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 A CATALOGUE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DRAWINGS, MINIATURES, CAMEOS, 
 
 AND OTHER OBJECTS OF ART, 
 
 ILLUSTRATIVE OF 
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY, 
 
 AND THE PRINCIPAL PERSONS CONNECTED WITH THE 
 
 REPUBLIC AND EMPIKE OF FRANCE, 
 
 NOW IN THE COLLECTION OF 
 
 JOHN MATHER, ESQ. 
 
 ARRANGED, AND ILLUSTRATED BY A SHORT HISTORY OF THAT 
 EVENTFUL PERIOD, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH MAYER, F. S.A., F.R.A.S., 
 
 AND EXHIBITED AT TITE 
 
 jiten I)g % Historic S0mtg 0f ^mtitfxt mix 
 
 TO THE 
 
 BRITISH ASSOCIATION, 
 
 ON THEIR 
 
 MEETING IN CONGRESS AT LIVERPOOL, SEPTEMBER 27, 1854. 
 
 LIVERPOOL : 
 PRINTED BY DAVID MAKPLES, LORD STREET.
 
 Stack 
 toe* 
 
 CATALOGUE, 
 
 No. 1. CHARLES BUONAPARTE, the father of Napoleon. 
 
 This miniature formerly belonged to Louis Napoleon, and is the only like- 
 ness known of the grandfather of the present Emperor. Artist unknown. 
 
 2. LETITIA RAMOLINO, the wife of Charles Buonaparte, after- 
 wards styled Madam Mere the Empress Mother. Painted by 
 Dun. 
 
 3. NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE, in the costume of a military 
 student, when he was at Brienne. Artist unknown. 
 
 4. JOSEPHINE, wife of Napoleon Buonaparte, in the costume 
 which she wore when at Martinique. Painted by Hollier, after 
 Robert Lefevre. 
 
 k.J \H* I -r **** 
 
 5. EUGENE BEAUHARNAIS, the only son of Josephine Painted 
 
 I,? </# L 
 
 6. HORTENSE BEAUHARNAIS, daughter of Josephineyymafrie'd * 
 
 to Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and mother of the present 
 Emperor Napoleon TIT. Painted by Felicia Varlet. 
 
 7. CROSS OF LEGION OF HONOUR. 
 
 8. NAPOLEON as EMPEROR, with laureated head, and wearing 
 the gold Collar of Eagles, to which appended the Star of the 
 Legion of Honour, over a mantle of purple, powdered with gold 
 bees, having a collar of ermine. Painted by Isaby. 
 
 9. PAULINE, the second sister of N.apoleon, married to the 
 Prince Camille Borghese in 1 803. 
 
 10. CAROLINE, the youngest sister of Napoleon, married to 
 Joachim Murat. 
 
 11. JOACHIM MURAT, as Grand Admiral of France. 
 
 12. JEROME BUONAPARTE. 
 
 13. JOSEPH BUONAPARTE, eldest brother of Napoleon, as King 
 of Naples.
 
 11. JEROME, youngest brother of Napoleon, King of West- 
 phalia. By Isaby. 
 
 15. KING of BAVARIA. 
 
 10. CATHERINE, Princess of Wurtemburg, wife of Jerome 
 Bonaparte, King of Westphalia. An enamel set in a snuff-box. 
 
 17. JOSEPH BUONAPARTE, as King of Spain, formerly King of 
 Naples, in his royal robes. 
 
 18. MARIA LOUISA, Princess of Austria. 
 
 19. FRANCIS II., Emperor of Austria, father-in-law of Napo- 
 leon. 
 
 20. The EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. An enamel, after the original 
 by the celebrated painter, Isaby. 
 
 Isaby had used to relate, that whilst Josephine was sitting for her miniature, 
 one morning he asked her what jewels she would be painted in, and she, with 
 a most melancholy and sweet expression of countenance, looked at him, and 
 with tears trembling on the edges of her eyelids, but which, with her heroic 
 womanly love, she forbade to fall, said, " I am about to change my state, and. I 
 have heard it said it is a custom in England, that when a true heart is severe^ 
 from that it loves, and had become its idol, that the women wear green, to denote 
 to their friends that they are forsaken : paint me also in emeralds, to repre^nt 
 the undying freshness of my grief, but let them be surrounded with diamonds 
 to pourtray the purity of my love." This was to Isaby a mystery, and so much 
 affected was he by the simplicity of her manner, that he dared not ask an 
 explanation, though he soon learned from rumour the truth of the meaning ; 
 for at this very time Napoleon had asked from the Emperor of Austria the hand 
 of Maria Louisa, and had, at the solicitation of Josephine, given her that suit 
 of jewels in which she went to the levee at the Tuilleries for the last time as the 
 wife of Napoleon. 
 
 21. NAPOLEON and MARIA LOUISA, in profile, face to face. 
 A cameo in onyx. 
 
 22. NAPOLEON in his imperial robes, as worn on the day of 
 his marriage with Maria Louisa at the Palace of the Tuilleries, 
 in April 1811. An enamel, after Isaby, by Madam Brociiart. 
 
 23. The YOUNG KING of ROME. An enamel by Constantino. 
 
 24. JOACHIM MURAT. By Isaby. 
 
 25. ALEXANDER, Emperor and Commander-in- Chief of all 
 the Russias. 
 
 20. NAPOLEON. Painted at Elba by Isaby. 
 
 27. LUCIEN BUONAPARTE. 
 
 28. MURAT, in the dress he wore at the time he was shot at 
 Pizzo in Calabria, Oct. 13, 1815. An enamel by Madam 
 Brochart. 
 
 29. CAROLINE, wife of Murat, sister of Napoleon. 
 
 30. LETITIA BUONAPARTE, eldest daughter of Joseph Buona- 
 parte, married her cousin Charles, son of the Prince of Canino.
 
 CATALOGUE. 
 
 31. LETITIA, third daughter of Lucieu, brother of Napoleon, 
 married Mr. Thomas Wyse, M. P. 
 
 32. EUGENE BEAUHARNAIS, ex- Viceroy of Italy, Prince of 
 Eichstadt. 
 
 33. BEHNADOTTE, King of Sweden. 
 
 34. NAPOLEON II., ex-King of Rome, only son of Napoleon 
 I. and the Empress Maria Louisa, died 1832, an officer in the 
 Austrian service, and called the Duke of Reichstadt. 
 
 35. An Enamel Miniature. The Emperor NAPOLEON in his 
 robes, having on a golden chaplet in form of laurel leaves. 
 
 36. The young KING OF ROME. Painted just prior to the 
 abdication of Napoleon. Miniature by Isaby. 
 
 37. A Ring, having the head of NAPOLEON. 
 
 38. A Brooch, with the head of JOSEPHINE. Thess two last 
 miniatures were presented to an Ambassador to the Court of the 
 Tuilleries at the marriage of the Emperor. 
 
 39. A Head of the Emperor NAPOLEON laureated, and in the 
 style of the Roman Emperors. It is cut on a large-sized onyx 
 in very high relief. 
 
 40. JOSEPHINE, wearing a coronet, necklace, and earrings 
 formed of large pearls, and her dress made of rich satin, with 
 stripes of gold, and large frill epaulettes of the same. An oval 
 miniature, by Saint. 
 
 41. A large round miniature. The sabre-cut on his nose 
 proclaims it to be the " Bravest of the Brave " NEY, in his 
 Marshal's uniform. 
 
 42. The Eagle of NAPOLEON standing on the thunderbolt of 
 Jupiter, from which issues the forked lightning of power. This 
 formerly ornamented one of the Chairs at the Imperial Palace of 
 the Tuilleries. 
 
 43. A miniature of the Empress JOSEPHINE, wearing a superb 
 suit of pearls and emeralds, and habited in a rich lace dress 
 trimmed with gold. 
 
 44. A Snuff-box made of tortoise-shell, having on the top 
 a likeness of the Princess of Moscow, Madam NEY. She appears 
 in the costume of the day, in low dress, with a veil, and loose 
 ringlets of hair hanging on her shoulders. Painted by Augustin 
 An. 
 
 45. A Snuff-box of tortoise-shell, with miniature of Madame 
 NEY, wife of Murat, King of Naples, 1812. Painted by 
 Augustin, 1808. 
 
 2
 
 4ti. A Snuff-box lined with gold, with portrait of JOSEPHINE 
 in an oval, round which is a border composed of her hair. This 
 was left by her to Madame Ney, and hears an inscription inside 
 the lid : 
 
 "Mort a Malmaison 
 
 Le 29 Mai 1814 
 dans sa 50me Annee." 
 
 47. An oval miniature of JOSEPHINE, as she appeared before the 
 elevation to the Empire. She wears a band formed of three rows 
 of pearls round her head, and two rows of the same on her neck, 
 with a single row set in her golden girdle, and has on a very 
 large ruff or frill. 
 
 48. Marshal KELLERMAN. By Guerin. 
 
 49. Marshal AUGEREAU. 
 
 50. Marshal BESSIERES, Due d'Istrie, 1810. 
 
 51. ISABY, when a young man. Painted by himself. 
 
 52. Louis PHILIPPE, King of France, in a military uniform- 
 An enamel. 
 
 53. Prince LEOPOLD of Saxe-Cohurg, aide-du-cnmp to Napo- 
 leon, now King of Belgium. 
 
 54. The Princess ELIZABETH, sister of Louis XVI. She 
 was guillotined. 
 
 The miniature is set with a gold back, on which is engraved the following 
 inscription : 
 
 " Portrait de Madame Elizabeth 
 
 de France, 
 Donne par Monsieur Frere 
 
 du Roi, a Madame la 
 
 Marquise de Buckingham, 
 
 Aout 1797. 
 
 55. Madame la Duchesse d'ABRANTES. 
 
 56. Madame EOSALBE. 
 
 57. Madame de GUALT. 
 
 58. BARRY D'ANGLA. By Hoff. 
 
 59. CHARETTE, General. 
 
 60. LAVOISIER. 
 
 61. SANTERRE, General of the National Guards. 
 
 62. NAPOLEON and MARIA LOUISA. A cameo in sardouix. 
 
 The head of the Emperor wears a chaplet of laurel leaves, tied at the back 
 of the head with a ribbon ; the whole formed of diamonds, and set in gold. The 
 Empress wears a diadem of diamonds, and has a vandyked frill or ruff also 
 studded with the same precious gem ; whilst Napoleon wears the toga, the knot 
 on the shoulder having the letter N, and on his right breast is his favourite 
 badge, the Bee. Between the two busts is the head of the young King of
 
 CATALOGUE. 7 
 
 Home. This beautiful cameo forms the centre of a superb gold box of an 
 oblong form, having a border of lapis lazuli running round the outer edge, and 
 within a line of purple euamel are four bees, the wings and head formed of 
 small diamonds, and the body of each insect composed of a beautifully-coloured 
 opal ; the back and sides of the box are very beautifully enchased with scrolls 
 and other devices, and in the centre compartment are two cornucopias holding 
 flowers, which rise conjointly out of a scroll of rich design, formed of the acanthus 
 leaf and roses. 
 
 03. A sarclonix cameo, bearing a portrait of the Emperor 
 NAPOLEON. 
 
 The head and bust, having the lam-el wreath and toga with the N and 
 bee, are covered with diamonds, and the whole is surrounded with a row of 
 larger diamonds. This ring was the joint present of Napoleon and Maria 
 Louisa to the Princess de Moscova, wife of Marshal Ney, and the snuff-box, 
 No. 62, was at the same tune given to the Prince of Moscow, Marshal Ney. 
 
 64. A suit of onyx cameos formerly belonging to JOSEPHINE, 
 to whom they were presented by the Emperor NAPOLEON. 
 
 The tiara or head ornament has the busts of Tiberius, Galba, Titus, Ves- 
 pasian, Domitilla, Domitia, and Julia Titi ; the brooch bears the figure of the 
 wolf suckling Eomalus and Kemus; the two bracelets are ornamented with 
 antique masks, having a male and female head, which form the clasps ; the 
 girdle clasp has the heads of Plotina and Marciana, united with two hands 
 joined ; the earrings have Cupids' heads for the tops, and busts of Hadrian and 
 Salina form the drops ; the ring has a bust of Jupiter Serapis set on the top of 
 it; the necklace contains the heads of Nero, Vitellius, Galba, Otho, Domitian, 
 
 Augustus, Livia, Julia, Agrippina, , and Poppea, with the head of 
 
 Medusa to form the clasp, the whole are set in borders of black and white 
 enamel, with scrolls of gold work. The cameos were cut by Girometti, of Piome. 
 
 65. The badge of the order of " Onore e fidelita " on the 
 obverse side the head of MUBAT, with legend " Gioaccpino Re di 
 Napoli." 
 
 Four allegorical classic drawings by Lafitte, emblematic of 
 the Union of FRANCE and AUSTRIA in the persons of 
 the Emperor NAPOLEON and MARIA LOUISA ; as 
 follows : 
 CO. The First The Arrival of MARIA LOUISA in Paris. 
 
 The Emperor Napoleon and the Archduchess appear in the centre; an 
 allegorical figure of France is seated on a pedestal; the several parts of the 
 state, indicated by their costume, present their homage to the illustrious pair ; 
 a group of elegant females follow the Empress, and the warriors of Austria, in 
 company with those of France, form the left of the composition; the whole of 
 which is arranged in a most beautiful and classic manner. 
 
 07. The Second The UNION. 
 
 France and Austria, surrounded by attributes, are joining hands at the 
 altar of peace, in sign of alliance. On the right is a term supporting the 
 heads of Janus, and a biga, in which is the figure of Maria Louisa, conducted 
 by Love ; a genius, to whom Time is dictating, inscribes on a tablet the year of 
 this happy occurrence. On the left is a palm-tree bearing trophies, at the foot 
 of which is the Genius of the Seine, holding a cornucopia, and children dancing
 
 8 CATALOGUE. 
 
 round her; Fame is announcing to the world the consummation of the alliance, 
 and pouring out from a horn fruits and flowers, to indicate that prospeiity and 
 pleasure will be the result. 
 
 68. The Third The Triumph of NAPOLEON and MARIA 
 LOUISA on their Re-union. 
 
 The Arts, Sciences, Commerce, and the consequences of their encourage- 
 ment the prosperity and happiness of the people are shewn under their 
 several allegories, as the result; a bust of Cybele on a term at the foot, on which 
 the Genius of France, with her children and the emblems of plenty, are repos- 
 ing, signifies that the beneficial effects of the union are felt to the utmost 
 boundary of the empire. 
 
 69. The Fourth The prosperity of the Empire of FRANCE. 
 
 The Emperor and his Consort, Maria Louisa, seated in a grand hall or 
 saloon, are surrounded by allegorical figures, indicating the progress of the arts, 
 the consolidation of the laws, and the general happiness and glory of the 
 Empire. Terminal busts, significative of the several divisions of the adminis- 
 tration, are seen in the compartments at the back of the Imperial pair ; and a 
 genius is inscribing on a tablet the anticipated results of the glorious endeavours 
 of Napoleon. 
 
 70. An enamelled Brooch, containing a lock of hair, which 
 was given to B. H. Ross, Captain of H. M. S. Northumberland, 
 by NAPOLEON himself, at St. Helena. 
 
 71. HENRY VIII. and his Six Wives. 
 
 72. CATHARINE of ARRAGON. 
 
 73. ANNE BOLEYN. 
 
 74. ANN of CLEVES. 
 
 75. CATHARINE HOWARD. 
 
 76. JANE SEYMOUR. 
 
 77. CATHARINE PARR. 
 
 78. A series of Ninety-six Enamels, representing subjects 
 from the Poets and Historians. 
 
 Amongst which are Cupid and Psyche, Dido and yEneas, Alexander and 
 Cleomenes, the Cumcean Sybil, Achilles and Eriseus, Coriolanus and his Family, 
 Saul and David, Paris carrying off Helen, Mars and Venus, Astronomy, Music, 
 rainting, Peace, Justice, Ariadne, Hope, Fishing, &c. &c. 
 
 79. HENRIETTA STUART, daughter of Charles I., afterwards 
 the Duchess of Orleans. An enamel on gold, by Petitot. 
 
 80. Madame de SEVIGNE. An enamel, by Petitot. 
 
 81. The Duchesse de LAVALLEIRE. An enamel, by Petitot. 
 
 82. Madame TURENNE. By Petitot. 
 
 83. GEORGIANA, Duchess of Devonshire, the celebrated 
 electioneering beauty. An enamel, by Horace Hone, A. R. A. 
 
 84. A cameo of GEORGE IV., formerly appended to one of 
 the orders of knighthood.
 
 CATALOGUE. 
 
 85. A Miniature of MOLIERE, in enamel. 
 
 86. EUROPA. A painting on the top of a snuff-box. 
 
 87. A Miniature of Mrs. JORDAN, as " Flora." 
 
 [The two following are the property of DAHIEL MATHER, Esq.] 
 
 88. A gold and enamelled Snuff-box, with the miniature of 
 the Countess of COVENTRY (one of the three Miss Gunnings, 
 called "The Graces"). 
 
 89. A Snuff-box, with the miniature of Lady WORSLEY.
 
 THE BONAPAKTE FAMILY, 
 
 DDRING the dark period of the Middle Ages, a family of eminence, enjoy- 
 ing the rank of nobility, flourished in Tuscany, whence its branches 
 spread into other of the minor states of Italy. A Grecian origin has been 
 ascribed by genealogists to this family, whose name on settling in Italy was 
 changed from Calomeros into the synonyme Buonaparte, by which it was 
 subsequently known. Such is the origin of the Buonaparte family; of 
 whom it is distinctly known that they occupied a respectable place among 
 the lesser Italian nobility, until dispersed by that long and disastrous civil 
 war which ensued on the struggle between secular powers, and which is 
 typified in the ferocious antagonism of the Guelfs and Ghibellines. The 
 Buonapartes, like many other families of name and eminence, were now 
 scattered in the homes of their birth or adoption ; and whilst a remnant 
 still lingered in the basin of the Apennines, the last relic of which survived 
 at the close of the eighteenth century in the person of an old 'ecclesiastic, 
 a wealthy canon of the Abbey of San-Miniato, the chief of the stock took 
 refuge in the small island of Corsica, and settled at Ajaccio, among whose 
 rude nobility his descendants were enrolled, and admitted to all the pri- 
 vileges then accorded to that jealous distinction. At that period Corsica 
 was under the tutelary sovereignty of the republic of Genoa, but in 1708 
 it and its small dependencies passed under the dominion of the crown of 
 France, despite the heroic efforts of the celebrated Paoli to preserve the 
 independence of its sterile mountains. 
 
 After its final subjugation, Corsica was assimilated in its internal 
 administration to the other provinces of France, and had provincial states 
 composed of the three orders of nobility, clergy, and commonalty or third 
 estate. It likewise preserved a supreme magistracy of twelve nobles, in 
 whom the government of the country was vested; and to this high tribunal 
 Charles Buonaparte (No. 1) was attached as assessor, a place preparatory 
 to his elevation into the Council. This Charles was the only son of Joseph 
 Buonaparte, the eldest of three brothers, the two other of whom died 
 without male issue. He inherited the family property, which was not very 
 considerable, consisting of a house in Ajaccio, and a small estate on the 
 shore of the island, where was a villa which served as a summer residence. 
 As is usual in southern climates, he married at the early age of nineteen, 
 and won for his wife from numerous competitors the reigning beauty of 
 Corsica, the young Letitia llamolino (No. 2), who was remarkable not only 
 for her personal charms, but also for the courage and fortitude of her 
 character. In 1779 the noblesse elected him the deputy of their order to 
 the court of Versailles, and in this capacity he was obliged to make frequent
 
 THE BONAPARTK FAMILY. 
 
 journeys into Franco, which, notwithstanding the liberal grants he received 
 from the government of Louis XVI., appear to have reduced his fortune 
 within the narrowest limits; for upon his death at Montpellier in. 1785, 
 whither he had repaired in the vain hope of heing relieved from the malady 
 which afflicted him cancer in the stomach he left his widow in very 
 straitened circumstances, and dependent in a great measure for the support 
 and education of her children on their uncle the Archdeacon Lucien, who 
 was head of the chapter of Ajaccio, and who cheerfully undertook to per- 
 form the part of father to the bereaved orphans. 
 
 These were no fewer than eight in number, the survivors of thirteen 
 whom the fruitful Letitia had borne to her husband, although, at the time 
 of his death, she had not completed her thirty-fifth year. Five were sons, 
 and three daughters, the eldest of whom, Joseph, was seventeen years old, 
 and the youngest, Jerome, only two months. The second son was Napoleon, 
 ths third Lucien, and the fourth Louis; the three daughters were Marianna 
 Eliza, Pauline, and Caroline, also called Annonciada, who was nearly three 
 years old at the death of her father. In his visits to France, Charles 
 Buonaparte had taken with him his two eldest sons for the benefit of their 
 education ; Joseph being placed in a school at Autun, with the view of 
 following the ecclesiastical profession under the patronage of Marboeuf, 
 Archbishop of Lyons, brother of the governor of Corsica, who, as a fiiend 
 of the family, was on his part instrumental in procuring the introduction 
 of Napoleon into the military school of Brienne (No. 3), whence he was 
 afterwards removed to that of Paris. The second son was always a 
 favourite with his father, who delighted to regard him as the future hero 
 of his race ; and the young Napoleon himself was fondly attached to an 
 indulgent parent, whose loss he long deplored, regretting, above all, that 
 the mournful consolation of attending his deathbed had been denied to 
 him, which fell, on the contrary, to the lot of Joseph and the Abbe Fesch, 
 a half brother of their mother. In the succeeding years, Lucien likewise 
 received his education at Brienne and at Aix in Provence; and when the 
 mighty era of 1789 dawned, all the sons were assembled in Corsica, where 
 the cause of the Ptevolution was from the first embraced by its inhabitants 
 with the greatest ardour. The young Buonapartes were among its most 
 eager partizans; and Lucien, in particular, who was only sixteen years of 
 age, distinguished himself as an orator in the popular clubs of the island. 
 Joseph had abjured the priestly calling, and having entered into the civil 
 service of the department, was enabled to assist hia mother in the manage- 
 ment and maintenance of the family. Napoleon held a commission from 
 the king of France as a lieutenant of artillery, and was remarkable chiefly 
 for his love of solitude and the laborious studies in which he passed his 
 time. Already he had ceased to look upon Corsica as his countiy; its 
 incorporation with France opened to him a wider theatre for the play of 
 his aspiring spirit, and he readily merged paternal patriotism in the 
 greater call to partake the dangers and the glories of the new competition 
 about to rise from the crash of feudalism. 
 
 It was very different with the old patriot of the island Paoli. As a 
 venerated champion of freedom, tjie National Assembly of France had 
 invited him to return from his long exile in England; and in 1792 he 
 re-appeared among his countrymen with all the lustre of a name endeared 
 to them by his services and his sufferings. He was hailed with a boundless 
 enthusiasm, especially by the mountaineers, who revered him as their 
 tutelary chief; but even in Ajaccio he was received with triumph, and 
 Lucien Buonaparte records with exultation that he pronounced a discourse 
 before him which drew tears from the honoured veteran by its touching
 
 12 THE BOXAI'AUTK FAMILY. 
 
 pathos. So lively, indeed, was tlie impression made upon Mm by this 
 fervent orator, that Paoli took him to his residence of Rostino, and kept 
 him near his person for many months, during which he sought to instil 
 into 'the mind of his pupil, as the latter himself relates with grief, that 
 England was the only land of real freedom, and the British constitution 
 far superior to any the legislators of France were likely to invent. Not- 
 withstanding his veneration for the patriotic sage, Lucien was too zealous 
 for the credit of France and the virtue of republicanism to admit the force 
 of this doctrine, and he began to entertain suspicions of the orthodoxy of 
 Paoli in the precepts of the revolutionary code. This first alarm soon 
 mounted into certainty, when the execution of Louis XVI. aroused the 
 indignation of the virtuous patriot, and stirred him to an open denunciation 
 of the sanguinary monsters who were disgracing the sacred cause of liberty. 
 Paoli declared he would no longer belong to France, neither he nor his 
 brave mountaineers; and he called upon the sous of his old companion in 
 the war of independence, Charles Buonaparte, to join him in a fresh 
 struggle against a more terrible tyranny than had ever yet oppressed the 
 island. But to this appeal the Buonapartes were deaf, for their ambition 
 lay in the very opposite direction ; and Paoli, having summoned around 
 him an army of mountaineers, prepared to march on Ajaccio, which was 
 the only town that had refused, at his command, to lower the tricolour 
 flag. His rage was principally directed against the Buonapartes, if we 
 are to credit Lucieu, and he ordered them to be taken dead or alive. 
 Joseph and Napoleon were both absejit, at this critical moment; Lucien, 
 too, had proceeded to France as the head of a deputation to crave succours 
 from the Jacobins; but the heroic Letitia, who had in earlier days fought 
 by the side of her husband, was fully equal to the task of providing for 
 the safety of her numerous progeny. In the dead of night she was 
 aroused by intelligence of the approach of her exasperated enemy, who 
 was intent, above all, to sei/e her person as a hostage for the submission 
 of her sons ; and escorted by a village chieftain named Costa, she hastened 
 from the city to seek refuge in the fastnesses of the hills and forests. 
 Amidst a small band of faithful followers she marched with her young 
 children under the shade of darkness, and before daylight reached a 
 secluded spot on the sea-shore, whence from an elevation she could see her 
 house in flames. Undaunted by the sad spectacle, she exclaimed, ' Never 
 mind, we will build it up again much better : Vive la France ! ' After a 
 concealment of two days and nights in the recesses of the woods, the 
 fugitives were at length gladdened by the sight of a French frigate, on 
 board of which were Joseph and Napoleon with the deputies of the Con- 
 vention on a mission to Corsica. In this vessel the whole party at once 
 embarked, and as no hope remained of finding security in Corsica, it was 
 straightway steered for France. Marseilles was its port of destination, and 
 there it accordingly landed the family of exiles, destitute of every remnant 
 of property, but unbroken, it would seem, in courage and health. Madame 
 Buonaparte was fain to receive with thankfulness the rations of bread 
 distributed by the municipality to refugee patriots. Joseph speedily 
 received an appointment as a commissary of war ; and he and Napoleon 
 contributed to the support of the fanrily from their scanty allowances. 
 
 It was in the early period of the Reign of Terror, that Letitia 
 Buonaparte and her children took up their abode in France, which was 
 at this time a prey to all the horrors of civil war, as well as to the dangers 
 of a foreign invasion. The principal cities of the Republic had revolted 
 against the central authority of Paris and the bloody domination of the 
 Jacobins, and among the rest Marseilles was distinguished in the great
 
 THE BOKAPARTE FAMltV. I o 
 
 federalist movement. But the reduction of Lyons, aud the terrible 
 vengeance inflicted on it, restored the supremacy of die redoubtable Com- 
 mittee of Public Safety. Many thousands of the inhabitants of Marseilles 
 fled in terror on the approach of the Jacobin forces, and sought protection 
 in Toulon, which had not only cast off the yoke of the Convention, but 
 called in the aid of the British and Spanish fleets to uphold the desperate 
 cause of royalty. In this general flight, however, the Buonapartes did not 
 participate, since they in truth belonged to the triumphant faction. 
 
 This was a connection which may principally be ascribed to Lucieu, 
 who had recommended himself to an administrative appointment at St. 
 Maximin, a small town a few leagues distant from Marseilles. Here he 
 assumed the name of Brutus, and in conjunction with a monk, who styled 
 himself Epaminondas, exercised a petty dictatorship, filling the prisons with 
 unfortunate victims, as suspected royalists and aristocrats. But it is his boast 
 that, with unlimited power in his hands, and at so youthful an age, he shed 
 no blood, notwithstanding the influence of the examples around him. He 
 even opposed the mandate of the commissioners, sent by the Convention to 
 restore its authority at Marseilles, for the removal of his prisoners to be 
 tried or rather guillotined at Orange an act which exposed him to the 
 anger of the commissioners, B arras, and Freron, and nevertheless failed 
 to save him from the imputation of being a Terrorist when the day of 
 reaction arrived. In this revolutionary career Lucien was of service to his 
 family : Joseph, who continued to reside at Marseilles with his mother, was 
 of too mild and unobtrusive a character to gain credit with the powers of 
 Jacobinism, whilst Napoleon was as yet an unknown subaltern, jostling 
 among the crowd of rivals for preferment. In the person of the Abbe 
 Fesch, indeed, who had accompanied his sister in her exile, the positive 
 danger was incurred of harbouring a priest, then the most obnoxious of all 
 delinquents to popular wrath. However, when the portents of the storm 
 were gathering, the abbe prudently discarded his clerical robe, and sought 
 a safer calling as a keeper of stores in the army of General Montesquieu, 
 who, in the autumn of 1793, overran the country of Savoy. It was at a 
 later period of the same year that an event occurred which laid the founda- 
 tion of mighty changes, involving not only the Corsican refugees in their 
 effects, but deranging the destinies of all the nations of Christendom. 
 
 Toulon alone of all the revolted cities still held out against the victorious 
 banner of the Republic. General Carteaux was despatched to undertake the 
 siege at the head of a large force, amounting to 30,000 men of all arms; but 
 carrying on the operations with less vigour than suited the impatience of the 
 sovereign Committee, he was displaced and succeeded by Dugommier, who 
 had been provided by the celebrated Carnot with a detailed plan for his 
 guidance in the reduction of the place. But during the temporary absence of 
 the senior officer in command, and in a happy moment of inspiration, Dugom- 
 mier confided the charge of the artillery to the young engineer of Ajaccio, 
 who had been recently promoted to a colonelcy of brigade, and who recom- 
 mended a plan of operations so much more feasible than the one dictated 
 by the Committee, that it was at once adopted, with the preliminary 
 sanction, nevertheless, of the Representatives on mission with the army. 
 This plan consisted in carrying the more distant forts which commanded 
 the harbour of Toulon, instead of pursuing the attack against the main body 
 of the place, and which promised the advantage of either insuring the 
 destruction of the hostile fleet, or of compelling it hastily to remove out 
 of range of the guns. In either case, the reduction of Toulon was certain 
 and immediate without much waste of blood, since it would be no longer 
 tenable by the foreign garrison, which constituted the chief means of its
 
 14 ' THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 defence. Beiug finally determined upon, Napoleon applied himself to its 
 execution with all the ardour which the hope of success could kindle in a 
 spirit fired with genius and ambition ! and such was his exercise of 
 scientific skill, combined with a personal heroism remarkable even in those 
 days of matchless daring, that on the eighteenth day from unmasking his 
 batteries, he was enabled to carry by assault the fort called Little Gibraltar, 
 the possession of which gave the republican arms that decisive pre- 
 dominance he had contemplated. Lord Hood immediately evacuated the 
 harbour with his ships ; the garrison prepared for a gradual abandonment 
 of the defensive posts ; the galley-slaves burst from their chains, and com- 
 menced a general plunder; the arsenal was set on fire, and the huge vessels 
 of war roared with the flames of devastation. 
 
 Such was the achievement by which Napoleon Buonaparte first emerged 
 in renown from, among that swarm of youthful heroes who in this famous 
 era had flung themselves into the service of France. On this early stage of 
 his career he met two young soldiers, still struggling against the frowns of 
 fortune, whom he attached to him by the notice he took of their cool 
 intrepidity in the midst of danger. These were Junot and Buroc, who 
 retained for him ever afterwards an affection and admiration which was 
 wholly independent of his future grandeur. The Representatives of the 
 Convention and Bugommier freely acknowledged the value of Napoleon's 
 services; and the Committee of Public Safety at once elevated him to 
 the rank of general of brigade. He was henceforth attached to the 
 army of the Alps under Bumorbion, who, being old, and diffident of 
 himself, willingly relinquished to his more vigorous lieutenant the conduct 
 of a campaign which was beset with unusual difficulties, from the rugged 
 nature of the country and the absolute destitution of the soldiers. To this 
 army were delegated the same commissioners who had superintended the 
 siege of Toulon, all men of note and influence in the Republic at the time, 
 and two of whom at least manifested a perfect appreciation of the merits of 
 the new commandant of artillery. One of these was the younger Robespierre, 
 brother of the chief dictator among the ruling decemvirs ; and the other was 
 B arras, who affected a military knowledge : the third commissioner was 
 Salicetti, himself a Corsican, but nurturing a bitter envy against his rising 
 countryman. The first, indeed, formed with Napoleon an intimacy which 
 had nearly led to momentous consequences. Although the atrocities of the 
 Jacobins were extremely revolting to him for his temperament was utterly 
 averse to their horrible system of government Napoleon was not insensible 
 to the advantage of cultivating a friendship with the brother of their most 
 potential leader, whose favour was the surest avenue to high distinction. 
 Moreover, the younger Robespierre was really estimable for many virtues. 
 It is not singular, therefore, that Napoleon turned his eyes with some 
 predilection towards one so capable of promoting his interests, and whom 
 he might suppose an involuntary agent of bloodshed. Thus he became 
 connected with Robespierre, who entertained the idea of conferring on him 
 the command of the Parisian sans-culottes in lieu of the miserable Henriot, 
 whose incompetence he had the sagacity to detect. The proposition was even 
 made to him by the younger brother, who repeatedly urged him to accom- 
 pany him to Paris, whither he was recalled by the perils beginning to 
 threaten the continuance of the existing dominion. But Napoleon 
 resolutely resisted all such solicitations, for however Robespierre might have 
 imposed on him by those professions of moderation which he essayed in the 
 latter days of his reign, he could not consent to wear the actual livery of 
 such a master, whose character of sternness and implacability he was not 
 anxious to encounter too closely. ' There is no honourable place for me
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 15 
 
 but the army at present ; the time is not yet come, but it will arrive, when 
 I shall command at Paris,' are the prophetic words which Lucien does not 
 hesitate to put into his mouth on this occasion. Yet notwithstanding his 
 refusal to identify himself with Robespierre, he was involved in the 
 downfall of that monster; and after the glorious 9th of Thermidor (27th of 
 July 1794), he was arrested as an adherent and partisan of the fallen 
 tyrant.* Being cast into prison with other more avowed Terrorists, he 
 narrowly escaped the death which awaited them under the violence of 
 reaction ; but he was eventually set at liberty through the force of his own 
 remonstrances and the plaintive pleadings of his humble friend Junot. 
 Nevertheless this release was purchased by the sacrifice of his rank in the 
 army, and he lost all the fruits of the brilliant reputation he had won : at 
 the age of twenty-five he was thrown upon the world, expelled from the 
 profession in which he had already begun to gather prospective laurels. 
 His brothers shared in the terrible reverses of the moment : Joseph saved 
 himself by a temporary retreat to Genoa, but Lucien incurred the horrors of 
 the incarceration, albeit he protested against so ungrateful a return for the 
 boon of life he had magnanimously secured to his unsympathising victims. 
 This may be considered the second phase in the calamities of the illus- 
 trious House* of Buonaparte. Whilst all France was ringing with the joy of 
 its deliverance from the detestable thraldom of murderers, the heaviest 
 gloom hung upon the hopes of those strangers in the land. Proscription 
 and degradation were now their lot, in addition to the poverty from which 
 they had partially emerged, and in which they were again plunged with 
 aggravated bitterness. But in this extremity of their fortunes Joseph 
 became the prop and support of the family, by his marriage with the 
 daughter of a wealthy merchant of Marseilles named Clary. By the dowry 
 he got with his wife, Joseph was raised into almost affluent circumstances, 
 and obtained a position which enabled him to be of essential benefit to his 
 mother and the children still remaining under her charge. Lucien had been, 
 liberated from the prison of Aix after a detention of six weeks, during which 
 he escaped almost miraculously the massacres then perpetrating by the 
 Eoyalists on the imprisoned Jacobins iu the southern departments of 
 France, and he returned to Marseilles from his incarceration in very dismal 
 plight. He, too, had contracted matrimony during his residence at St. 
 Maximin, where the daughter of an innkeeper called Boyer had fixed his 
 affections. Unlike his eldest brother, however, he derived no fortune with 
 her ; and she proved rather an inopportune encumbrance in the existing con- 
 dition of his finances. But he was fondly attached to her, portionless as 
 she was, for she was very beautiful and very amiable, and in his sanguine 
 temperament he found consolation for present indigence in visions of future 
 prosperity. 
 
 After his discharge from the army and from captivity, Napoleon had 
 proceeded to Paris with the view of claiming from the new government 
 reparation of the wrongs he had suffered. His former friend Barras was 
 now in an influential station, from the important part he had borne in the 
 overthrow of Robespierre, and he could materially aid him in the object of 
 his suit. But although he experienced from that person a friendly reception, 
 he derived no advantage through his advocacy, if it were ever sincerely 
 exerted, which it probably was not. Hence, all his applications being 
 fruitless, he found himself in a situation at once most galling and 
 
 Napoleon accused Salicetti of provoking his arrest by his vile machinations 
 against him, and he subsequently revenged the perfidious deed by facilitating that 
 personage's escape from the venceance of the Convention after the event of the 1st 
 Prairial (20th May 1795).
 
 16 THE BONAPAKTE FAMILY. 
 
 deplorable ; since to his impetuous spirit the want of employment at a time 
 when active service offered so many chances of distinction must have been 
 intolerable. Yet his ardent imagination was even then filled with reveries 
 of the greatness he might achieve; and it was on an Oriental field his 
 . thoughts wandered in brilliant perspectives, for he deemed Europe tame and 
 sterile in comparison with Asia as a theatre of glorious enterprise. He 
 cherished the idea of leaving France, and offering to the Turkish sultan 
 the sword his country was unworthy to possess ; but averse to go forth as a 
 mere adventurer, he submitted a proposition to the government for heading 
 a detachment of officers to improve the discipline of the Ottoman forces, and 
 prepare them for a more equal encounter with the trained soldiers of Eussia. 
 This proposition, however, was not entertained ; and the impatient hero was 
 compelled to await a more propitious period to realise his scheme of revo- 
 lution and conquest in the East. Big with these enthusiastic dreams, he 
 loitered about the streets of Paris, scowling at the effeminate puppies who 
 pranced in the promenades on caparisoned horses, and lisped the praises of 
 singers and dancers at the Opera; for the metropolis of terror had been 
 suddenly changed into one of exaggerated gaiety : conversing with Junot, 
 who clung to him in his adversity with an almost infatuated fidelity, and 
 strolling in deserted avenues or through the collections of the Jardin des 
 Plantes in the stillness of evenings, to indulge in pensive meditations, or 
 to beguile the weary time, replete with moments of anguish. In such 
 paroxysms of the conscience, despair is prone to seize upon the mind, and 
 inspire its victims with lamentable impulses. So Napoleon fell under the 
 dire temptation, and one night started along the quays to throw himself 
 from one of the bridges over the Seine. On his way he encountered an 
 old friend whom he had not seen since they were comrades of the camp, 
 and to whom he related the sad story of his distresses, which affected not 
 him only, but objects dearer to him than himself. This friend was moved 
 by the mournful tale, and presented to the intending suicide a bag of 
 money, which dispelled the gloomy humours which had impelled him to 
 his fearful purpose. 
 
 Thus rescued from an inglorious death, the teeming era of revolutions 
 at length summoned into conspicuous action the wo-worn Napoleon. The 
 Convention was about to close its stormy existence after promulgating 
 a new constitution for France, by which an executive government was 
 created of five directors, with a legislature divided into two chambers one 
 to be called the Chamber of Ancients, the other the Chamber of Five 
 .Hundred. By supplemental statutes, two-thirds of the old Conventionalists 
 were to form part of the new legislature, and against this provision the 
 Keactionists protested with vehement anger. The sections of Paris, in 
 particular, were furious in their opposition ; and failing to intimidate the 
 Convention by menaces, they resolved to coerce it by an armed insurrec- 
 tion. To meet this threatened danger, the Convention appointed Barms to 
 command the forces at its disposal, which consisted of about 6000 troops 
 of the regular army ; and he, calling to mind that energetic officer whom 
 he had known in the campaign of the Maritime Alps, wisely judged he 
 was better qualified than himself to conduct the military operations fitted 
 to the occasion. He accordingly applied to Napoleon in the emergency, 
 and on his recommendation the latter was forthwith nominated to be 
 second in command. A subordinate part, however, was-not suited to one 
 of Napoleon's temperament, and he at once assumed the principal direction 
 of affairs. As the Sectionaries far exceeded in numerical strength the 
 army of the Convention, he determined to act strictly on the defensive, 
 and with this view surrounded the National Palace with cannon, and
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 17 
 
 intrenched his soldiers on all the approaches which led to it. On the 
 morning of the 13th Vendemiaire (5th October 1795) the insurgents assem- 
 bled to the number of 30,000 men, and about three in the afternoon 
 appeared with their heads of columns on the Place du Carrousel, the open 
 square in front of the Tuileries. Instantly Napoleon opened upon them a 
 terrific discharge of grape-shot, which staggered, overthrew, and routed 
 them. The battle was neither long nor obstinate ; the Sectionaries could 
 :nake no head against the tempest of balls vomited against them by their 
 scientific enemy. Recoiling in affright, part of them attempted to make a 
 stand on the steps of the Church of St. Roch, but Napoleon ranged against 
 them his guns, and executed upon them a desolating havoc. Shortly the 
 insurgent army was in consternation and in flight ; the insurrection was 
 suppressed, and the Convention victorious. The conqueror was hailed 
 with acclamations by the grateful Assembly, and in reward of his services 
 he was nominated to be general of the Army of the Interior. By his 
 achievement he had gained a twofold merit in the eyes of the government : 
 he had saved the Revolution, for had the Sections been triumphant, the 
 restoration of the Bourbons would have been the almost inevitable result; 
 he had established the Directorial constitution, which, after the experience 
 of the past, was held to fulfil all the expectations of reasonable republicans. 
 Henceforth he became of paramount importance in the convulsed com- 
 munity: the reduction of Toulon had first fixed upon him the attention 
 which was requisite to encourage confidence in his superiority ; the repulse 
 of the Sections in Vendemiaire showed him resolute and indomitable in 
 conflict, and stamped upon him the seal of predominance. 
 
 It is thus that opportunity only is wanting to men of real genius and 
 capacity to make'manifest the qualities within them, and assure them com- 
 mand over the satellite herd of mankind. This Napoleon had gained, and 
 straightway the path of fortune was wide and smooth before him. Happy- 
 accidents almost poured upon him, and none was more singularly auspi- 
 cious than that which introduced him to a wife. As a consequence of their 
 defeat in Vendemiaire, the reactionary citizens of Paris were deprived of 
 their arms, which were delivered into the possession of the general of the 
 Army of the Interior. One day he was applied to by a boy not more than 
 ten years of age for the restoration of his father's sword, which had been 
 seized in the general seai-ch, although its owner was long since dead. 
 The ingenuous earnestness of the youth pleaded in his favour, and Napo- 
 leon restored him the sword ; but he was induced to ask the circumstances 
 of the family to which he belonged. His father, Alexander de Beauharnais, 
 had commanded one of the armies of the Republic, but had lost his head 
 in the Reign of Terror; his mother, Josephine (No. 4), still survived, 
 having narrowly escaped the same fate by the fortunate execution of 
 Robespierre within a few hours of her intended condemnation. She was a 
 native of Martinique, and was enveloped in a strange interest, from the 
 remarkable prophecies that had been made concerning her. In one of 
 these, delivered by an old negress, she herself put faith with the super- 
 stition natural to her clirne ; and so far, in truth, the prediction had been 
 verified. It was said that she should witness the death of her first 
 husband, be plunged into the deepest misery, but ultimately be raised 
 above the estate of a queen. That such a prediction had been made there 
 is very positive evidence, although with about as much actual foresight 
 on the part of the negress as is vested in those famed gipsies who, for a 
 corresponding fee, will promise any extent of sublunary grandeur. But 
 whatever might be the fabled destinies in store for her, it was upon more 
 rational expectations that Napoleon sought and won her hand ; for although
 
 IS THE BONAPABTE FAMILY. 
 
 he had himself a considerable share of dreamy superstition, it is not to be 
 supposed that he gave any heed to such stupid tales when he married 
 Josephine. She was recommended to him by the inimitable graces of her 
 person and manners, which were fascinating in a superlative degree. She 
 was acquainted with Ban-as, which gave her great influence over him ; and 
 as this personage had been elected one of the new directors, he was now 
 possessed of greater power than ever. Hence his favour was of material 
 consequence, especially in the distribution of military commands ; and as 
 Napoleon aspired to the very highest and most important in the service of 
 the Republic, it was politic in him to strengthen his pretensions by an 
 alliance fortified with those of friendship. 
 
 From associations which had their origin in predilections of sundry 
 kinds, individual and professional, Italy was the field on which Napoleon 
 panted to make his great essay in arms. It was a country he had pro- 
 foundly studied in a military aspect, and had at an earlier period submitted 
 plans for its invasion to the government, which had been well appreciated, 
 but postponed through the pressure of many conflicting circumstances. He 
 again renewed his propositions under present more favourable auspices, and 
 as they met the approbation of Carnot, who had succeeded to a place in the 
 Directory, and who was then considered the highest military authority of 
 the day, he received the appointment he so much coveted, and was named 
 on the 1st March 1796 generalissimo of the Army of Italy. This army was 
 both the least numerous and the worst provided of all those arrayed by 
 France in that eventful year for foreign invasion and domestic warfare. 
 Young Hoche had 100,000 men assigned him for the subjugation of La 
 Vendee ; Jourdan and Moreau commanded armies of 80,000 men each on the 
 Upper and Lower Rhine; Buonaparte had only 30,000 troops to realise his 
 daring project of conquering Piedmont, and wresting Lombardy from the 
 Austrians. It is true that the French, by the victory of Loano under 
 Scherer in the previous November, had surmounted all the difficulties of the 
 mountain passages, and stood prepared to descend into the Italian plains 
 whenever opportunity might seem to invite them ; but for offensive 
 operations, certain supplies at all events are indispensable. Now, such was 
 the penury of the French exchequer, that it possessed no means to furnish 
 these supplies ; and during the whole winter these valiant troops had been 
 exposed to hardships and privations which severely tested their fortitude as 
 well as discipline. Even in spring, the utmost efforts of the government 
 were incompetent to feed or clothe them adequately ; and all that could be 
 effected was to provide them with such stores of munitions as were abso- 
 lutely necessary to enter upon a campaign. Means of transit were almost 
 entirely wanting, for the system of forced requisitions was of no avail in a 
 mountainous country from which the meagre cultivators had fled in dismay. 
 But in that extraordinary era armies were subsisted and moved in a manner 
 which defies calculation; and the martial enthusiasm of the soldiers made 
 amends for deficiencies which would have paralysed more methodical and 
 mercenary hosts. Once across an enemy's frontier, the French were at ease, 
 for as they carried with them the boon of liberty, they held themselves 
 justified in living at the expense of disenthralled populations. Their diffi- 
 'culty, therefore, was only at the outset, and until they could break from 
 their 'own exhausted soil ; this overcome, they had abundance, and pushed 
 on to further conquests. To propel his army from the Alpine range into 
 fertile valleys below, Napoleon received from the Directory the sum of 2000 
 louis-d'or in specie ; and never surely was so gigantic an undertaking 
 contemplated with such slender resources. Yet he was animated with a 
 fervour and self-confidence which set at nought all impediments ; and he
 
 THE BONAPAKTE FAMILY. 10 
 
 said joyously to his Meads as he started, ' In three months you will see me 
 again at Paris, or will hear of me at Milan.' 
 
 It was in no idle spirit that he spoke these words ; for on the desperate 
 hazard he was prepared to stalce the future of his life, whether it should 
 he disgrace in failure, or empire in success. Two armies were opposed to 
 him one of Piedmontese 20,000 strong, and the other of Austrians 
 35,000 strong, between which he poured with his complement of 30,000. 
 Already, under the revolutionary impulse, the tactics of war had hecn 
 materially changed from the old established routine; and the generals of 
 the Coalition had suffered untimely reverses, inflicted on them contrary to 
 the rules of art, as they reasonably complained. But such changes were 
 trifling in comparison with those introduced by Napoleon Buonaparte, who 
 struck by blows so sure and rapid, that his enemy was overpowered before 
 he well knew operations had commenced ; and campaigns which, under the 
 old system of even Marlborough and Frederick, would have lingered for 
 years, were decided in a few weeks, sometimes in a few days. Thus he 
 hurled the Piedmontese and Austrians before him on separate routes of 
 retreat with a precipitation which annihilated resistance: in less than two 
 months he had fought six battles, reduced Sardinia to sue for peace, 
 entered Milan in triumph, and expelled the Austrians from Lombardy, 
 driving them across the Adige, and into the fastnesses of the Tyrol. Such 
 a series of exploits, accomplished in so short a time, wrought a boundless 
 amazement, and the hero of them was extolled as a prodigy superior to all 
 warriors of ancient or modern fame. It was the rapidity of his achieve- 
 ments rather even than their results which dazzled the imagination, and 
 marked the advent of a new master in the great art of war. No conqueror 
 had ever displayed such originality of genius, such boldness of conception, 
 such profundity of combination, such celerity of execution; and the 
 sudden interest which invested him was increased by the novel grandeur 
 of the language in which he spoke to his soldiers, and the imperious tone 
 he assumed to the potentates who held fair Italy in servitude. At the bare 
 aspect of his sword, priestly and royal dominations crouched before him ; 
 and the proud oligarchy of Venice sent humble intercessions to propitiate 
 his wrath. Yet his possession of Lombardy was very insecure, for the House 
 of Austria was making prodigious exertions to wrest it from him, and to 
 recover that stolen jewel of its usurping crown. Four successive armies 
 of 00,000 men each were pushed down the gorges of the Tyrol and across 
 the Brenta, under veteran leaders of exalted reputation, to dislodge him 
 from his central position of Verona, and, thence dislodged, to inflict on 
 him an inevitable ruin. Against these he contended with a skill and 
 energy which have rendered his deeds in those campaigns superior in 
 renown to all other feats of strategy or heroism. He himself has not 
 surpassed them ; and the conflicts of "Lonato, Castiglione, Bassano, Arcole, 
 and Bivoli, although not attended with the stupendous results for which 
 his later victories were celebrated, must ever be esteemed as the most 
 truly brilliant and marvellous of his military successes They assured to 
 him the definite possession of Italy, and enabled him in a subsequent 
 campaign to cross the Noric Alps, and to advance within twenty-five 
 leagues of Vienna, where he extorted from the emperor the famous treaty 
 of Campo-Formio, which secured to France all the vast accessions of 
 territory she had gained from the first outbreak of the revolutionary war. 
 At no period of her history had she concluded so glorious and advantageous 
 a peace ; and in his double capacity of warrior and pacificator, Napoleon 
 was received in Paris with an enthusiasm befitting the great services he 
 had performed.
 
 20 THE BONAPARTK FAMILY. 
 
 The elevation of this illustrious member of the family failed not to have 
 a beneficial influence on the fortunes of his immediate relatives. After his 
 example they all dropped the Italian orthography of their name, and, to 
 render it more nearly French, wrote it henceforth ' Bonaparte.' Joseph, who 
 had already filled a similar appointment in the Army of the Alps, was named 
 a commissary of war under his brother in Italy, as well as the ex-abbe 
 Fesch. Lucien gladly answered a summons to Paris from his irksome 
 retreat at Marseilles, and was forthwith attached in the like quality of 
 commissary to the Army of the Rhine under Moreau : and shortly afterwards 
 joined Napoleon in his triumphant progress through Italy. Young Louis, 
 too, was provided for by the same fostering care, and although only seven- 
 teen years of age, with the grade of a lieutenant, was appointed an aide-de- 
 camp to his puissant brother. He had passed a short time at the military 
 school of Chalons, preparatory to his entering the artillery, and having been 
 from the first under the tutelage of Napoleon, he regarded him not only 
 with great affection, but with almost the deference due to a father. Of all 
 the sons, therefore, Jerome alone remained with his mother, whose house- 
 hold was further reduced in 1797 by the marriage of her eldest daughter 
 Eliza with Felix Bacchiochi, a countryman of her own, and at that time a 
 captain of artillery. This match was highly disapproved by Napoleon ; 
 but he nevertheless promoted his new brother-in-law, and made him first 
 a colonel, and then a general of brigade. In this same year Joseph, and in 
 the following year Lucien, were both returned to the Council of Five Hundred 
 as the representatives of the district of Liamone in Corsica, from which 
 Paoli had once more fled. Subsequently to the 18th Fruotidor (4th September 
 1797), when the Directory, established a virtual despotism in France, 
 Joseph was despatched as ambassador of the Republic to Rome, whence he 
 shortly retired, in consequence of a popular tumult, amidst which he nearly 
 lost his life, and for which the recalcitrant Pope suffered the penalty of 
 deposition, Thus the Bonapartes began to form an important power in the 
 state, and already no post in the government was deemed too exalted to 
 occupy the talents or satisfy the claims of their resplendent chief. 
 
 But the time was not yet come for his participation or assumption of the 
 government; he must yet gather fresh laurels, ere he could aspire to 
 supreme authority in the Republic. It was not at a period when he had 
 raised it to the pinnacle of greatness it would voluntarily accept him for a 
 sovereign ; a season of calamity was needed, to rally its hopes on him as an 
 indispensable instrument of salvation. His position at Paris was irksome 
 both to himself and to the Directory, and it was equally the wish of both 
 that he should forthwith betake himself again to active employment. The 
 Directory was intent to invade England or Ireland, and at no period could 
 such an enterprise have been attended with a better chance of success ; 
 accordingly, it had nominated him general of the Army of England, the 
 opportune death of Hoche having removed a rival who could alone have 
 stood against him in the lists of competition. But Napoleon had a different 
 project of his own, which was more agreeable to those early fancies he had 
 so fondly indulged ; and he had not completed his conquests of Italy before 
 he cast his eyes on Egypt as the next theatre of his ardent prowess. In 
 Egypt he saw the commencement of his visionary subjugation of Asia, or 
 his dethronement of the Ottoman sultan, and an expedition to conquer 
 it was sufficiently plausible to be defended on the ground of interest to 
 France. The possession of Malta and Egypt was a prodigious step towards 
 the accomplishment of that grand traditionary scheme of rendering the 
 Mediterranean a French lake, whilst, by opening the readiest route to 
 India, it facilitated the destruction of England an a more certain manner
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 21 
 
 than 1-y direct invasion. Upon these arguments he maintained the superior 
 merits of his project, and the Directory was fain to yield to them a reluctant 
 acquiescence. He embarked therefore on his magnificent enterprise, 
 accompanied by the largest naval and military armament that had ever 
 crossed a wide expanse of sea ; and before the aim of his expedition was 
 known to the world, had planted the republican banner on the impregnable 
 ramparts of Malta, the ruined towers of Alexandria, and the glittering mina- 
 rets of the city of the Caliphs. The battles of the Pyramids and Mount / ' j y % ^a 
 Tabor, fought on fields of such imperishable and hallowed recollection, shed 
 a lustre on the French arms which was all the brighter for the distance it 
 travelled, for the unknown regions that had witnessed them. The French 
 were in raptures at the tidings, for the predominant idea of their Revolution 
 had now become military glory and conquest, to the exclusion of all earlier 
 chimeras touching liberty and fraternity, and the reverses they were 
 sustaining in Europe gave to them a character of peculiar consolation. 
 The Directory was composed of violent men, who displayed insatiable 
 aggressions on the neighbours of France. Soon its usurpation drew 
 upon it the indignation of combined Europe, and its desolating armies 
 were driven back into the confines of France itself. But for the inveterate 
 cupidity of Austria, and the astounding imbecility of England, the Republic 
 must have been overthrown at that time; as it was, it was reduced to a 
 state of great depression and misery. In this dismal crisis all eyes reverted 
 to the indomitable hero who had already elevated France to such a pitch of 
 grandeur, from which she had fallen the moment his sword was withdrawn, 
 and who alone still upheld the fame of her victorious flag; when at the 
 critical moment, the desired saviour appeared, and converted the gloom of 
 his disconsolate countrymen into the joy of an anticipated redemption. 
 
 Never was a country so ripe to receive a master, fitted to curb its licen- 
 tious factions and to restore its vitality, as Frauce in the latter part of 1790. 
 For ten years she had been engaged in a career of revolution, and at the 
 end of that time her fervent prayer was for the institution of a despotism to 
 relieve her from the greater horrors of anarchy and a social dissolution. The 
 master she required in her necessities she found in the person to whom her 
 hopes had instinctively turnedin Napoleon Bonaparte, whose absence she 
 had deplored and his return invoked. On the 9th of November, the Revo- 
 lution of the 18th Bi-umaire, the last of the prolific series since 1790, consti- 
 tuted him First Consul ~of the French Republic, with an almost "absolute 
 executive authority. His brother Lucien was of great assistance in accom- 
 plishing this object, displaying in his capacity of President of the Council of 
 Five Hundred a firmness and courage which secured the succes of the pro- 
 ject when almost on the point of failure. Two subordinate Consuls were 
 at the same time created, together with a Senate, a Council of State, a 
 Legislative Body, and a Tribunate. All the chief appointments were vested 
 in the First Consul, who had consequently abundant means of rewarding 
 his friends and partisans. The policy he pursued was the beneficent one of 
 amalgamating parties and interests, and of substituting for the violent 
 systems of preceding governments one of conciliation and clemency. The 
 measures he took for the restoration of order and tranquillity were singu- 
 larly judicious and effective, and in a short time he wrought an incredible 
 change in the condition of France, which joyfully threw itself into his arms, 
 reposing confidently on his superior intelligence and capacity. But internal 
 ameliorations were of secondary importance to the still greater object of 
 delivering France from the pressure of foreign enemies, and to this 
 Napoleon directed his unremitting energies. His overtures for peace being 
 contemptuously rejected by the inflated governments of England and 
 
 i
 
 22 THE BONAl'ABTE FAMILY. 
 
 Austria, ho prepared to strike a blow which, by its force and suddenness, 
 should confound them, and annihilate their pretensions. With an army, 
 of whose very existence they were profoundly ignorant, he crossed the 
 great chain of the Alps, and debouched into the plains of Italy, directly on 
 the rear of the Austrians, who were beyond the Apennines contemplating 
 an immediate invasion of Provence. These, precipitately retrograding, to 
 regain their communications, he encountered and vanquished on the 
 memorable field of Marengo, through which event he again became, in the 
 course of a few days, complete master of the whole of Italy. Austria was 
 smitten to the heart by so unlooked-for and miraculous a disaster, and she 
 sent an envoy with plaintive propositions to treat of peace. But England 
 strove to revive her palsied courage by dint of replenished subsidies, and 
 she was induced, with desperate resolution, to try the fortune of another 
 campaign. This proved equally calamitous, and nothing remained for her but 
 to submit to the will of the conqueror she had unwisely defied. At 
 Luneville, accordingly, on the 9th of February, 1801, she signed a treaty 
 infinitely more disadvantageous to her than that of Campo-Fortnio, and one 
 which assured to France an aggrandisement wholly inconsistent with the 
 old balance of power in Europe. Nevertheless, to this sad termination of 
 all her struggles against the Revolution, England herself was reduced to 
 accede : placed in melancholy isolation against the power of the colossal 
 Republic, she, too, succumbed, and concluded a treaty at Amiens in March 
 3802. Thus did Napoleon lift France from an abyss of degradation to the 
 very highest rank among the nations of the earth ; and whilst he endowed 
 her with this envied supremacy, healed the festering sores of her internal 
 maladies, and conferred on her a peace and prosperity she had never known 
 since she embarked in her crusade against kings, nobles, and priests. Com- 
 mensurate was the gratitude of her enraptured people, who were ready to 
 testify [it by any inordinate expression agreeable to their benefactor and 
 idol. 
 
 During the short interval between the 18th Bruraaire and the peace of 
 Amiens, Napoleon appears clothed with a majesty and glory which throws 
 far into the shade the lustre of monarchs cradled in royalty. Not only did 
 he beat to pieces the formidable coalition arrayed to extinguish France, but 
 all his conduct in this happy era of his life was marked by a wisdom and 
 beneficence which stands in dazzling contrast with the folly and iniquities 
 of the former Royalty of France. In his restoration of religion alone, 
 against the most inveterate prejudice confirmed in the course of the Revolu- 
 tion, he rendered to a benighted land the greatest good it could receive and 
 the indispensable guardian of society ; but which it would certainly not 
 have accepted from any hands save his alone. Rarely has power been so 
 quick and overwhelming as in the instance of this extraordinary individual. 
 He seized upon dominions that showed themselves regardless of all guaran- 
 tees imposed by either good faith, policy, or public law ; hence he rendered 
 relations of peace impossible with him, unless on the part of miserable 
 trucklers like the king of Prussia ; and he again drew upon France the 
 combined hostility of three-fourths of Europe. But in the interior he had 
 manifested his sovereignty by two events, very dissimilar in their com- 
 plexion, but equally striking in their tendency and effect. Enraged by the 
 detestable conspiracies of the Royalists to destroy him, and encouraged by 
 the admiration and homage of the whole nation of Frenchmen, he con- 
 stituted himself their Emperor ; and established an empire unmatched for 
 the daring and the splendour of its emblazonries. To consecrate this 
 culminating phase of the Revolution, he summoned to Paris the head of 
 the Catholic church, fand exhibited to the astonished universe the spectacle
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 23 
 
 of a pope anointing in Notre-Dame the plebeian but august warrior, who 
 had rectified indeed the errors of intolerant democracy, but still left the 
 Papacy shorn of the territorial grandeur it had laboured so hard in bygone 
 ages to secure. 
 
 Among all the shortcomings of Napoleon's character, he cannot 
 assuredly be charged with want of affection for his family, since he dis- 
 played towards those connected with him an attachment and regard which 
 was often detrimental to him. His wife Josephine was particularly dear to 
 him ; his letters to her at every period of their union are replete with expres- 
 sions of the warmest devotion ; and if at any time she failed to reciprocate 
 his love, it was through a waywardness which left her scarcely mistress of 
 herself. He was supremely happy in her society, for her disposition was 
 of the sweetest and most amiable ; and her influence over him was always 
 exercised in kind and benevolent purposes. That she had borne him no 
 children was a subject of inconsolable regret, but he cherished those of 
 her former husband as if they were his own. These were two a son and 
 a daughter Eugene (No. 5), and Hortense (No. 6). Both of them pos- 
 sessed in an eminent degree the attractive qualities of their mother ; and 
 Napoleon heaped upon them continual evidences of his affection. Eugene 
 had acted as his aide-de-camp both in Italy and in Egypt ; at Marengo he 
 had commanded a brigade of the Guard; in 1804= he was made an imperial 
 prince and arch-chancellor of state; in 1805, immediately after Napoleon's 
 coronation at Milan, he was nominated viceroy of Italy, and subsequently 
 Prince of Venice, and heir of the LomhardoA r enetian crown. Horteuse 
 was designed by Napoleon to be given in marriage to his favourite aide- 
 de-camp Duroc, whose handsome person and gallant bearing had already 
 won her admiration. But Josephine opposed this arrangement, from a 
 natural anxiety she laboured under of drawing still closer the ties that 
 united her with her husband ; for her barrenness had already become the 
 theme of opprobrium on the part of Joseph and Lucien, who laboured 
 assiduously with their brother to impress upon him the expediency of a 
 divorce. On this account she -was intent to bring about a marriage 
 between Louis Bonaparte and Hortense, through which she hoped to 
 defeat the insidious suggestions of her enemies. But serious obstacles 
 stood in the way of her accomplishing her design ; for the young couple 
 had an absolute antipathy towards each other, and both were actually in 
 love with other parties. Louis had become enamoured of Josephine's niece 
 Louise-Emilie, daughter of Francis, Marquis de Beauharnais, her first 
 husband's elder brother without, however, engaging the young lady's 
 affections in return. This Francis de Beauharnais was an emigrant, and 
 consequently an alliance with him was to be shunned by a brother of 
 Napoleon, who was then only a general of the Eepublic, and bound to 
 be careful of exciting distrust in his zeal. Accordingly, to prevent mis- 
 chief, he despatched Louis hastily from Paris ; and just previously to 
 starting for Egypt, married Mademoiselle Beauharnais to Lavalette, one of 
 his aides-de-camp, for whose safety she afterwards figured in so marvellous 
 an adventure. Louis, whose character was naturally of a pensive cast, 
 took this disappointment grievously to heart ; and, joined to an infirm 
 state of health, it produced in him a melancholy which preyed on him all 
 the remainder of bis life ; and when the proposition of a union with 
 Hortense was made to him, and it was only by skilful manoeuvring that 
 Josephine at length succeeded in gaining his consent, she had gained 
 from her daughter, too, an acquiescence ; and on the 4th of January 1802 
 the knot was tied. 
 
 Joseph, whose abilities were mediocre, but who was of the tractable
 
 24 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 disposition that Napoleon preferred to all others, stood high in the favour 
 of his brother. On him had been conferred the honour of conclud- 
 ing the famous treaties of Luneville and Arnieus, and also the equally 
 famous Concordat with the pope. He was named a grand officer of 
 the Leigion of Honour on the institution of that remarkable order ; 
 and on the establishment of the Empire, he became, in common with 
 all his brothers, an imperial prince. At the same time he was created 
 Grand Elector, as was Louis Constable of France. The fate of Lucien 
 was somewhat different. After the 18th Brumaire, he had been appointed 
 Minister of the Interior; in which office he displayed great activity, but was 
 frequently embroiled in angry discussions with the First Consul. He 
 naturally plumed himself on the merit of his services in the critical con- 
 juncture of Brumaire, and aspired to play a much more important part 
 'in the administration of affairs than Napoleon was at all disposed to 
 allow him. He was of an impetuous and unbending character, 
 and unsuited to act in subservience perhaps to any master, much more 
 to his own brother. Hence they had repeated quarrels; and on more than 
 one occasion Lucien flung down his portfolio in a passion, exclaiming that 
 he would no longer serve his brother. Such scenes rendered the longer con- 
 tinuance of Lucien in the ministry impossible. He was accordingly sent as 
 ambassador to Spain, where he again contrived to draw upon himself the 
 anger of the First Consul. Contrary to his instructions, he participated 
 in the treaty concluded by the infamous Oodoy with the court of Portugal, 
 by which the invasion of the latter kingdom was averted, to the inex- 
 pressible mortification of Napoleon, who was still engaged in negociations 
 with England, and was intent to occupy Portugal as n make-weight in 
 the adjustment of terms. The court of Lisbon paid for the boon some 
 30,000,000 francs. Although recalled in disgrace, Napoleon afterwards 
 put him into the Tribunate, where he was of use in passing through that 
 reluctant body the measure for the institution of the Legion of Honour 
 (No. 7), of which he was himself also appointed a grand master. From 
 this time he began to live in great splendour, furnished sumptuously a 
 magnificent hotel, and commenced the collection of one of the finest gal- 
 leries in Europe. He became a marked patron of the arts, and might 
 have continued to flourish in dignified affluence, but for his unhappy 
 disposition to offend his imperious brother. He set himself in opposition 
 to him in all family matters, and inspirited even the placid Joseph to 
 assume a mutinous demeanour, prevailing on him to refuse, first the 
 presidency of the Senate, and next the dependent crown of Italy. But 
 it was by his own marriage he irritated Napoleon to the highest pitch. 
 His first wife, the daughter of the innkeeper at St. Maximin, having died, 
 he married in 1803 a widow, Madame Jouberteau, a very beautiful and 
 accomplished woman. This alliance Napoleon insisted upon his dis- 
 solving ; and upon his positive refusal, threatened him so roughly that 
 he thought fit to retire from Paris, and withdrew himself to Borne. 
 There he took up his permanent abode, purchasing a large property at 
 Canino, in the Papal States, living in ostentatious luxury, and enjoying 
 the intimacy of the benignant pontiff Pius VII. 
 
 It was not to be supposed that Napoleon, even had he felt less 
 regard for his mother, would have allowed her to remain at Marseilles 
 after he had obtained supreme power in France. But he entertained 
 towards her a very affectionate remembrance, for he rightly attributed to 
 her early lessons the foundation of his greatness, confirming a truth of 
 universal application, that a mother's care is the index and condition 
 of pre-eminence among the sons of men. Upon the event of the 18th
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 25 
 
 Brumaire she removed to Paris, where, however, she lived in a very 
 retired manner, which was equally in accordance with her own tastes, 
 and agreeable to the wishes of the First Consul, who conld not venture 
 at that time to give the females of his family any distinctive rank or 
 prominence. From the trials and misfortunes to which she had been 
 exposed, she was naturally of a provident disposition, and rigidly con- 
 demned superfluous expenditure on the part of her children, saying, with 
 a foreboding gesture, that they knew not what they might come to not- 
 withstanding their present prosperity. She took part with Lucien in his 
 quarrel with Napoleon, and, greatly to the chagrin of the latter, followed 
 him to Rome, displaying in her conduct the sternness and independence 
 which was characteristic of her. "When upbraided by Napoleon with an 
 undue partiality for Lucien, she answered sharply that an unfortunate 
 son would always be the most dear to her ; which she proved to himself 
 afterwards by a memorable devotion. Shortly after the creation of the 
 Empire, however, she was induced to return to Paris, whither the new 
 Emperor (No. 8) invited her by tender solicitations, and offers of a 
 splendid establishment. In truth he settled upon her an annual income 
 of 1,000,000 francs (^640,000), assigned her a separate court, and gave 
 her a position as Madame-Mere, equivalent to the title of Empress-Mother. 
 She took up her residence in the sumptuous mansion furnished by 
 Lucien, but she was far from maintaining the princely state and hospi- 
 tality of that banished magnate. ' Who knows but I may have one day 
 to keep all these kings and queens?' she was accustomed to remark, even 
 in those halcyon days when fortune wore her serenest smile, and crowns 
 glittered on the heads of her rejoicing sons and daughters. 
 
 Of his sisters, Napoleon was fondest and proudest of Pauline (No. 9), 
 who had emerged into womanhood a very paragon of beauty. At the 
 age of sixteen, she had displayed a very warm attachment she had formed 
 for Freron, one of the members of the Committee of Public Safety. For- 
 tunately saved from union with such a man, and having a crowd of 
 admirers she encouraged around her, her brother hastened her marriage 
 with young Leclerc, an officer of humble origin, but of considerable promise, 
 whom he immediately elevated to the rank of general. Pauline was by 
 no means favourable to this union, insomuch that L when her husband 
 was appointed in 1801 to head the expedition to St. Domingo, she refused 
 to accompany him, and it required all the authority of Napoleon, to get 
 her -compliance with an imperative duty. She went out to the Antilles 
 accordingly, and by her enlivening entertainments struggled for a time 
 against the desolations of pestilence ; but after the death of Leclerc, she 
 gladly escaped from so dismal a scene ; and, carrying back his embalmed 
 body and her treasures, she hurried with alacrity to enjoy again the 
 pleasures of luxurious Paris. Never did a more gay or fascinating widow 
 flutter in the brilliant circles of that dissipated capital. Her ambition 
 was to outstrip in attractions the graceful Josephine, whom, with all her 
 beauty, she could never rival in the inimitable tastefulness of her dress. 
 Her displays were theatrical, although in other respects she was full of 
 generosity and goodnature. She often provoked the displeasure of 
 Napoleon, but never failed to pacify him by her blandishments, for he 
 knew she Wcis really attached to him, and he willingly suffered himself 
 to be coaxed into pardon of her follies. Nevertheless he deemed it pru- 
 dent she should take again, with all despatch, another husband; and 
 accordingly, in 1803 she was married to the Prince Camilla Borghese, 
 an Italian of historic name and large possessions, who united to eligi- 
 gibility the complaisance of a high-bred consort. In the following year
 
 26 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 the Emperor of the French created her an imperial princess, and in 1806 
 endowed her with the rich dependencies of Guastella and Piacenza, which 
 she bartered, however, for an equivalent in money, not wishing to exchange 
 the pomps and gaieties of Paris for the barren cares of an obscure so- 
 vereignty. 
 
 Eliza, the eldest of the sisters, was more esteemed than beloved perhaps 
 by her brother. She affected rather the masculine virtues than the softer 
 graces of womanhood, and was distinguished, moreover, for literary propen- 
 sities, which often impart an air of pretension less pleasing than imposing 
 in a woman of real superiority. She was the first preferred by Napoleon to 
 dignity, being made by him Grand-Duchess of Lucca and Piombiuo on the 
 occasion of his coronation as King of Italy. At this extraordinary step, in 
 conjunction with the annexation to France of Piedmont and Genoa, the 
 powers of Europe took just umbrage, and saw in it the commencement of a 
 system which threatened to end in a universal dominion. In after-times he 
 transferred also Tuscany to this ' Semiramis of Lucca,' as Talleyrand in his 
 flattery designated her, having at length exhausted the occasions for which 
 he kept that fair region of Italy as a shuttlecock of indemnity. He had first 
 given it to two miserable puppets of the Spanish Bourbons in exchange for 
 Louisiana ; then he had taken it from the survivor, upon the promise of an 
 illusory crown in Portugal ; lastly, he had held it before the eyes of Fer- 
 dinand to induce his renunciation of the crown of Spain. In short he 
 regarded the Tuscans as a herd of cattle, to be trafficked in any way ho 
 thought fit, to be sold and conveyed to an opportune bidder like a gang of 
 American slaves. Nevertheless the Princess Eliza ruled these unfortunate 
 Italians with a gentle and intelligent sway, transacting the affairs of admin- 
 istration with great industry, and jealously excluding from all aiithority her 
 husband Bacciochi, who was content to abandon himself to the grosser 
 enjoyments of his fortune. In personal deportment she was apt to imitate 
 the abrupt manners of the Emperor; in her government she gave literary 
 tastes to the winds, and busied herself instead with reviews of soldiers an 
 occupation more germane, as she thought, to a kinswoman of the mighty 
 conqueror. 
 
 The youngest daughter of the Imperial House was Caroline (No. 10), 
 and she fell to the lot of Joachim Murat, a cavalry officer who had risen 
 from the ranks, and who, since the event of the 13th Vendemiaire, had been 
 closely attached to the person of Napoleon. Although lacking the perfect 
 symmetry and attractive beauty of Pauline, she was eminently handsome, 
 and of a bold and ambitious character, which rendered her the most aspiring 
 of the whole family. Murat had of himself claims upon the gratitude of the 
 Emperor, who raised him to be a prince and marshal of France, and also 
 endowed him with the title of Grand Admiral (No. 11). But Caroline 
 was continually dissatisfied with the share of grandeur allotted to her hus- 
 band, and so teased Napoleon with importunate comparisons, that he one day 
 exclaimed to her in a passion, ' To hear you talk, one would really suppose 
 that I had deprived you of the inheritance left by the king your father/ 
 Still, he was solicitous to gratify her cravings, and sought by promises to 
 flatter her hopes and allay her impatience. These he was enabled fully to 
 redeem, and in the end no members of his family were more amply rewarded 
 than Joachim with his ambitious spouse. 
 
 M. Fesch, the half-brother of Madame-Mere, had, with the restoration of 
 religion in France, relapsed to his original profession, and having been 
 received again by the benignant pope into the bosom of the Church, he 
 participated largely in the ecclesiastical benefits showered upon the Gallican 
 clergy. It is true that Napoleon insisted upon his undergoing an ordeal of
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 27 
 
 ! unification in a seminary before being admitted to a seat in the new 
 lierarchy ; but be immediately afterwards nominated bim to tbe arch- 
 bishoprick of Lyons, and the pope conferred on him the superior grade of 
 a cardinal. He afterwards represented bis imperial nephew at the court of 
 Rome, where he gained in a remarkable degree the favour and confidence 
 of tbe holy pontiff, whose interests be espoused with great ardour. It is 
 certainly a surprising fact, that with all the extraordinary benefits lavished 
 upon his relatives by the great Emperor, none of them seem to have been 
 actuated by a corresponding gratitude towards him, and that they all more 
 or less thwarted his views, and proved refractory to his authority. Having 
 so poor an opinion of men, he never supposed them capable of heeding 
 inducements other than those of selfish interest : yet it is certainly strange 
 that he should find, as he himself declared, bis worst enemies in the bosom 
 of bis own family. There was one very decided exception to this rule in 
 the person of Jerome (No. 12), his youngest brother, who never con tested his 
 will. This youth be had sent into the navy, hoping to throw some lustre 
 by his presence on that service; but being appointed on a cruise off the 
 American coast, the sailor got entangled in a match with a young lady of 
 Baltimore, a Miss Paterson, whom, in 1805, be brought to Europe as his 
 bride. Napoleon, however, refused to allow her even to land on any part 
 of the continent, and she was obliged to seek a refuge in England. He 
 took his brother most severely to task for this outrage on the dignity of the 
 family, and insisted that he should forthwith repudiate so improper a 
 connection. The youth was in reality much attached to his pretty wife, 
 and, being instigated by Lucien, for some time ventured to withstand the 
 stem commands of the incensed Emperor. He was again hurried off to sea 
 as captain of a 74, and having crossed the Atlantic, and got back again 
 without being captured he was extolled in the columns of the ' Moniteur' 
 as a paragon of seamen, and as destined to eclipse in fame all the admirals 
 of England, with Nelson at their head. Nevertheless Napoleon changed 
 his opinion touching these prospects of his brother, for he shortly afterwai'ds 
 annulled his marine career altogether, and converted him into a soldier, 
 designing him to gather laurels on a more likely field under his own 
 immediate guidance. 
 
 Such being the state of the Bonaparte family at the institution of the 
 Empire, it became of paramount importance with the founder of the dynasty 
 to decide how and by whom it was to be perpetuated. He bad himself no 
 offspring, and therefore must choose a collateral heir. In theirs* place, 
 the imperial crown was settled on Napoleon Bonaparte and his direct issue 
 in the male line, with a power of adoption under certain restrictions ; 
 secondly, on Joseph Bonaparte and the heirs-male of his body ; and thirdly, 
 on Louis Bonaparte and the heirs-male of his body. At the same time it 
 was provided that the marriage of a French prince, without the consent of 
 the head of the Empire, should entail the loss of all hereditary right in the 
 offending prince and his offspring. This exclusion struck directly at Lucien 
 and Jerome, who were already in the categoiy of delinquents on that score, 
 and they accordingly remained in the Imperial Constitutions debarred from 
 the right of succession. A chance of reinstatement was, however, left them 
 by tbe dissolution of their marriages. In accordance with tbe old Salic 
 law of the monarchy, females were perpetually excluded, and in so essentiallv 
 military a creation that relic of feudalism was appropriately preserved. By 
 this exceptional limitation Napoleon sufficiently marked his dissatisfaction 
 with Lucieu, and also Jerome. 
 
 Having thus settled the foundations of his empire, as he deemed, on an 
 imperishable basis, Napoleon prepared to wage battle against the confederated
 
 28 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 powers of Europe, and exalt his greatness to a yet more colossal height : 
 and in truth the armies of the continent were extinguished by him vr.th a 
 facility which might Avell inflate him with notions of his omnipotence on 
 earth. At Ulm and Austerlitz he prostrated the Austrian empire; at Jena 
 he dissolved in a day the accumulated dominion of Frederick and the House 
 of Brandenburg ; at Friedland he annihilated the martial host 1 of barbaric 
 Russia; at Tilsit he bound the successor of the savage Romanzoffs captive 
 to his chariot, and whirled him to the precipice on which he had well nigh 
 met his ruin. Then supreme dominator of the potentates he suffered to 
 reign in corners of their former territories, he trod upon their necks with a 
 pride which have had few parallels in European history. From Naples he 
 expelled the hostile race of Bourbons, and placed on its throne his brother 
 Joseph (No. 13); in Holland he planted Louis as king; and at Cassel, 
 across the Rhine, over a heteiogeneous compound called the kingdom of 
 Westphalia, he fixed Jerome (No. 14) as a monarch. Caroline he gratified 
 by making her husband Grand-Duke of Berg, constituting him a sovereign 
 over 300,000 Germans. This system of vassal-fief's he completed by the 
 Confederation of the Rhine, in which he enrolled the second-class powers of 
 Germany as his immediate dependents such as Saxony, Bavaria (No. 15), 
 and "Wurtemberg, whose reigning princes he created kings. Thus he 
 obliterated the ancient German empire, and absorbed the greatest part of it 
 within the folds of his ascendancy. But even such aggrandisements were 
 insufficient to appease his large heart. He must needs form alliances with 
 sovereign houses. Accordingly he united his adopted son Eugene to the 
 eldest daughter of the king of Bavaria; and having compelled Jerome 
 to discard the fair American, he extorted from the reluctant king of Wur- 
 temburg his daughter Catherine (No. 16), as a wife for his majesty of West- 
 phalia. A niece of the Empress Josephine, Stephanie de Beauharnais, he 
 married to the hereditary Prince of Baden ; whilst another niece of nearer 
 kith, Mademoiselle de Tascher, being created a French princess for the occa- 
 sion, was given in wedlock to the young heir of the House of Aremberg. 
 By these courtly alliances he thought to consolidate his sway, and to extend 
 the ramifications of the influence of one of the mightiest of human under- 
 standings. 
 
 After appropriating so large a share of Germany, and the whole of Italy, 
 in which the pope alone still preserved a shadow of the old patrimony of 
 St. Peter, it behoved the conqueror to culminate his 'system' by the reduc- 
 tion of Spain and Portugal into a corresponding state of vassalage. Of 
 Portugal he deemed himself justly entitled to take possession, because that 
 power had the audacity to trade with Great Britain. Accordingly, after the 
 peace of Tilsit had relieved him from all immediate solicitude in the north 
 and east of Europe, he despatched Junot with an army to seize Lisbon, 
 whence at his bare approach the degenerate Braganxa fled across the wide 
 Atlantic. As Spain happened to be a very faithful and subservient ally of 
 his own, he could scarcely pursue so abrupt a course with regard to it; and 
 ^he was therefore reduced to adopt a conduct towards its imbecile monarch 
 and his family which surpasses everything in history. But it was suffered 
 to succeed for a time ; and having entrapped all the members of the 
 Bourbon dynasty into his toils at Bayonne, he consigned them to different 
 places in France, allowing them insignificant pensions. It is true that the 
 royal family of Spain was the most degraded and flagitious that could be 
 imagined, the old Queen Louisa especially, and her minion Gcdoy, Prince 
 of Peace, being perfect samples of all that is detestable in the governors 
 of kingdoms; whilst old Charles IV. was weak and besotted to an incon- 
 ceivable degree.
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 2U 
 
 lu connection with his contemplated seizure of the two Peninsular 
 crowns, Napoleon had held a singular interview with his brother Lucieii at 
 Mantua during a journey he made into Italy in December 1807. Notwith- 
 standing his knowledge of Lucien's intractable temper, he was desirous of 
 making him a king like the rest of his brethren, and he proposed at the 
 moment to give him for a sovereignty the realm of Portugal. He had not 
 yet formed his determination touching Spain, still wavering as to the policy 
 of dethroning the reigning dynasty, or of attaching it to him by a maniage 
 between a princess of his house and Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias, who 
 eagerly demanded the honour and protection of such an alliance. He had 
 therefore a twofold object to attain in his interview with Lucien : first, to 
 induce his consent to become king of Portugal ; and secondly, to obtain from 
 him his eldest daughter to be educated under his own eye, with the view of 
 being united to Ferdinand in case that scheme was ultimately adopted. But 
 this offer of Lusitauian royalty was clogged with the condition that Lucieu 
 should dissolve his existing marriage ; which he refused to do ; and conse- 
 quently the brothers parted on bad terms. However, although Lucieu with- 
 stood for himself all temptation, his wife, with great nobleness of mind, 
 urging him to accede, he agreed to part with his daughter, the first born of 
 the maid of St. Maximiu, that she might be converted into a princess under 
 the auspices of her uncle. She was accordingly sent to Paris, and placed 
 with her grandmother, Madame-Mere ; but her sojourn there was cut short. 
 The young lady was of a satirical vein, and touched up with biting humour 
 the foiblesof her imperial uncles and aunts, not sparing the old grandmamma 
 herself ; therefore, by the unanimous verdict of the family, she was adjudged 
 to be sent back to her father, who had instilled into bet such sentiments. 
 The Emperor signed an ordinance for her removal within twenty-four 
 hours; and so ended the magnificent project of a union in her person 
 between the rival tribes of Bourbon and Bonaparte. She returned to Rome, 
 and poor Ferdinand was put into durance at Valer^ay, instead of figuring 
 as a monarch in the halls of San-Lorenzo and Aranjuez. 
 
 The Spanish occupation was renderered fatal to Napoleon by his inju- 
 dicious choice of Joseph (No. 17) to fill the vacant throne. That honest 
 personage and his estimable consort, Queen Julia, performed the part of 
 the royalty of Naples pretty well, and certainly more respectably than their 
 discreditable predecessors. .But he was totally unsuited to the proud and 
 irascible Spaniards, to whom the very mildness of his character was a sub- 
 ject of reproach. The first great disaster which heralded the coming catas- 
 trophe was the surrender of Dupout at Baylen, with an army of 20,000 
 men. to a horde of undisciplined Andalusians under Castanos. This was 
 followed by the immediate flight of Joseph from Madrid, after a residence 
 in his new capital of only ten days. Then came the capitulation of Junot 
 at Lisbon to a British force, and Europe was in a ferment at events which 
 destroyed the prestige of Napoleon's invariable success. Yet from these 
 primary reverses he rose for a time more triumphant and prosperous than 
 ever. At the magnificent congress of Erfurth, he confirmed the Kussian 
 autocrat in his subservient alliance ; he poured 300,000 soldiers into the 
 Peninsula, and at Madrid gave back to Joseph in person his recon- 
 quered kingdom ; at Eckrniil and Wagrain he again prevailed over his 
 potent adversary the Archduke Charles, and the Austrian monarchy lay at 
 his absolute disposal. Glimmerings of the decisive conflict in store for 
 him, to sustain, by the actual subjugation of Russia, his expanded supre- 
 macy, prompted him to act with moderation in the peace he made with the 
 Emperor Francis, upon whom, however, he imposed sundry heavy sacrifices. 
 Within a few months of his last conquest and accommodation, he sought 
 
 5
 
 90 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 to form a closer alliance with an enemy who had hitherto so pertinaciously 
 opposed him, but whom lie wished now to conciliate, and rank as one of his 
 future supporters. In March 1810 he made a formal proposition for the 
 hand of Maria-Louisa (No. 18), the eldest daughter of Francis (No. 19), 
 and it was joyfully conceded by the humbled cabinet of Vienna. This 
 marriage was necessarily preceded by his divorce from Josephine (No. 20), 
 which he had determined upon with reluctance, but which he deemed 
 essential to the stability of his empire and dynasty. The new Empress 
 (No. 21) arrived at Paris in April, and the nuptial ceremony was performed 
 with extraordinary pomp in the palace of the Tuileries. The felicity of 
 Napoleon (22) was at its summit when in the following year she was 
 delivered of a son, the destined heir of all his gi-eatness, and who received 
 in the cradle the majestic title of the King of Rome (No. 23). 
 
 But the lowering portents began to accumulate apace. The solemn 
 anathemas of the pope, whom he had at length made prisoner at Grenoble, 
 he might affect to deride, though they were not without effect in kindling 
 'the conflagration within which he was to be consumed. But the simul- 
 taneous flight of two of his brothers struck him with disquietude. Lucien 
 was warned that the imperial vengeance was about to fall heavily upon him, 
 and with the assistance of Murat (No. 24), who had succeeded Joseph asking 
 of Naples, he made arrangements for proceeding to America; but being cap- 
 tured by a British cruiser, he was earned to England, where he remained 
 until the termination of the war. Louis refused any longer to be the instru- 
 ment of his power in Holland, and under the shelter of night, fled from the 
 Hague into Bohemia, where he found an asylum from the Austrian govern- 
 ment. He left behind him an abdication in favour of his son ; but Napoleon 
 immediately absorbed the Dutch Netherlands into the French Empire. From 
 Jerome at the same time he took a considerable share of the territories he 
 had assigned him, and administered to him severe lectures on the courses 
 he pursued on the throne. He often reviled him, and harshly upbraided 
 him with his total want of courage, capacity, and virtue. To increase these 
 fraternal afflictions, Joseph was continually demanding to be relieved from 
 the horrors of his situation in Spain; and Joachim, instigated by his am- 
 bitious queen, chafed in petulant anger against the humiliations imposed 
 upon him in his tinsel dignity of King of the Two Sicilies. 
 
 In 1812 the Emperor of the West set forth on his memorable expedition 
 to chastise the faithlessness of Alexander (No. 25), who had eventually 
 found his alliance too onerous to be longer endured. With half a million of 
 soldiers he crossed the Niemen, and through fearful difficulties prosecuted 
 his perilous enterprise even to Moscow, where he attained indeed the acme 
 of his glory, but found arrayed against him the destructive agencies of fire, 
 famine, and frost. He commenced his retreat over the wasted route by 
 which he had advanced, and before he again reached Poland, his army 
 had perished. This was the irremediable disaster which struck him down. 
 But never were the extraordinary resources of his character displayed with 
 such brilliancy as in his gigantic efforts to retrieve it. Myriads of embattled 
 enemies marched 'to crush him, and populations rose to avenge their long- 
 suffered miseries ; but he stood an impregnable bulwark against a world in 
 arms. Still he fought and conquered; the fields of Lutzen, Bautzen, 
 Dresden, attested the ineffable superiority of his genius, until ever accumu- 
 lating numbers overmastered him; and at Leipzig his power received an 
 incurable stab. Driven back into France, he still showed an indomitable 
 front; the campaign of 1814 recalled all the heroism of the renowned 
 1796; and with 50,000 men, he kept at bay the swarming hosts of invaders, 
 numbering upwards of 300,000. The French were now tired of war, and
 
 THE BONAPABTE FAMILY. 31 
 
 began to expatiate on the blessings of peace ; accordingly, amid a universal 
 hallelujah, the mighty Napoleon was extinguished (1814); and in exchange 
 for the empire of the world he was assigned the island of Elba (No. 26). 
 The members of his family were banished from the soil of France : his wife 
 returned to her ancestral home, bearing with her his child; and the white 
 flag of the Bourbons was seen once more waving over the sons of the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The monarchs and diplomatists of Europe assembled at Vienna to parti- 
 tion the spoils which had fallen for allotment by the destruction of the 
 French Empire. In their strife of cupidity they were somewhat tardy; 
 and ere they had reconciled their rapacious rivalries, the noise came upon 
 them that the imprisoned eagle was again upon the wing. Straightway they 
 separated in tumultuous confusion, for the bare name of Napoleon bore 
 with it a terror greater than that of ten thousand legions, and they has- 
 tened to make preparations for their final deliverance from him. The 
 story of the return from Elba, the triumphant march to Paris, the flight of 
 Louis XVIII., the reign of the Hundred Days is it not written in imperish- 
 able records, and are not its marvellous incidents related, if not in letters of 
 gold, at least in characters of shining magnitude? Waterloo terminated 
 this fleeting phase of the great drama, and definitively relieved Europe from 
 its thraldom. Then fell indeed the imperial idol without a hope of resur- 
 rection : transferred to a distant island, he was consigned to a living tomb, 
 but encircled with a halo which will grow brighter in its immortality, and 
 which will shine purely when told by the pens of the truthful historian. 
 
 In the calamity of 1814 the whole family of the Bonapartes shared, with 
 one exception. Joachim Murat had sought, by a timely defection, to make 
 his peace with the Allies, and, by taking part against his brother-in-law, to 
 preserve the royalty of Naples. In this object he succeeded for the moment, 
 but with little prospect of ultimately securing the advantage he expected 
 from so deplorable a treason. All the other members of the family retired 
 into Italy, and chiefly to Rome, where the reinstated pope afforded them a 
 hospitable reception. Even Lucien broke from his detention in England, 
 and joined the circle in the Eternal City, commanding a cordial welcome 
 from his pontifical friend, who gratified him with the title of Prince of 
 Cariiuo and Musignano. Taught now by experience how entirely dependent 
 they were on Napoleon, the whole of them, mother, uncle, brothers, and 
 sisters, concurred in promoting his return, and none with greater zeal 
 than the refractory Lucien or the light-headed and remorseful Murat. 
 Madame-Mere and Pauline repaired to Elba, where they affected to hold a 
 mimic court, but in reality w r ere the medium through which many of the 
 necessary negotiations were conducted. Upon the successful execution of 
 the enterprise, Joseph, Lucieu, and Jerome, followed by Cardinal Fesch, 
 hastened to Paris, and assisted with all their power the re-establishment of 
 the Emperor. Lucien, in particular, distinguished himself by energetic 
 services, and Jerome drew upon himself the eulogy of Napoleon by his 
 intrepidity at Waterloo. The second occupation of Paris by the Allies 
 crashed every hope, and thenceforth all who bore the name of Bonaparte 
 had the mark of proscription set upon them : they became exiles from the 
 land which had witnessed their greatness, and they were scattered into 
 various regions of the world. 
 
 Joseph had accompanied Napoleon in his melancholy journey to Roche- 
 fort, with the view of affecting an escape to America. The deposed Emperor 
 was circumvented in that design, but the ex-king of Spain was allowed to 
 prosecute the voyage. He landed at New York in the month of September 
 1815, and established his residence in the state of Pennsylvania, not far
 
 32 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 from the town of Philadelphia. He purchased a considerable estate, built 
 a large mansion, maintained a numerous retinue of dependents, and lived 
 in a splendour which surprised the simple denizens of the great Quaker 
 community. The Americans were flattered by his choice of a retreat among 
 them; and as he was uniformly gracious in his demeanour, disbursing 
 money with an unwonted munificence, he commanded their respect and 
 esteem in a very eminent degree. He passed much of his time in agricul- 
 tural pursuits, and doubtless found a greater portion of happiness than in 
 the more bustling periods of his life, although he was denied the satisfaction 
 of having the society of his wife and daughters. In 1832 he re-visited 
 Europe, where he appeared under the title of the Count de Survilliers, 
 which he had assumed from his first landing in America. Three years sub- 
 sequently he returned to his transatlantic home, whence he took his final 
 departure in 1841, and repaired to Italy, there to lay his bones in the 
 original seat of his family. He died at Florence in August 1844, at the 
 advanced age of seventy-six, leaving surviving him only one of his two 
 daughters, both of whom had married their first cousins, the sons of Lucien 
 and Louis Bonaparte. 
 
 The activity of Lucien (No. 27), when debarred from apolitical career by 
 the severity of Napoleon, had found vent in literary pursuits and antiquarian 
 researches, prosecuted on his domain of Canino. When in England, he 
 finished his grand epic poem of ' Charlemagne ' in 24 books, and he subse- 
 quently composed another poem in twelve cantos, called ' La Cirneide,' or 
 ' Corsica Saved.' These works did not elevate him to a place among the 
 first of epic poets of France, as he fondly expected ; notwithstanding the 
 labour bestowed upon them, and the distinguished name of their author : 
 yet they by no means merit the criticisms they have encountered, which 
 have been dictated by the disgraceful animosity so long exhibited against 
 the connections of the man who kept monarchs and aristocracies in such 
 dastard terror. Lucien continued during the remainder of his life in the 
 papal dominions, maintaining a splendid establishment in the City of 
 Borne, and affording a bright example to all proprietors by a diligent culti- 
 vation of his estates. He was eminently successful in his excavations of 
 antiquities, and formed a gallery of Etruscan relics unsurpassed for its 
 extent by any similar collection in Christendom, and in 1836 he published 
 a volume of memoirs at London. He lived under four pontificates, and 
 died at Viterbo on the 29th July 1840, leaving behind him a numerous 
 
 To almost every individual of the elder generation Italy became eventually 
 an abode and a resting-place. After a residence in Styria and Switzerland, 
 under the title of the Count de St. Leu, derived from an estate he possessed 
 near Paris, Louis settled at Florence in 1826, having been separated from 
 his wife Hortense since his flight from Holland, and there died in 1846. 
 Jerome had followed his wife into Wurtemburg, where he was at first very 
 ill received by his royal father-in-law, who wished his daughter to discard 
 him. But she clung with true female constancy to her husband, and at 
 length obtained from her father a grant of land in his favour, and also a patent 
 of nobility, by which he was created Duke of Montfort He remained for 
 some years in Germany, subsequently roamed into Switzerland where the 
 Princess Catherine died in 1835 purchased property in the March of 
 Ancona, and fixed his head-quarters, like Louis, at Florence, whence the 
 revolution of February 1848 called him to France. Meanwhile all the 
 females of the family were dead. Madame-Mere had died at Rome at 
 the extreme age of eighty-six, on the 2d February 1830; Pauline and 
 Caroline both died at Florence the first in 18'25, and the latter in 1830.
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 33 
 
 Shortly prior to the execution of Murat (No. 28), who was shot at Pizzo in 
 Calabria on the 13th October 1815, Caroline (No. 29) had retired to Trieste 
 under the protection of the Austrian government, and there she continued 
 to reside until 1836. In that town her sister Eliza, the wife of Bacciochi, 
 had died in 1820, being the only one who died out of Italy except 
 Napoleon himself. The ci-devant Grand-Duchess of Tuscany left a son 
 and a daughter the first being killed by a fall from his horse at Rome 
 in 1833, and the latter married in 1825 to the Count Camarata, a noble 
 of Ancona. The beautiful Pauline alone departed this life without having 
 borne any progeny. As Napoleon had died at St. Helena in 1821, the 
 whole original Corsican stock was now extinguished, save the youngest of 
 all Jerome, formerly king of Westphalia, and at present governor of the 
 Hotel des Invalides at Paris. 
 
 No family, plebeian or patrician, has ever become so truly cosmopolitan 
 as that of the Bonapartes through the ramifications of alliances. Except 
 that not one of them is united to a native of France, they have been dis- 
 tributed in all the principal countries of the world Italy, Germany, Russia, 
 Sweden, Portugal, Great Britain, and the United States. The children of 
 Luoien surviving at his death consisted of three sons and several daughters. 
 The eldest son Charles, now Prince of Canino, married Letitia (No. 30), the 
 eldest daughter of his uncle Joseph. The two younger Pierre and Antoine 
 were compelled to flee from Rome in 1830; they retired into the United States, 
 whence they returned in 1838, and Pierre has since been elected a member 
 of the French National Assembly for the department of Corsica. Of the 
 daughters, Charlotte, the eldest, she who was intended to be the wife of 
 Ferdinand VII., married in 1815 Prince Gabriella, a Roman noble ; and 
 the second, Christine, a Swedish count of the name of Posse. This latter 
 marriage was dissolved, and then Christine fell to the lot of Lord Dudley 
 Stuart, a younger brother of the last Marquis of Bute. Letitia (No. 31), the 
 third daughter, likewise mariied a British subject, Mr. Thomas Wyse, who, 
 as member for the City of Waterford, is favourably known for his exertions 
 in the cause of education. 
 
 By the charming Hortense, Louis had three sons, the eldest of whom 
 was reared by Napoleon as his future heir. The child died, however, when 
 he was only four years old; and of the siirvivors Napoleon-Louis and 
 Charles-Louis-Napoleon the latter, born 1808, alone is still living. The 
 former married his cousin Charlotte, daughter of Joseph; and, after taking 
 part in the revolutionary disturbances at Rome in 1831, died of inflamma- 
 tion at Forli. Both the sons had clung to their mother, who with difficulty 
 extricated the youngest from the consequences of the abortive enterprise at 
 Rome, and retired with him to the castle of Arenenberg in Switzerland, 
 where she had previously fixed her residence, and brought up with maternal 
 care her two imperial scions. 
 
 Previous to his repudiation of Miss Patterson, Jerome had a son, who 
 accompanied his mother to Amei'ica, and has since married in that country. 
 The admirable Catherine of Wurtemberg bore him three children two sons 
 and a daughter. Jerome Napoleon, the eldest, born in 1814, was remark- 
 able for his extraordinary resemblance to the Emperor ; but died in 1846, 
 without having distinguished himself in any way. Napoleon, the youngest, 
 bora in 1823, has been elected to sit in both the National Assemblies of 
 France since the last Revolution. The daughter, Letitia Matilda, married 
 in J841 a wealthy Russian nobleman, Count Anatole Demidoff, with whom 
 she passes her time between Petersburg and Paris. 
 
 The unfortunate Murat left a numerous family namely, two sons, and 
 two daughters. The eldest, Achille. born in 1801, ex Crown Prince of
 
 34 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 Naples, has led a very chequered career. He emigrated to America like so 
 many of his family, and became a naturalised citizen of the States. He 
 practised as a lawyer in Georgia, married a wife, and purchased a tract of 
 waste land in Florida. The revolutionary tocsin of 1830 brought him back 
 to Europe, and he served in Belgium as colonel of the Foreign Legion. He 
 returned to America ; but the heaving portents of the times induced him 
 once more to revisit Europe, where he died, however, just previous to the 
 last revolutionary outbreak. His brother Lucien, born in 1803, accom- 
 panied him to America, where, after preliminary studies, he took post among 
 the legal fraternity of New York, and married a demoiselle of that sovereign 
 state. Discontented with his lot, he also made his way back to Europe, 
 and now fills the more appropriate position of a representative of the French 
 people. The two daughters of Joachim and Caroline are married respec- 
 tively to Italian magnates : the eldest, Letitia, to Count Pepoli of Bologna, 
 long a political exile in London, where he exercised the functions of Italian 
 professor in the university ; and the younger, Louisa, to Count Kasponi, 
 whose patrimonial homestead lies in the exarchate of Ravenna. 
 
 Eugene Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, had immediately, after the events 
 of 1814, repaired to the court of his father-in-law, the king of Bavaria, who 
 received him with open arms, and showered upon him every benefit in 
 his power. He conferred on him the principality of Eichstadt (No. 32), and 
 gave him the title of Duke of Leuchtenberg. Eugene died from the effects 
 of an accident in 1824, in the forty -fourth year of his age, and left six 
 children two sons, and four daughters. Most of these have made fortunate 
 matches. The eldest daughter, Josephine, is the present queen of Sweden, 
 having married Oscar, son of Bernaclotte (No. 33), in 1823. The second is the 
 wife of a German prince, titular of Hohenzollern-Hechingen ; the third married 
 Don Pedro, ex-emperor of Brazil, and thereby became the mother-in-law of 
 her own brother ; the fourth married a Count of Wurtemberg. Of the sons, 
 Augustus espoused in 1835 the young queen of Portugal, Donna Maria, 
 daughter of Don Pedro, but he unfortunately died shortly after the nuptials ; 
 the youngest, Maximilian, now Duke of Leuchtenberg, obtained in 1839 
 the hand of the Grand-Duchess Maria, daughter of Nicholas, puissant 
 autocrat of all the Russias. To complete the mixture of nationalities, 
 involved in the Beauharnais branch of the family, the daughter of Stephanie, 
 Grand-Duchess of Baden, and niece of the Empress Josephine, has been 
 recently united to a Scotch nobleman, the Marquis of Douglas, only son of 
 the Duke of Hamilton, ranking one of the highest among the British 
 peerage for martial ancestry and vast possessions. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these diversified and brilliant unions, the name of 
 Bonapai'te had fallen into a specious of oblivion until the Revolution of 
 1830, which overturned the crude dominion of the restored Bourbons. Amid 
 the conflict that ensued in France, the young Napoleon was put forward by 
 a party as the legitimate possessor of a revolutionary crown ; but overween- 
 ing considerations served to stifle his pretensions. He had remained under 
 Austrian tutelage since the fatal era of 1814, and though treated with great 
 affection by his grandfather, pains had been taken to rear him as a German, 
 and as little as possible as a Frenchman. The unfortunate youth, born to 
 such mighty prospects, pined in the effeminate seclusion of a palace, and 
 swelled his bursting heart with reminiscences of the wondrous mortal whom 
 he was allowed to recognise as his father. He early betrayed the delicate 
 constitution which hurried him to a premature grave ; and, cut off from his 
 natural associations, it was better perhaps that he should die. How melan- 
 choly the degradation, for the son of Napoleon to be an officer in a German 
 army, or to be the mediatised lord of Slavonian serfs, crushed under the igno-
 
 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 36 
 
 ininious title of Duke of Reichstadt! (No. 34.) On his death in 1832, a singular 
 rivalry broke out Who thereby became the representative of the Emperor? 
 Joseph certainly was alive, but he had wisely abjured all idea of political 
 strii'e. Lucien, it is suspected, was not inclined to undergo a similar nega- 
 tion ; and if his eldest son Charles had been more energetically disposed, 
 instead of being immersed in his congenial studies of natural history, he 
 might have exhibited a more active prosecution of his claims. Louis was 
 too quiet ; but his surviving son, Charles-Louis-Napoleon, or, as he called 
 himself, Louis-Napoleon, was not a person to forego any pretensions he 
 derived from his birth. By the Senatus-Consultum establishing the Empire, 
 the limitation, after the failure of direct heirs, was to Joseph and Louis, and 
 their respective heirs-male. Under this provision Louis-Napoleon assumed 
 the position of head of the family and heir of his imperial uncle, Joseph and 
 Louis being set aside as effete, and he prepared to make known his succes- 
 sion by a startling manifestation. 
 
 Endowed with considerable activity of mind, and stirred by a restless 
 ambition, his first endeavours were to surround his name with such a degree 
 of illumination as literary efforts might suffice to win it. Thus he composed 
 in Switzerland an essay on that confederation, and a work on artillery, which 
 gained him a certain measure of applause, and the honorary citizenship of 
 the canton Thurgau. But in literary reputation he was outshone by his 
 cousin Charles of Canino, who, by his magnificent works on the ornithology 
 of America, and the natural history of Italy, has earned the highest fame of 
 his family in fields of scientific and intellectual disquisition. Hence it was 
 by proof rather of masculine daring and enterprise that he must found his 
 hopes of achieving an acceptable renown. In a work he had published, 
 intended for the political atmosphere of France, and entitled ' Reveries 
 Politiques,' he manifested republican tendencies mingled with a leaven of 
 the imperial regime, attempting therein to embody perhaps the fantastic 
 creation imagined by Lafayette of a ' monarchy surrounded by republican 
 institutions.' With this as his manual of politics, he made an attempt at 
 Strasburg in 183(>, when, dressed in the costume of the Emperor, he sought 
 to kindle a military insurrection against what he thought the unsubstantial 
 throne of Louis Philippe. This scheme failed at the time, and the King of 
 the French thought fit to punish him simply by a voyage across the Atlantic 
 in a frigate appointed for the purpose. Being disgorged on the soil of 
 America, he soon found his way back to Switzerland, where, on the 3rd 
 October 1837, he closed the eyes of his devoted mother Hortense, Duchess 
 of St. Leu. Irritated by his unexpected reappearance within the year of his 
 adventure, the French government procured his expulsion from Switzerland, 
 and he retired to England, whence, in the year 1840, he executed his landing 
 at Boulogne. He had judged the time arrived for taking possession of the 
 French crown after the manner of his uncle in 1815, a considerable excite- 
 ment then prevailing in France through the corpse of Napoleon having been 
 removed from St. Helena for interment at Paris. But the affair proved 
 unsuccessful, and the prince was shut up in the fortress of Ham with Count 
 Moutholou, one of the distinguished attendants of the Emperor in his exile, 
 and who had been induced to join in the enterprise of the nephew. 
 
 Before proceeding on this last expedition he had issued a preparatory 
 work entitled ' Idees Napoliennes,' in which he expounded not only his own 
 ideas on manifold important topics, but those also of his deceased and illus- 
 trious uncle. In this singular production he makes the Emperor talk after 
 a peculiar fashion, discoursing largely on glory, liberty, popular sovereignty, 
 division of property, and many other matters of most complex character. 
 He would represent the beau ideal of a monarch suited to France. A man
 
 36 THE BONAPARTE FAMILY. 
 
 encircled by military glory he must be, but withal truly benevolent and 
 philanthropic in his sentiments ; maintaining stupendous armies and fleets, 
 yet anxious to alleviate the burthens of taxation, and devoutly attached to 
 peace ; with a rare love of national liberties, and especially of their best 
 guardian the independence of the press. But it is objected to this elaborate 
 compound of monarchical virtues that the military element is found 
 preponderating: and as Louis-Napoleon placed his principal hopes on the 
 army, this preference was probably marked by design. Whilst in Ham, he 
 beguiled the time by compilations of a different complexion. In the 
 1 Fragmens Historiques,' he assimilates the revolutionary episodes of Franco 
 and England, showing all the Bourbons to be exact parallels of the Stuarts. 
 After enduring his imprisonment for nearly six years, the prince succeeded 
 in effecting his escape by a clever disguise on the morning of the 26th May 
 1846, and returning to England once more took up his quarters in London. 
 
 It was nevertheless the fate of this extraordinary man to attain the 
 object of his wishes. The revolution of February 1848 dethroned the 
 prince who had conducted the difficult government of France for eighteen 
 years. The series of events which quickly followed brought penitence 
 upon the nation, and the necessity was felt for some personality apart from 
 the two branches of the Bourbon family, round which the people could rally 
 in their efforts to regain, at whatever cost, a firm order of things. At the 
 close of September, Louis-Napoleon was elected a representative for the de- 
 partment of the Seine by a large majority. He appeared at Paris, and 
 quickly became the centre of a powerful party. On the 10th of December 
 he was elected President of the Kepublic by an immense majority over his 
 competitors : the votes for him being 5,534.520 against 1,448,302 for General 
 Cavaignac, the candidate next on the lists, and shortly afterwards elected 
 Emperor of the French under the title of Napoleon the third. 
 
 In the extraordinary rise of Louis-Napoleon, the name seems to have 
 once more a chance of showing itself in a right relation to mankind. The 
 people of France desire to see the nephew of their great Emperor taking 
 the duty of consolidating their republican institutions. It he does so in 
 the self-denying spirit of a Washington, he will secure for himself an illus- 
 trious name. And whatever may be the difficulties under which the 
 Napoleon family arrived at the great power they once held, it cannot be 
 denied that they possessed in a high degree a full appreciation of the misrule 
 which existed throughout Europe at that time, when the doctrine of the day 
 was the luxury of the few in opposition to the misery of the multitude, and 
 we hope the present ruler of France will, even as he now seems disposed to 
 do advocate the divine law of justice with love to our fellow-men, and 
 maintain the progress of civilisation against the attacks of absolute 
 b'arbaric despotism.
 
 
 
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