husband wrote to her from Warsaw : •• I have your letter of Januarj 10. It is impossible for me to let women undertake such a journey : bad roads, unsafe, and a slough of mud. Go back to Paris; be happy and contented there; perhaps I shall be there soon. I Laugh at what you say, that you married to be with your husband. I had thought in my igno- rance that the wife was created tor the husband, the husband for the country, the family, and glory. For- 242 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. give my ignorance. Good by, my dear, believe that I regret thai I cannot have you come. Say to your- self, * It is a proof how dear I am bo him.'" All these fine words could not console Josephine, who knew from experience thai Napoleon, like many unfaithful husbands, had a smooth tongue when he needed Eor- giveness. In vain she had waited four months at Mayence for permission to rejoin her husband. She at last found herself obliged to leave this town where she had do other pleasure than the sight of her daughter and her grandchildren, from whom she parted with pain. January 27 she was at Strassburg, and the 31st, at Paris. XXI. T 1 1 1 : RETURN OF THE BMPBESS TO PAEIB. TIM". ]jnj)iw> Josephine was much loved in France, ami especially in Paris, where her gen- tleness, amiability, ami greal kindliness had won for her ;t!l sympathies, even those of people \\1h> were hostile to the Emperor. Hit return to the capital was greeted with pleasure, and her presence awak- ened it from its previous gloom. The Moniteur thus describes her passage through the chief town of the departmeni of the Lower Rhine. "Strassburg, Jan- uary -o, lsuT. I Iff .Majesty the Empress and Queen arrived within our walls yesterday, the 27th, on her way from Mayence to Paris. Her Majesty having consented to notify the Counsellor of State, Prefect Shée, that she would accept a modest entertainment, this n. '«s spread lively joy throughout this city. This proof of the Empress's kindness, accompanied by the gracious memory she wished to testify for the people of Strassburg, made the preparations for this impromptu evenl easy, and in spite of the brief time between the announcement and the arrival of Her Majesty, a Qumeroua ami brilliant company was soon 244 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. assembled ai the Prefecture. The hall was elegantly decorated; the emblems and mottoes recalled the object of the festivity. After a square dance and a waltz, Her Majesty passed through the company, addressing a kind word to every lady present." Tlie next day, January 28, at seven in the morning, the Empress started, amid cries of " Long live Joseph- ine!" She reached the Tuileries January 31, at eight in the evening. The next day, at noon, guns were fired at the Invalides, to announce her return. The great bodies of the slate solicited the honor of offering her their homages. She was a little tired by her journey, and was unable to receive them till February 5. At this reception she was the object of almost as much flattery as was the Emperor. We quote a few of the phrases : — 31. Momje. President of the Senate: '-Madame, the Senate lays at the feet of Your Imperial and Royal Majesty the tribute of its profound respect and tin' homage of the administration with which it is ani- mated for all your virtues. ... It congratulates itself on seeing again, in the capital, the august spouse to whom our adored ruler has given all his confidence and who deserves it in so many ways." M. de Fontanes, President of the Legislative Body: "Half of our wishes are granted. The presence of Your Majesty will make us attend less impatiently another return that the French desire with you. . . . Paris consoles itself for not seeing him who gives RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 245 such glory to the throne, by finding in you her who has always lent to Sovereignty so much charm, so much gentleness and kindness." M. Fabre, President of the Tribunal: "Madame, your return has aroused the keenest joy. The mem- ory of thai delicate kindness which knew how to temper so many woes; of thai active beneficence which repaired bo many misfortunes, is imprinted on every heart. Every one says: 'Providence in giving to us the hero, whose vasi designs are crowned with the most constant ami [prompt success, desired to complete his kindness, by placing near him her to whom every stricken heart turns, who is the most agreeable object of gratitude, ami who, moreover, throughout France is called the friend of misfortune.'" }T. Lejeas, First Vicar- General of the Chapter of Notre Dame (speaking in the place of the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, who was ill): "Madame, His Eminence tic Archbishop, our worthy prelate, has commanded me to convey to Your Imperial ami Royal Majesty his regrets at not being able himself to preseni to you the chapter ami clergy of Paris. ■<• .' that venerable old man said to me. -ami as- sure the benevolent Empress from me that I thor- oughly share the joy which every one feels at her return. Tell her that never a momeni passes that I do not address to Heaven the mosi ferveni prayers for the happiness of Prance ami of our invincible Emperor, ami for the success of his arms. The bold has deigned to grani my prayers; in a very short ■2U\ COUBT OF THE EMPBES8 JOSEPHINE. time astounding prodigies have been wrought by Napoleon, and I offer my thanks. " The chapter and the clergy of Paris pray for Four Majesty to be Bure that their feelings Eor your Bacred person and for that of your august husband are like those of His Eminence." The Prefect of the Seine: "You are Ear from the Emperor, Madame, but Paris, too, is Ear from him. Well, to mitigate this separation, equally painful Eor Paris and for Your Majesty, Paris and Your Majesty will talk to one another much about the Emperor. You will take pleasure in hearing thai his subjects < >f the good city of Paris are ever faithful to him; that they are prepared Eor every act of devotion which may be demanded by his glory, the honor of the Em- pire, and the resolution he has formed of not laying down his arms until he lias assured the peace of nations. You will take pleasure in seeing us follow in thought, even to the most distant climes, his ever victorious eagles. In short, Madame, at every exploit of the Grand Army, you will be glad to hear the loud applause which we have often wished could reach you, even in the camps of the founder of the Empire, and then touched by the sincerity of our prayers, you will deign to listen to them, and sometimes even to be their interpreter." In spite of these official flatteries, and more or less interested compliments, the Empress was far from happy. Possibly she imagined that soon, even in her lifetime, the same homage would be addressed by the RETURN OF THE EMPBEB8 TO PARIS. -17 Bame persons, in the same palace, to another woman. Besides this, however, she had many causes for dis- tress. She suffered from the absence of her children, from her daughter's domestic unhappiness, f rom the Emperor's remoteness, his infidelities in Poland, from the dangers threatening him in this relentless and 'lis- tant war. She wrote to her daughter February 3: ••I got here, dear Hortense, the evening of the : '>1m. as I expected. M\ journey was pleasant, if I can call it -i when it separated me further from the Emperor. 1 have receive»! live letters from him since my de- parture. I need to hear from you qow that you are n<> Longer witli me to console me. Tell me how you are; write to me about your husband and children. Although I >ee more people here than at Mayence, I am quite as lonely, and you will Beem to 1"' with me if you write. Good by, my dear, I Love you t«n- derly." Josephine yearned all the more eagerly for happiness as a mother, because as wife she suffi cruelly, and the torments of jealousy were added to her grief at the Emperor's absence. To one of the last letters his wife had written from Mayence Napoleon answered in an undated Letter which she received in Paris: "Mj dear, your let- ter of January 20, lias pained me much; it is too Bad. Thai is the result of excessive piety ! You tell me that your happiness make-, your glory. Thai is ungenerous; you oughl to say, the happiness »>f others makes my glory. It is nol Like a mother; you ought to say, the happiness of my ohildren is my 248 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. glory. It is not like a wife; you ought to say, my husband's happiness makes my glory. Now, since the Dation, your husband, your children cannot bo happy without a little glory, you should not despise it. Josephine, you have a good heart, but a weak head; your feelings are most admirable; you reason less well. But thai is enough squabbling; I want yon to be merry, content with your Lot, and to obey, not grumbling and crying, but cheerfully and happily. Good by, my dear. I'm off to-night, to inspect my outposts." It must be confessed that to be as merry as the Emperor demanded, Josephine would have needed a very exceptional character. Her husband was at the other end of Europe, never interrupting the intense emotions and -real risks of a colossi struggle except for brief distractions, which, how- ever, could not be agreeable, so suspicious and jealous as she was. Constant, the Emperor's valet de chambre, has recounted in his Memoirs, the passion with which a beautiful Polish lady inspired his master, early in 1807. Napoleon spent the whole month of January at Warsaw in a great palace. The Polish nobility gave him magnificent balls, and ;it one .if them he noticed a young woman of twenty-two, Madame V.. who hail recently married an old nobleman, a most worthy man of stern principles mid severe nature. By the side of her aged husband, this young woman, whose sadness and melancholy only added to her beauty, was like a victim in waiting for a consoler. RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 249 She was a charming pers with light hair, blue eyes, a brilliant complexion, a graceful figure, and dignified carriage. The Emperor «rent up to her, addressed her, and was soon delighted 1>\ her con- versation. He imagined thai she was unhappily mar- ried and he at once conceived a warm Love for her, intenser and far more serious than any lie had ever felt for one of his favorites. The next day he was noticeably restless. He would gei up and walk about, then sit down only to gei on his feet again. "I thought/' Constant goes on. ••that I should never get him dressed that day. Immediately after break- East he despatched a great personage, whose name I shall not give, to pay a visit to Madain.- \\. and «any his regards and entreaties. She proudly refused to Listen to his propositions, possibly on account of their suddenness, or, it may be, by natural coquetry. Tim hero had pleased her; the thought of having a lover resplendent with power and glory fascinated her, l»nt .sin- hail no idea of yielding without a struggle. Tin' grand personage returned in great surprise ami com- '"ii at tin- failure of his negotiation." 1 onstant says that he found his master the next morning verj busy. The Emperor had written many Letters tin- previous evening to the Polish lady, who had made no reply. ||i> pride was uminded 1>\ a resistance to which he had not been accustomed since lie had become great. At Last, however, he had Written SO many, and such aident and touching Letters, that she consented to \isit him one evening 250 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. between ten and eleven. The grand personage who had tried t<> make the negotiations, was ordered to go in a remote spot and receive the lady in a carriage. Napoleon paced the room while awaiting her, betray- ing emotion and impatience. "At last Madame. V. arrived," says Constant, whose master kepi asking him what time it was. " sin- was in a most pitiable condition, pale, silent, lier eves full of tears. As soon as Bhe appeared, I led her to the Emperor's room. she could scarcely stand and she was trembling as she leaned on my arm. Then I withdrew with the ; personage who had brought her. During her interview with the Emperor, Madame Y. wept and sol ihed so that I could overhear her even at a greal distance. At about two in the morning, the Emperor called me. I went to him and saw Madame Y. going away, with her handkerchief at her eyes, weeping freely. The same personage carried her away. I thought she would never come back." But, contrary to his expectations. Madame Y. came back two or three days later at about the same hour; Bhe seemed calmer, her eyes were less red. her face not so pale, and she continued her visits during the Emperor's stay. Evidently Josephine had good grounds for jealousy. Napoleon Interrupted these distractions by going forth to fighl the battle of Eylau, one of the bloodiest and most obstinate combats known to history. He described it in two letters to the Empress, written in the same day. This Is the first : — RETURN OF mi: EMPBE88 TO PARI8. 251 " Eylau, February 9, L803, 3 a.m. Mt Deab: We had a greal battle yesterday. F was victorious, hut our loss was heavy; thai of the enemy, which was even greater, is no consolation for me. I write you these few lines myself, though I am very tired, to tell you that I am well and love you. Ever yours." This is the second : — "Eylau, February '.', 6 p.m. T write ;i word lesl you should be anxious. The evening losi the battle : forty cannon, ten flags, twelve thousand prisoners, Buffering horribly. I lost sixteen hundred killed and three to four thousand wounded. Your cousin, Tascher, La unhurt. I have placed him on my stall' as artillery officer. Corbineau was killed by a shell. I was exceedingly attached to him; he was an excel- lent officer, and I am deeply distressed. My Horse Guard covered itself with glory. D'Allemagne is dangerously wounded. Good by, my dear." The Emperor did qoI tell everything to Josephine; he said nothing about the terrible vicissitudes of the battle, a victory scarcely to be distinguished from a defeat; he kept silence aboul the cruel suffering his army which, without having eaten, had fought amid blinding snow beneath a leaden sky ; he said no word aboul the regiments destroyed, one in particu- lar, from coloml t.. drummers, all killed or wounded ; lie did not mention his own danger in the cemetery ou the hill, where he had stood surrounded l»v his Guard, his lasl resource, anxiously watching the 252 COURT OF THE EMPRE88 JOSEPHINE. fight from its beginning, slashing the snow with his whip, and exclaiming at the approach of the Russian Grenadiers as they advanced towards him, k * What audacity ! " He did not say that after the terrible and fruitless bloodshed, which both armies claimed as a victory, he had been obliged to withdraw, and that Bennigsen had taken possession of the hotly dis- puted battle-field. He did not say what he was about to say in his bulletins : " Imagine, on a space a league square, nine or ten thousand corpses ; four or five thousand dead horses ; lines of Russian knapsacks ; fragments of guns and sabres; the earth covered with bullets, shells, supplies; twenty-four cannon sur- rounded by their artillery-men, slain just as they were trying to take their guns away; and all that in plain- est relief on the stretch of snow." He did not quote the words he uttered in the biting frost, in face of thousands of dead and dying, when the gloomy day was sinking into a night of anguish: "This sight is one to fill rulers with a love of peace and a horror of war." No; the Emperor did not tell her everything. In another letter, dated Eylau, February 11, 3 a.m., the Emperor tried to reassure the Empress: "I send you a line ; you must have been very anxious. I fought the enemy on a memorable day which cost me many brave men. The bad weather drove me into winter quarters. Do not distress yourself, I beg of you ; it will all be over soon, and my delight at seeing you once mort; will soon make me forget my fatigue. Besides, I have never been better. Little RETURN OF THE EMPRE8& TO PARIS. 253 Taacher, of the fourth of the line, did well ; and he hud a hard experience. I have given him a place near me, in thr artillery^ bo Ins troubles air over. The young man interests me. Good by, my dear; a thousand kisses." From this momenl the Emperor's letters to his wife became cold, short, dull, ami utterly insignificant : Bpeaking of nothing In it the rain, or the good weather, and perpetually bidding her t<> be cheerful. A clear- witted person ought to set- readily that Napoleon, who was otherwise occupied, wrote to the Empress only from a sense of duty. Here arc four letters; the first from Landslide, the other three from Liebstadt. February 18: "I write a line. I am well. I am busy putting the army into winter quarters. It is raining and thawing like April. We have not yet had a cold day. Good by, my dear. Yours ever." February 20: "I write a line that you may not he anxious. My health is good, and everything is in good con- dition. I have put the army into winter quarters. It is a curious season, freezing and thawing, damp and changeable. Good by,mydear." February 21: "I have yours of Fehruary i, and am glad to hear that you arc well. Paris will give you cheerfulness and rest ; the return to your usual habits will restore your health. I am wonderfully well. The weather and the country are wretched. Everything is in good condition; ii freezes and thaws every day: it i- a most singular winter. Good by, my dear. I think of you, and am anxious to hear that you aie ton- 254 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. tented, cheerful, and happy. Ever yours." Feb- ruary 22 : kw I have your letter of the 8th. I am glad to hear that you have been to the Opera, and that you mean to receive every week. Go to the theatre occa- sionally, and always sit in the grand box. I am pleased with the festivities given to you. I am very well. The weather continues unsettled, freezing and thawing. I have put the army into winter quarters to rest it. Don't be sad, and believe that I love you." Towards the end of February Napoleon had estab- lished his headquarters at Osterode, where he lived in a sort of barn, from which he governed his Empire and controlled Europe. He wrote to his brother Joseph, March 1, about the sufferings of this severe campaign in Poland. k * The staff-officers have not taken off their clothes for two months, and some not for four. I have myself been a fortnight without taking off my boots. . . . We are deep in the snow and mud, without wine, brandy, or bread, living on meat and potatoes, making long marches and counter- marches, without any comforts, and generally fight- ing with the bayonets under grape-shot ; the wounded have to be carried in open sleighs for fifty leagues. . . . We are making war in all its excitement and horror." It is easy to see that Josephine, who knew all this, had good grounds for anxiet} r . Paris was empty and gloomy ; every face was sad. France is easily tired of everything, even of glory. The audi- tors of the Council of State, who were sent to Osterode to carry to the Emperor the reports of the different RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 255 ministers, returned to Paris in deep distress at the Bights they had seen, and spread alarm m official circles. Napoleon consequently decided thai those reports should be brought to him by staff-officers, who were more inured to scenes of distress. From headquarters ai Osterode the Emperor sent eleven letters to the Empress between February 23 and April 1, 1807, but lie said nothing of importance in them. Thus: "Try to pass your time agreeably ; don't be anxious. I am in a wretched village where I shall be some time; it's not so pleasant as a large city. I tell you again. I have never been 80 well: you will find me much stouter. ... I have ordered what you want for Malmaison; be happy and cheer- ful; that's what I desire. I am waiting for good weather, which must come soon. I love you, and want to hear that you are contented and cheerful. You will hear a erood deal of nonsense about the battle of Eylau; the bulletin tells everything; ii^ report of the losses is rather exaggerated than em down." At the same time' he somewhat reproved his wife: "I am sorry to hear that there is a renewal o( the mischievous talk such as there was in your draw- ing-room at Mayence; put a stop, to it. I shall be much annoyed if you don't iind some elite. Voit let yourself lie distressed by the talk of people who ought to cheer you up. I recommend to you a little firmness, and to learn how to put everybody in his place. My dear, you must uot 'j;^ to the small theatres in private boxes; it does not suit your rank,- 256 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. you ought to go «»iil\ to the four large theatres and always Bit in the Imperial box. [f you want to please me, you must live as you did when I was in Paris. Thru you tli'l DOt gO to the small theatres or sueli places. You ought always to go to the Imperial DOX. For your life at home, you must have regular recep- tions; that is the only way of winning my approval Greatness has its inconveniences. An Empress can't go about everywhere like a commoner." The greatness which the Emperor spoke about was no consolation to Josephine. She was unhappier beneath the gilded ceilings of the Tuileries than a peasant woman in a hovel. She besought her hus- band to let her join him in Poland, and wrote to him despairing letters. Napoleon answered from Osterode, March -7: u My dear, I am much pained by your letters. You must not die: you are well and have no real Cause of grief. I think you ought to go to ^aint Cloud in May, hut you ought to spend April in Paris. . . • You must not think of travelling this summer; all that is impossible. You couldn't be racing through inns ami camps. I am as anxious as pOU eau he to see \ on ami he quiet. I understand other things than war; but duty is before everything. All my life I have sacrificed everything — peace, in- terest, happiness — to my destiny." These phrases in no way consoled Josephine who knew very well that her husband, in spite of his assumption of Spartan austerity, occasionally indulged in distractions. RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. In the month of March something occurred which Bomewhat moderated the Empress's sufferings. Her daughter-in-law, the Vice-Queen of Ctaly, gave birth at Mil, m. on the 1 Ttli, to a daughter who was named Josephine Maximilienne Augusta. She it was who was to many, in 1 827, ( >scar, ( Jrown Prince and Later King of Sweden. "You will Lear with pleasure," the Empress wrote Queen Elortense, "of the Prim Augusta's happy delivery, Eugene is delighted with his daughter; his only complaint is that Bhe sli too much, so that he can't see her as much as he would like." Josephine would gladly have gone to M m to congratulate her son and to kiss her grand- daughter, but her grandeur kept her in Paris, \\ ! the prolongation of her husband's absence and the torments of too well justified jealousy plunged her into the deepest gloom. Napoleon became tired of the monotonous and ex- ively disagreeable stay at Osterode, where he could not receive the Polish Lady to whom he became continually more and more attached. Early in April he installed himself at Pinkenstein, in a pretty castle belonging to a Prussian crown official, and there he was very comfortably quartered with his staff and military household. It was from thence that he wrote, April ii. the following short letter to Josephine : ■• My dear, I Bend you a line. I have jnst moved my headquarters to a very pretty castle, like that of B here I have a number of open firepla which is very pleasant for me, as I gel up often in the J.".- COURT OF i m: EMPRE8S J08EPSINS. night : I Like to Bee the fire. My health La perfect : the weather is fine, but still cold. The thermometer is hut a few degrees from breezing. Good by, my dear. Everyours." Ajssoonaa Napoleon was settled in this castle his first thought was to send f<>r the Polish lady, for whom he had fitted up an apartment near his own. She Left at Warsaw her old husband, who never consented to see her again, and Bpent three weeks with the Emperor. " They took all their meals together," says Constant. "I was the only one in attendance, bo I was able to overhear their talk which was always amiable, lively, and eager on the part of the Emperor, always tender, affectionate and melan- choly on the part of Madame V. When His Majesty was away Madame V. Bpent all her time in reading or looking through the blinds of the Emperor's room at the parades and drills going on in the courtyard of the castle, whieli he often directed in person." Con- stant, who felt hound to admire his master's choice, adds with some feeling: "The Emperor appeared to appreciate perfectly the interesting qualities of this angelic woman, whose gentle, unselfish character Left on me an impression that can never fade. . . . Her life, Like her nature, was calm and uniform. Her character fascinated the Emperor and hound him down to her."' This loving idyl, a sort of interlude in the dy of war, may have suited ( 'miMaufs taste, hut it was hardly of a nature to please Josephine, who, like most jealous people, knew almost always what she wanted to know, and from the Tuileries found i:i:ni:\ OF THE EMPBS8S TO PABI8. 259 m- mus to Watch what. was going "ii in this distant le. Napoleon's letters to Josephine during the reign of Madam.- V. were Bhortei and more Btupid than usual. They were merely a few lines on the weather, the Emperor's health, or his desire to hear that his wife was " cheerful and happy." But, alas! cheerful] and happiness were not for her! Too astute to be hoodwinked, she understood that her husband still had a friendly feeling t'"!- her but that his love was d.-ad. In thi ■!' a jealous woman, friendship is a slight thing. What does she care for the esteem and attentions of a friend who was once her lover? To all thr rices ni' friendship she would a thousand times prefer the anger, fury, violence, of love. xxir. THE DEATH OF THE FOUNG NAPOLEON. QUEEN IK >RTENSE was do happierin her Hol- land palaces than was the Empress in tin- Tuil- eries. She had to endure all the grief, deception, and misery of an ill-assorted marriage. The incompatibil- ity of disposition which existed between her husband and herself from the first days of their married life, made itself continually more felt. King Louis blamed his wife no! merely for her faults, but also for her good qualities. He was sometimes annoyed because Bhe was gracious, amiable, charming : and the general sympathy slit- aroused in Holland, as in Prance, excited the fears of this irritable and sullen husband. Hortense looked upon herself as a victim. She had a lively imagination, and exaggerated her grief to herself, suffering more keenly on account of her excitement, which was often very great. One day she said to Madame de Rémusat, her intimate and admiring friend, that her life was bo painful and apparently so hopeless that when she was at one of her villas near the Bea, and looked out <>n the ocean where were the English fleets blockading her ports, 260 VEA I U OF I III' TOD VG \ [POLEON. 261 > 1 1 « • wished that chance might bring a Bhip to where she was. ami she might be carried off a prisoner. I conjugal infelicities of Louis ami his wife attracted tin' attention of the Emperor, who kepi as Btricl a guard over hia family as over hia Empire, ami was a- prompt t,. exercise control in private, as in political matters. He wanted his brother to obey him, both as King ami husband, ami in his discontent g his orders disobeyed, he wrote to him. from the depths of Poland, April I. 1 VI| 7. this reproachful letter, which is a real reprimand: "Your quarrels with the Queen have become public. Show. then, in private life some of that paternal ami effeminate character which you display in matters of govern- ment, ami in business the same rigor you exercise in your household. You treat a young woman as we treat a regiment. . . . You have an excellent and most virtuous wife and you make her unhappy, her dance as much as Bhe pleases; she is young. My wife is forty 5 1 wrote to her from the battle-field to U r o to a hall. And you want a young woman of twenty, who sees her life flitting, and has every illu- sion, to live in a cloister, or to he always washing her baby like ,i nurse. You arc too much you in your household, and not enough in your administra- tion. I should not say all this t.. you except for the intercut I have for you. Make the mother "f your children happy: you have one way to do this: that is. by showing her esteem and confidence. Unfortunately your wifi ■ virtuous; if you 262 COURT OF I Hi: EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. had married a coquette Bhe would Lead you by the end of your nose. Bui you have a proud wife who is afflicted and distressed by the mere thought thai you may have a bad opinioD of her. Sou ought to have married any one of a number of women whom I know in Paris : she would have had no difficulty in getting ahead of you and would have kept you at her feet. It is not my fault, I have often told your wife bo." Tims tin- Emperor, by taking part in behalf of his daughter-in-law and against his brother, took a posi- tion as arbiter in their domestic quarrels. This inter- ference was all the more galling to Louis, — who would have liked to be master in both his own king- dom and in his own house, — that calumny, as he well knew, persisted in representing the Emperor as his rival in Eortense's love, and as the father of the Clown Prince. * This child was named Napoleon Charles. He was born in Paris, October 10,1802. His grandmother, Josephine, nourished the hope that some day he might be heir to the Empire, and Bhe regarded his birth as a pledge of final reconciliation between the Bona- partes and the Beauharnaises. She believed that his cradle saved her from divorce. The Emperor, who always liked children, was especially fond of his nepln-w. He watched his growth with the keenest interest, admiring his amiability, his precocity, his excellent disposition. The hoy was really remarka- ble for intelligence and beauty. His large blue eyes reflected every mood of his mind. Good, loving, DE I /// OF ME TOI VG \ IPOLEO V. 263 frank, and merry, he needed only to appear and all Badness was banished. I lis mother had brought him up t<> revere the Emperor. Mis father, the Kong, gave him new toys every «lay, choosing those he thought most attractive. The boy preferred those he received from his uncle, and when his father said, w Bu1 just Bee, Napoleon, those are ugly; mine are prettier." "No," said the young Prince, " those are very pretty, my uncle gave them to me." One morn- ing «'ii his way to see the Emperor, he passed through a drawing-room where happened to he among others, Murat. thru Grand Duke of Berg. The young Napo- leon walked straight ahead without paying attention to any one, and when Mural stopped him and said, "Don't you mean to Bay good-morning to me?" the child replied, "No; not before my uncle the Em- peror." Who knows? if this little Prince had lived the Emperor might have desired no other heir, and perhaps the divorce would never have taken place. This boy was his mother's hope and pride, her joy and consolation. His father, too, Loved him much. He was a light in the darkness, a rainbow after the storm. Sometimes when his parents were quar- relling he succeeded in reconciling them. He used to take his father by the hand, who gladly Lei himself be Led by this little angel, and thru he would say in a caressing tone: w, Kis> her, papa, I beg of you"j thru he was perfectly happy when his father and mother exchanged a kiss of pe The Little Prince had .1 Budden attack of croup in 264 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. the night o£ May 4. l s my I - 1 by, my dear." 17 an Imposing ceremony took place in Paris — the carrying of the sword of Frederick the Great to the Tuileries. A triumphal chariot, richly decorated, carried tin- one hundred and eighty flags captured in the Last campaign. Marshal Moncey, on horseback, held tin- hero's sword. Tin 1 chariot proceeded to the iron gate of the [nvalides, which it was ton Lofty t « » under. Then tin- veterans came to take tin- flags ami tn rairy them into the church. The ceremony began with a song of triumph. Marshal Sérurier, Governor of the Invalide-, Bpoke: "We arc hen.'." lie said, " to the number of more than nine hundred of those who Fought against tin- ^iv.n king whose war- Like .-[""ils our children have just won. At that time fortune did lmt always smile upon our valor. The fathers were no Less brave than their sons, but they had imt the game leader. Vet we can only recall with pride the words of that great man: "If I were at the head of the French people, not a cannon would be l)F..\ ill OF I m: ) '01 vg \ IP0L1 -<'»7 fired in Europe without my permission ' honorable proof of bis esteem tor the soldiers \\h<> were fighting him. Bui it was in the reign of a sovereign even greater by hi> genius, his feats, his moderation, tint tin- French people was to such a beighl power and glory. We swear Eaithfully to guard the treasure which bis Imperial and Royal Majest) has entrusted t ( > us." Then the old church echoed with cries of " We swear it ! " At this ceremony, the eloquent President of the Legislative Body, M. de Fontanes, made a fine speech full of enthusiasm for Napoleon, l>ut respectful ti> the memory of the great Frederick and to the misfortunes of his su tie closed with, a few words on the grief that the death of the Crown Prince must have caused the Emperor: "Perhaps, at this moment," he said, u the hero who has saved as is weeping in his tent at the head of three hundred thousand victorious I och, and of ;tll the confederate kings and prii who march under his banner. He weeps, and neither the trophies heaped about him, nor the glory of the twenty sceptres he holds bo firmly, which even Char- lemagne failed t<> grasp, can distract bis thoughts from the coffin of that 1><.\, whose first step, he aided with his triumphant hands, whose promising intelli- gence he hoped one <\iy to guide. Let him not for- that his domestic woes have been felt lil public calamity, and may a tender expression of the national interest bring him some Blight consolation. All our alarm for the future Ifl a more ardent e\: 268 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. simi of <>iir homage. May Fortune be satisfied with this tu ii ■ victim, and while she alwaj s favors the plans of ilic greatest of monarchs, may she aot make him pay for his glory by Bimilar misfortunes!" Doubtless the death of this young child altered the face of things. If he had lived, it would have beeu for him, and not his brother, to bear tin- name of Napoleon III., or possibly even of Napoleon II.. and apparently the destiny of the world would have been very different. Kingdoms and empires, on what does their fate depend! May 5 was to be a fatal date; the young Prince died May 5, 1807, and four- teen years later to a day his uncle was to die on the rock of Saint Helena. Will. Tin: END OF Tin: wai:. Till! Empress brought her daughter Hortense ami her grandson Napoleon Louis, a boy a Little over two, back to Paris with her, but she had not long the consolation of their presence; before the end of May Hortense was obliged t.> leave for Cauterets t<> repair her shattered health. Her mother wrote to her from Saint Cloud, May i!7 : --I have wept much Bince your departure; this separation is very painful for me, and the only thing that could enable me to bear it would lie the certainty that you arc getting some good from your trip. I have heard of you from Madame de Broc. I beg of you to thank her Eor this attention ami to ask her to write to me when you are unable. I heard news, too, of your son: he is at Laekcn. very well, and awaits the King's arrival. The Emperor has written to me again, he -liai'- our row. I needed tin-- consolation, the only on< I have received since your departure. I am always alone, every momenl recalls our loss, m\ tears q< • flowing. Good by, mj dear daughter, take of yourself for your mother's sake, who Loves you most tenderly." M9 270 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Napoleon, who forbade his wife and daughter-in- law to be gloomy, — an order more easily given than obeyed, — thought their mourning excessive. His expressions of sympathy were very singular. He wrote Erom Finkenstein to Queen rlortense, May 20, 1807 : — "Mv Daughter: Everything I hear from The 1 [ague tells me you are not reasonable. I [owever Legit- imate your grief, it should have some bounds. Do not ruin your health : seek some distractions, and remem- ber that life is so lull of dangers and evils that death is not the worst thing that can befall one." In his letter of May -[ to the Empress, the Emperor spoke of the unhappy Queen with a severity that amounted to brutality: k - Hortense is unreasonable and dues not deserve to he loved since she docs not love any one but her children. Try to calm her and do not make trouble for me. For every hopeless evil, consolation must be found.*' He wrote to her again, May 2G: '•I have your letter of the 16th. 1 am glad Hortense has gone to Laeken. 1 am sorry to hear what you say about the sort of stupor she is in. She might show courage and self-control. T can't understand why she should he sent to the haths; she could find more distractions in Paris. Control yourself; he cheerful, and keep well. My health i> excellent. Good by. 1 share your sufferings, and am sorry not to be \\ ith you." In lier hitter grief Hortense lacked courage to write to the Emperor, who was annoyed by her THE END OF THE WAB. -71 Bilenoe. "M3 dear," he wrote to Josephine, Jui '•I hear that you have arrived at Malmaison. I b un letters from you. I am vexed with Bortense; Bhe has Dot written me a word. All you tell me about her distresses me. Why could you not distract her a little? You are always in tears! I hope you will show BOme Belf-COntrol, that 1 may ii"t find you sad. I have been for two days at Dantzic; tin- weather i- tint-; I am well. I think of you more than you think of an absent man. Good by; muchlove. Forward to Bortense this letter." This is the severe epistle which Josephine was bidden to send to Bortense: — "June 2. M\ Daughter: You have not written me a word in your great and natural grief. You have forgotten everything, as if you had not still Losses to endure. I hear that you love nothing, are indifferent to everything ; this is plain from your silence. That is not right, Bortense. It is not what you promised 11-. Your son was everything for you'.' Are your mother and I nothing? Had I been at Malmaison 1 Bhould have shared your sorrow, but 1 should have wanted you to Listen to your best friends. Good by, my daughter: he cheerful; you must l.e resigned. M wife is much distressed at your condition; do not give lier further pain. Your affectionate father." It is easily seen that Buch Letters were ill adapted to allay the anguish of .m inconsolable mother mourning for her child. Josephine's Letters to her daughter Bhowed very different feeling-. The kind Empress did her best l'Tl! COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. to persuade her that the Emperor sympathized with hergrief. She wrote from Saint Cloud, June 4: "Your Letter, my dear Elortense, gives me much consolation, and what I hear from your ladies about yum- health makes me easier. The Emperor was much distressed : in every letter he tries to give me courage, but I know that this unhappy event was a great blow to him. The King arrived at Saint Leu last evening; he has sent me word that he meant to call on me to-day, and lie must leave l he boy here during his absence. You know how much I love the child, and how care- ful I shall he of him. I want the King to take the same route as you; it will be a consolation for you both to meet. All his letters since you left are full of love for you. He has too tender a heart not to be touched. Good by, my dear daughter; take care of your health; mine will improve only when I don't have to suffer for those I love." This letter shows all the kindness and gentleness of Josephine's char- acter. She was conciliating and benevolent, and did her best to smooth over Napoleon's blame and to rec- oncile Hortense with her husband. She wrote again from Saint (loud, June 11: "Your boy is very well, and amuses me a great deal ; he is so gentle; I think he has all the ways of the poor boy we mourn." Josephine understood consolation better than the Emperor. What could be more touching, more maternal, than this letter from the Empress? " Your letter moved me deeply ; I see your grief is ever fresh and I per- TEE END OF TEE WAS. 273 ceive this better by my own sufferings. We have lost what was most worthy to be loved; my bears flow as they did the first day. Those regrets are too natural to be repressed by reason, although it should moderate them. You are ooi alone in the world. You have left a husband, an interesting child, and yon are too tender i'<>r that to be strange and indiffer- ent to you. Think of lis, my dear daughter, and let this calm your natural sorrow. I rely on your love for me and mi your reasonableness. I hope that the trij) and the waters will do you good. ïour son is very well, and is charming. My health is a little better, but you know it depends on yours. Good by. Many kisses." The character of this loving mother and grand- mother manifests itself in everj one of her letters. Her style was simple and affectionate, like herself. Her letters, full of the gentlest, best, and most touch- ing feeling, might make one say, "The style is the woman." While Josephine and Hortense were weeping, Na- poléon was bringing a terrible campaign to a brilliant end. June lô he thus announced to his wife the great victory of Friedland: "My dear: I write but a word,for I am very tired; I have been bivouacking for several days. M\ children have been worthily celebrating the battle of Marengo. The battle of Friedland will be quite as famous and glorious for my people. The whole Russian army routed : eighty cannon; thirty thousand men captured or killed; 27 I COURT OF Tin: EMPBE8S JOSEPHINE. twenty-five Russian generals killed, wounded, or cap- tured; the Russian Guard wiped out; it is a worthy Bister of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena. The bulletin will tell you the rest. My losses are nol serious; I succeeded in outmanoeuvring the enemy. Be calm and contented. Good by, my dear, my horse is wait- ing." The next day he wrote another Letter to Jo- sephine: "My dear, yesterday I sent Moustache to you with oews of the battle of Friedland. Since then I Lave continued to pursue the enemy. Konigsberg, a city of eighty thousand inhabitants, is in my power. I have found there many cannon, stores, and finally sixty thousand muskets just come from England. Good by, my dear, my health is perfect, although I have a cold from the rain and cold of the bivouac. Be cheerful and contented. Ever yours." From Tilsitt Napoleon wrote to his wife, June 10: "I have sent Tascher to you to allay your anxiety. Every- thing goes on admirably here. The battle of Fried- land decided everything. The enemy is confounded. cast down, and extremely enfeebled. My health is excellent, my army superb. Good by; 1»' cheerful and contented." 15e cheerful and contented — he was always saying it. June 25, at one in the afternoon, a great sight was to be seen in the middle of the Niémen. A raft had been placed midstream in plain view from both banks of the river. All the rich stuffs that could be found in the little town of Tilsitt had been taken to make a pavilion on a part of this raft for the reception of mi: END OF i m: WAB. 275 the Emperors of Prance and Russia. From one l>;uik Napoleon embarked with Murat, Berthier, Bes- sières, Duroc, and Caulaincourl : and from the other, Alexander, with the Grand Duke Constantine, Gen- erals Bennigsen and < Juvaroff, the Prince of Labanoff, and tin 1 Count of Lieven. The two armies were drawn ap on the two banks, and the country people of the neighborhood were present to watch one of the most memorable interviews known to history. When they reached the raft, the two sovereigns, who had just been fighting bo bitterly, and had .sent bo many thousand men to death, fell into each other's arms with emotion. The same day Napoleon wrote to Josephine : " I have just Been the Emperor Alex- ander, and am much pleased with him; be is a very fine-looking, good young Emperor; he lias more in- telligence than is generally supposed. He is going to move into Tilsitt to-morrow. Good by; keep will and be contented. My health is excellent." The two monarchs became very intimate. "My dear,' 1 Xajinin.il vrrote to his wife Julj 8, " M. de Turenne will give you all the details about what is going on here; everything is moving smoothly. I think I told you that the Emperor of Russia drank to your health with great kindness. He and the King <>f Pro dine with me <\ ery day. I want you to be contented. G id h\ : much love." And Julj 6: "I have yours of June 25. I am sorry you egoistic, and that mv Buccess gives you no pleasure. The beautiful Queen of Prussia is to dine with me to-day. I am 276 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. well and anxious to see you again when fate permits. Still it will probably 1»' soon." The Queen of Prussia was our of the most beauti- ful and most brilliant women of her time. An hour after her arrival at Tilsitt, Napoleon called on her, and thai evening, when she came to dine with him, he went to the door of the house in which he lived to receive her with all respect, lint in spite (if all her efforts to modify the conditions of the peace imposed on Prussia, her gracious and obstinate endeavors were fruitless. Napoleon, July 7, thus described to Joseph- ine the dinner of the evening before to the charm- ing Queen: " My dear, the Queen of Prussia dined with me yesterday. I was obliged to refuse her some concessions she wanted me to make to her husband; but I was polite, and also kept to my plan. She is very amiable. When I see you I will give you all the details which would be too long to write now. When you read this letter, peace will have been con- cluded with Russia and Prussia, and Jerome will have been recognized as King of Westphalia with a popu- lation of three millions. This piece of news is for } T ou alone. Good by, my dear ; I want to hear that you are contented and cheerful." The story runs that the Queen of Prussia, who held a beautiful rose in her hand, offered it to Napoleon, saying with a gracious smile : "Take it. Sire, but in exchange for Magdeburg." The hero of Jena made a mistake not to make the exchange, lie did too much or too little for the Prussian monarchy. Since he could THE i:\l> OF THE WAR. 277 not or would not wipe it out, he ought to have let it live, and become a Eriendly power. vVho can tell? Perhaps his acceptance of the rose would have warded off ni;ui\ acts of vengeance, many disasters. < >n such slight things does the world's destiny depend! Josephine wrote to her daughter from Saint Cloud, July 10: "I often hear from the Emperor, who speaks a great deal about the Emperor Alexander, with whom he seems well satisfied. He sent M. de Monaco and M. de Bkfontesquiou to give me details of all they had seen. They say the first view was a magnificent sight. The two armies were on the two banks of the Niémen. The Emperor was the first to arrive at a raft built in the middle of the river; the Emperor Alexander's boat found some difficulty in approaching, which gave him a chance to speak <>f his eagerness thwarted by the stream. They tell me thai when the two Emperors kissed, wide-spread applause arose Erom both banks. What most interests me in all this -noil news is my hope of soon seeing the Emperor again. Why is this happiness troubled by .--ad memories that can never be destroyed? Your hoy w perfectly well; his complexion has entirely changed. I hope the waters will do both you and the King good; remem- ber me to him, and believe in my constanl Love." Before leaving Tilsitt, where he had Milled a (jlo- rious peace, Napoleon had the bravest soldier of the Russian Guard presented to him. and he gave him the eagle of the Legion of Honor. He gave his por- trait to Platou, the hetman of the ( lossacks, and some 278 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Baschirs gave him a concert after the custom of their country. July 0, at eleven in the morning, wearing the grand cordon of Saint Andrew, he called od the Emperor Alexander, who wore the broad ribbon of the Legion of Honor. The two sovereigns passed three hours together, then mounted their horses, and rode towards the Niémen. Then they got down and em- braced for the last time. The Czar then embarked, and Napoleon waited on the river-hank until his Dew friend had landed on the other shore. He returned to Konigsberg and from there to Dresden, whence he wrote to Josephine, July 18: "My dear, T reached here yesterday afternoon at five, very well, though I had been posting one hundred hours without stopping. I am staying with the King of Saxony, whom I like very much. I have more than half my journey to you behind me. I warn you that I may burst in on you at Saint Cloud one of these nights, like a jealous husband. Good by, my dear ; I shall be very glad to see you again. Ever yours." Napoleon spoke of jealousy. The days of the first Italian campaign were very distant. Everything had changed. It was no longer he who had to be jealous of Josephine : it was Josephine who Mas jealous of him, and with good reason. After an absence of nearly a year, the Emperor reached Saint Cloud, July 27, 1807, at six o'clock in the morning. XXIV. THE EMPEROR'S RETURN. JULY 28, 1807, the Emperor, who had arrived at Saint Cloud the day before, received the great bodies of the State. It would be hard to form an exact idea of the flatteries addressed to him. Let us quote a few taken at random. M. Séguier, First President of the Court of Appeal, said to the hero of Friedland : "Napoleon is above admiration; only- love can rise to him." The Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, speaking in the name of his clergy, was perhaps even more enthusiastic: "The God of armies," he said, "has dictated and directed all your plans; noth- ing could resist the swiftness of so many wonders. . . . Have confidence, Sire, in our zeal, and instruct the people in the submission and obedience they owe to all of Your Majesty's decrees and orders. " Tint it was Councillor of State Trochot, Prefect of the Seine, who deserves the prize in tins competition of adula- tion. Here is a fragment of his speech: "Sire, now that at last Paris receives yon once more after so long an absence and such prodigious feats, it would gladly express to you all its intense admiration, and yet it 279 280 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOBEPI1INE. can only speak to you of Its love. And. Indeed, if it tried t" contemplate in you tin- conqueror of bo many kings, the law-maker of so many peoples, the con- troller of so many events, the arbiter of so many des- tinies, how could it dare to approach Your Majesty, and in what Language could it address you? Should it speak to you of triumphs? But ran any une but a CfiBsar himself speak of what Caesar has done? of glory? but for ten years it has been impossible to speak of all you have won. Of genius? but who can speak of all the marvela yours has wrought, before which we are dumb and confounded. Sire, all these things are beyond us, and since they command admi- ration, even silence, the silence of astonishment which admiration imposes seems to 1"' our sole manner of expressing it." More had not been said to Louis XIV.. the Sun King. In allusion to the illuminations in Paris the even- ing before, the Prefect of the Seine added: "Why could not you, Sire, have been an eye-witness of the joy which the announcement of Your Majesty's re- turn spread yesterday throughout the capital of your Empire] Why could not you have heard the applause with which your faithful subjects rent the welkin during the festivity which they gave on this occasion until well into the night!" The Prefect closed by a prophecy, alas! not too accurate: "The august Emperor Napoleon will render war hetween nations impossible, and the world's happiness will from his reign." THE EMPEROR'S i:i:i URN. 281 The hero of Austerlitz, of Jena, of Friedland, then thought nothing impossible. His direct or indirect sway extended from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Vistula, from the mountains of Bohemia to the North Sea. Charlemagne was outstripped. Joseph- ine saw her husband again with joy, bul also with anxiety and terror. He returned so infatuated by his wonderful fortune, he was bo flattered and deified by his courtiers, In his whole Imperial and royal per- there was something bo formidable and majestic, that his gentle and timid wife was, as it were, dazzled by the ray- of a Bun, too brilliant for her t<> look at. Josephine had now become afraid to address him as thou, and t<> call him simply Bonaparte as she had done before. When she spoke to him. she often called him Sire. She did not dare to reproach him with his infidelities at Warsaw or the Castle of Finkenstein, or to show that Bhe noticed his atten- tions to many ladies of the court, notably to a beau- tiful Italian woman, a friend of Tallej rand's, who was one of her reader.-, and a prominent objeel of Napo- leon's attentions. She saw rising before her the vision of divorce, the phantom which had haunted her imagination since the expedition to Egypt. Fear- ful of giving her husband the slightest pretext for discontent or annoyance, -he was humbler, more sul^ missive, more obedient than ever. So Long a- the oldest son of Louis and Hoit' had lived, Josephine felt comparatively secure, be- cause Bhe knew that this hoy, a special faVOrit* 282 COURT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE, Napoleon's, was intended by his unci.' to be the heii of his Empire. But his surviving brother, the little Napoleon Louis, born October 11. 1804, did not give the Empress the same confidence. The Emperor was Less intimate with this child; li<' had not played with him as In- had done with the other; he had nol become attached to him. The little Napoleon Louis was staying with Josephine when the Emperor re- turned. She did all she could t<> make him love him. Moreover, it was not an easy thing to hold the affections <»f a man like Napoleon. Six years younger than his wife, he was but thirty-eight, and in all the flower and prime of his Caesar-like beauty. He liked to make a conquest of beauties as well as of prov- inces. The thought of resistance exasperated him. In everything he demanded success, triumph, domin- ion. The celebration of his birthday, August 15, 1807, which was accompanied with unusual pomp and splendor, was of the nature of a deification. He made Josephine share his triumph, and held her by the hand when he appeared on a balcony of the Tuileries, in the enclosure, amid the applause of the multitude assembled in the -aniens. King Jerome's marriage with the young Princess Catherine of Wurtemberg added to the animation of the already brilliant court. The annulment of the young Prince's marriage with Mise Paterson had caused Napoleon much difficulty. When this mar- riage had been contracted at Baltimore, December 8, 1803, he had been only First Consul, and Jerome, a THE EMPEROR'S BET URN, simple naval officer, was in no way under the control of the decree of the Senate, which was lain- to de- tennine the civil conditions of the new Imperial family. But in his haste to many the young and beautiful American girl, Jerome, who was but nine- teen pears old, had neglected, In spite of tin- advice of the French Consul, to demand the permission of his mother. Madame Letitia Bonaparte. This emission had not prevented the Bishop of Baltimore from cel- ebrating the marriage. Napoleon, however, regarded it as null and void. It was not till February 22, L 805, that he obtained his mother's protest, and the •JKi of the next March, by an Imperial decree, he annulled the marriage which displeased him, by his own authority. Yet, in the eyes of religion, this union still existed. The Emperor asked the Pope to pronounce it null, bul Pius VII. gave the request a formal refusal, writing in June, 1805: " It is beyond our power in the presenl state of things, to pronounce it null. If we ahould usurp an authority we do not . we Bhould lender ourselves guilty of an abuse abominable before the throne of God; and Your Majesty himself, in his justice, WOUld Manie us for pronouncing a sentence contrary to the testimony of our conscience, and t<> the invariable principles of the church. . . . That is why we earnestly hope that Your Majesty will be convinced thai the desire with which we arc always animated to Becond his so far as depends "ii us, particularly in a matte;- . v.. closely concerning his august person, has been ren- 284 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. dered idle by the absolute absence of power, and we entreat him to receive this sincere declaration as tes- timony of our really paternal affection." This was the beginning <>f the quarrel between the Pope and the Emperor. Pius VII. would not yield : but Napo- leon found greater servility in the metropolitan offi- cially of Paris; and October 6, 1806, he secured a sentence pronouncing the nullity of his brother Jerome's marriage with Miss Paterson. The King of Wurtemberg, in the hope that a close alliance with the Imperial family would strengthen his throne, and procure him accession of land and power, had prepared to give to the Emperor's young brother the hand of his daughter, Princess Catherine. As soon as the King had formed this decision, he would not listen to a word of criticism from his fam- ily, who were already accustomed never to discuss his ideas. The King of Wurtemberg was a real giant. He was so stout that a broad, deep hollow had to be cut out of his dining-table ; for otherwise he would not have been able to reach his plate. He was fond of riding, bul it was not easy to find a horse strong enough to cany his enormous weight. The horse had to be gradually accustomed to it. and to accom- plish this, the equerry who had to prepare the royal steed used to wear a hand full of lead, to which he would add new pieces every day. until he was as heavy as the King. This monarch, who was highly respected, though greatly feared, by his subjects, had some eccentricities. Thus he demanded that his TES EMPEROR'S TtETUBN. 285 wife should be up and fully dressed by seven in the morning; and insisted that at whatever hour of the day or evening if .should please him to enter her apart- ment, he should find her ready to accompany him wherever he mighl want to go. The Queen, who was his second wife, — Princess Catherine was a child by his first marriage, — was a daughter of the King of England, and consequently she was averse to Beeing her step-daughter many the brother of England's greatest enemy; but she took good care not to make any objections. The King of Wurtem- berg was Bevere to his family and to his subjects, but he was well educated, intelligent, and energetic. Napoleon set great store by him, and regarded him as a loyal and faithful ally, Jerome, who had been made King of Westphalia by the treaty of Tilsitt, was the youngest of the Emperor's brothers. He was horn at Ajaccio, Novem- ber 15, 1784, and was not yet twenty-three when he married Princess Catherine of Wurtemberg, who was nearly two years older than he, having been born Februarj -. L783. This Princess hail much charm; she was tall, handsome, her expression was noble ami kindly; she inspired every one with sympathy and respect. She was a woman remarkable for Intelli- gence, virtue, and affection. She was to he a model wife and mother. She it was who. in 1^1 I. refused to get a divorce and lo abandon an unfoitun.it.' bu8- hand, a dethroned king. She it was who wrote t" her father this admirable letter, without fear of his 286 COURT OF THE EMPBESB JOSEPHINE. anger: "Having been forced by reasons of slate to marry the King, my husband, it Las been granted me by fate to be the happiest woman in the world. I feel for my husband love, tenderness, esteem, com- bined; at this painful moment would the best of fathers desire to destroy my domestic happiness, the only sort left to me? I venture to tell yon, my dear father, you and all the family, that you do not know the King, my husband. A time will come, 1 hope, when you will be convinced that you have misjudged him and then you will always find him and me the most respectful and most loving children." She was the courageous woman, the faithful wife, the devoted mother, of whom Napoleon said at Saint Helena: "Princess Catherine of Wurtemberg has with her own hands written her name in history." Jerome's marriage was an event of great ceremony. It was first celebrated, by proxy, at Stuttgart, the Princess's brother representing the bridegroom. The Emperor sent presents to his future sister-in-law, among other things a set of diamonds worth three hundred thousand francs. A detachment from the Emperor's household and many of the Empress's ladies of the bedchamber went to the frontiers to meet the Princess. She reached the Castle of Kaincy, August 20, 1807, and there saw her betrothed for the first time, and the 21st, Napoleon received her at the Tuileries on the first step of the great staircase. As she bowed before him, he folded her in his arms, then he presented her fco the Empress, before the THE EMPEROR'S RETURN. whole court and the deputies of the new kingdom of Westphalia, who had been summoned to Paris to be presenl at the marriage of their young sovereigo with a Princess belonging to one of the oldest and most illustrious families of Germany. Saturday, August ±2, the signature of the marriage contract and the civil wedding took place at the Tuileries, in the Gallery of Diana, in présence of the Emperor, the Empress, the ladies and officers of their households and the greal personages of the Empire. M. Regnaull de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Secretary of State of the Imperial family, lead the marriage-con- tract, which was then signed by the Emperor, the Empress, the young couple, the Princes and Prin- cesses, the Prince Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, the Prince's high dignitaries of the Empire, and the witnesses of the marriage. The witnesses were, for the court of F ranee: Prince Borghese. Prince Murat. Grand Duke of Berg, and Marshal Berthier, Prince of Neufchâtel : for th" cunt of Wurtemberg: the Prince of Baden; the Prince of Nassau; and the Count of Winzingerode, the Minister tA' Wurtemberg. Prince Cambacérès, Arch- chancellor of the Empire, then received the consent of the COUple and pronounced the formula of the civil marriage. The next day, Sunday, August _■'.. 1*<>7, at eight in the evening, the religious marriage was celebrated in the tdiapel of Hie Tuileries, the galleries being filled with the diplomatic bodies, the foreign princes 288 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. and noblemen and invited guests. Tin- procession was brilliant. On entering the chapel, Napoleon gave his hand to the Princess ( latherine, and Jerome his to the Empress. The Prince Primate of the Con- federation of the Rhine, Archbishop of Regensburg, Sovereign Prince of that city, of Aschaffenburg, of Frankfort, etc., surrounded by his clergy and his court, stood at the chapel door. He gave holy water to the Emperor and the Empress, who at once went to their praying-chairs; then he gave the nuptial blessing to the young couple, while the canopy was held by the Bishop of Ghent and the Abbé of Bou- logne, the Emperor's Almoners. After the ceremony, they all went back from the chapel to the grand apartments, where followed a concert, a ballet, and a reception in the Hall of the Marshals. Twice Napoleon appeared on the balcony, showing the newly married pair the vast throng tilling the garden of the Tuileries. Unfortunately, a sudden storm prevented the display of fireworks. While the thunder was roaring and the rain pour- ing down, the Empress, at her young brother-in-law's marriage, was the prey to sad reflections. She thou'dit of the deserted American wife, who, far away, was weeping, while her husband, the father of her children, was joyfully leading another wife to the altar. Josephine doubtless thought that soon perhaps her lot would be the same as that of the unhappy Miss Paterson; that she would be sacrificed, aban- doned, repudiated in the very same way. THE EMPEBOR'S RjETUE \. 289 The Empress had another cause of grief. At the Pyrenees her daughter Hortense had become recon- ciled with Louis, and was soon to be the mother of the child afterwards known as Napoleon III. But in a few weeks the Lncongeniality of their dispositions, for a moment forgotten in their common grief, as- serted Itself anew. On their return to Paris, at tin 1 end of August, the discord between the King ami the Queen >>( Holland was as violent as ever. The King, more uneasy and suspicious than ever before, wanted to carry his wife to Holland, but tin' Queen had an aversion to the country where she had Buffered so much, and to its fatal climate. She feared that if she should return there she might lose her second son like the first. Her health was wretched; she feared that her lungs were affected. In Prance she frit that the Emperor protected her from her husband's anger. Holland seemed to her a gloomy, damp, melancholy prison, of which the Kino-, her husband, would he the jailor. Louis Bonaparte was furious at his wife's re- sistance, all the more that he was obliged to hide his feelings. Napoleon, who held his family, like his Empire, in absolute control, gave Louis, as well as his other brothers, orders which they had to obey without a word or a murmur. The King of Holland returned to his kingdom alone, his wife Btayed in France, hut in tin- gloomiesl Bpirits, with mind and body disor- dered, disenchanted aboul all human things. " From that time.** she said Later, "] understood that my mis- fortunes were beyond cure; I looked upon my lii 290 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. destroyed; I conceived a honor of grandeur, <)f a throne; I often cursed what BO many railed my good fortune; I felt lost to all enjoyment of life, shorn of all illusions, nearly dead to everything going on about me." Under other conditions, the Empress would have been delighted to have her daughter with her, but she found her so dejected, so morose, and so unhappy, that her presence was quite as much a grief as a comfort for her. These were the feelings <>f the Empress of the Freneh and of the Queen of Holland when they went to Fontainebleau with the court at the end of September, 1807. There the Emperor lived more splendidly than ever, surrounding himself with all the pomp and majesty of monarchy. XXV. THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. THE court arrived at the Palace of Fontaine- bleau September 21, 1*07, and slaved there until November 15. Napoleon felt the need of display- ing unprecedented luxury. He wanted to have the Diplomatic Corps Bend to foreign powers the account of magnificent festivities. This splendid palace, with its proud memories of the old Freiieh monarchy, was a residence that pleased him. He liked to 1"' sur- rounded by great persons, whether foreigners or Frenchmen, who rivalled one another in flattery, zeal, and homage towards him. In his opinion, fes- tivities and battles added to the glory of the throne. Desiring to be in everything first, he was yerj anxious for his court to be esteemed the most brilliant in Europe. There were various types among the guests at Fon- tainebleau. There WEB Napoleon's mother, rather Italian than French by birth, and in face and accent. She recalled the characters of antiquity, unspoiled by prosperity, austere in heT Life, simple in her taste, rigidly economical, Less from avarice than a distrust 291 292 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, of the continuance of her son's good fortune. There was the beautiful Princess Borghese, Duchess of Guastalla, more elegant, more fashionable, more attractive than ever; then Madame Murat, rich in freshness and brilliancy, not satisfied with being a French Princess and Grand Duchess <>f Berg, but yearning to be a Queen; the Queen of Holland, on the other hand, in despair at having ascended the throne, and plunged in a deep melancholy in marked contrast with the splendors surrounding her in spite of herself. Then Joseph Bonaparte's wife, the Queen of Naples, whose tastes were modest, and who pre- ferred Paris to her Italian kingdom. There were many Princes and great lords in the crowd of courtiers, the satellites of the Imperial sun. In the Gallery of Henry II. were to be distinguished a cluster of Ger- man Princes: the Grand Duke of Wiirzburg, who did not seem to sigh for his Grand Duchy of Tus- cany, finding ample consolation in singing Italian pieces, for music was his passion ; the Prince Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, Archbishop of Regensburg, Sovereign Prince of that city and of Frankfort, who, in spite of his position in the church, joined the Emperor's hunt; Prince William of Prussia, who hoped by his devotion to alleviate the troubles of his country, and to modify the demands of the hero of Jena; the Prince of Mecklenburg- Schwerin, conspicuous for his formal German polite- ness; the young Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, brother of the Queen of Prussia, less interested in THE < OUST AT FONTAIA EBLEAU. the patriotic grievances of his sister, than in his assid- uous court to tin- Empress Josephine, whose respect- ful platonic lover he was; the Prince of Baden, who, although the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Rus- sia, the King of Bavaria, and the King of Sweden, was proud tn have married a Mademoiselle de Beau- harnais, daughter of a simple Senator of the Empire, with bul one regret — that his wife did not love him enough; Jerome, the young and brilliant King of Westphalia, apparently forgetful of Elisabeth Pater- son, and full of mad love for his new wife, Princess ( !atherine of Wurtemberg. In the Gallery of Henry II. was also to be seen Murat, win», after his triumphal entry into Warsaw, thought of nothing but crowns, anxiously wondering whether he* was to be King of Poland, or of Portugal, of Spain, or of Naples. There were the high digni- taries of the Empire, the foreign ambassadors, the marshals, the ministers; M. de Talleyrand with his enormous salary, his high position as Grand Cham- berlain and Vice-Elector, his title of Prince of Bene- vento, always sparkling with the cold, sceptical, politely contemptuous wit thai distinguished those who belonged to the old régime Talleyrand, who, in the Emperor's closel possibl) spoke to him with a certain freedom, bul In the Gallery of Henry II. tnbled the other courtiers and kept a profound silence as his master drew near. Then the Counl of Ségur, (hand Master of Ceremonies, as attractive in the court of Napoleon as he had hern in that of 294 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Catherine II. as ambassador of Louis XVI.; Marshal Berthier, ft rand Master of the Horse, Vice-Constable, SovereigD Prince of Neufchâtel, as devoted to Madame Visconti as if lu- wriv a youth of twenty ; fount Tol- stoi, the brilliant ambassador of the Emperor Alex- ander; M. de Metternich, the fascinating and skilful Austrian Ambassador, conspicuous by his admiration for Princess Murat. When the Emperor entered, all eyes were turned towards him alone; about him centred all interest, all intrigues, all ambitions. lie appeared as the dispenser of fortune, the arbiter of destiny, the exceptional being on whom depended individuals, kingdoms, empires. lie filled it all with bis presence; everyone semed to live only for and by the Emperor. A smile, a word, the slightest mark of attention on his part, seemed a precious reward, a marked honor. As soon as he entered, a quiver of admiration and of terror seemed to run through the air. Every one bowed like a horse who sniffs the approach of his master; they almost prostrated themselves before him. Any one to whom he spoke, stammered, feared to reply, turned pale and red; and he, rejoicing in their embarrassment, gloried in the wide gulf he had set between himself and all other human beings. Even foreigners seemed to be his subjects. What- ever their position, whatever their coat-of-arms, by his side they were vulgar supernumeraries. His power appeared to be limitless, like his genius; and believing everything possible, looking upon himself THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 295 aa a prodigy, a living miracle, he exulted proudly and majestically in his glory. Under the second Empire, what were called the serUi of Compiègne and of Fontainebleau were much Less ceremonious than under the first. All the guests of Napoleon III. breakfasted and dined at his table, — in the morning in frock-coat, in the evening in black coat and knee breeches ; no uniforms were to be Been. Women appeared at breakfast in morning dress; they wore no especial dress at the hunt. Before dinner the Empress used to receive a few specially invited guests to drink tea. All day the Emperor left the company perfectly free. In the evening there was dancing to the music of a piano like a hand-organ, of which a chamberlain turned the handle. The Emperor was treated with great deference, but no one feared him, because his words were always marked by great affability. Napoleon [., on the Other hand, was perhaps more feared than admired. Those who were charged with organizing his enter- tainments were perfectly happy if he was silent ; for he almost never gave a word of praise and often criticised. It was ;i conspicuous and rare honor, even for Princes, to dine with him. There were besides at Fontainebleau, in 1807, several distinct tahhs: those of the I'lin.-es and PrinceSSOS of the Imperial family, who often gave grand dinners; that of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, with twenty-live places; that of the Empress's Maid of Honor, with the same number; and. finally, a Last table for all 296 COURT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. those who had received no Bpecial invitation. The Princesses paid the cost of installing themselves there oui of their own purses, while under Napoleon III., at Fontainebleau, or at Compiègne, all the ex- pends were defrayed by the Emperor, ruder the first Empire only those holding high official position were invited to the Imperial résidences: under the second, many -were invited who were famous only for their elegance. I'nder Napoleon I., where every- thing was formal, scarcely anything but tragedy was played at the court; under Napoleon III., lighter plays were often given. The hunts were very simple under the second Emperor and very magnificent under the first. In 1807 Napoleon had ordered that women who went to the coursing should wear a special costume; that of the Empress and of all the ladies of her household was of amaranthine velvet, embroidered with gold, and a cap with white feathers ; that of the Princesses, Hue for the Queen of Holland, pink for the Princess Murat, lilac for the Princess Borghese, all adorned with silver embroidery. The Emperor and all his guests wore the same hunting dress for coursing: a green coat with gold buttons and lace, 1 iieeches of white cassimere, Hessian boots without tops; for shooting, a green coat, with no other ornament than white buttons, on which were carved hunting emblems. Under the first Empire, etiquette was most rigid ; under the second, it hardly existed. At every moment of day and evening, Napoleon I. wore a twofold air as commander-in- THE COURT .IV FONTAINEBLEAU. 297 chief an, l v "7. the great general had commanded thai there Bhould be amnsement in the Palace of Fontainebleau. Pleasure was ordered, but it does not come at call. The Em- peror, accustomed to have his every wish obeyed, was surprised to Bee thai not every face was radiant. "Strange," he said, "I have gathered a good many people here al Fontainebleau; I want them to amuse themselves, I have arranged their pleasures, yet every one Beems tired and sad." The Italian songs, even when sung by the best singers, in costume and with all the scenery, produced but a feeble impression. The tragedies seemed to Induce Blumber. The little halls, or. more exactly, the Little hops in the apartment of the Maid of Honor. Madame de la Rochefoucauld, were very dull. Sometimes little games were played there; they gave a Hash of gaiety, but as soon as the Emperor appeared, every one assumed a serious, com- posed air. Might one not say once more what La- Bruyère said when Bpeaking of the court of Louis XI \\: --Who would believe that this eagerness for shows, that meals, hunts, ballets, tilting-matches, crowned so many anxieties, pains, and diverse Lnter- . so many fears and hopes, so many lively passions, and serious affairs ? " A. palace is not built for» All its formalities hang heavy on every guest; the whole of every day is spent in playing a part. Amid all these empty pleasures and hollow joys 298 COURT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. there was no lark of sorrow. It was there that the wretched Queen Hortense, spitting blood, mourning the past and dreading the future, said to Napoleon : >w Mv reputation Is tainted, my health mined, \ expect no more happiness in lit'- : banish me from your court ; if you wish, lmk me up in a convent, I desire neither throne nor fortune. Give peace to my mother, glory to Eugene, who deserves it, but let me live a calm and solitary life." She had been happier as an unknown schoolgirl at Madame Campan's, just as her mother, the Empress of the French and the Queen of Italy, must have often sighed for the island of Martinique, where she would have preferred the splash of the waves to the courtiers' murmur of obsequious flattery. Napoleon himself, at the height of human glory, had lost the peace of heart which he enjoyed in his boy- hood, and never found again. The Empress Josephine naturally held the highest place in this brilliant court of Fontainebleau, and was the object of untiring homage; few, however, sus- pected the anxieties that tormented her, so calm and happy did she appear, with a kind word and a gracious smile for every one. M. de Metternich, the Austrian Ambassador who was then at Fontainebleau, took pains to ascertain the causes of her secret sorrow, and sent the details to his government. II*' wrote to von Stadion: "In many of my previous reports I have had the honor of speaking to Your 1 excellency about the long current rumors regarding the approaching divorce of the Em- THF COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. l".»'.« peror. After circulating vaguely in the last two months, they bave become the subject of general and public discussion. It is true of these rumors, as of all not stamped out at their birth, that they rest on Borne foundation of truth, or they would be promptly silenced, if they were not directly tolerated." Then the clear-sighted ambassador reported in the same de- spatch what he had learned, thanks to his relations with persons to whom the Empress had made revelations: "Since his return from the army, the Emperor's bear- ing towards his wife has been eold ami embarrassed. He no longer lives in the same apartment with her, and many of his daily habits have undergone a change. Rumors of the Empress's divorce began at that moment to assume a more serious form: when they ched her ears she simply waited for some direct information, without Letting the Emperor see the slightest anxiety." Josephine was sorely stricken, and her sufferings were all the more intense because she had to hide them from every one, especially from her husband, and they made a marked contrast, by the irony of fate, with the pleasures and amusements that sur- rounded her. She was too clear-sighted and intelli- gent toproceed to question the Emperor, she feared light and dreaded the truth. She hesitated before the abyss that awaited her, and shuddered before the Emperor's glance. She suffered on the throne, as if it were an instrument of torture. It was then that Fouchd took some steps which doubled her anguish. 800 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. The incident is thus recounted by Prince Metternich in the despatch already cited : "One day the Minis- ter of Police visited heral Fontainebleau, and after a short preamble, told her that the public good, and, above all, the strengthening of the existing dynasty requiring- that the Emperor should have children, she ought to ask the Senate to join -with her in demanding of the Emperor a sacrifice most painful to his heart. The Empress, who was prepared for the question, asked Fouché, with great coolness, if he took this step by the Emperor's orders. 'No,' he replied; 'I speak to Your Majesty as a minister charged with a general supervision, as a private citizen, as a subject devoted to his country's glory.' ' In that case I have nothing to say to you,' interrupted the Empress; 'I regard my union with the Emperor as written in the book of Fate. I shall never discuss the matter with any one but him, and never will do anything but what he orders.'" Josephine, when she mentioned this conversation to her confidant, M. de Lavalette, who had married a Mademoiselle de Beauharnais, said to him in great perplexity : " Is it not (dear that Fouché was sent by the Emperor and that my fate is settled? Alas! To leave the throne is nothing to me. Who knows better than I do how many tears I have shed there? But to lose at the same time the man to whom I have given my besi love, that sacrifice is beyond my strength." But to return to Prince Metternich'a despatch: ••Many days passed withoul incident, when suddenly THE C0UR1 i / / "A / 1/ \ EBLEAU. the Emperor began t<> Bhare again the Empr< apartment and took a favorable moment to ask why she had been so sad for some days. The Empress then told him of her interview with Eouché. The Emperor confirmed his statement that he bad never given him any such orders. lit- added that she ought to know him well enough to be mut thai he had no need of anj go-between to manage matters with her. ami made her promise to report to him any- thing further she might hear about the matter." Josephine was not at all comforted. Napoleon's explanation was very embarrassed, and who could think that so crafty and ambitious a man as Fouché could assume the responsibility of Buch a negotiation if he supposed that therebj he exposed himself t<> his master's wrath ? The Minister of Police did not confine himself to mere Bpoken words. A few days after his interview with thr Empress, he wrote t" lui- a long hater on large paper, in which he set forth all tin- arguments he ha«l already broughl forward, to urge upon her the spontaneous sacrifice which would be the more meritorious, the more painful it was. Josephine, who received this letter in the evening, summoned ML de Rémusat at midnight to show it to him. " What shall I «In.*' she asked, '■ 1" ward off this storm?" •• Mad aim." replied the Firsl Chamberlain, "my advice is to go this very moment t" the Em- peror, if he has not gone t<» Led. or else the very first thing to-morrow morning. Remember, you must 802 ( OUST OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. Beem to have consulted no one. Make him read this letter; watch him as closely as you can; but, what- ever happens, show that you hate these roundabout methods, and teH him again that you will never listen to anything but a direct order from him." The Empress did as he said. Napoleon, to use a common expression, was "cornered." He pretended to be much surprised, and very angry : promised "to comb Fouche's head.*' and even added that if she desired lie would take away his portfolio : and to calm her he went so far as to write to the Minister of Police this letter, dated Fontainebleau, November 5,1807: — •• Monsieur Fouché: Tn the last fortnight I have heard of your foolish actions; it is time for you to put an end to them, and to stop interfering, directly or indirectly, in a matter which in uo way concerns you; that is my wish." Foiiche* was not at all disturbed by his master's reproach. lie was at heart convinced that he had not displeased him; he kept his portfolio, and was sure that the divorce, though postponed, was irre- vocably decided on by the Emperor. Josephine hail no more illusions. It was in vain that Napoleon Spoke to her kindly, and tried to console her witli kisses and even tears,- for Napoleon used to cry sometimes, — after Fouché had made his overtures she had no more peace of mind. The end of the stay at Fontainebleau was very gloomy. All became tired of this life of empty show, Till: COI i:i i / FONTAIR EBLE IU. of the perpetual constraint, of the pleasures which by dint of repetition became «lull and monotonous. Every one longed for home, to escape from this mas- ter's glances; for his presence inspired an admiration tempered with dread. The women had spent vast Bums in their dress. The men had indulged in ambi- tious plans almost always futile. The German princelings had suffered in their lordly pride and German patriotism by having to bow their heads before the formidable man whose humble vassals they were, and these men, vain of their coat-of-arms, had not seen without a secret spite the crushing .superiority of a poor Corsican gentleman. This great conqueror himself was not happy in all his Bplendor. Uthough he was no longer in love with his wife, it was not without sadness that he had seen her uneasiness and grief. Anxiety about the condi- tion of Spain, which was so fatal to him, casl a cloud on his brow. When hunting in the forest, he was often seen to lose himself in thought and to let his horse wander as he pleased. At the theatrical per- formances it was noticed that, absorbed and dis- tracted, he appeared to think less of the play than of his vast plan-. Not Long since I visited the palace and the forest of Fontainebleau, in one of those cold but bright autumn days when the half bare trees have a strange appearance, when some Leaves are as red as Mood, others as yellow as gold, and nature wears all the countless hues which defy the artist's brush. The 304 COUBT OF THE EMPHESS JOSEPHINE. forest is wonderfully beautiful with its marvellous combination of trees and rocks. All the kings of France since Louis VIT. have inhabited this palace. The holy head of Louis IX. appears there with his aureola on his head. In the gallery of Francis I., with its nymphs and fauns, amid garlands, fruits, and emblems, one recalls that King and Charles V. who entered the palace by the gilded door, and who took part in the great festival in the forest, when nymphs, fauns, and gods seemed to issue from the trunks of oaks to the sound of tambourines, and a band of maidens flung flowers before the feet of the Spanish court. One recalls, too, Catharine de' Medici with her squadron of young and brilliant amazons — Catharine de' Medici who in this palace brought forth her two sons, Francis II. and Henry III. At the end of the oval court is a dome of rich and picturesque construction, called the baptistery of Louis XIII. because that king was baptized there. Then there are the apartments of the queen mothers : Catharine de' Medici, Maria de' Medici, Anne of Austria, and those of Pius VIL, a captive at Fontainebleau. In the bedroom of the queen mothers au altar was raised where the Vicar of Christ said mass. The hangings of embroidered satin in this room were a wedding-gift from the city of Lyons to Marie Antoinette. The room is a model of luxury and elegance, and is called the Chamber of the Five Maries because it has been inhabited by five sover- eigns bearing that name, Maria de' Medici, Maria THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 305 Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Marie Louise, and Marie Amélie. It was also the Empress Eugenie's chamber. This marvellously picturesque palace of Fontaine- bleau is full of Interesting reminiscences, bu1 of all the figures it recalls, uo ligure is more impressive than that of Napoleon. There is much gorgeous fur- niture in the palace of various sorts, in the style of the renaissance, of Louis XIV., Louis XV., and Louis XVI.; hut no piece attracts more attention than the plain mahogany table on which Napoleon signed his abdication. Then how impressive is tin- hedrooni where he spent terrible nights, unable to sleep, and at last seeking in suicide a cure for his despair! Con- sider the contrast between 1807 and 1M4! .Mean- while there had been changes of face, many apostasies. "Ah ! ( 'aulaincourt, mankind, mankind ! " exclaimed the deserted Emperor. Every one lefl him, promising him a speedy return, bul no one thought of it. Fon- tainebleau became a desert. If the sound of wheels was heard, it was never of carriages arriving, hut only of carriages going away. It was at Fontainebleau that Napoleon's pride triumphed, and there thai his pride suffered its crudest humiliations. What anguish he endured, this man of destiny, in that room where he wrote: "To finish my career by signing a treaty in which I have not been able to stipulate a single gen- eral interest, nor even one moral interest, such a-- the preservation of our colonies, or the maintenance of the Legion of Honor: To sign a treaty hy which money is given to me:"' Whit anguish tore his 806 COURT OF Tin: EMPRESS J08SPBINS. mind and body when, having taken too small a dose of poison, lu- said between Ins spasms: "How hard it is to die, and it is so easy on the battle-field ! Why didn'1 I die at Arcis-sur- Aube I " Did he then recall the Bplendor of his return from Jena, from Friedland, from Tilsiti ? Did he remember the crowd of court- iers who resembled priests whose God be was? The only courtiers left were those to whom he had given neither money nor honors, the old soldiers of his guard, with their gray mustaches, who could not restrain their sobs and tears when, in the Court <>f the "White Horse, he bade them farewell, Baying, "I should like to embrace you in my arms, but let me embrace this flag which represents you." XXVI. Tin: END OF THE vi'.Ai: 1807. Wl 1 1 LE the court was still at Fontainebleau, the Empress received a piece of news, which had been kept back from her for some days, and which added materially to her Borrows. Her widowed mother, Madame Tascher de la Pagerie, whom Bhe had not Been Bince September, 1790, had died June 2, L807, at the age of seventy, in her home at Marti- nique. Josephine, who was much attached to hei mother, had done her best to persuade her to come to Prance, where Bhe would have been sine of the wannest welcome. Hut that venerable lady had per- haps chosen more wisely in preferring her modest and quiet home t>> all the splendor and excitement of an [mperial palace. From afar Bhe thought of her daughter at tin- Bummit of human happiness; near . Bhe would often have Been her sad and down- cast By n«>t approaching the throne which, at a distance, appears like a magic seat, but, t" use the Emperor's expression, is in fact only an armchair covered with velvet, Napoleon's mother-in-law waa spared the sighi of much misery, and Bhe died, a> she had lived, in peace. :»<>s roi'irr of the empress Josephine. The Emperor left for Italy November lti, lsnT, and this departure was for Josephine, already so afflicted, another source of anxiety and sadness. She would gladly have gone with him, and have seen once more Eugene and her granddaughter, who was uamed after her; bul Napoleon had decided other- wise. He was no longer unable to live without his wife, and he no longer thought with La Fontaine that absence was thegreatesl of evils. He alleged as rea- son, the inclemency of the winter, said that he should be back early in December -in fact, he did not return to the Tuileries till January 1 — and to the Empress's great despair set off without her, leaving her the prey of the liveliest anxiety, the cruelest fears. In Italy Napoleon received the same ardent flattery as in France. He reached Milan November 22, before Prince Eugene had had time to ride out to meet him. After ovations, reviews, religious ceremonies at the Cathedral, grand performances at the Scala, he went to Venice. Here he was received with all the luxury that used to he displayed at the majestic mar- riage of the doge and the Adriatic. "When he reached Fusina, he entered a gondola rowed by men in satin coats embroidered with gold. He entered the grand canal beneath an arch of triumph hct ween a double line of boats adorned with festoons and garlands. At the Venice theatre he saw a grand performance repre- senting Olympus, and then was played, amid applause, the popular air, Napoleone il grande. Ile had with THE END OF THE YEAR him in Venice his brother Joseph, King of Naples; his Bister, Elisa Bacciochi, Princess of Lucca : his step-son, Prince Eugene, Viceroy of [taly; the King and Queeo of Bavaria, the father-in-law and mother- in-law of this Prince; Murat, Grand Duke of Bi and Berthier, Prince of Neufchâtel. He Lefl Venice December 8, dining a1 Treviso. The 1ltli he was at Udine, and the 1 Itli a1 Main na. It was in this city thai he had a secret interview with his brother Lucien, with whom he wished to be reconciled, but on i absolute condition, sine qua non. It will be remembered thai Lucien, againsl the First Consul's wishes, had married Alexandrine de Bleschamps, widow of Nf. Jouberthon; who, after being a broker in Paris, had died in Saint Domingo, whither he had followed the French expedition. Napo- leon, who was anxious to marry Lucien with Queen Marie Louise, daughter of Charles IV. of Spain, and widow of Louis I.. King of Etruria, wished to annul this marriage. Bui this brillianl offer had been per- emptorily declined by the man who preferred a worn- Love to a crown. In the spring of 1804 Lucien had voluntarily lefl France to seek in Rome an asylum from his brother's Lncessanl reproaches and demands. Ili^ mother. Madame Letitia, who thor- oughly approved of him, had followed him to Rome, ami the Emperor had me1 with some difficulty in uading her to return to Paris, which Bhe only did after the coronation. M. de Méneva] went by night to fetch Lucien from 310 COUBT OF Tin: EMPBES8 JOSEPHINE. the inn where he was staying, and led him mysteri- ously to the palace which the Emperor occupied. Lucien, instead of falling in his brother's anus, greeted him coldly, with dignified reserve. Stanislas de ( lirardin, in his interesting " Journal," Las recounted the interview of the two brothers, as he heard it from Lucien himself. They Baid very much what follows : — "Well, sir, do you still hold to Madame Joubcr- thon and her son?" "Madame Jouberthon is my wife, and her son is my son." •• No, no, since it [s a marriage which I do not rec- ognize and consequently null." " I contracted it lawfully, as citizen and as Chris- tian." "The civil act was illegal, and it is known that you gave a priest twenty-five louis-d'or to persuade him to marry you." "Doubtless Your Majesty, when he invited me here, did not do BO for the purpose of paining me; if that is his intention, 1 withdraw." "I have conquered Europe, and certainly I should not flinch before you. You owe your peaceful life in Rome to my kindness: hut you are acquiring there a consideration which displeases me, and in time you will annoy me; I will order you to go away, and I will make you leave Europe." " And if I should not obey?" " I will have you arrested." Tin: i:\ D OF THE YE LB 311 "And then ?" •• I shall have you Bent to Bicêtre and then if — " " I should defy yon to commit a crime ! " •• Don't Bpeak to me in that way : don't imagine you can impose on me. J repeat, 1 have not conquered Europe to flinch before you. Leave the room." Lucien did not Leave, and Napoleon, after a few violent words, lu-. -une a Little calmer. Lucien then renewed the Btormy discussion, trying to pacify his brot I "I had qo intention of displeasing Your Majesty by Baying what Bhould Bhow the high opinion I have of the •z\<-.\\w<-^ of his soul." •• Never mind that . cast your ryes on tin' map of the world then. Join us, Lucien, and take your slian- : it will be a fine one, 1 promise you. The throne of Portugal is empty; I have declared that the King shall cease to reign. 1 will give it to you; take command of the army destined to make an easy conquest of it. and I will make you a French Prince and my Lieutenant. The daughters of your first wife shall be my nieces; I will establish them in Life. I will marry the eldest to the Prince of the Asturias; the King of Spain asks it of me as a favor; I can prove it by this Letter." "My eldesl daughter, sire is not yet thirteen; sin- i> not old enough to be married." " I thought she was older." •• In a y< ar or two. I will gladly let you dispose of her." 312 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. "Then there are no difficulties aboul the children of your first wife. You have daughters by your second wife. I will adopt them; you have a boy too; I shall not recognize him ; his mother will have an important duchy, and he can be her heir. As for you, go to Lisbon, leave your wife and your son in Rome; I will look alter them. Your ties are broken. I will find a way.' 1 " That can only be by divorce." " And why not ? That is a frank and positive way which perfectly suits me. I want to be reconciled with you, and you know the price attached to the Portuguese crown." "I see that to get it I should have to consent to make my wife a concubine, my son a bastard. Your Majesty knows me ill if he has been able to believe that the offer of a crown could tempt me to a dishon- orable action." "lie who is not for me, is against me; if you don't enter into my system, you are my enemy; and thereby I have the right of persecuting you and I shall persecute you." " I do not want to be your enemy, Sire ; I cannot become one by preserving my honor and my virtue, by refusing to give up my reputation for a throne; and that this disagreement may be unknown, let Your Majesty give me some conspicuous proof of his kindness; give me the broad ribbon of the Legion of Honor, I beg of you ! " "No; by taking my colors you would ruin your THE END 01 THE TEAR Î807. 313 reputation; it is a great thing to be opposed tome, and it is a fine part to play : you can continue it for two years without inconvenience, but then you will have to leave Europe." " Much Booner, and I shall prepare to Leave for America. Only the entreaties of my mother and Josephine have kept me here 80 long." "I don't ask that of you ; my propositions are not too unreasonable to be thought over; ponder them. with your wife, and let me know your answer within eighteen days." At the end of the interview the two brothers parted with emotion. Lucien flung himself into his brother's arms, saying that doubtless he was embracing him for the last time, and left for Rome with his head high. He was obliged to yield only OB one point, by sending to Paris his oldest daughter, Charlotte .Marie, the issue of his first marriage with Christine Boyer. (She was born at Saint Maximini in February, 1795, and in 1815 married Prince Marins Gabrielli.) But the young girl had all her father's independent spirit. lu Taris she was en- trusted to the care of her grandmother. Madame Letitia, and she spoke so severely ahoiit the Imperial family in lier letters, which were opened, that she was sent hack to her father in Rome almost as Boon as she had arrived in France. As for the idea of an annulment of the marriage or a divorce, Lucien ab- BOlutely rejected it. He preferred his wife to all the wealth, all the honors, all the kingdom- of the world. Jerome had yielded. Lucien did not yield. :',| 1 ( 0UB1 OF THE EMPRESS J08EPE1 \ / Napoleon 1 « it Mantua after his interview with his brother, and returned to Milan, where, December 17, he witnessed some oaval sports in the arena of the circus, which was turned into a lake There too, De- cember 20, in the -rand liall of the palace, he adopted Prince Eugene as his bod and declared him Ins heir t<> the crown of Italy. At the same time he issued these two decrees: " Wishing to give especial proof of our satisfaction with our good city of Venice, we have conferred, and by these letters-patent here present do confer, upon our dearly Loved son. Prince Eugene Napoleon, our heir presumptive to the crown of Italy, the title of Prince of Venice." "Wishing to give especial proof of our satisfaction with our good city of Bologna, we have conferred, and by these Letters- patent lure present do confer, the title of Princess of Bologna upon our dearly loved granddaughter, the Princess Josephine." Napoleon left .Milan. Decem- ber 24, to return to Paris by way of Turin. The Letters which the Emperor wrote to his wife during this trip were very empty and unimportant, wholly unlike those he had written in L798. Only a \'i\v need be quoted. ••Milan, November, 25, 1807. I have been here, my dear, two days. I am glad I did not bring you. Von would ha ve suffered terribly crossing Mount Cenis where a storm detained me twenty-four hours. I found Eugene very well; lam much pleased with him. The Princess is ill: I went to see her ai Monza; she lias had a miscarriage, but is improving. Good by, my dear." "Venice, No- THE A'\ D OF THE TEAR 816 vember 30, 1807. I have your letter of the 22d. I have been for two days in Venice. The weather is very bad, which has n<»i prevented my going through the Lagoons to see the differenl forts. I am glad to thai you are amusing yourself in Paris. The King of Bavaria and Ins family and tin- Princess Elisa an- also here. Alter December 2, which I shall spend here, I shall 1»' on my way back, and glad to see you. Good by,mydear." " Udine, December 11. 1807. I have your Letter of the 3d, and I see you are much pleased with the Jardin des Plantes. 1 am ai the furthest limit of my journey; it is possible that I shall 1"' soon in Paris where 1 Bhall 1»<- glad to you again. The weather has not been very cold here, but very wet. 1 have taken advantage of the Lasl fine weather of the season, for I suppose thai at Christmas the winter will be here. Good by, my dear. Ever Yours.*' During the Emperor's absence the triumphal return of the Guard broughl a slight diversion t<> the Em- press's anxiety and distress of mind. Though unhappy wilt-, she was at Leasl happy as a Frenchwoman. She, alas I had a presentimenl of divorce, but nol o1 the invasion and dismembermenl of Prance. At i November 25, the twelve thousand <>ld soldiers "i" the Guard, bronzed, covered with glorious wounds, some already gray, made their Bolemn entry into Paris. An arch of triumph, broader and higher than the Porte Sainl Mutin. h;iF THE EMPRESS J08EPHINE. The prefect welcomed the brave soldiers: "Heroes of Jena, of Kylau. of FriedlanoV' he said, " c [uerors of peace, immortal thanks are due you, for the coun- try you have conquered! Your own country will ever remember your triumphs; your names will be handed down to the remotest posterity on bronze and marble, and the story of your exploits, firing the courage of our latest descendants, will l>e recalled, and you. by the example you have set, will still pro- tect this vast Empire which you have so gloriously def ended with your valor. . . . Hail ! war-like eagles, symbols of the power of our magnanimous Emperor ; carry over all the earth, with his great name, the glory of the French name, and may the crowns with which the city of Paris has been allowed to decorate yon he everywhere a proof at once august and for- midable of the union of monarch, people, and army ! '* Marshal Bessières, who was in command, replied : " The most perfect harmony will always exist between the populace of this great city and the soldiers of the Imperial guard, and if their eagles should march again, recalling their oath to defend them to the death, they would remember that the wreaths adorn- in-- them redouble the obligation." After these two speeches the standard bearer left the ranks and bent down the Hags on which the magistrates placed golden crowns bearing this inscription: "The city of Paris to the Grand Army." Then the troops marched past in the following older: the fusiliers, the riflemen, and grenadiers, the light cavalry, the Mamelukes, dra- THE KNL OF THE TEAR 817 goons, the horse grenadiers, and the picked body of gêna des armes. While they passed beneath the arch of triumph, a large band and chorus performed a can- tata, with words by Arnault and music bj Méhnl. Passing through the dense crowds that lined the way. the guard came to the Tuileries, passing beneath the arch of the Carrousel, where the eagles were set down. Then it entered the palace garden, leaving its arms theiv. and proceeded to the Champs Elysées, where a banquet for twelve thousand men was laid. The tallies were arranged under tents on each Bide of the Champs Elysées, along their whole extent, from the Place de la Concorde to the gate de l'Etoile. The tent of the staff was in the middle, half-way up. Marshal B îsières proposed a toast to the « • i t \ of Paris, and the Prefect of the Seine one to the Emperor and King, and another to the < rrand Ann\ . The next day there were three performances in every theatre. The pit, the orchestra, and principal rows of boxes and galleries were reserved for the Imperial Guard. The opera gave The Triumph of Trajan. The Français gave Gaston and Bayard. -That historical play," said the Moniteur, "which presents bo noble and true a picture of French honor, of warlike victories, of chivalric enthusiasm, ■ -never did this tragedj have spectators better fitted to appre- ciate it."" In the minor theatres Varions plays OD the events of the day were given. The performance at the opera was magnificent : the MoniU ur described it with its usual lyrical enthusiasm : " This picked hand 318 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. of braves, who, in their swift conquests, in their (.lis- tant marches. have Been Mich diverse climates, visited bo many shores, and in so few months have seen the springs and the mouths of bo many rivers, know also the banks of the Tiber; hence in the scenery they at once recognized Rome; in the triumphal march, in the eager throng, in the vast populace, bursting through the ranks of the Roman soldiers, and flinging themselves beneath the hoofs of their horses, they Baw the touching picture of the reception they had met the day before. Their emotion baffles description. The Imperial Guard gazing at Trajan's triumph was itself an admirable spectacle." The opera was but a series of ingenious allusions to Napoleon's glory. Trajan was represented as burning, with his own hand, papers containing the secret of a conspiracy, recalling Napoleon's throwing into the fire the letters by which he could have mined M. Hatzfeld; and when the Roman Emperor appeared in his chariot, drawn by four white horses, it was not Trajan who was applauded, but Napoleon. December 14, at the Military School, Marshal Bes- sières, to celebrate the victories of the Grand Army, and to thank the city of Paris for its reception of the Imperial Guard, gave a grand entertainment which the Empress honored with her presence. The Inva- lides was brilliantly illuminated and connected with the Military School by a long row of lights. In the middle of the Champ de .Mais was a vast hemisphere, on which was a pedestal holding a colossal statue of Till I. \ D OF I Hi: TEAR 319 the Emperor, surrounded by allegoric figures. Hie trophies Bet aside for each one of the Grand Army writ- marked with the corps number. The [mperial Guard was under arms, and formed an interesting part of the spectators, and ft' the spectacle as well. Bengal fires lit up the warlike scene. The heights across the Seine were also ablaze with Lights. Tin' Empress arrived at the Military School at about eight in the evening. The entertainment began with a ballet performed by dancers from the opera. Then there were fireworks. The Champ de Mars was one sea of flame, and the Impérial Guard fired blank cartridges for half an hour. Then there was a grand ball with a tine supper; after which the dances con- tinued till morning. This worldly ami military entertainment, at which the Empress queen appeared in all her glory, may be regarded as the crowning point of her Bplendors. And here, at the end of l narrate in a final volume only the last seven years of Josephine's life. We have already recounted nearly tin- whole career of this attractive woman, <>f this justly famous sovereign. We have ibed her infancy in Martinique, in lier modest, patriarchal home, where >he was li,»ni. June 23, 1763. We have admired h'-r a- a young girl, loving flov music, and nature, beneath the char sky of the An- tilles, amid banana and orange trees, tropical ilo - and birds of paradise, where the fortune-telling said to her : " Y<>u will be a queen." W Been 320 COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. her in France, marrying, December 13, 1779, the young and brilliant Viscounl Alexandre * I « - Beauhar- oais, by whom she had une son, the Euture Viceroy of Italy, and one daughter, the Euture Queen of Hol- land. We have seen her going through that period of illusions, so well called the Golden A.ge of the Revolution, receiving in her drawingnroom in the rue de l'Université the flower of the Liberal nobility and leaders of the Constituent Assembly, then suddenly passing from the Golden to the Iron Age, shuddering at the dangers to which war, and above all the Terror exposed her husband, the general in chief of the Army of the Rhine, the leader of the democracy, rewarded for his patriotism and his devotion to the Republic by the scaffold. She herself, during her husband's captivity, was imprisoned in the Carmes April, 1704; for one hundred and eight days of inex- pressible anguish and torment, she occupied in this dungeon the Room of the Swords as it was called, because the walls still bore traces of the three swords which the men of September had leaned against them after the massacre of the one hundred and twenty priests who were in the prison. Beauharnais, the man of the old régime, who had embraced the new ideas with so much ardor, this grand lord who got himself treated like a sans-culotte, was guillotined four days before Robespierre, whose death would have saved him. His young widow left prison, reduced to ex- treme want, and took refuge with her father-in-law, at Fontainebleau; then she made her appearance in THE END OF THE TEAR I 821 the motley society which first showed itself in the drawing-room of .Madam.' Tallien, then at the Luxembourg under Barras. Rivalling Madame Tal- lica and Madame Récamier in popularity, she smiled through her tears, like Andromache in Homer. Her means becoming greater, thanks to the support of men in authority, Bhe bought in the rue Chantereine, afterwards rue de la Victoire, a Little house belonging to Talma, the tragedian. There she received with her customary courtesy the few survivors of French aristocracy who said behind well-closed doors: "Let us talk about tin' "Id court : let us take a turn at Vers OIL s." Bonaparte, commander of the Army of tin- Interior, after tin' L3th Vendémiaire, when he saved the ex- piring Convention, had just ordered the disarmament of tlic Bections and the deliver} of all arms found in private houses, when a boy of fourteen called upon him to ask to have back the sword of hi-, father, who had commanded tin- armies of the Republic. This boy was Eugene de Beauharnais, afterwards Vicero} of Italy. Bonaparte, touched by this action, received him graciously. The next day Madame de Beauhar- nais called upon him to thank him. He was much struck by her charms and proposed to herj she ac- cepted him and they were married March '•'. 1796 The Viscountess of Beauharnais became Citizeness Bonaparte. No sooner married, than the young hus- band, who was only twenty-six, tore himself from her arms and started for the armj of Italy. Then Napo- 322 GOUBT OF THE EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. Leon's Love for Josephine was much greater than hers for him. It was he \\ln> was jealous, he who wrote burning Letters; he it was who was all enthusiasm, ardor, and ablaze with passion. It was only with reluctance that Josephine decided to Leave Paris, where she was happy, but in Italy she found a real royalty. At .Milan she took possession of the Serbelloni Palace, where she did the honors most admirably and received the homage of the proud aristocracy of Milan. She followed her husband to the war, for he could oot bear to be separated from her, and one day when, beset with dangers, she was crying, he exclaimed: " Wurmser shall pay dearly for the tears he causes you." After Arcole, Madame Bonaparte resembled a sovereign. She singularly aided her husband to play the double part which was soon to carry him to the highest lank. When it was a question of repelling royalism, the young con- queror relied on men like Augereau; when it was necessary to attract men of the old régime, Josephine was the bund cf union between him and the French Or Italian a ristocraey. On her return to Paris, June 2, L798, she shared her husband's glories. The little house in the rue Chantereine became more famous than the grandest palaces. Bonaparte Left for Egypt, embarking at Toulon, May 19,1798, after taking tender leave of Josephine. During her husband's absence, she bought the estate of Malmaison, an unknown spot which soon became famous. She skilfully defended Bonaparte's inter- THE END OF THE VI. LB with the Directory, and in her drawing-room met celebrities of every kind. Bui malicious persons Boon sent to Egypthostile rumors, and her impetuous husband, wild with jealous wrath, spoke of nothing l»iit separation and divorce. He reached Paris unex- pectedly, October 16, 1799, and not finding his wife there, started off to meet her on a different road from hers, wild with jealousy. Ili> brothers, Joseph- ine's enemies, deceived him, and at first he refused to see her again : but, softened by the supplications of Eugene and Hortensede Beauharnais, he pardoned his wife and opened his door to her; she defended herself, and he let himself 1»- convinced, so that, instead of a divorce, there was a complete reconcilia- tion. Josephine was of use to her husband in the preparations for the 18th Brumaire; she helped him to lull the vigilance of the Republicans and to rise to the highest rank. Citizeness Bonaparte had become the wife of the Firel < !onsul. Like the ladies of the old régime, she was addrt — d as Madame until Bhe Bhould 1"' railed Empress, or Your Majesty. She was at the head of the Consular Court, rich in youth, glory, and hope. \- the Tuileries Bhe took possession of the apart- ments of Marie Antoinette. Ai Malmaison she en- joyed tlir pleasures of the country. The hero <>f Marengo Looked upon her a> his good angel, his good genius. Their happiness was interrupted by 1 1 1 « - infernal machine, bul this gloomy incident was soon forgotten. Under Josephine's guidant P dan 324 COUBT OF THE EMPRESS J08EPHINE. society soon resumed it-- former brilliancy. Mon- archical customs reappeared. The < loncordat effected a reconciliation of the church with the government, ;unl the wife of the First Consul, surrounded l>v a real court, heard a Te Deum in the rood-lofl of Notre Dame. At heart she was a Royalist by hermemories and her feelings, although Bhe was made by fate an Empress. The crown, so far from tempting her, filled her with fear. She yearned to descend as her husband yearned to rise. The proclamation of the Consulate for life, the prelude of the Empire, filled her with gloom and apprehension. Neither the pomp of Saint Cloud, nor the triumphal trip in Belgium, robbed her of her wise and modest ideas. She much preferred Malmaison to any splendid palace, and looked back with regret at the time when she was simply Citizeness Bonaparte. Grandeur, so far from turning her head, only made her Less ambitious. She e her husband excellent advice, which, unfortu- nately, he did not follow. Had he Listened to her, he would not have had the Duke of Enghien killed, he would have been modest in good fortune, and would have remained the first citizen of a great Republic. 1 rowned at Notre Dame by the hands of Napo- leon, Josephine played a sovereign's part with as much ease a- if she had been horn on the steps of the throne. The greatest names of the old régime fig- ured in her house. She adorned magnificent festivi- ties by her presence. In Italy, whither she accompa- THE END OF I ill TEAS 325 Died her husband, she received .1- Queen the same homage she had received as Empress. Yet, amid all this splendor, she was nut happy. The terrible wars in which Napoleon engaged filled her with anxiety. At Strassburg, during the A.usterlitz campaign, at May. 'lue during thai of Jena and that of Poland, she was a victim of the greatesl distress of mind and aervous terror. Then, too, her husband's infidelities filled her with despair. Towards the end of 1 XI| T the Bpectre of divorce arose before her. The loss of a crown would be a trifling matter, bul the sight «if another woman reigning as lawful wife over Napo- leon's lirait was a thought 1" which she could not reconcile herself. Prom that moment she knew no peace or happiness, she was like a convicted crimi- nal awaiting sentence ;tt any moment, and she had in hide her terrible grief from ivery one. She alvi imagined that in the homage paid her by force of habit, there was omething false ami ironical. She thought <>f herself only as disgraced, betrayed, repu- diated. All that was left of her crown was its mark on her 1. row. Few pea-ant women in their huts were a- thoroughly unhappy as was this sovereign in her palace. We have seen Josephine in her springtime, in her •summer; it remains for us to descril nly the autumn of this wonderful and melancholy career. This last study will he profoundly sa«l. " In the son which despoils nature," said Madame Swetchine, "there is qo breeze, no puff of air BO light that it 326 COUBT OF l m: EMPBE88 JOSEPHINE. fails to detach the leaf from the tree thai bore it. In the autumn of the hear! there is no movement thai does not cany away a happiness or a hope." The great afflictions of Josephine's later years were the divorce, the invasion, and the long agony. Driven from the Tuileries forever, she tooi refuge al .Mal- maison one rainy, cold. December night, recalling, doubtless, the starlit evenings when the conqueror of Italy sought calm and happiness in thai favorite spot. And after draining the cup of bitterness, the deserted wife exclaimed: "It sometimes seems to me as if I were dead and there was nothing left of me except a sorl of vague power of feeling that I no longer exist." She could truly say with Queen Mar- garet of Navarre: "I have borne more than my share of the weariness which is the common lot of man." A still harder trial awaited her. Napoleon was unhappy, and she was forbidden to comforl him! He was exiled, and she viras forbidden to follow him ! The Empire she had seen so magnificent she was to see conquered, invaded, dismembered. No one was to mourn the woes of her country more than she. She was to die of grief, and when. May 29, 1814, she had breathed her Last after uttering in her death agony these three words which sum up the anguish of her sold: "Napoleon! Elba! Marie Louis Mademoiselle Avrillon, the First Lady of her Bed- chamber, was to say. "I have seen the Empress Josephine's sleeplessness and her terrible dreams. T have known her to pass whole days buried in the THE END OF THE YEA \ gloomiest thought. I know what I have Been and heard, and I am sure thai grief killed her!" Was there ever a Life of greater vicissitudes? h was a career full of smiles and tears, presenting even con- trast of light and shade, of joy and grief, reproduc- ing all the splendor and all the misery that can be crowded into human existence] It was a career, as fascinating as il was strange, which could only have been Been in those pathetic and disturbed epochs, when one surprise follows another, and the actors are per- haps even more astonished than the spectators ai the shifting Bcenes and the incidents of the drama, in which events always take an unexpected turn, when men and things suffer Bhocks unknown to previous generations, and when history reads like the wildest romance. INDEX. Ahrantès, Duchess of, describes the fear caused by Napoleon, 86; de- scribes Josephine's charms, 106. mder, meeting of. with Napo- leon (.n the Niémen, '-'7 1. Almoner, Grand, the functions of, 90; oi the Empress, 102. Augusta, Princess oi Bavaria, her marriage with Bngene de Beau- harnais, 199; her appearance and character, 191. Aristocracy, Napoleon's regard for the, '.C. Ansterlitz, a consolidation of the empire, 163; the victory <>f, b>7 ; the losses of the Russians at, 169. Bacciocchi, Felix, made Prince of Lucca, 147. Baden, the Elector of, his devotion to Napoleon, 176. Baden, Print e of, Interview of, with Napoleon, 26 project <>f Ins mar- riage with Stéphanie de Beauhar- aals, 200 i ' /. ; his mother's opposition, 201; his marriage, 208. m of Horfe by the Pope, 121. ! of, his l<-tter to Talleyrand, 174. Beanharnais, Engene de, appointed Napoleon's viceroy in Italy, 146; the rumor of his in.irri.igi> with th>' Princess An Bavaria, summoned to Munich by in- appearance and character, 189; marries Au- gusta of Bavaria, 190; becomes Napoleon Eugene of Franco, p. mi adopted by Napoleon an clared heir to the crown of Italy, 314; his firsl interview with Na- poleon described, 'M. Beauharnais, Hortense de, ber beauty, 77. See .Madame Louis Bonaparte. Beanharnais, Stéphanie de, her ori- gin and character, 203; ber mar- riage to the Prince of Baden, 206. Berlin, Napoleon's entry into, 229. Bessièr es, Marshal, grand entertain- ment of, at the Invalides, .'U8. Bonaparte family, the, their pride and irritability, 5. Bonaparte, Madame Letitia, ber sagacity, 6; nol presenl at Napo- leon's coronation, -H : at Fontaine- bleau, 291. Bonaparte, Elisa, "the Semiramis of Lucca," l I s - Bonaparte, Jerome, bis marriage to .\li--s Paterson, 128, 282; the mar- riage annulled at Napoleon's order. 129 et .-'-/.. 283; Napoleon's command and is rec- onciled with him, 132 : his mar- riage with Catherine of Wiirtem- bei g, 282 ■ ' 8( 7., 286; made King of Westphalia by the treaty oi Tilaitt, 276 Bonaparte, Joseph, anxious that ■on should marry a foreign prine, M, ::i ; bis quarn 1 \\ itli Napoleon as to the dignit the Bonapartes, 82. Bonaparte, Louis, his character and his relation- with his " ; '' . 21 1 • ' 330 INDEX. srq. ; made King of Holland, 214 ; his address to Napoleon accept- ing the royaltyt 217; Installed at the Hague, 219; his jealousy and fault-finding, 280. Bonaparte, Madame Louis, ber char- acter, j!ll; her sadness at leaving France, 218 ; her nnhappinesa a~ Queen. 221 9 her oldest son, 264; her grief, 266; goes to Paris, 269; her continued infelic- ity and ill health, 289, Bonaparte, Lucien, interview of, with Napoleon at Mantua, 309; refuses in divorce his wife, 313. Brienne, Madame de, 125. Calendar, Gregorian, substituted for that of the Republic, Jan. 1, 180(3, 194. Campan, Madame, lier pupils, 77; describes Stephanie de Beauhar- nais's character, 204. Canisy, Madame de, her beautv, 77. Caprara, Cardinal, receives the cross of the Legion of Honor, 17, 136. Caroline, Qneen "f Bavaria, objects to the marriage of the Princess ista to Engene de Beauhar- nais. Catherine of "Wurtemberg, her per- son and character, 285; married to Jerome Bonaparte, 286 ■ Ceremonies, Grand Master of, his duties, 96. Chamberlain, Grand, duties of, 96; the first, of Josephine, General Nansouty, 104. Constant, Napoleon's valet, quoted, 5; relates the particulars "f Na- poli • on for the noble Polish lady, 248. Coronation, the rehearsals for, 11 ; preparations for. ai Notre I 44; the impérial procession of, 54; ceremony of, 56 - 1 seq.; fes- tivities following, 67, 70. Coronation jewels, description of, 40. Coronation robes of Napoleon and Josephine, 50, 54. Court of Napoleon, sumptuousuess of, 2; minute etiquette of, B; code of etiquette at, 88 et seq.; officers of, 90; at Fontainebleau, splendor of, 290; contrasted with that of Napoleon ill.. 295. David, bis picture of Napoleon's coronation, 34, 65. Davout, Marshal, enthusiasm of, 230. Duchatel, Madame, beauty of, 104. Equerry, Grand, functions of, 92. Etiquette at Napoleon's court, 8, 88 et seq. Eylau, the battle of, 250. Fontainebleau prepared for the re- ceptioo of Pius VII. , 34; descrip- tion of, 37. Fouche" addresses Josephine on the subject of a divorce, 300, 301. Francis II. assumes the Imperial title, 21; compelled to leave Vi- enna, 183. Frederick the Great, Napoleon's visit to his tomb, 228; ceremony of carrying his sword to the Tuileries, 266. Friedland, the victory of, 272. < tazani, Madame, 105. Genoa made a French department, 148; beautiful festival at, 149. Hatzfeld, Prince von, saved by Napoleon's clemency, 232, 321. Honor, maid of, to the Empress, 102, 103. Hortense, see Madame Louis Bona- parte. Imperial Guard, the triumphal re- turn of, 315; present at a grand entertainment, INDEX. Imperial robes, Napoleon's, . désigna the ceremonial of the coronation, 11. .1.11:1. the victory of, 226. Josephine, her court and attend- ants, 1 1 : admits to Qeneral de ir her repugnance at first to ally herself with Bonaparte, 14; the life of the Duke ol Polignac saved at ber request, 16 : Impres- sion areat •! bj ber beauty, 18; tra\ els to Id 22; her voy- age on the Rhine, 23; her solici- tude with n gard to the i tion, -".l -, hated bj the Bonapartes, .'•l ; prei ails upon tin- Pope to In- ous marria . her coronation jewels, 40; inter- cedes for Lucien Bonaparte, 16 : united t" Napoleon by < iardinal Fesch before tli<: coronation, 18; costume of, for the coronation, 50; crowned by Napoleon, B9; gold toilet -• • ■• ice presented to, by the city of Paris, 79; her table at th.- Tuileries, 84 : her house- hold described, 102; apartmenl of, 105 ; her charms and tin»' qualities, 106; her extravagance and generosity, 108; ma. If un- happy by Napoleon's gallantries, i m , shallon doss of her charac- ter, 113; ber veneration for Pius vil. 120; holds a reception at -, 126 : « î 1 1 1 -v,-, iii,. corona- tion at Milan. 138 I ( X q. : nal love ber stron 150; aooompaniea Napoleon to -bur^, 154 ; ber unhappinesa in war-time, 162; her trip through Qermany a series of ovations, 176; rlsruhe, 177 ; ber prog- •" Mini!- !i ; ; . ailing her unhappinesa 'i li' r daughter, ■ leaves Balnl < loud with Napoleon for Mayence, 223; tortured by Jealousy and deferred ho; compelled to r, turn to Pai beloved in '< . her r. cep- tion by tho great bodies of the . 244; letters of, to Bortense after th>- death of her son, 271, '.'77; her secret sorrow, 298; ap- proach) '1 i'\ Fouché on the Mil>- jeet of a .|i\ ..re, 300; ]>n • an entertainment given by Mar- shal i 319; ber reviewed, 319; ber marriage with Napoleon, 321 ; her life after, 320 • t n q. Josephine Maximillenne Augusta, s's daughter, birth of, 257. Junot : me Bonaparte in Spain. 130. I.a Bruyère quoted, 1. of tie- Palace, the, 102. Lannes, Madame, i 1 3. I.a Pagerie, Madame T.i -f the in, presented to Napoleon, 215. Marshal, < .rand, of the Palace, func- tions of, 90. Marshals of the Empire, their grand rtalnment to Na] Maximilian Joseph, Elector of irla, l"d : his hist..; -, amiable character, 181. Melito " INDEX. Metternich, Prince, on Napoleon's desire t<> bring the aristocrats to his side, IS , communicates to von Stadion the cause "f Joseph- ine's Borrow , 2 i. Milan, oelebrati <( Napoleon's coronation as Kiiu of Italy in, 138 ' in his trial, 16. Mur at, Madame, prevails on Napo- leon to make her a princi intercedes in favor of the Mar- quis 'I* 1 Eth ■ re, l * ■ . Murat, Marshal, gives a breakfast to the Princes ol « iermany before the coronation, 49. ■ be formalities of an imperial court, 9; surprised at tho leniency of Mon au a Ben- fa nee, l">; gives 1 1 1* - oath of the Legion of Honor at the Invalides, 17; condemned to uninterrupted su xsess, 18; makes a journey to the tomb of Charlemagne, 20; Burrounded by a court of German Princes, 25; his art of k him jell before the public, ^'7 ; lauded l>y the clergy, 30; an- nounces that Josephine is to be crowned, - ; i : his quarri reconciliation with Joseph Bona- parte, 33 : ui( - ts Pius VU. and Bettles the question of etiquette, 36; coronation jewels, 4. 112; his remarks on woman's position, 1 12; his regard for Pius VII.. 119 . on his way to Milan to be crowned King of Ita- ly. r_'4: revisits the scenes of his youth, 126; and the battle-field of Marengo, 128; is reconciled with Jerome Bonaparte, 128; declares to Mint de MtOitO his intention to divide Europe among his lieuten- ants, 132 : his letter to Jerome, 133; more Italian than French, 136; bad the head of a Ceesar, 135; visits Milan cathedral with Josephine, 136; the coronation at Milan, 138 et Beq.i his gaiety after the ceremony, 141; hears of the coalition against him and re- turns to Paris, 161; leaves to take command of his army, 154; his letters to Josephine, 164 ei .*•t Munich, 183; conditions imposed by, at Pressburg, 184; enters Munich, 1K4: letters summoning 1\ VEX. Prince Eugene to Municl . •m. •- the Queen of Bavaria's objectlona to the marriage <>f hex daughter to Pi Inoe Eugene, 187; letter <>( t<> tin- Princess Augusta, 191; returns to France, 192; cele- bration on his return to I 194; eulogies of his bishops, 196; :.ii"i>ts Stephanie Beauharnais, 205; makes 1 » i — family kings and princes, 210; makes ! parte King of Holland against liis will, 214; his address to the new kin^r. 218 . ace for his armies, 22 t; letters of, to Joseph- ine, 224; his habits on a cam- paign, '-"-'•"': his victory at Jena, i-its ill.' tomb ol Frederick tin- (ir<:it. 228; enters Berlin, 229; his lack of generosity toward se, _"-l ; letters of, te Josephine, 231 et s< ,. : his letter to tin- Kin,' "f Prussia, 232; ai ■ . 234; hardships of the campaign, 238; his infatuation fox .i coble Polish lady, •-'!-; de- i ti;. battle of Eylan in phine, 280; at ' Isterode, 254 ; his letters ti> Josephine, 256 et ■pends three weeks at the cattle "f Frankenstein with Ma- dame v .. 258; letter of, to Louis Bonaparte, 261 ; his affection for th.- oldest -"H of Louis, 262 ; let- ter "f. t.. 1 1 • . : 0; an- num, phine the \ i.-tory of Friedland, 273; his meeting with tin- Emperor "f Russia on th.- Niémen, 274; his Interview with I aise, 276; th.- peace of Tilsitt, _*T7; returns t.. saint Cloud, 278; ■< ldr< tin- | him, 279; Charlemagne out- stripped, 281 ; Infatuated by his fortune, 281; quarrels with the ' i 1 1 1^ Joromi lor >.f the a art at by him, 294 . his com I w nh that <>f Napoleon ill denies haï Ing i address Josephine on the subject ot' a divorce, 902 . his letter to Fouché, 304; leaves for Italy, anxious to marry I.u.-i.-n with Man.- Louis< "I Spain has a secret Inters :• « with him and tries to make- him d liis «if,-, .".in; adopta Prince me as his BOD an. I mak.-s him heir to th.- .Town of Italy, ::i i : letter of, to Josephin hi- first meeting with Josephine Napoleon, Charles, oldest son of Bonaparte, Napoleon's af- in for. 262; his death, 261 Napoleon HI., court of, contrasted with that of Napoleon I.. - Ney, Madame, 103. Niémen, meeting of the emperors on a raft in the, '-'71. Notre Dam.- prepared for the coro- nation, 1 1. Otto, Count, letter of, to Talleyrand «m th.- rumor of Eugene's mar- riage, 1-". I'M. P .f th.- Imperial court, duties ■•:;. .n. following the coronation, 67 : Illumination <>f, Paterson, Miss Elisabeth, ti. of Jerome Bonaparte, 128 Tins vu., journeys t.. Paris t., be ■ at at th.- coronation, cepl Foutainebli .-. m the Tuileries, 86; stipu- the crown from hi: his i performs the m. m- .; at the 11.".; left b .uu iu 334 INDEX. Rome, 116 ; beloved by the Pari* si;ms. 118; hi> i">rt rait painted by David) 120; baptizes Louis Bona- parti : ^"ii, 121 : Paris dissatisfied with his jour- ney, 122; bis quarrel with Napo- leon regarding Jerome's divorce, / ; be result of, announced to Napoleon by the Senate, 47. Polignac, the Duke of, bis lif< :it Josephine's Intercession, 16. Press signed at, 184. Remnaat, Madame de, ou Joseph- - court, - : describes the first Imperial dinner. 7: r.-mark of, concerning the flattery of Napo- leon, 71 : on the life *>f a courtier, 100: acknowledges Josephine's tact, l"7: Bays of Napoleon that he was like the < ; mini Turk in his harem, ill. on Napoleon's successes and the excitement in Paris, 167, 160, 17n ; quoted, 232. Republic, the, forgotten, h'>. Rivière, Marquis de, liis sentence modified at Madame Marat's re- qnest, 16, Rohan, Ferdinand de, First Al- moner "I the Empress, 101. Rolandsworth, the oonvent Im oeflted i'\ Napoleon, 24 of, Saint < loud, court at, 4. Saint-Hilaire, Madame, 105. Saint Qermain, the Faubourg, at iir-t scornful oi the Imperial .■nlirt. 12. Begur, Qeneral de, on the Indis- ■ on of the French nobles to appear at court, 18; his account oi Pins VII. while in Paria, 1 1 7 , hi> anecdote of Napoleon in Mayence, 26; his aooonnt of theevi of Austerlitz, 166, n>7. Staël, Madame do, on the etiquette <.f Napoleon's court. 10. Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain, 77 ; at Fontainebleau, 293. Thiard, M de, a pbleon to remain in .Munich, 187. Tilsitt, peace of, -77. Dim, the capitulation of, 158. Vaublai • ipeech of, in praise of Napoli oi _. tin' Kinp; of, his physical appearance and mental character S. Cushikg & Co., Bo PkL >.A. . _^_-