CONFIDENTIAL CORRESPONDENCE THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE : INCLUDING LETTERS FROM THE TIME OP THEIR MARRIAGE UNTIL THE DEATH OP JOSEPHINE, AND ALSO SEVERAL PRIVATE LETTERS PROM THE EMPEROR TO HIS BROTHER JOSEPH, AND OTHER IMPORTANT PERSONAGES. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES AND ANECDOTES. BY JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY MASON BROTHERS, 108 AND 110 DUANE STREET. 1856. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by MASON BROTHERS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. STEREOTYPED BY PRINTED BY THOMAS B. SMITH, C. A. ALVOBI>, 82 A 84 Beekman Street. 15 Vandewater St. PREFACE. THERE is still great diversity of opinion, respect- ing the true character of Napoleon : a diversity so great as to excite in many bosoms much angry feel- ing. It might be supposed that if any question could be discussed in the United States with calmness, it would be the merits of a European sovereign who, for nearly the third of a century has been in his grave. But it may still be said of Napoleon, as it has been said of the great Genevan reformer : " On Calvin, some think heaven's own mantle fell, "While others deem him instrument of hell." The only way in which we can judge of the true character of a man, is to see what he has done, hear what he has said, and read what he has written. The deed, the word, and the writing, constitute the man, so far as man can judge. In the History of Napoleon the author has given a record of the deeds of the Emperor. In Napoleon at 2G511S2 PEEFACE St. Helena, lie lias collected his words. In the vol- ume now issued will be found his confidential letters. The authenticity of these letters are "beyond all controversy. Hortense had received them from her mother, and authorized their publication. The French editor, to whom Queen Hortense intrusted these letters, says : "We publish them without change. Our love for truth would prompt to this course, when we know that, too often, to correct is to profane. However, as there are some persons perhaps a little too freely condemned, we have only given the initials of their names." The confidential correspondence of Napoleon with his brother Joseph has recently been translated and published in this country. " These perfectly unre- served and brotherly confidential letters," says the Hon. Charles J. Ingersoll, " several hundred in Napo- leon's own hand-writing, written before he became great, will demonstrate his real sentiments and char- acter when too young for dissembling, and quite unreserved with his correspondent. Joseph relied upon them to prove, what he always said, and often told me, that Napoleon was a man of warm attach- ments, tender feelings, and honest purposes." These are now before the public. They are mostly purely business letters. From them a Tew have been select- PREFACE. V ed, for the present volume, which reflect light upon the social and domestic character of Napoleon. Napoleon was so extraordinary a character that every thing which he has said or done excites lively interest. These letters present him in entirely a new aspect in an attitude in which he has never before been seen by the American public. We are familiar with him as the warrior, the statesman, the great ad- ministrator but here we behold him as the husband, the father, the brother, moving freely amid all the tender relations of domestic life. His heart is here revealed, with all its intense and glowing affections. These letters were written in the midst of the tur- moil of the most busy and tempestuous career through which a mortal ever passed. They were often written on the field of battle, enveloped in the smoke of the conflict, and while the thunders of the retiring cannonade were still reverberating. Though often so overwhelmed with pressing responsibilities and cares that he could allow himself no quiet meal, no regular, repose, sleeping in the open air for a fort- night, neither taking oft 7 coat or boots, galloping from post to post of the army, through mud, and rain, and snow, he seldom allowed a day to pass without writing to Josephine, and he often wrote to her twice a day. VI PREFACE. The compiler of this volume has very freely intro- duced such historical facts, and well-authenticated remarks of the Emperor, as throw light upon the cor- respondence. He trusts that these illustrative notes will add not a little to the interest and value of these pages. Happy is that man whose " eulogy" consists in the faithful record of what he has written, done, and said. JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. Brunswick, Maine, 1856. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTEB PAGE I. LETTERS DURING THE FIRST ITALIAN CAMPAIGN. 9 II. LETTERS IN THE YEAR 1800, AT THE TIME OF THE CAMPAIGN OF MARENGO 33 III. LETTERS DURING THE TEARS 1801 AND 1802, TO JO- SEPHINE AND JOSEPH 42 IV. LETTERS TO JOSEPHINE IN 1804, DURING A JOURNEY WHICH THE EMPEROR MADE TO THE SEA-COAST 57 V. LETTERS TO THE EMPRESS IN 1^05, DURING THE CAM- PAIGN OF AUSTERLITZ 64 VI. LETTERS IN 1806, DURING THE CAMPAIGNS OF JENA AND AUERSTADT 91 VII. LETTERS IN 1806, DURING THE MARCH TO THE VIS- TULA 103 VHL LETTERS IN 1807, DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF ETLAU. 126 IX. LETTERS IN THE YEAR 1807, DURING THE WINTER ENCAMPMENT UPON THE VISTULA 144 X. LETTERS WRITTEN IN 1807, DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF FUIEDLAND 174 XI LETTERS DURING NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER OF 1807. 189 XII. LETTERS WRITTEN IN THE SPRING OF 1808, MOSTLY DURING A BRIEF VISIT TO BAYONNE. . . . . 201 Viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER p AOB XIII. LETTERS IN THE YEAR 1808, DURING THE CONGRESS AT ERFURTH 214 XIV. LETTERS IN 1808 AND 1809, DURING NAPOLEON'S CAM- PAIGN IN SPAIN 221 XV. LETTERS DURING THE CAMPAIGN IN GERMANY, IN 1809 235 XVI. LETTERS IN THE YEARS 1809 AND 1810, DURING THE FIRST THREE MONTHS AFTER THE DIVORCE 254 XVII. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE YEAR 1810, AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR WITH MARIA LOUISA.. 269 XVIII. LETTERS DURING THE YEAR 1811 302 XIX. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE YEAR 1812 324 XX. LETTERS DURING THE YEARS 1813 AND 1814 324 XXI. LETTERS DURING THE EMPEROR'S CAPTITITY AT SAINT HELENA 339 APPENDIX. THE WILL OF NAPOLEON; ms INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS EXECUTORS", AND A CHRONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF HIS CAREER . . 372 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE, CHAPTER I. LETTERS DURING THE FIRST ITALIAN CAMPAIGN. NAPOLEON was married to Josephine on the 9th of March, 1796. A few days after his marriage, he left his bride in Paris, and took command of the army of Italy. During this campaign, which was closed in less than a year, the letters contained in the present chapter were written. We have none of the letters which were written during the first three months of his absence. After the perils of the first assaults were over, and when, most of the Austrians being driven out of Italy, Napoleon was besieging Mantua, Josephine came to Milan, that she might be nearer her husband. The first letter, in this collection, is dated from a small town in the vicinity of Mantua. LETTER I. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. ROVERBELLA, July 6, 1796. I have beaten tfce enemy. Kilmaine will send you the ac- count. I am dead of fatigue. I entreat you to set out im- mediately for Verona. I fear that I am going to be very sick.. I give you a thousand kisses. I am in the bed. BONAPARTE. 10 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF LETTER II. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. VERONA,' July 11, 1796. Hardly had I left Roverbella, than I learned that the enemy had presented himself at Verona. Massena made such dispo- sition of his army as has been very happy. We have made six hundred prisoners, and we have taken three pieces of can- non. General Brune had seven bullets pass through his clothes, without being touched by one. This is good fortune. I give you a thousand kisses. I am very well. We have had only ten men killed and one hundred wounded. BONAPARTE. LETTER HI. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. MARMIROLO, July 17, 1796, 9 o'clock, P.M. I have received your letter, my adorable friend. It has filled my heart with joy. I am grateful to you for the trouble you have taken to send me the news. I hope that you are better to-day. I am sure that you have recovered. I earnestly desire that you should ride on horseback : it can not fail to benefit you. Since I left you, I have been constantly depressed. - My happiness is to be near you. Incessantly I live over in my memory your caresses, your tears, your affectionate solicitude. The charms of the incomparable Josephine kindle continually a burning and a glowing flame in my heart. When, free from all solicitude, all harassing care, shall I be able to pass all my time with you, having only to love y"ou, and to think only of the happiness of so saying, and of proving it to you ? I will send you your horse, but I hope you will soou join me. 1 A fine city on the Adige, about fifteen miles from Mantua. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 11 I thought that I loved you months ago, but since my separa- tion from you I feel that I love you a thousand fold more. Each day since I knew you, have I adored you yet more and more. This proves the maxim of Bruyere, that " love comes all of a sudden," to be false. Every thing in nature has its own course, and different degrees of growth. Ah ! I entreat you to permit me to see some of your faults. Be less beautiful, less gracious, less affectionate, less good, es- pecially be not over-anxious, and never weep. Your tears rob me of reason, and inflame my blood. Believe me it is not in my power to have a single thought which is noL of thee, or a wish which I could not reveal to thee. Seek repose. Quickly re-establish your health. Come and join me, that at least, before death, we may be able to say, " We were many days happy." A thousand kisses, and one even to Fortuna, 1 notwithstanding his spitefulness. BONAPARTE. LETTER IV. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. MARMIEOLO, July 16, 1796, two hours after midnight. I have passed the whole night under arms. I should have taken Mantua 2 by a bold and well directed blow, but the waters of the lake suddenly fell, and my columns, which were em- barked, could not reach their landing-place. I shall commence the attack another way this evening, but this will not produce results so satisfactory. I have received a letter from Eugene,' which I send to you. 1 A lap-dog belonging to Josephine. a "Was the strongest fortress of Italy. It was situated on the Adige, and surrounded by lakes. It was held by an Austrian garrison, and Napoleon wag besieging it. 3 When Xapoleon was married to Josephine she was the mother of 12 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF I beg you to write for me to those lovely children, and send them some jewels. Assure them that I love them as my own. Those who are connected with you or with me, are so blended in my heart that I know no difference. I am very anxious to know how you are, and what you are doing. I have been in the home of Virgil, 1 on the borders of the lake, by the clear silvery light of the moon, and never a moment did I cease to think of you, my Josephine. The enemy made a grand sortie. They killed or wounded two hundred of our men ; they have lost five hundred in re- treating with precipitation. I am very well. I am wholly yours, my Josephine, and I have neither pleasure nor happiness, save in your society. Three Neapolitan regiments have arrived at Brescia. They are separated from the Austrian army in consequence of the agreement I have made with M. Pignatelli. 3 I have lost my snuff-box. Will you select me another, rather flat, and, upon the lid, have some pretty device with your hair ? A thousand kisses, as ardent as you are cold. Love with- two children, Eugene and Hortense Beauharnais. Hortense subse- quently married Louis Bonaparte, and became the mother of Louis Na- poleon, her third child, who is now Emperor of France. It is remark- able that, notwithstanding the fatal divorce, the crown of France has descended to the grandchild of Josephine. Eugene became one of the noblest of men, and his whole brilliant career was resplendent with honor. There are but few names on the page of history so spotless as that of Eugene Beauharnais. When but seventeen years of age he joined the army of Napoleon. 1 This celebrated Latin poet was born near Mantua. Neither the Italians nor the Austrians had offered any tribute to his memory. Napoleon erected a beautiful monument in honor of the illustrious bard. * An embassador from Naples. The King of Naples had joined the coalition against France. Alarmed by the success of Napoleon, he sent Prince Pignatelli to treat for an armistice. By this arrangement the Neapolitan army of 50,000 men were withdrawn from co-operation with the allies. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 13 out bounds and fidelity in every trial. Before Joseph 1 leaves I wish to speak to him. BONAPARTE. . LETTER V. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. MARMIROLO, July 19, 1796. For two days I have had no letters from you. Thirty times to-day have I said this. You know therefore that I am very sad. You can not doubt the tender and absorbing solicitude with which you inspire me. We attacked Mantua yesterday. We bombarded it from two batteries with red-hot shot and shells. All night the miserable city burned. The sight was horrible, imposing. We 1 Napftleon's elder brother. Napoleon said of him at St. Helena : "His virtues and talents are those of a private character, and for such nature intended him. He is too amiable to be a great man ; he has no ambition." Napoleon was ever exceedingly attached to Joseph. But a year before the date of the above letter, on the 25th of June, 1795, Napo- leon wrote as follows to Joseph : " Desiree" (Joseph's wife's sister, who afterward married Bernadotte) " has requested of me my portrait. I am about to have it taken. You will give it to her if she still desires it; if not, you will keep it yourself. In whatever circumstances fortune may place you, you know very well, my friend, that you can not have a better friend, one to whom you will be more dear, and who will more sincerely desire your happiness. Life is a transient dream which dissipates itself. La vie est un songe leger qui se dissipe. "If you are about to go away, and think that you shall be absent long, send me your portrait. "We have lived so many years together so intimately united, that our hearts are blended in one; and you know better than any one how entirely mine is devoted to you. I feel, in tracing these lines, an emotion of which I have experienced few ex- amples during my life. I fully understand that it will be long before we shall again see each other, and I am not able to continue my let- ter." 14 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF have possessed ourselves of several outworks, and we shall open the tr> nches to-night. I set out for Castiglione 1 to-monow with the Quartermaster-General, aud I in' end to sleep there. I have received a dispatch from Paris. There were two letters for you ; I have read them. However, although this deed appears to me very simple, and although you gave me permission the other day to do so, I fear that this will displease you. This grieves me much. I thought to reseal them, fie ! that would be mean. If T am blameworthy, I ask pardon. I declare to you I did it not from jealousy; by no means. I have too liOOil an opinion of my adorable friend for that. I wish that you would give me leave to read all your letters, then there would be no anxiety or fear. Achille has arrived in the mail-coach, from Milan. 3 No letters from my beloved friend ! Adieu my only love. When can you come and join me ? I wish I could join you at Milan. A thousand kisses as burning as my heart, as pure as thine own. I have sent for the postman ; he tells me that he passed your house, and that you told him you had nothing for him. Fie ! you wicked, naughty, cruel, beautiful little monster ! You laugh at my threats, at my nonsense. Ah ! if I could, 1 A town of five thousand inhabitants, about twenty miles north- west of Mantua. It is celebrated for a decisive victor}- which Napo- leon there gained over the Austrians, who were marching for the relief of Mantua, The battle was fought a few days after the date of this letter. From this battle Augereau derived his title of Duke of Castig- lione. It is said that for six days and nights preceding this battle, Napoleon did not take off his boots or lie down on a bed. a A courier who brought dispatches to Napoleon. 3 This city was the capital of Venetian Lombardy, and is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It contained one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. " Milan," says Raumer, " stands in a sea of green trees, as Venice in a sea of green waters." The French army was in such peril at Mantua, that it was not safe for Josephine to be in the vicinity of the contending armies, and Napoleon consequently left her a hundred miles distant at Milan. It was in this city that Napoleon was subsequently crowned King of Italy. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 15 you know very well I would inclose you in my heart ; I would imprison you there. Tell me that you are happy, well, and very loving. BONAPARTE. LETTER VI. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. CASTIGLIONE, July 21, 1796; 8 o'clock, A.M. I hope that on arriving 1 this evening', I shall receive one of your letters. You know, my dear Josep'iine, how much pleas- ure they give me, and I am sure you enjoy writing; them. I shall leave this night for Peschiera, for the mountains, for Ve- rona, and from thence I shall go to Mantua, and perhaps to Milan to receive a kiss, since you assure me that they are not frozen. I hope that you will be perfectly well then, and that you can accompany me to my head-quarters, no more to leave me. Are you not the soul of my life, and the joy of my heart? Your protegees 1 are veiy gay ; they feel very happy. How grateful I am to them for rendering you those attentions which make you happy. They shall come to Milan. In every situ- ation we need some patience. Adieu, thou beautiful and good one, all unequaled, all divine ; a thousand loving kisses. BONAPARTE. LETTER VII. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. CASTIGLIONE, July 22, 1796. The wants of the army require my presence in this region. It is impossible I should le:ive even to go to Milan. It would require five or six days, and during that time it might be that 1 Two young ladios who were companions of Josephine. 16 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF something would occur imperiously demanding my presence here. You assure me that your health is good. I entreat you, therefore, to come to Brescia. I will, at the same time, send Murat 1 to prepare lodgings for you in the city, as you desire. I think you had best sleep the 6th at Cassano, setting out rather late from Milan. Come the 7th to Brescia, where the most affectionate of lovers waits for you. I am deeply grieved, my dear friend, that you can believe that my heart can open itself to any one save to you. This heart belongs to you by right of conquest, and that conquest will be solid and eternal. I know not why you allude to Madame T , for whom I care very little, as also for all the women of Brescia. As to the letters which it grieves you that I opened, they will be the last ; your letter had not then arrived. Adieu, my beloved friend; let me often hear from you. Come quickly and join me ; be happy and without anxiety. Every thing goes well, and my heart is yours for life. Take care to return to Adjutant-General Miollis 2 the casket of medals which he writes me he has sent you. Men are so censorious and so bad, that we must adopt one rule toward all. 1 Murat, the son of an innkeeper, became Napoleon's most conspic- uous cavalry officer. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, and served him thVough most of his campaigns. He married Napoleon's sister Caroline, and was made Marshal of France, and was subsequently placed by Napoleon upon the throne of Naples, after the transfer of Joseph to Spain. In the dark days of the Emperor's misfortunes Mu- rat ungratefully forsook'him. After the return of Napoleon from Elba, Murat made an attempt to regain the throne of Naples, but he was taken and shot. One of his sons, Lucien, now occupies a conspicuous post under the government of Louis Napoleon. 2 An efficient officer under Napoleon. During a part of the siege of Mantua, he had command of a small fortress. The Austrian general Provera, with six thousand Austrian troops, presented himself before the fortress and demanded a surrender. Napoleon hastened to the aid of his general, and so arranged his forces as to surround Provera. Miol- lis then made a sortie, and the Austrians were compelled to surrender. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 17 Health to you, love, and a speedy arrival at Brescia. I have a carriage at Milan either for the city or the country. You will take that to come to me. Bring with you your plate, and those articles which you will most need. Take short journeys, and in the cool of the day, that you be not fatigued. The army needs only three days to reach Brescia. 1 The post comes from there in fourteen hours. I advise you to sleep the 24th at Cassano. I will go to meet you on the 25th as far on as possible. Adieu, my Josephine. A thousand tender kisses. BONAPARTE. LETTER VIII. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. BRESCIA, August 10, 1796 I have arrived here, my adorable friend. My first thought is to write to you. Your health and your image have not been out of my mind for one moment during the whole way. I shall not be happy until I have received letters from you. I wait for them with impatience. It is not possible that you can realize my distress. I left you sad, distressed, and half sick. If love, the most profound and the most tender, could render you happy, you would be so. I am overwhelmed with business. Adieu, my sweet Josephine ; love me, take care of your health, and think often, often of me. BONAPARTE. 1 Josephine and Napoleon met at Brescia. But the whole region was swept by surging armies; and after a few hurried interviews, con- tinued through three or four days, Josephine returned to Milan. As she was entering her carriage to depart, a wagon loa'led with wounded soldiers passed by. The awful spectacle touched the heart of Joseph- ine. She threw herself upon the neck of her husband and wept bit- terly. "Wurmser," said Napoleon, "shall pay dearly for these tears which he causes thee to shed." 18 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS Of LETTER IX. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. BRESCIA, August 31. I set out in a moment for Verona. I did hope to receive a letter from you. This distresses me greatly. You were a little sick at the time of my leaving. I beseech you do not leave me in such suspense. You promised me more punctuality. Your language agreed then with your heart. How can you, to whom nature has given sweetness, amenity, and all that pleases, how can you forget him who loves you so ardently ? Three days with no letter from you ! I have, nevertheless, written you several times. Absence is horrible the nights are long, dreary, wearisome ; the day is monotonous. To-day, alone with my thoughts, my labors, my writing, with men and their pompous projects, I have not even a note from you to press to my heart. The quartermaster-general has gone. I go in an hour. I have received to-night an express from Paris ; there was for you only the inclosed letter, which will gratify you. Think pf me ; live for me ; be often with thy well-beloved, and believe that there can be only one single evil which can appall him that will be, no more to be loved by his Joseph- ine. A thousand kisses, very tender, very affectionate, very exclusive. Desire M. Monclas to set out immediately for Verona. I will procure him a situation. He ought to arrive in four days. BONAPARTE. LETTER X. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. ALA, September 3, 1796. We are in full campaign, my adorable friend. We have overthrown the outposts of the enemy. We have taken from NAPOLEOX TO JOSEPHINE. 19 them eight or ten horses, with an equal number of horsemen. The troops are in fine spirits, and well disposed. I hope we shall do well, and enter Trent 1 on the 5th. No letters from you ; this distresses me truly. I am assured that you are well, and that you have made an excursion to the lake of Como." I wait every day, and with impatience, the courier, who will bring me news from you. You know how dear your letters are to me. I do not live when far from you ; the happiness of life is near my sweet Josephine, Think of me. Write to me often, very often ; it is the only relief for absence ; separation is cruel, but I hope that it will be but momentary. BONAPAKTE. LETTER XL JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. MILAN, September 6, IT 96. Monsieur the Duke of Serbelloni leaves this instant for Paris, and has promised me, my dear Hortense, 3 to go, the day after his arrival, to St. Germain. He will tell you how often I speak of you, how much I think of you, and how dearly I love you. Eugene shares with you in these sentiments, my beloved child. I love you both to adoration. 1 An important walled town, about fifteen miles north of the head of Lake Garda. It was the head-quarters of the Austrian army. The Austrians were marching down from Trent to raise the seige of Milan. Napoleon made a rush upon them, and scattered them like a whirl- wind. * The lake of Corno is a very beautiful sheet of water, embosomed among the mountains but a few 'miles from Milan. Italy, renowned as it is for enchanting scenery, can present nothing more fascinating than the drives from Milan to the lakes Como and Maggiore. Napoleon and Josephine, after the capitulation of Mantua, made frequent visits to these lakes, and in their charming solitude found a delightful retreat from the gayety and display of Milan. 3 Hortense was at this time in the school of Madame Campan, at St Germain, a few miles out from Paris. 20 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF M. Serbelloni will present to you, on the part of Bonaparte and myself, some little souvenirs for yourself, Emilie, Eugene, and Jerome. Give my kindest remembrance to Madam Campan. I in- tend to send her a collection of beautiful engravings and draw- ings from Italy. Embrace, for me, my beloved Eugene, Emilie 1 and Jerome. 4 Adieu, my dear Hortense, my cherished daughter ; think often of your mother, write to her often. Your letters and those of your brother console her in being absent from her beloved children. Again, adieu I embrace you most tenderly. JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE. LETTER XII. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. ' MoNTEBELLO, 3 September 10, 1796; at noon. The enemy has lost, my dear friend, eighteen thousand pris- oners ; the rest are killed or wounded. Wurmser, 4 with a column of fifteen hundred horse, and five thousand infantry, has no resource left him but to fall back into Mantua. Never have we had such continued and such brilliant suc- cess. 6 Italy, Friuli, and the Tyrol, are secured to the Republic. The Emperor 8 must raise another army : we have taken every thing; all the artillery, bridge-equipage, baggage. 1 Daughter of the Marquis Beauharnais, afterward married to M. Lavalette. a The youngest brother of Napoleo'h, afterward king of Westphalia. 3 A pretty town but a few miles from Milan. At a bloody battle fought in the vicinity, General Lannes distinguished himself, and re- ceived the title of the Duke of Montobello. 4 The general-in-chief then in command of the Austrian forces. 5 The success refers to the wonderful victories of Roveredo, Bassano, and St. George. 6 Of Austria. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 21 In a few days we shall meet. This is the sweetest reward of my fatigues and sufferings. A thousand warm and affec- tionate kisses. BONAPARTE. LETTER XIII. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. KONGO, 1 September 12, 1796; 10 o'clock, A. M. I have been here for two days, my dear Josephine, badly lodged, badly fed, and very much vexed at being so far from you. Wurmser is surrounded ; he has with him three thousand cav- alry, and five thousand infantry. He is at Porto Legnano ; he desires to retire into Mantua ; but that now is impossible for him. The very moment this business terminates, I will be in your arms. I embrace you a million times. BONAPARTE. LETTER XIV. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. 3 ARCOLA, September 17, 1796. My adored Josephine ! at length I live again. Death is no longer before me, and glory and honor are still in my breast. 1 A small town on the Adige, at which place Napoleon crossed the river by a bridge, thus coming upon the rear of the Austrians as they were about to scale the walls of Verona. He was unassailable himself at Ronco, and had a view of the whole hostile army. This letter was written upon the eve of the terrific battle of Arcola. a This letter was written upon the blood-stained battle-field of Ar- cola, at the moment when the Austrians fled in wild confusion before then* victors. This was one of the most amazing of Napoleon's victo- ries, and it rescued the French army from otherwise utter ruin. The above letter is not found in the Paris collection to which we have referred, but is obtained from another source equally authentic. In reference to this battle Bourienne says ; " By the battle of Arcola, 22 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF The enemy is beaten. Soon Mantua will be ours. Then thy husband will fold thee in his arms, and give thee a thousand proofs of his ardent affection. I am a little fatigued. I have received letters from Eugene and Hortense. I ain delighted with the children. Adieu, my adorable Josephine. Think of me often. Should your heart grow cold toward me, you will be indeed cruel and unjust. But I am sure that you will al- ways continue my faithful friend, as I shall ever continue your fond lover. Death alone can break the union which love, sentiment, and sympathy have formed. Let me have news of your health. A thousand and a thousand kisses. BONAPARTE. LETTER XV. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. VERONA, September 17, 1196. I write you", my beloved one, very often, and you write very little. You are wicked and naughty, very naughty, as much so as you are fickle. It is unfaithful so to deceive a poor hus- band, a tender lover ! Ought he to lose all his enjoyments because he is far away, borne down with toil, fatigue, and hardship ? Without his Josephine, without the assurance of her love, what is left him upon earth ? what can he do ? We had yesterday a very bloody affair ; the enemy has lost many men, and has been completely beaten. We have taken the whole country around Mantua. Adieu, adorable Josephine ; one of these nights your door where the loss on both sides was immense, the French gained every advantage proposed by their wonderful leader, who remained for two months the undisputed possessor of Lombardy; while he had struck the Austrians with an idea of his invincibility, from which they did not recover for years. It was the hardest fought battle in all the war, and the one in which Bonaparte showed most personal courage, was nothing to Arcola." Lodi NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 23 will open with a great noise ; as a jealous person, and you will find me in your arms. A thousand loving kisses. BONAPARTE. LETTER XVI. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. MODENA, 1 October 17 ; 9 o'clock in the evening. I was out in the country all the day, day before yesterday. Yesterday I kept my bed. Fever and a violent headache, all that, prevented me from writing to my adorable friend. But I have received her letters, and I have pressed them to my heart and lips, and the grief of absence, a hundred miles of distance, have disappeared. At that moment I saw you near me, not capricious and sad, but gentle, lovely, with that unc- tion of kindness which is exclusively the portion of my Joseph- ine. It was a dream ; judge if that has cured me of the fever. Your letters are cold as fifty years. They resemble fifteen years after marriage. One sees in them the sentiments and the friendship of that winter of life. Fie, Josephine ! It is very wicked, very bad, very traitorous in you. What more can you do to give me cause to complain ? To love me no more ? Ab, that is already done. To hate me ? Very well ; I wish it. Every thing debases except hatred. But indiffer- ence, witb pulse of marble, with fixed eye and measured step A thousand, thousand kisses, very loving, as my heart. I am pretty well. I leave to-morrow. The English evacuate the Mediterranean. Corsica 3 is ours. Good news for France and for the army. BONAPARTE. 1 The capital of an Italian duchy of the same name. It had been subject to Austrian rule. The inhabitants welcomed Napoleon as a liberator. 2 The birth-place of Napoleon. When but a few years before the English had invaded Corsica and wrested it from France, Napoleon, 24 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF LETTER XVII. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. VERONA, November 9, 1796. I arrived at Verona day before yesterday, my dearest love. Though fatigued I am very well; much prospered, and I love you always passionately. I mount my horse. I embrace you a thousand times. BONAPARTE. LETTER XVIII. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. VERONA, November 13, 1796. I do not love you at all ; on the contrary, I detest you. You are a naughty woman, very crooked, very unfeeling, very ungenerous. Tu es une vilaine, bien gauche, bien bete, bien cen- drillon. You do not write me at all. You do not love your husband. You know the pleasure which your letters give, and yet you do not write him six lines thrown together by chance. In what way do you employ yourself all day, madame ? What affair so pressing robs you of the time for writing to your faithful lover ? What affection interferes, and puts one side the love, the tender and constant love, which you prom- ised him ? Who can this wonderful personage be, this new lover, who absorbs all your time, occupies your days, and pre- vents you from devoting yourself to your husband ? Joseph- ine, take care ! some fine night the door will be thrown open, and behold me ! Seriously though, my beloved one, I am uneasy not to hear from you. Write me very soon of those kind and pleasant things which fill my heart with affection and pleasure. with his mother and the rest of the family, escaped in a boat by night. Napoleon fitted out an expedition from Leghorn, which was entirely successful, and which reconquered Corsica from the English. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 25 I hope in a little time I shall fold you in my arms, and I will cover you with a million of kisses, burning as under the equator. BONAPARTE. LETTER XIX. TO JOSEPHINE AT MILAN. VERONA, November 24, 1796. I hope very soon, my sweet love, to bo in your amis. I love you most passionately (d lafureur}. I write to Paris by this courier. All goes well. Wurmser was beaten yesterday under Mantua. There is nothing wanted by your husband but the love of Josephine, in order to be happy. BONAPARTE. LETTER XX. TO JOSEPHINE AT GENOA. 1 MILAN, November 27, 1796; 3 hours after midnight. I arrive at Milan. I rush to your room ; I have left every thing to see you, to press you in my arms you were nol there. You run about the cities with the fetes ; you go away from me when I come ; you no longer care for your dear IS T a- poleon. Caprice caused you to love him, inconstancy renders you indifferent to him. Accustomed to dangers, I know the remedy for the weari- ness and the evils of life. The wretchedness I endure is in- calculable. I had a right not to expect this. I shall be here until some time during the 9th. Do not alter your plans, seek pleasure ; happiness is made for you. 3 What led Josephine thus suddenly to go to Genoa, one hundred and twenty miles from Milan, wo are not informed. It is evident, how- ever, from this letter, and the succeeding one, that Napoleon was deeply wounded 2 26 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF The whole world is too happy if it gratify you ; and your hus- band alone is very, very unhappy. BONAPARTE. LETTER XXI. TO JOSEPHINE AT GENOA. MILAN, November 28, 1796. I have received the express which Berthier had dispatched from Genoa. You had not time to write me. I feel it sensi- bly. Surrounded by gayety and amusements, you would have done wrong to have made the slightest sacrifice for me. Berthier has much wished to show me the letter which you have written him. It is not my wish that you should alter any of your plans, or decline the parties of pleasure which are offered you. I am not worth the sacrifice ; and the happiness or misery of a man you can not love, ought not to concern you. As for me, to love you alone, to make you happy, to do nothing which would contradict your wishes, this is my destiny and the aim of my life. Be happy, do not concern yourself about me, do not interest yourself in the happiness of a man who lives only in your life, who enjoys only your pleasures, your happiness. When I require from you love such as mine, I do wrong ; why should I wish that lace (dentelle) should weigh as much as gold. When I sacrifice to you all my desires, all my thoughts, all the moments of my life, I yield to the ascendency which your charms, your character, your whole being has gained over my wretched heart. I am wrong if nature has not given me attractions to fascinate you ; but what I do deserve from Josephine is her esteem, her respect ; for I love her alone, and most passionately. Adieu,. adorable wife, adieu, my Josephine. Let fate con- centrate in my heart all sorrows, and all griefs ; but may days of prosperity and joy be given to my Josephine. Who merits it more than she ? When it shall be proved that she can love NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 27 no more, I will conceal my profound grief, and I will content myself with being useful and of some advantage to her. I re-open my letter to give you one kiss. Ah ! Josephine ! Josephine ! BONAPARTE. LETTER XXII. TO JOSEPHINE AT BOLOGNA. 1 FERLV^ February 3,3 1797. I have written to you this morning. I leave to-night. Our troops are at Rimini. 4 The country begins to be quiet. I am continually annoyed by my cold. I adore you, and give you a thousand kisses. My love to my sister. BONAPARTE. LETTER XXIII. TO JOSEPHINE AT BOLOGNA. AxcoNA, 5 February 10, 1797. We have been at Ancona for two days. We took the cita- del after a slight discharge of musketry, and by surprise. We 1 Josephine accompanied Napoleon in this expedition into the Papal States, as far as the city of Bologna, about one hundred miles from Mantua, Here she remained, while Napoleon advanced with his troops. 2 A small town on the road to Rome. 3 It will be perceived that more than two months have elapsed be* tweeu the date of this letter and that of the preceding. In the mean time Mantua had capitulated, and Napoleon had indulged in the luxury of spendiug a few days with Josephine at Milan. He was now again upon the march toward Rome, to compel the Pope to make peace with France. 4 Rimini was an important city of the Papal States, near the shores of the Adriatic, about one hundred miles from Bologna. 5 A large town on the Adriatic, about one hundred aud fifty miles beyond Bologna, on the way to Rome. 28 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF took twelve hundred prisoners. I have sent back the fifty officers 1 to their homes. I am still at Ancona. I do not send for you to come, for all is not yet settled, but in a few days I hope all will be con- cluded. Besides, this country is very dull, and every one is afraid. To-morrow I leave for the mountains. You do not write me at all ; still you ought to give me news of you, every day. I entreat you to go to walk every day, it will do you good. I give you a million of kisses. I was never so heartily tired as by this infamous war. Adieu, my sweet friend ; think of me. BONAPARTE. LETTER XXIV. TO JOSEPHINE AT BOLOGNA. ANCONA, February 13, 1797. I receive no letters from you. I do not doubt that you love me no longer. I have sent you some newspapers, and several letters. I leave this very moment to pass the mountains. 11 As soon as matters are settled I will send for you to come to me. It is the dearest wish of my heart. A thousand and a thou- sand kisses. BONAPARTE. 1 It was on this memorable occasion that Xapoieon assembled these officers, and frankly informing them that he was contending solely for the independence of France, set them all at liberty. They were so im- pressed with the justice of his cause, and with his magnanimity, that most of them became his devoted friends. All the other prisoners were likewise set free. "I am the friend," said Napoleon, "of all the na- tions of Italy, and particularly of the people of Rome. You are free. Return to your families, and tell them that the French are the friends of religion, order, and the poor.' 2 The Appenines, which run through the center of Italy. It was necessary to cross these mountains in going from Ancona to Rome. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 29 LETTER XXV. TO JOSEPHINE AT BOLOGNA. 1 February 16, 1797. You are sad, you are sick, you write me no more, you wish to go from hence to Paris. Do you no longer love your friend ? Tins thought renders me wretched. My sweet love, life is to me insupportable since I have been informed of your sorrow. I hasten to send Moscati" to you, so that he may attend you. My health is rather feeble : my cold still continues. I beseech you to take care of yourself, to love me as much as I love you, and to write me every day. My solicitude is unequaled. I have told Moscati to accompany you to Ancona, if you wish to go there. I will write you there that you may know where I am. Perhaps I shall conclude a peace with the Pope, and then I shall soon be near you ; this is the most intense wish of my soul. I give you a hundred kisses. Believe me that nothing equals my love, unless it be my anxiety. Write me every day yourself. Adieu, my dearly beloved. BONAPARTE. 1 This letter was written from among the mountains as Napoleon was crossing them with his troops. 2 A celebrated Italian physician. He earnestly espoused the cause of Republican liberty. Napoleon subsequently appointed him one of the Directors of the Cisalpine Republic. Moscati, devoted to his pro- fession, declined. Napoleon replied, " If honest men refuse, I must ap- point knaves." Moscati, therefore, accepted the appointment. He was afterward one of the deputies who went to Lyons to offer Napoleon the crown of Italy. He was a devoted friend of the Viceroy Eugene, and alike illustrious for his scientific attainments and for his lofty character. His social virtues and his polished manners made him an ornament to gociety, and he died, universally regretted, in the year 1824. 80 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS OF LETTER XXVI. TO JOSEPHINE AT BOLOGNA. TOLENTINO, 1 February 19, 1797. Peace with Rome has been signed. Bologna, Ferrara, Romagna are ceded to the Republic. 2 The Pope gives us thirty millions (of francs) in a short time, and some works of art. 1 A town not many miles from Rome, celebrated ^as the spot where Pope Pius VI. concluded a peace with Napoleon. The treaty of Tolen- tino is widely renowned in history. The armies of thePope were thus separated from the coalition with England and Austria against France. 2 The Cispadane Republic, which several of the Italian States had established, under the protection of Napoleon, after he had expelled the Austrians. At Tolentino Napoleon performed a characteristic act of humanity, which is thus recorded by Thiers : " Before he left Tolentino he performed a remarkable act, and one which demonstrated his personal policy thus early in his career. Italy, and the Papal States in particular, were full of exiled French priests. These unfortunate men, retired in convents, were not always received there with much charity. The ordinances of the Directory forbade their stay in countries occupied by our armies; and the Italian monks were not sorry to be delivered from them by the approach of our troops. These unfortunate men were reduced to despair. Long separated from their country, exposed to all the disdain of foreigners, they wept at the sight of our soldiers. They even recognized some of them whose pas- tors they had been in the villages of France. " Bonaparte was easily moved ; besides he was anxious to appear exempt from every kind of revolutionary and religious prejudice. He issued an order commanding all the convents of the Holy See to receive the French priests, to subsist them, and to give them pay. Thus, instead of putting them to flight, he improved their condition. He wrote to the Directory, explaining the motives which had induced him to commit this violation of its ordinances. "'By continually hunting down these unfortunate men,' said he, ' you force them to return home. It is better that they should be in Italy than in France. They will be useful to us here. They are less fanatical than the Italian priests. They will enlighten the people, who NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 31 I leave to-morrow for Ancona, and from thence for Rimini, Ravenna, and Bologna. If your health will permit you, come to Rimini or Ravenna ; but take care of yourself, I beseech you. Not one word from your hand. Bon Dieu, what then have I done ? To think only of you, to love Josephine, to live only for my wife, to enjoy only the happiness of my beloved, ought this to merit from her such severe treatment ? My love, I conjure you, think of me often, and write me every day. You are sick or you do not love me. Think you that my heart is of marble ? And my sorrows, do they interest you so little ? You must know me very little. I can not believe that you to whom nature has given intellect, amiability, and loveliness ; you who alone can reign in my heart ; you who know too well, undoubtedly, the absolute empire you have over me. Write to me, think of me, love me. For life wholly thine. BONAPARTE. We have no letters from Napoleon to Josephine during the continuance of this Italian campaign. He was with her after- ward most of the time. The following letter from Josephine to Hortense interestingly exhibits the feelings of this most lovely of women at this period of her life. LETTER XXVII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. MANTUA, March 6, 1797. I am very well, ray dear Hortense. For six days I have had no fever. I was a little sick at Boulogne ; moreover I am weary of Italy, notwithstanding all the fetes they give me, and are excited by all means against us. Besides they weep on seeing us. How is it possible not to pity their misfortunes ?' " The Directory approved of his conduct. This act and this letter were published, and produced a very strong sensation." 32 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. the flattering welcome which I receive from the inhabitants of this beautiful country. I can not accustom myself to be separated for so long a time from my beloved children. I feel the need of pressing them to my heart. I have, however, reason to hope that that moment is not far distant, and that thought contributes much to restore me from my recent sick- ness. At the first favorable opportunity I will send you a charm- ing necklace, after the antique, with corresponding ear-rings and bracelets. Apply yourself, I pray you, to drawing. I will bring you some beautiful patterns, and from the most celebrated masters. Send me, from time to time, specimens of your work. I hope that Madam Campan is well pleased with you. Regard her as a second mother, and pay the closest attention to every thing she may say to you. Embrace her tenderly for me, my beloved child. Write to me often. It is a long time since I have heard from you. Love your mother as she loves you ; you will adore her. Adieu, my dear little Hortense. Your mother embraces you, and loves you with her whole heart. JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE. P. S. I embrace Emilie. Love her always tenderly. CHAPTER II. LETTERS IN THE YEAR 1800, AT THE TIME OF THE CAMPAIGN OF MARENGO. NAPOLEON having, by the successful campaign of Italy, compelled Austria to assent to peace, retired from the field of conflict, for a few weeks, with Josephine, to Milan. " Napoleon," says Alison, " established himself at the cha- teau of Montibello. There the future Emperor of the West held his court in more than regal splendor, and there weight- ier matters were to be determined, and dearer interests were at stake, than had ever been submitted to European diplomacy since the iron crown was placed on the brow of Charlemagne. Josephine there received the homage due to the transcendental glories of her youthful husband; Pauline displayed those charms which afterward shone with such luster at the court of the Tuileries; and the ladies of Italy, captivated by the splendors of the spectacle, hastened to swell the illustrious train. Already Napoleon acted as a sovereign prince. His power exceeded that of any living monarch ; and he had en- tered on that dazzling existence which afterward entranced and subdued the world." Having here settled all the terms of peace, and exchanged the ratifications of the treaty of Campo Formio, Napoleon re- turned to Paris, entering the city on the evening of the 5th of December, 1797. There was now a continental peace. But England, still ir- reconcilably hostile to the opinions which the French Revolu- tion had developed, vigorously continued the war. Defended by her majestic fleet, India was the only vulnerable point she 2* 34 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. presented. Napoleon was placed in command of the expedi- tion to land in Egypt and march to the Euphrates and the Ganges. 'He sailed from Toulon in May, 1798. After an ab- sence of seventeen months he returned in October, 1799. We have no letters written to Josephine during this period. He seldom attempted to write, as the British cruisers cut off nearly all communication. Soon after he sailed, Josephine, who had accompanied him to Toulon, wrote as follows to her daughter, Hortense, who was in the celebrated school of Mad- ame Campan, near Paris. LETTER I. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. TOULON, May 15, 1798. I have been at Toulon for five days, my dear Hortense. I was not fatigued by the journey, but was very much grieved at the necessity of leaving you so precipitately, without the opportunity of bidding either you or my dear Caroline 1 adieu. But, my dear child, I find a little consolation for this in the hope I have of soon embracing you. Bonaparte does not wish that I should embark with him. v He desires me to visit the mineral springs before undertaking the voyage to Egypt. He will send for me in two months. Thus, my Hortense, I shall again have the pleasure of pressing you to my heart, and to assure you that you are dearly loved. JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE. P. S. Say to Caroline that I love her, and that I embrace her with my whole heart. My most affectionate remembrance to Madame Campan. During the expedition to Egypt, false and atrocious rumors respecting Josephine reached Napoleon. The following letter to Joseph, reveals his sufferings : 1 Sister of Napoleon, who afterward married Murat. KAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 35 LETTER II. KAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. CAIEO, July 25, 1798. You will see in the newspapers the result of our battles and the conquest of Egypt, where we found sufficient resistance to add a leaf to the laurels of this army. Egypt is the richest country in this world for wheat, rice, pulse, and meal. Bar- barism there is at its height. There is no money, not even to pay the troops. I may be in France in two months. I rec- ommend my interests to you. I have much domestic distress. Your friendship is very dear to me. There only remains to make me a misanthrope to lose your friendship, and to have you betray me. It is a sad condition to be in, to have every different feeling toward the same person united in one heart. Make arrangements that I may have, on my arrival, a villa either near Paris, or in Burgundy. I intend there to bury myself, and pass the winter. I am weary of human nature. I have need of solitude and isolation. Feeling is dried up. Glory has faded at twenty-nine. I have exhausted every thing. Nothing remains for me but to become purely selfish. I intend to shut myself up in my house, and allow no one to dwell with me. I have no more than enough to live upon. Adieu, my only friend. I have never been unjust toward you. You will do me this justice, notwithstanding the desire of my heart to be so. You understand me. Love to your wife, and to Jerome. BONAPARTE. In about a fortnight after Napoleon's return from Egypt, on the 9th of November, 1799, he became consul, and on the 14th of December, was elected First Consul. During his absence, England had succeeded in drawing Austria into another alli- ance against France. Napoleon, immediately upon being in- vested with power, thus wrote to the King of England : 36 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER III. NAPOLEON TO GEORGE HI. Called by the wishes of the French nation to occupy the first magistracy of the republic, I judge it well, on entering on my office, to address myself directly to your majesty. Must the war, which for the four last years has devastated the world, be eternal ? Are there no means of coming to an understanding? How can the two most enlightened nations of Europe, stronger already and more powerful than their safety or their independ- ence requires, sacrifice to ideas of vain glory, the well-being of commerce, internal prosperity, and the repose of families ? How is it that they do not feel peace to be the first of neces- sities as it is the first of glories ? These sentiments can not be strangers to the heart of your majesty, who governs a free people with the sole aim of rendering it happy. Your majesty will perceive only in this overture the sincer- ity of my desire to contribute efficaciously for a second time to the general pacification by this prompt advance, perfectly confidential and disembarrassed of those forms, which, perhaps necessary to disguise the dependence of weak states, reveal when adopted by strong states, only the wish of mutual decep- tion. France and England, by the misuse of their powers, may yet for a long period retard, to the misery of all nations, their exhaustion. But I venture to say that the fate of the civilized world is connected with the termination of a war which has set the whole world in flames. In a similar strain Napoleon wrote to the Emperor of Austria. His letter was as follows : LETTER IV. NAPOLEON TO THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. Having returned to Europe after an absence of eighteen mouths, I find a war kindled between the French republic and NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 37 your majesty. A stranger to every feeling of vain glory, the first of my wishes is to stop the effusion of blood which is about to flow. Every thing leads me to see that, in the next campaign, numerous armies, ably conducted, will treble the number of victims who have already fallen since the resump- tion of hostilities. The well-known character of your majesty leaves me no doubt as to the secret wishes of your heart. If those wishes only are listened to, I perceive the possibility of reconciling the two nations. In the relations which I have formerly entertained with your majesty, you have shown me some personal regard. I beg you therefore to see in this overture which I make to you, the desire to respond to that regard, and to convince your majesty more and more, of the very distinguished consideration I feel for you. These advances were repelled by both England and Austria, and they pressed the assault upon France both by land and sea with increasing vigor. Napoleon thus compelled to give battle, secretly gathered an army behind the barriers of the Alps, and descending upon the plains of Italy, utterly routed the Austrians at Marengo. He left the Tuileries for this cam- paign May 7, and returned July 2, 1800, having been absent but eight weeks. A few weeks before leaving Paris, Napoleon wrote the following characteristic letter to his brother Joseph : LETTER V. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. March 19, 1800. Monsieur de Stael is in the deepest poverty, and his wife gives dinners and balls. If you still visit her, would it not be well to persuade her to make her husband an allowance of from two to four hundred dollars a month. Or have we reached the time when one can, without giving offense to honorable people, trample under foot not only morals, but 38 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. even duties more sacred than those which unite children to their parents. Let us judge of the morals of Madam de Stae'l as if she were a man. But a man who had inherited the for- tune of Monsieur de Necker, who had eujoyed the privileges attached to a distinguished name, and who should abandon his wife to abject poverty, while he lived in luxury, would he be a man with whom one could enjoy society ? LETTER VI. TO JOSEPHINE AT PARIS. LAUSANNE, 1 May 13, 1800. I arrived at Lausanne yesterday ; I leave to-morrow. My health is pretty good. This country is very beautiful. I do not see any difficulty in your coming, in the course of ten or twelve days, to join me here. But it will be necessary to journey incognito, and not to say where you are going, as I do not wish it to be known what I am about to do. You can say that you are going to Plombieres." I will send Moustache 3 to you, who will soon be here. My love to Hortense. Eu- gene will not be here for eight days. He is on the way. BONAPARTE. LETTER VII. TO JOSEPHINE AT PARIS. May 16, 1800. I leave this moment to sleep at St. Maurice. I have re- ceived no letters from you. That is not kind. I have written 1 A beautiful town in Switzerland, on Lake Geneva. Here Napoleon completed his preparation for the world-renowned march across the Great St. Bernard. 2 A celebrated watering-place in this vicinity, where Josephine spent much of the time while Napoleon was in Egypt. 3 A favorite servant, a Mameluke, who had returned with Napoleon from Egypt. NAPOLEON TO THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. 39 to you by every courier. Eugene ought to arrive by day after to-morrow. I have a slight cold, but that amounts to nothing. A thousand affectionate wishes for you, my good little Josephine, and for all who surround you. BONAPARTE. LETTER VIII. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. AOSTA, May 20, 1800. Please give $6,000 to my wife. The principal obstacles are overcome. We are masters of Ivica and its citadel, where we found ten pieces of cannon. We have fallen here like a thunderbolt. The enemy did not in the slightest'degree sus- pect it, and can hardly believe it. Very great events will soon take place ; the results of them will be grand. 1 hope for the happiness and the glory of the republic. A thousand remembrances to Julia. BONAPARTE. The battle of Marengo was fought on the 14th of June, 1800. More than twenty thousand were struck down upon that dreadful field. Napoleon, according to his invariable custom, after the battle, rode over the ground, and gazed with a saddened spirit upon the ruin and misery around him. Un- der the influence of these feelings, upon the field of blood, he wrote the following extraordinary letter to the Emperor of Austria : LETTER IX. NAPOLEON TO THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA. MARENGO. Sire It is on the field of battle, amid the sufferings of a multitude of the wounded, and surrounded by fifteen thousand 40 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. corpses, that I beseech your majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, and not to suffer two brave nations to cut each oth- ers' throats for interests not their own. It is my part to press this upon your majesty ; being upon the very theater of war, your majesty's heart can not feel it so keenly as does mine. For what are you fighting ? For religion ? Then make war upon the Russians and the English, who are the enemies of your faith. Do you wish to guard against revolutionary principles ? It is this very war which has extended them over half the continent. The continuance of the war can not fail to diffuse them still further. Is it for the balance of Europe ? The English threaten that balance far more than does France, for they have become the masters and the tyrants of commerce, and are beyond the reach of resistance. Is it to secure the interests of the house of Austria ? Let us then execute the treaty of Campo Formio, which secures to your majesty large indemnities in compensation for the provinces lost in the Netherlands, and secure them to you where you most wish to obtain them, that is, in Italy. Your majesty may send negoti- ators whither you will, and we will add to the treaty of Campo Formio stipulations calculated to assure you of the continued existence of the secondary States, all of which the French republic is accused of having shaken. Upon these conditions peace is made, if you will. Let us make the ar- mistice general for all the armies, and enter into negotiations instantly. LETTER X. TO JOSEPHINE AT PARIS. MILAN. I am at Milan, with a severe cold. I can not bear the rain, and yet I have been drenched with water for many hours. However, that will soon be better. I can not arrange for you to come here. I shall be on my return in a month.* I hope NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 41 that I shall find you very well. I am about to leave for Pavia and Sfcrudella. We are masters of Brescia, Cremona, and Plaisance. My most affectionate regards. Murat conducts well. BONAPARTE. The above letter, without a date, was written after the great victory of Marerigo, and when Napoleon had advanced in triumph to Milan. The Italians were very hostile to their Austrian conquerors, and hailed Napoleon as a deliverer. " On the 2d of June," writes Thiers, " the whole population pourei forth to meet the French army, saluting the illustrious chief, whom they had so often seen within their walls, welcom- ing him with transports of enthusiasm, and hailing him as a saviour come down to them from Heaven. " As soon as the French general entered Milan, his first act was to open the prisons, and render the government of the country friendly to France. He gave a provincial administra- tion to the Cisalpine Republic, composing it of the most respect able men of the city ; and, faithful in Italy to the system which he had carried out in France, he permitted neither violence nor reaction ; and while he restored power to the Italians of his party, he took care that they should not exercise it against the Italians of the opposite party." CHAPTER III. LETTERS DURING THE YEARS 1801 AND 1803 TO JOSEPHINE AND TO JOSEPH. THE great victory of Marengo compelled the Austrians again to withdraw from the English coalition. Napoleon, on his return to Paris, was received with boundless enthusiasm by the French people. The English government at last con- sented to listen to proposals of peace. A conference was held at Amiens, and Joseph Bonaparte was sent there as embassa- dor on the part of France. England was represented by Lord Cornwallis. The English government were much opposed to peace, and the English people were hostile to the war. Under these circumstances peace was reluctantly established, and soon broken. The letters in this chapter extend through three years of vast vicissitudes. LETTER I. TO JOSEPHINE AT PLOMBIERES. 1 PARIS, 27, 1801. It has been such bad weather here that T have remained in Paris. Malmaison 2 without you is too gloomy. The fete was very fine. It has fatigued me a little. The blister which they have put upon my arm, causes me to suffer much all the time. 1 A celebrated watering-place to which Josephine had gone for her health. 2 A beautiful country-seat, about twelve miles from Paris, the favor- ite residence of Napoleon and Josephine. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 43 I have received for you from London 1 some plants, which I have sent to your gardener. If the weather is as gloomy at Plombieres as here, you will suffer much from the waters. My most affectionate regards to mamma 2 and to Hortense. BONAPARTE. England was at this lime flooded with pamphlets accusing Napoleon of crimes of inconceivable atrocity. , It was the ob- ject of these to exasperate the English people against the chief magistrate of France. The conference at Amiens was now in session. Napoleon wrote as follows upon the subject, to his brother Joseph. LETTER H. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. PARIS, February 1, 1802. I have received your letter of the 12th Pluviose. Matters appear to be advancing at Amiens. A week sooner or later will make no difference. The affairs of the Cisalpine appear to have given general satisfaction. I desire that you would speak to Lord Cornwal- lis of the infamous work which you Avill find inclosed, and that you will cause him to perceive how contrary it is to the dignity of the two countries to permit an emigrant to publish such abuse, at a time when I am particularly endeavoring to stifle eveiy thing which can give offense. You will also say to Lord Cornwallis that he should attach but little faith to the information which Mr. Jackson gives him ; for he sees only the lowest society, and his information 1 The prince-regent, afterward George IV., though the two countries were then at war, courteously sent to Paris packages of shrubs which had been taken in French ships captured by the Britiali cruisers. 2 Madame Letitia, Napoleon's mother. She was with Josephine and Hortense at Plornbieres. 44 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. he obtains from those sharpers who seek only money. The information which has been already sent to him should be sufficient proof of this. Sebastiani has returned to Constantinople. The Grand Senior has written to me a most satisfactory letter. LETTER HI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. PARIS, March 7, 1802. I have received your dispatch of the 6th of March. I do not see now that there is any material difference between the different projects. The last wording of the English proposal respecting Malta is not far from ours. It is also easy to find a middle course in regard to the prisoners. I therefore do not see what there is to prevent the immediate conclusion of the treaty. If Lord Cornwallis is sincere, peace ought to be signed by noon on the 12th. If this is not done, it will be evident that the British cabinet is about to adopt different arrangements, and this, in the present state of Europe, would be madness. In any case I expect my courier to return with accurate in- formation by noon on the 19th. I have yielded every thing which the English have wished. If peace is not promptly made I do not fear war. Express yourself strongly upon the subject, that by noon on the 19th I may know what I am to expect ; for as it appears that the English have given orders to arm at Plymouth, it is necessary that I should adopt pre- cautions for our fleet. As for the Turkish embassador, it is impossible to discuss a matter on which our decision has often been repeated. I do not wish to make our peace with Turkey at Amiens ; but this presents no objection to the article which guaranties the integ- rity of the Ottoman empire. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 45 LETTER IV. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. PARIS, March 8, 1802. I have received your letter of the 18th. I adopt, though with regret, the formula, " The Sublime Porte is invited to accede to this treaty." It is none the less my intention to effect a treaty with the Porte, for this treaty does not settle all our differences. Not having at this moment the draft before me, I do not know of its containing an article guaranteeing the integrity of the Ottoman empire. This article it seems neces- sary to insert. As for the rest, I give you all the latitude necessary to sign in the evening. You will be in conference when you receive this courier. I do not think that he will reach you before 9 o'clock in the evening. I think with you that it is extremely important not to lose another moment. Do, therefore, every thing that is possible to finish and to sign. You will be careful to inform me in your answer if the cou- rier arrived before 9 o'clock, there being promised to him in that case 600 francs. I expect my courier to-morrow before noon. LETTER V. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. MALMAISON, March 10, 1802. It is 5 o'clock in the afternoon, ani the courier is not yet arrived whom you announced to me you would dispatch after your conference yesterday morning, and whom I expected at mi Inight. Nevertheless, the dispatches of Otto, and all the let- ters from England, confirm the reports of considerable arma- ments, and of the departure of successive squadrons. Lord Hawkesbury has informed Otto that Cornwallis has received 46 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. his last instruction. The difivrene.es which exist at Amiens are so trivial that they do not seem sufficient to authorize so much difficulty. A letter from Amiens, I suppose from Mr. Merry, caused the alarm in London, by asserting that I did not wish for peace. The least delay, under these circumstan- ces, will be truly prejudicial, and may be of great consequence to our squadrons and our naval expeditions. Have the kindness, therefore, to send special couriers to in- form me of what you are doing, and of every thing which is said to you ; for it is to me very evident, that if, at the .hour in which I am writing, peace is not signed or agreed on, there is at London a change of plans. Nevertheless, however that may be, continue perse veringly your negotiations, contenting yourself with inserting in the protocols, notes which will cause it clearly to be seen that they are the English who do not wish for peace, and who interpose obstacles. LETTER VI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. MAJLMAISON-, March 11, 1802. I have received your letter of the 10th of March, and I see by it that, although agreed, you have signed nothing. This delay appears very extraordinary. It is, nevertheless, very certain that Lord Cornwallis had received his final instructions, and had only to sign. Moustache, whom I expect this after- noon, will begin undoubtedly to elucidate this mystery. Whatever may be the pretext, I am not willing (je ne veux pas) to have the word Genoa substituted instead of Liguria. I should prefer that it should not be mentioned. Neither am I willing to evacuate Otranto before the English evacuate Malta. The middle course is not to speak of it. That could have been done upon the hypothesis that they were to retain NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 47 Malta for six or eight months ; but now that all must be evacuated in the space of three months, it is useless to speak of it LETTER VII. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. PARIS, March 11, 1802. Moustache has just arrived. I have already sent you word by the courier, who left three hours ago, that I attach no im- portance to the acknowledgment of Liguria. I attach no more importance to the secret article relative to Naples, seeing that it is without object, and that it is impossible that I should evacuate Tarento, with the artillery, etc., before three months, even with the best intentions. These articles are, therefore, quite useless. I see, then, no longer any obstacle to peace. It is only nec- essary to be careful to word the article upon prisoners in such a way as not to prevent Portugal from paying us that which she owes us by the secret articles of her treaty. This is for your private information ; for you ought not to say a word about it, as England has not mentioned it. You may announce directly to Lord Cornwallis, that the King of Prussia has recognized the Italian republic, and has congratulated me, through his embassador, on the result of the Congress of Lyons; that on the evening of the 17th, M. Co- bentzel received a courier from Vienna, and^has notified me personally, that the emperor saw with pleasure the Italian re- public rescued from the horrors of anarchy ; and that he was ready to receive the Italian embassador whom I might send to him ; that all the princes of Italy have also recognized the Italian republic ; that, lastly, the courier, whom M. Markoff dispatched to St. Petersburg with the news of the Congress of Lyons, has just returned, and that the Emperor Alexander is more inclined than ever to act in concert with France, in all the important affairs of Europe. 48 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. You will also cause Lord Cornwallis to understand that I ana not duped by the hostile demonstrations in London ; that they are not European intrigues, but merely the intrigues of a cabinet for a change of ministers ; and that I shall pity En- gland (queje plaindrai FAnyleterre) if such miserable intrigues should again enkindle war. Add, also, that I am perfectly convinced that, in the present state of Europe, England can not, with any reasonable hopes, alone make war against us. If you think that peace will be signed within twenty-four hours, retain Moustache ; you may send him to London to announce it to Otto. The treaty of Amiens was reluctantly signed by the British government on the 25th of March, 1802. The court was driven to the measure by public opinion in England. The treaty was first signed on an instrument covered with correc- tions. Fair copies were made, and there was a public signa- ture attended with much ceremony. M.Thiers thus describes this important ceremony : " Thirty-six hours were taken up in transcribing the treaty into as many languages. The First Consul had wished that every thing should be transacted with the greatest parade. Long before, he had sent off for Amiens a detachment of his finest troops, newly clothed. He had had the roads from Amiens to Calais and from Amiens to Paris repaired ; and had sent relief to the laborers of the country out of work, that nothing might excite in the English negotiator an unfavorable idea of France. " On the 27th, at eleven o'clock in the morning, detach- ments of cavalry went to the abodes of the plenipotentiaries, and escorted them to the Hotel de Ville, where a hall had been prepared to receive them. It took some time to look over the copies of the treaty, and at length, about two o'clock, ad- mittance was given to the authorities and the crowd, eager to be present at the imposing ceremony of the two fii-st nations NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 49 in the universe becoming reconciled before the face of the world becoming reconciled also for so short a time. " The two plenipotentiaries signed the peace, and then cor- dially embraced each other amid the acclamations of the by- standers, who, full of emotion, were transported with joy. Lord Comwallis and Joseph Bonaparte were re-conducted to their residences amid the most boisterous acclamations of the multitude. After ten years of the most violent, the most ter- rible struggle ever seen among me *. '.' oy laid down arms. The temple of Janus was shut. " By whom had all this been accomplished ? Who had rendered France so great and so prosperous Europe so calm ? One single man, by the might of his sword and by the depth of his policy. France proclaimed this, and entire Europe re-echoed the proclamation." .jjp thirteen months after the signing of the above treaty, the British government again renewed the war, without the dec- laration of hostilities. " The First Consul," says Thiers, " was sincerely desirous of the continuance of peace, and he assented to every thing that could tend to prolong it. In consequence, he directed General Andreossy to proceed to London, and received Lord Whitworth in Paris with great distinction. The most delicate attentions were paid to his wife, the Duchess of Dorset, an English lady of very high distinction. The First Consul gave splendid entertainments to the embassador and his consort as well at St. Cloud as at the Tuileries. M. de Talleyrand displayed all the skill and all the elegance of man- ners which distinguished him, in order to give them a suitable reception. The two Consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, had orders themselves to assist him, and they did their best. To these attentions was added the still more flattering attention of publishing them." 3 50 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. At the commencement of the year 1803, Josephine wrote as follows to her daughter, who had been married to Louis Bonaparte. LETTER VIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. LYONS, January 24th, 1803. At length, my dear Hortense, I see with pleasure the mo- ment approach in which I shall be able again to infold my beloved daughter in my arms. I shall forget, in seeing you, all the sadness I have experienced in this country. Our de- parture was fixed for the 7th of this decade, 1 that is to say, in three days. I hope that no obstacle will oppose itself to this good resolution of Bonaparte. I will relate to you every thing which has occurred during our brief sojourn at Lyons ; and I will speak to you of the fetes and amusements which they have given us. But all these afford no pleasure to your mother unless you can share them. Embrace for me your husband. Say to him that I begin to love him most ardently, that I thank him for his notes, that they are very kind. All here are well. Marois is better. Ralph and Savary" have been sick ; but they are well now. They all desire to be remembered to you. Bourrienne 3 wishes it particularly. Bonaparte embraces you, and your mother loves you ten- derly. JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE. 1 The French republic in abolishing Christianity also abolished the Sabbath, and divided the year into periods of ten daya. Napoleon restored Christianity, with its week of seven days and its Sabbath of rest. 2 These were aides-de-camp of Napoleon. 3 Bourrienne was at this time private secretary of Napoleon. He was subsequently, for misconduct, dismissed from office. Upon the return of the Bourbons he entered their service, and while in their em- ploy, wrote a calumnious history of his former master. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 51 LETTER IX. JOSEPHINE TO HOKTENSE. PLOMBIERES, June 16, 1803. I am very sad, my dear Hor tense. I am separated from you, and my heart is as sick as is my body. I perceive that I was not born, my child, for so much grandeur, and that I should have beeu far more happy in retirement, surrounded with the objects of my love. I know you, my daughter, and I am sure that in contribut- ing to the happiness of my life, you share also all my solici- tudes. Eugene is probably now with you. That idea consoles me. I know sufficiently your attachment for Bonaparte to be persuaded that you will prove to him a faithful companion. You owe him the highest respect, affection, and gratitude. Embrace him for me, and receive, my beloved child, the expression of all my tenderness. I embrace also my dear Eugene. Remember me most kindly to all the gentlemen and ladies of your household. Let me hear from you often. Take care of your health, my dear little child. JOSEPHINE BONAPARTE. LETTER X. TO JOSEPHINE AT PLOMBIEKES. MALMAISON, June, 19, 1 1803. I have as yet received no intelligence from you. I think* however, that you must have already commenced taking the 1 It will be observed that an interval of two years has elapsed be- tween the date of this letter and the last one to Josephine at Plom- bieres. During this interval Napoleon was busily employed in the reconstruction of society in France. On the 20th of May, of this year, England had again resumed war, and Napoleon was now all engaged in its vigorous prosecution. 52 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. waters. We are here quite lonely, although the amiable daughter does the honors of the house remarkably well. For two days I have been slightly afflicted with pain. Eugene arrived last evening. He is perfectly well. I love you as the first day, because you are good and ami- able above all others. Hortense tells me that she has written to you frequently. Affectionate regards, and a kiss of love. Wholly thine. BONAPARTE. LETTER XI. TO JOSEPHINE AT PLOMBIERES. MALMAISOX, June 23, 1803. I have received your letter, good little Josephine. I per- ceived with sorrow that you suffered from the journey. But a few days of repose will do much for you, I am very well, in- deed. I went yesterday to the hunt at Marly, 1 and wounded myself very slightly in one finger, in shooting a boar. Hortense is pretty well. Your stout son is a little sick, but he is recovering. I believe this evening the ladies play the " Barber of Seville." 2 The weather is beautiful. I intreat you to believe that nothing is more true than the affection which I have for my little Josephine. Wholly thine. BONAPARTE. 1 A beautiful hunting-seat near Malmaison. The forest was very extensive. The palace was reared, and the grounds laid out by Louis XIV., at an expense of countless millions. It is now in ruins. * The guests at Malmaison occasional^ had private theatricals for an evening entertainment. Eugene and Hortense were distinguished for their histrionic skill. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 53 LETTER XII. TO JOSEPHINE AT PLOMBIERES. t MALMAISON, June 27, 1803. Your letter, kind little wife, informs me that you are indis- posed. Corvisart 1 tells me that this is a good sign ; a that the baths will produce for you the effect desired, and that they will put you in a good state. Nevertheless, to know that you are Buffering is poignant grief to my heart. I went yesterday to see the manufactory of Sevres and St. Cloud. Kind regards for all. Thine for life. BONAPARTE. LETTER XIII. TO JOSEPHINE AT PLOMBIERES. MALMAISON, July 1, 1803. I have received your letter of the 29th of June. You do not speak of your health, or of the effect of the baths. I see that you intend to be on your return in eight days. That will afford great pleasure to your friend, who wearies of being alone. You will have seen General Ney, 3 who leaves Plombieres. He will marry on his return. Hortense played yesterday Ro- sina, in the " Barber of Seville," with her usual spirit. I beg of you to believe that I love you, and that I am very impatient for you to return. All is desolation here without you. BONAPARTE. 1 A very celebrated physician attached to Napoleon. * Napoleon had no heir to inherit his name and his rapidly-increasing power. It was the intense desire, both of himself and Josephine, that they might have a child. The medicinal springs at Plombieres were celebrated for their efficacy in producing that physical condition which would remove barrenness. 3 Afterward the illustrious Marshal of France, " the bravest of the brave." 54 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Josephine, on her return from Plombieres, was at Rouen with Napoleon. From that city she wrote to Hortense. Her letter has only the date of the year. LETTER XIV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. BOUEN, 1803. The courier leaves, and I have only time to embrace you, your husband, and my grandchild, with my whole heart. We are all very well. The rejoicing at Rouen is general. All the population are under the windows of Bonaparte since his arrival, and they wish to see him every moment. They know not by what name to call him. This at times is quite ludi- crous. I send you a soug which they are singing in the streets. I have received your letter. It has afforded me very great pleasure. Adieu ; they wait for my letter. Bonaparte and Eugene embrace you, and your mother loves you with her whole heart. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. LILLE, July 9, 1803. I have had the intention, my dear Hortense, to write to you by your brother and by his ladies, to give you some news respecting Bonaparte and myself. Since my departure from Paris I have been constantly occupied in receiving congratula- tions. You know me. You can judge after this, if I should not prefer a more tranquil life. Fortunately the society of the ladies here, recompenses me for the tumultuous life LJead. All my mornings, and frequently my evenings, are passed in receptions. It is necessary after all that to go to the ball. These entertainments would be more agreeable to me if I JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 55 could share them with you, or at least could see you enjoy them. The privation which I feel most sensibly is the separa- tion from my dear Hortense, and from my grandson, whom I love almost as much as I love his mother. Bonaparte and Eugene are in very good health. They have left this morning for Ostend. They will be to-morrow at Bruges, where I go to rejoin them. I have told them that I should write to you ; they charged me to embrace you and also Napoleon. Bonaparte fears that the child will no longer remember him when we return to Paris. You know, undoubtedly, that Madame Leclerc 1 is to be married. She marries the prince Borghese. She wrote two days ago to Bonaparte, to say to him that she desired the prince for her husband, and that she was confident that she should be very happy with him. She asked of Bonaparte permission for the prince Borghese to write to him to ask her from his hand. It appears that it is Joseph and Monsieur Angelini who have made the match. In case the family have said nothing to you about it, please keep silence. Adieu; here are some more visitors. I leave you, my dear Hortense, in embracing you with my whole heart, and in assuring you that I love you, and that you are my cherished child. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XVI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT COMPEIQNE. PARIS, February 6, 1804. I have written to Louis, my dear Hortense. I hold him to the promise which he gave us, to pass with us the fetes of the carnival, and, as I rely upon his word, I depend upon embrac- ing you also on Thursday. They await your arrival to assign the days for the balls. Bonaparte will not be sorry to see 1 Pauline, Napoleon's sister, widow of General Leclerc. 56 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Louis. I ain charged with the pleasure to solicit him to come. Many events have transpired since your departure. The man who was sentenced to be shot, and who has implored pardon, has revealed some important things. There have been at Paris eighty chouans, 1 determined to assassinate Bonaparte. Savary went yesterday with forty gens d'armes to arrest Georges and seventeen other individuals, who are not far distant from Paris. Imagine to yourself, that Georges has been in Paris and its environs, since the month of August. Truly, that makes one shudder. When you arrive, I will give you all the details of this horrible plot. Very many have already been arrested. Say nothing of this to any one ; I, of course, except your husband. Adieu, my dear ; I embrace you, and love you with my whole heart. I embrace Napoleon. JOSEPHINE. 1 Chouans were unorganized soldiers in favor of the Bourbon dynasty, who for a long time carried on a guerilla warfare in the provinces of Bretagne and Poitou. CHAPTER IV. LETTERS TO JOSEPHINE IN 1804, DURING A JOURNEY WHICH THE EMPEROR MADE TO THE SEA-COAST. IN March, 1804, Napoleon became Emperor of France. England denied the right of the French pe'ople to dethrone the Bourbons, and to place the supreme power in the hands of another. With extraordinary energy she prosecuted the war for the restoration of the Bourbons. Napoleon gathered an army for the invasion of England. The principal station of the troops was at Boulogne. In August the Emperor left Paris, to inspect the condition of the troops at all the points they occupied along the coast. The Empress, during the ab- sence of the Emperor, went to Aix-la-Chapelle, to try the effi- cacy^ the far-famed mineral waters in that place. Napoleon was excessively occupied during this rapid journey, and wrote as follows to the Empress. LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. BOULOGNE, August 3, 1804. My love, I hope to hear shortly that the waters have done you very much good. I am pained that you have met with so many annoyances. I desire that you should write me often. My health is very good, although I ain a little fatigued. I 3* 58 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. shall be at Dunkirk 1 in a few days, from whence I shall write you. Eugene has left for Blois. 8 I cover you with kisses. NAPOLEON. LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. CALAIS, August 6, 1804. My love, I have been at Calais since midnight. I think of setting out this evening for Dunkirk. I am satisfied with what I see, and am in very good health. I hope that the waters may benefit you, as much as the bustle, the sight of camps, and the ocean have me. Eugene has gone to Blois. Hortense is well. Louis 3 is at Plombieres. I long to see you. You are at all times neces- sary to my happiness. My kindest regards to your household. NAPOLEON. LETTER III. TO THE EMPRESS AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. OSTEND,< August 14, 1804. My love, I have received no tidings from you for several days. I should have been very glad, however, to be informed 1 The most northern sea-port of France, on the Straits of Dover, about thirty miles north of Calais. a A small town in France, rich in historical reminiscences, about one hundred miles south of Paris. 3 The Emperor's youngest brother, was father of Napoleon III. He had now been married to Hortense, the daughter of Josephine, about two years. He was suffering severely from a paralytic attack, which nearly deprived him of the use of one side. 4 An important fortified sea-port of Belgium. This kingdom was then incorporated with France, and shared richly in the social and political equality which the French revolution secured. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 59 of the good effect of the waters, and of the manner in which you pass your time. I have been at Ostend for eight days. Day after to-morow I shall be at Boulogne for a very brilliant fete. 1 Inform me, by the courier, what you intend to do, and when you shall relinquish the b'aths. I am very well satisfied with the army and the flotilla. Eugene is still at Blois. I do not hear any more of Hortense than if she were in Congo. I shall write to her and scold her. My love to all. NAPOLEON. 1 Alison thus eloquently describes this brilliant fete: "On the 16th of August the whole army of about one hundred thousand, assembled on the slope of a vast natural amphitheater, facing the sea. In the center of this amphitheater a throne was placed, ele- vated on a platform of earth, at the summit of a flight of steps. The immense body of soldiers were arranged in the form of the rays of a circle, emanating from the throne. The cavalry and artillery formed the exterior band of that magnificent array : be} r ond them, a countless .multitude of spectators covered the slope, to the very summit of the hill. The bands of all the regiments of the army, on the right and left of the throne, were ready to rend the air with the sounds of military music. At noon, precisely, the Emperor ascended the throne amid a general salute from all the batteries, and a flourish of trumpets un- heard since the days of the Romans. " His brothers, ministers, and chief functionaries, the marshals of the Empire, counselors of state, and senators, the staff, the army, its whole corps of generals and field officers, composed the splendid suite by which he was surrounded. Amid their dazzling uniforms the stand- ards of the regiments were to be seen f some new, and -waving with yet unsullied colors in the sun ; many more were torn by shot, stained with blood, and black with smoke, the objects of almost superstitious reverence to the warlike multitude by which they were surrounded. The Emperor took the oath first himself, and no sooner had the mem- bers of the Legion of Honor rejoined, ' We swear it,' than raising his voice aloud, he said, ' And you, soldiers, swear to defend, at th^e hazard of your life, the honor of the French name, your country and your Em- peror.' Innumerable voices responded to the appeal, and immediately the distribution of the decorations commenced, and the ceremony was concluded by a general review of the vast army, who all defiled in the- finest order before the throne, where they had just witnessed so impos- ing a spectacle." 00 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER IV. TO JOSEPHINE AT ST. CLOUD. TRETES, October 6, 1804. ' My love, I have arrived at Treves. 1 At the same hour you reach St. Cloud. 2 I am well. Do not grant an audience to T. Refuse to see him. Do not receive B. except publicly. Do not give him a private audience. Do not promise to sign any marriage contracts, except when I shall have signed them. Wholly thine, NAPOLEON. LETTER V. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. Arx-LA-GiiAPELLE, September 8, 1804. j The news which you give me of Napoleon 3 affords me very great pleasure, my dear Hortense, for in addition to the very tender interest I feel for him, I appreciate all the anxieties from which you are relieved, and you know, my dear child, that your happiness will ever constitute a part of mine. The Em- peror has read your letter. He has at times appeared to me wounded in not hearing from you. He would not accuse your heart if he knew you as well as I do ; but appearances are against you. Since he may suppose that you neglect him, do not lose a moment to repair the wrongs which are not in- tentional. Say to him that it is through discretion that you have not written to him ; that your heart suffers from that law which even respect dictates ; that having always manifested toward you the goodness and the tenderness of a father, it will 1 A German city on the lower Rhine, which had been annexed to France by the treaty of Luneville, in 1801 ; which peace was obtained by the battles of Marengo and Hohenlinden. 2 A very beautiful palace but a short distance from Paris. 3 The eldest child of Hortense, This child soon after died. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 61 ever be to you a happiness to offer to him the homage of your gratitude. Speak to him also of the hope you cherish of seeing me at the period of your confinement. I can not endure the thought of being absent from you at that time. Be sure, my Hortense, that nothing can prevent me from going to take care of you, for your sake, and still more for my own. Do you speak of this also to Bonaparte, who loves you as if you were his own child; and this greatly increases 'my attachment for him. Adieu, my good Hortense. I embrace you, and also Napoleon, with the warmest affections of my heart. If your husband has returned, present my kindest remembrance to him. I write to Stephanie to engage her to go and pass the time during which I shall be absent, with Madame Campan. I hope that you will persuade her that this is desirable. As you will probably be too much fatigued to accompany her, ask Emilie to give me that proof of her affection. It appears that we shall see much company at Mayence. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. LTOXS, April 15, 1805. Here we are, my dear Hortense, half way o,n our journey. For four days we have been at Lyons, and though I have suf^ fered a little from the headache, the journey has not fatigued me. The Emperor, also, is very well. Acclamations, the most unanimous, have everywhere burst forth upon his path. He has conciliated all hearts ; and in this general impression of joy, and of attachment to his person, I should find it difficult to say what city is the most distinguished. We leave for Chambery to-morrow. It is with a great deal of joy that I see the moment approach in which I shall be able to embrace Eugene. But my pleasure will not be with- out alloy, since, in approaching one of my children, I perceive, 62 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. with a great deal of regret, that I am separating myself from another who is equally dear to rne. Adieu, my good Hortense ; let me often hear from you, and receive a tender kiss. My kindest remembrance to your hus- band. I embrace Napoleon Louis. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT THE WATERS OP ST. AMAND. ST. CLOUD, July 20th, 1805. I have requested one of my gentlemen, who is about to re- join his regiment, to convey to you this letter, and to take also some presents for Napoleon. I am still very sad in being sep- arated from your brother. ' I had hoped, in returning to France, to meet again my beloved daughter. That idea con- soled me. But my life passes sadly in being thus ever sep- arated from those whom I love. In a few days I shall find my- self absolutely alone. I leave on Monday or Tuesday for Plombieres, where I shall remain a month. My health, without being very bad, never- theless requires that I should repose a little from the fatigues of the long journey which I have just made, and particularly from the grief which I have experienced in separating myself from Eugene, in Italy. I received yesterday a letter from him. He is very well, and works hard. He greatly regrets being separated from his mother and his beloved sister. Alas ! there are unquestionably many people who envy his lot, and who think him very happy. Such persons do not read his heart. In writing to you, my dear Hortense, I do not wish to communicate to you my sadness. I would only speak to you of my tenderness for you, for your children, and inform you how happy I have been to have your son Louis near me since my return. The emperor, without speaking to me about it, sent for him immediately upon our arrival at Fontainebleau. I was much JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 63 touched by this attention on his part. He had perceived that I had need of seeing a second yourself, a little charming being created by thee, un second toi-meme, un petit etre charmant cree par toi. The child is very well ; he is very happy ; he eats only th$ soup which his nurse gives him ; he never comes in when we are at the table ; the Emperor caresses him very much. Write to me often, my dear Horteuse. I have need to hear from you. Inform me of the health of your husband. Corvisart is probably now with him. I hope that the waters will do him good. It is said that they have effected some as- tonishing cures. Eugene has delivered to me, for you, a necklace of mala- chite, engraved in relief. I will give it to you upon your re- turn. Mr. Bergheim will hand you one which I have purchased at Milan. It is composed of engraved amethysts, which will be very becoming upon your beautiful white skin. I have had no time to have it better mounted. The emperor has signed the marriage contract of Made- moiselle Boubers with Monsieur Lauriston. He has made a present to the young lady of six thousand dollars. Madame de Boubers seemed very well pleased. She is a person of great merit, who is strongly attached to you, and who is worthy of the affection which you manifest for her. Give my most affec- tionate remembrance to Prince Louis. Embrace for me Kapo- leon, and rely, my dear daughter, upon the tenderness of your mother. JOSEPHINE. CHAPTER V. LETTERS TO THE EMPRESS IN 1805, DURING- THE CAM- PAIGN OP AUSTERLITZ. WHILE Napoleon was gathering his armies upon the shores of the Channel, to repel the assaults of England by carrying the war to the hearths of the British people, the English gov- ernment succeeded in forming a new coalition to attack France in the rear. Russia and Austria, combining with England, raised an army of five hundred thousand men, and commenced a hostile march, hoping to take Napoleon by surprise. Re- garding the Emperor of popular suffrage as an outlaw from all the courtesies of civilized nations, they did not even condescend to any declaration of war. But the sleepless eye of the Emperor was upon them. The moment they put their armies in motion, and commenced hos- tilities, he broke up his encampments on the coast, and trans- ported his army, in twenty thousand carriages, with incredible rapidity, to the Danube, and in three months concluded the marvelous campaign of Austerlitz. The Empress accompanied the Emperor as far as Strasbourg, a frontier town of France, on the Rhine, where she remained during most of the time of Napoleon's absence. The Emperor left Austerlitz about the 1st of October. % LETTER I. TO JOSEPHINE AT STRASBOURG. October 2, 10 o'clock in the morning, 1805. I am still here in good health. I am just leaving for Stutt- NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 65 gard, 1 where I shall be this evening. The grand maneuvers commence. The army of Wurtemberg and Baden 2 are united with mine. I am in a good position, and I love you. NAPOLEON. LETTER II. TO JOSEPHINE AT STRASBOURG. October 4, 1805 ; 12 o'clock, noon. I am at Louisburg. 5 I leave to-night. There is nothing new. All my army is on the march. The weather is splendid. My junction with the Bavarians 4 is accomplished. I am well. I hope in a few days to have something interesting to send you. Take care of your health, and believe in all my affection. There is here a very fine court, a bride very beautiful, and all are veiy amiable people, especially our electress, who appears very good, although daughter of the King of England. 5 NAPOLEON. LETTER HI. TO JOSEPHINE AT STRASBOURG. LOUISBURG, October 5, 1805. I leave in a moment to continue my march. You will be, my love, five or six days without hearing from me. Do not 1 The capital of the kingdom of "Wurtemberg, and about one hundred miles from Strasbourg. 2 Wurtemburg and Baden were independent German states which had espoused the liberal principles of France, and were in friendly al- liance with Napoleon. 3 The country residence of the Duke of Wurtemburg. 4 The Bavarians were in alliance with France. In about three months from this time Eugene Beauharnais married a daughter of the King of Bavaria. 5 The elector, a duke of "Wurtemburg, married a daughter of George 66 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. be distressed at this. It will be in consequence of the opera- tions which are about to take place. All goes well and ac- cording to my wishes. I have assisted at the nuptials of the son of the elector, with a niece of the King of Prussia. I desire to give a wed- ding present to the young princess, worth from seven to ten thousand dollars. Let it be obtained, and send it by one of my chamberlains, when these chamberlains shall come to join me. It should be done immediately. Adieu, my love ; I love you and embrace you. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. TO JOSEPHINE AT STRASBOURG. AUGSBURG, 1 October 10, 1805; 11 o'clock in the morning. I have slept to-day at the house of the ancient Elector of Treves, 3 who is very well lodged. For eight days I have been on the road. Very remarkable success has opened the campaign. I am very well, although it rains almost all the time. Events succeed each other with great rapidity. I have sent to France four thousand prisoners, eight stands of colors, and I have fourteen pieces of cannon, taken from the enemy. Adieu, my love. I embrace you. NAPOLEON. III., King of England. She was quite charmed with Napoleon, and wrote to her friends in England expressing great surprise in finding the Emperor so polite and agreeable. He had been represented to her as a monster of revolting aspect and character. 1 An important city of Bavaria, about eighty miles beyond Ulm. The Emperor was surrounding the invading army of the Austrians in Ulm, where they were soon compelled to surrender. 2 An important city in the valley of the Rhine, at that time included within the limits of France. It had formerly been the capital of a small German electorate. It appears that the elector, who had been swept from his feudal estates by the storms which succeeded the French Revolution, was then residing in Bavaria. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 67 LETTER V. TO JOSEPHINE AT STRASBOURG. October 12, 1805 ; 11 o'clock in the evening. My army has entered Munich. 1 The enemy is beyond the Inn, 2 on one side ; the other army of sixty thousand, I hold blockaded upon the Dler, s between Ulm and Memmingen The enemy is beaten, has lost his head. Every thing foretells the most happy campaign, the shortest and most brilliant, which has been made. I leave in one hour for Burgau, upon the Eler. I am well. The weather is, however, dreadful. I change my clothes twice each day, it rains so continually. I love you, and embrace you. NAPOLEON. LETTER VI. TO JOSEPHINE AT STRASBOURG. ELCHINGEN,* October 19, 1805. I have been, my good Josephine, more fatigued than is usual for me. Having been, during every day for a whole week, drenched to the skin and with the feet cold, has made me a little sick. But to-day, in which I have not been out, has rested me. 1 The beautiful capital of Bavaria. 8 A river which bounded Bavaria on the east, separating it from Austria Napoleon had thus driven one division of the Austrians out of Bavaria and had effectually cut off the retreat of the other. 3 The western boundary of Bavaria. 4 A monastery in a small village, about seven miles north-west from Ulm. The heights upon which this convent was placed had been taken by a desperate assault. Napoleon was exposed to such peril, as the shot of the Austrian batteries plowed the ground around him, that Lannes seized the reins of the Emperor's horse and led him from the galling fire. The above letter was written on the day in which Dim capitulated. 68 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I have accomplished my object. I have destroyed the Austrian army by simple marches. I have made sixty thou- sand prisoners, taken one hundred and twenty pieces of can- non, more than ninety stands of colors, and over thirty generals. I am going to throw myself upon the Russians ;' they are lost. I am satisfied with my army. I have lost but fifteen hundred men, of whom two thirds are but slightly wounded. Adieu, my Josephine. Kind regards for all. Prince Charles 11 hastens to cover Vienna. I think that Massena ought to be, at this time, at Vienna. From the mo- ment I shall be at ease respecting Italy, I shall call Eugene 3 into action. My most affectionate remembrance to Hortense. NAPOLEON. As the melancholy procession of thirty thousand captives defiled before the Emperor, preparatory to their long and hu- miliating march as prisoners to France, the sympathies of Napoleon seemed to be deeply touched in their behalf. The next day the garrison marched out and laid down their arms. In twenty days Napoleon had destroyed an army of eighty thousand men with the loss of but fifteen hundred in killed and wounded. It was accomplished by masterly maneuvers in so surrounding the di- visions of the army, that they were compelled to surrender without fighting. 1 Alexander, Emperor of the Russians, in person, with an army of one hundred thousand men, was hastening to join Prince Charles, who had seventy thousand men under the walls of Vienna, while an army of eighty thousand Hungarians was also marching rapidly to his aid. To meet these forces of one hundred and fifty thousand men, Napoleon had but seventy thousand, and yet his plans were so formed that he was sure of victory. Napoleon, after riding forty-two miles on horseback, slept on the night of the Itth, in a cow-shed. 3 Brother of the Emperor of Austria, and commander-in-chief of the Austrian armies. 3 Eugene was at this time "Viceroy of Italy. An Austrian army was assailing him there, and he consequently could not march to the aid of Napoleon. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 69 Addressing himself to some of the captive generals, he said, " It is truly deplorable that such honorable men as your- selves, whose* names are spoken of with honor wherever you have coinbatted, should be made the victims of an insane cabinet intent on the most chimerical projects. It was already a sufficient crime to have attacked me in the midst of peace, without any declaration of war ; but this offense is trivial to that of bringing into the heart of Europe a horde of barba- rians, and allowing an Asiatic power to mix itself up with our pursuits. Instead of attacking me without a cause, the Austrian cabinet should rather have united their forces to mine in order to repel the Russian force. Such an alliance is monstrous. It is the alliance of dogs and wolves against the sheep. Had France fallen in the strife, you would not have been long in perceiving the error you had committed." At this moment a French officer used an expression insult- ing to the captives. Napoleon turned to him with an air of marked displeasure, and said, "You must have little respect for yourself to insult men bowed down by such misfortunes." LETTER VH. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. Noon, October 21, 1805. I am pretty well, my love. I leave this moment for Augs- burg. 1 I have compelled thirty-three thousand men" to lay down 1 An important city of Bavaria, about eighty miles east of Ulm, on the road to Vienna. 2 These were the men who capitulated in the fortress of Ulm. Napoleon said to the officers who capitulated at Ulm, in terms of delicacy and frankness characteristic of the man : " Gentlemen, war has its chances. Often victorious, you must expect sometimes to be vanquished. Your master wages against me an unjust war. I say it 70 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. their arms here. I have from sixty to seventy thousand pris- oners, more than ninety standards, and two hundred pieces of cannon. Never was there such a catastrophe in military annals. Be careful of your health. I am a little fatigued. The weather has been fine for three days. The first column of prisoners files off for France to-day. Each column has six thousand men. NAPOLEON. LETTER VIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. STRASBOURG, October 22, 1805. I have promised, my dear Hortense, to Prince Joseph, who has written me a very kind letter, to send to him a courier with the first news which I should receive. I have to-day been enabled to fulfill my promise. M. Thiers has written me, by order of the Emperor, all the details of our success, and I have immediately transmitted them to Prince Joseph, with the request that he would communicate the contents to you and to your husband. Propitious events succeed each other, and to-day I have received a letter from the Emperor. I send it to you, and am sure that it will give you the same pleasure which it has afforded me. I entreat you to preserve it care- fully, that I may receive it again upon my return. All the members of the Emperor's household are well. There has not been a single general wounded, and you can say this to all the ladies whose husbands are in the army. On Thursday a Te Deum is to be chanted, and on the same day I shall give an entertainment to the ladies of Strasbourg. Adieu, my dear Hortense. I love you and embrace you with my whole heart. My most affectionate regards to your husband. I embrace your children. JOSEPHINE. candidly, I know not for what I am fighting ; I know not what he de- sires of me. He has wished to remind me that I was once a soldier: I trust he will find that I have not forgotten my original avocation." NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 71 LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. AUGSBURG, October 23, 1805. The two last nights have rested me much, and I shall leave to-morrow for Munich. I send for M. de Talleyrand 1 and M. de Maret" to be near me. I shall see them but little. T go 1 Talleyrand was then Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is curious to notice the different estimates which may be put upon the same indi- vidual. Napoleon said of him, at St. Helena, " Talleyrand is a corrupt man, who has betrayed all parties and per- sons. "Wary and circumspect, always a traitor, but always in con- spiracy with fortune. Talleyrand treats his enemies as if they were one day to become his friends, and his friends as if they were to be- come his enemies. He is a man of unquestionable talent, but venal in every thing. Nothing could be done with him but by means of bribery." Of the same individual M. Bourrienne says, " History will speak as favorably of Talleyrand as his cotemporaries have spoken ill of him. When a statesman, throughout a great, long, and difficult career, makes and preserves a number of friends, and pro- vokes but few enemies, it may justly be inferred that his character is honorable, his talent profound, and that his political conduct has been wise and moderate. It is impossible to know Talleyrand without ad- miring him. All who have that advantage judge him no doubt as I do." Upon the downfall of Napoleon, both Talleyrand and Bourrienne at- tached themselves to the cause of the Bourbons, tKe one as minister, the other as private secretary. 2 Maret, Secretary of State, was subsequently created Duke of Bas- sano. His whole career was a wild romance. "When a young man, he studied law, entered successfully, and with great renown, into diploma- cy amid the storms of the French Revolution, and attached hi:nself most zealously to the views of political equality which the Revolution evolved. As he was on his way to Naples, as an embassador from the Directory, he was taken prisoner, and was long confined in a gloomy fortress among the mountains of the Tyrol. Here he beguiled the weary hours by writing comedies, and a tragedy on slips of paper which he begged or purloined from his jailor. He had fortunately found the stump of an old pen in one corner of his cell, and formed a composition which served for ink. After an imprisonment of nearly two years, he was exchanged for the unfortunate daughter of Louis XVI., the Duchess 72 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. to throw myself upon the Inn 1 to attack Austria in the bosom of her hereditary states. I should have been very glad to have seen you, but you must not expect that I shall send for you, at least not until there is an armistice, or winter quarters. Adieu, my love. A thousand kisses. My compliments to your ladies. NAPOLEON. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. MUNICH, Sunday, October 27, 1805. I have received, by Lemarois, your letter. I have seen with pain that you are too much distressed. I have received details which have proved to me all the tenderness which you bear me ; but it is needful that you have more fortitude and confidence. Besides I had foretold you, that I should be six days without writing you. I meet the elector 2 to-morrow. At noon I leave to con- firm my movement upon the Inn. My health is very good. You must not think to pass the Rhine, before fifteen or twenty days. You must be cheerful, amuse yourself, and hope that before the end of the month we shall see each other. I am advancing upon the Russian army. In a few days I shall have passed the Inn. Adieu, my beloved friend. Very kind regards to Hortense, d'Angoule'me. He then warmly attached himself to the fortunes of Napoleon, and became exceedingly useful to his illustrious master. He established a reputation for integrity and for noble endowments. The witty Talleyrand, in a moment of exasperation, once said of him, " In all France I know of but one greater ass than Maret, and that is the Duke of Bassauo." 1 The Inn, as we have mentioned, was the eastern boundary of Ba- varia. The Austrians, who were driven out of Bavaria, were endeav- oring to make a stand upon the eastern banks of that river. 2 The elector alluded to was of Bavaria. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 73 to Eugene and to the two Napoleons. 1 Keep the wedding gift for the present. I gave yesterday to the ladies of this court a concert. The leader of the choir is a man of merit. I have hunted in the pheasantry of the elector. You see that I am not so greatly fatigued. M. Talleyrand has arrived. NAPOLEON. LETTER XL NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. BRAUNAU, October 30, 1805. My brother I have arrived to-day at Braunau. It snows heavily. The Russian army seems much frightened by the fate of the Austrian army. They have abandoned to me, Braunau, which is one of the keys of Austria. This place is admirably fortified and is stored with magazines of every kind. We shall now see what this Russian army will do. It has lost its presence of mind. Elle a perdue la tete. The people of Austria are disgusted with the Russians, who rob, steal, and outrage eveiywhere. They look with contempt upon the Austrians, who begin to enter into battle with reluc- tance ; by they I mean the Russian officers ; for the soldiers are entirely brutes, and are unable to distinguish an Austrian from a Frenchman. LETTER XH. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. HAAQ, 4 November 3, 1805 ; 10 o'clock in the evening. I am in full march. The weather is very cold, the ground 1 The two little sons of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense Beauharnais. These were the elder brothers of the present Emperor of France. Louis Napoleon was not born until about two and a half years after this date the 20th of April, 1808. Both of the above children are dead; Napoleon III. being the only survivor of the family. a A town in Austria, about fifty miles beyond the Inn. Napoleon 4 74 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. is covered with a foot of snow. This is a little severe. Hap- pily there is no want of wood. We are all the time in the forests. I am very well. My affairs progress in a very satis- factory manner. My enemies ought to have more solicitude than I. I desire to have news of you, and to hear that you are without anxiety. Adieu, my love. I am going to sleep. NAPOLEON. LETTER xrn. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. Tuesday, November 5, 1805. I am at Lintz. 1 The weather is beautiful. We are twenty- with his army had now crossed the boundary river into the Austrian territory, and was pressing triumphantly and vigorously down through the valley of the Danube toward Vienna. 1 A large and beautiful town on the Danube, nearly three hundred miles east from Strasbourg. Sir Archibald Alison in the following terms describes the dismay which now agitated the camp of the Allies : " "While disasters were thus accumulating on all sides upon the Austrian monarchy, the cabinet of Vienna did their utmost to repair the fatal blow which had so nearly prostrated the whole strength of the state. How to arrest the terrible enemy who was pouring in irre- sistible force and with such rapidity down the valley of the Danube, was the great difficulty. Courier after courier was dispatched to the archduke Charles, to hasten the march of his army to the scene of danger; the archduke John was directed to evacuate the Tyrol, and endeavor to unite his forces to those of his brother to cover the capi- tal; the levies in Hungary and Lower Austria were pressed forward with all possible rapidity; and the Emperor himself, after issuing an animated proclamation to the inhabitants of Vienna, set out in person to hold a conference with the Russian General Kutusoff, who was ad- vancing with the utmost rapidity, upon the best means of arresting the march of the enemy. It was resolved to abandon the line of the Inn, and retire toward Vienna, after breaking down all the bridges over the numerous streams which fell into the Danube and lay across their line of march." NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 75 eight leagues from Vienna. The Russians can not hold out. They are in* full retreat. The house of Austria is greatly embarrassed. At Vienna they are removing all the luggage of the court. It is probable that in five or six days there will be some news from there. I greatly desire to see you again. My health is good. J embrace you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. November 15, 1805 ; 9 o'clock in the evening. I have been at Vienna for two days, my love, a little fa- tigued. I have not yet seen the city by day. I have hurried through it by night. To-morrow I receive the notables and the officers. Almost all my troops are beyond the Danube in pursuit of the Russians. Adieu, my Josephine ; at the very moment that it will be possible, I will send for you to come. My most affectionate regards for you. NAPOLEON. On the same day Napoleon wrote as follows to his brother Joseph, who was, during this campaign, the Emperor's repre- sentative in Paris : LETTER XV. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. SCHONBRUNN, November 15, 1805. My brother You have seen by the bulletin all that I have found in Vienna. I maneuver to-day against the Russian army, and in this conjuncture I am not well satisfied with Bernadotte. 1 Perhaps his health is the cause. His entrance 1 Bernadotte, afterward King of Sweden, had married a sister of Joseph Bonaparte's wife. 76 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. into Munich and into Salzbourg, and the glory I conferred upon him by these honorable missions, without his having fired a gun, or having endured any of the toilsome drudgery of the army, did not place me in a condition to expect that he would be wanting in activity and zeal. He has caused me to lose a day, and upon a day depends the destiny of the world ; not a man would have escaped me. I hope he will repair that to-morrow, in accelerating his march. I am very desir- ous to see Junot, for I am every day more convinced that the men whom I have formed are incomparably the best. I con- tinue to be well satisfied with Murat, Lannes, Davoust, Soult, Ney, and Marmont. As to Augereau, I hear nothing of his march. Massena has conducted very indifferently ; he caused himself to be beaten at Caldiero, through false dispositions. The army of Prince Charles is advancing on me, and at this moment the Venetian territory is probablv evacuated. There will be no harm if you cause him (Massena) to be in- formed by mutual friends that I am but indifferently satisfied, not with his valor, but with the ability he has displayed. This may tend to excite his zeal, and will also, perhaps, arrest the disorders which are commencing in that army. I know that a contribution of four hundred thousand francs has been imposed on the Austrian portion of Verona. It is my inten- tion to make the generals and officers who have served me well so rich that I shall not hear that they have dishonored, by cupidity, the most noble profession, and drawn upon them- selves the disrespect of the soldiers. General Dejean has em- ployed, upon the subject of the armament of the citadel of Ancona, an emphasis which is truly ridiculous. The reasons which he has given are wretched (pauvretes). Support the constable. All the reasons which Dejean is able to give, amount to nothing. It is the habit of officers of the engineers to display their talent : but I wish that it should be armed, and that is sufficient. The Emperor of Germany writes to me the most beautiful letters ; but though he allows me to occupy his capital, he has NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 77 not yet shaken off the influence of the Russians. He is at present undoubtedly with the Emperor Alexander, but one day or other he must make up his mind. LETTER XVI. TO THK EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. VIENNA, November 16, 1805. I write to M. d'Harville in order that you set out, and that you proceed to Baden, from thence to Stuttgard, and from there to Munich. You will give at Stuttgard the wedding present to the Princess Paul. It is sufficient that it cost fif- teen to twenty thousand francs ($3000 to $4000). The remainder will be for you to make presents at Munich, to the daughters of the Electress of Bavaria. All that of which you have been informed through Madame de Sevent, 1 is definitely arranged. Take with you the means of making some pres- ents to the ladies and officers who may be of service to you. Be unassuming, but receive all homage. Every thing is due to you. You owe nothing but politeness. The Electress of Wur- temburg is daughter of the King of England. She is a worthy woman. You ought to treat her kindly, but still unaffectedly. I shall be very glad to see you the moment my business will permit. I leave immediately for my advance guard. The weather is dreadful. It snows much. As to the rest, all my affairs go well. Adieu, my beloved friend. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVII. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. BRUNN, November 24, 1805. My brother -I communicate to you that the Emperor of Germany has just sent to me, M. de Stadion, his minister in 1 The countess of Sevent was lady of the palace to Josephine. 78 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Russia and Lieutenant-General Count Giulay, intrusted with full powers to negotiate, conclude, and sign, a definitive peace between France and Austria. On my side, I have named M. de Talleyrand for the same object. You will have inserted in the Moniteur the following article : " M. de Stadion, minister of the Emperor of Germany in Russia, and M. le Comte Lieutenant-General of Giulay, have been presented at Brunn, to his Majesty the Emperor of the French, as plenipotentiaries of his Serene Majesty, the Em- peror of Germany. They are intrusted with powers to nego- tiate, conclude, and sign a definitive peace between France and Austria. On his side, the Emperor of the French has named M. de Talleyrand, his minister of Foreign Affairs, whom he has intrusted with powers for the same object. It is to be hoped that peace will be the result of their nego- tiations ; but that must not in any thing relax the zeal of the administrators of the nation ; on the contrary, it should be a new motive for the conscripts to accelerate their march, in order to justify the adage so well-known, if si vis pacem, para bellum? (If you wish for peace, prepare for war.) His Maj- esty recommends to the ministers of War, and of the Interior, not to relax in any thing in their preparations." You will also attach to the article from Vienna, " Negotiations for peace have commenced. It is said that the Emperor of the French is going to Italy. Others say that it is his intention to return to Paris at a moment when he is least expected there. We have not yet seen him." Before the dreadful battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon, still anx- ious to stop the effusion of blood, sent an aid-de-camp to the Emperor Alexander, with a courteous letter opening the way for terms of accommodation. The letter was in the following terms : NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 79 LETTER XVDI. NAPOLEON TO THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER. November 25. Sire I send my aid-de-camp, General Savary, to your Maj- esty, to offer to you my compliments on your arrival at the head quarters of your army. I have charged him to express the esteem which I entertain for your Majesty, and the anx- ious desire which I feel to cultivate your friendship. I in- dulge the hope that your Majesty will receive him with that condescension for which you are so eminently distinguished, and that you will regard me as one of the men who are most desirous to be agreeable to you. I pray God to keep your Imperial Majesty in his holy keeping. The two Emperors of Austria and Russia regarded this ap- plication of Napoleon for peace, only as an indication of his weakness, and they redoubled their efforts to crush him. As their united armies were now quite superior to the force at Napoleon's command, they were sanguine of success. LETTER XIX. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. BRUXS, November 26, 1805. My brother I am still at Brunn. I have given audiences to Messrs. Stadion and Giulay. To-morrow I receive Monsieur Haugwitz, minister of the King of Prussia. I hope to be able to conclude a peace in a very short time. You will not doubt the intense desire I have to be on my return to Paris. See if the Tuileries are at last finished ; it seems to me that they ought to have been ready by the 1st of November. The Emperors of Germany and of Russia are at Olinutz. The Russian army receives reinforcements from time to time. 80 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XX. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. AUSERLITZ, December 3, 1805. I have dispatched Lebrun to you from the field of battle. I have beaten the Austrian and Russian armies commanded by the two Emperors. I am a little fatigued. I have bivouacked eight days in the open air, through some very cold nights. I pass to-uight in the chateau of Prince Kaunifz, where I am going to sleep two or three hours. The Russian army is not only beaten, but destroyed. I embrace you. NAPOLEON. Under the following circumstances the Empress received the above letter. " Fearlessly rushing on, through the sleet and the hail of a northern winter, Napoleon had disappeared in the distance from the eyes of France. Austria, Sweden, and Russia were assembling their innumerable legions to crush him. He was far from home, in a hostile country. Rumors that his rash- ness had led to his ruin, began to circulate throughout Europe. " Josephine was almost distracted with anxiety respecting her husband. She knew that a terrible battle was approach- ing, in which he was to encounter fearful odds. The most gloomy forebodings pervaded Paris, and all France. Several days had passed, in which no intelligence whatever had been received from the distant army. Ominous whispers of defeat and ruin filled the air. " The cold blasts of a December night were moaning at her windows, as Josephine and a few of her friends were as- sembled in the saloon, anxiously awaiting tidings from Napo- leon. It was no time for hilarity, and no one attempted even to promote festive enjoyment. The hour of nine o'clock had ar- rived, and yet no courier had appeared. Suddenly the clatter of iron hoofs was heard, as a single horseman galloped into the courtyard. Josephine almost fainted with emotion as she heard the feeble shout, ' Victory ! Austerlitz !' NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 81 " She rushed to the window, and threw it open. The horse of the courier had fallen dead upon the pavement, and the exhausted rider, unable to stand, was half reclining by his side. In the intensity of her impatience, Josephine rushed down the stairs and into the court-yard, followed by all her ladies. The faithful messenger was brought to her in the arms of four men. He presented to the Empress a blurred and blotted line, which the Emperor had written amid the thunder and the smoke, the uproar and the carnage of the dreadful day of Austerlitz. " The Empress, with tears almost blinding her eyes, read the billet where she stood, by the light of a torch which an attendant had brought her. She immediately took from her finger a valuable diamond ring, and presented it to the bearer of the joyful message. The messenger was Moustache, the Mameluke, who had accompanied Napoleon from Egypt. He had ridden, on horseback, one hundred and fifty miles within twelve hours." LETTER XXI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. AUSTERLITZ, December 3, 1805. My brother I imagine that when this courier shall reach you, my aide-de-camp, Lebrun, whom I have dispatched from the field of battle, will have arrived at Paris. After several days of maneuvers, I had yesterday a decisive battle. I have put to flight the allied army when commanded in person by the two Emperors of Russia and of Germany. Their army was composed of eighty thousand Russians, and of thirty thousand Austrians. I have taken from them nearly forty thousand prisoners, among whom are twenty Russian gener- als, also, forty colors, one hundred pieces of cannon, and all the standards of the Imperial Guard of Russia, The whole army has covered itself with glory. 4* 82 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. The enemy has left, at least, from twelve to fifteen thousand men on the field. I do not yet know my own loss. I esti- mate it at eight or nine hundred men killed, and twice as many wounded. An entire column of the enemy cast itself into a lake, and the greater part of them were drowned. I fancy that I can still hear the cries of these wretches whom it was impossible to save. The two Emperors are in a very bad position. You may print the substance of this intelligence, without giving it as an extract from a letter of mine ; that would not be proper. You will receive the bulletin to-morrow. Al- though I have bivouacked for the last eight days in the open air, my health is, nevertheless, good. To-night I sleep in a bed in the fine chateau of M. Kaunitz at Austerlitz ; and I have changed my linen, which I have not done before for eight days. A charge took place between my guard and that of the Emperor of Russia. The guard of the Emperor of Russia was demolished (culbutee). Prince Rempin, com- mandant of the corps, was taken with a part of his men, and all the standards and the artillery of the Russian guard. The Emperor of Germany has sent to me this morning the Prince of Zichteinstein to ask of mo an interview. It is pos- sible that peace may speedily follow. My army on the field of battle was smaller than his, but the enemy was taken in a false position while he was maneuvering. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MUNICH. AUSTERLITZ, December 5, 1805. I have concluded a truce. The Russians have gone home again. The battle of Austerlitz is the most glorious of all which I have gained. Forty-five stands of colors, more than one hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, the banners of the JOSEPHINE TO HOETENSS. 83 Russian guard, twenty generals, thirty thousand prisoners, more than twenty thousand killed. Horrible spectacle ! The Emperor Alexander is in despair, and has gone to Rus- sia. I saw, yesterday, at my bivouac, the Emperor of Ger- many. We talked two hours. We have agreed upon an immediate peace. The weather is not yet very bad. At last, repose is restored to the Continent ; let us hope that it will be to the world. The English will not know how to make oppo- sition to us. I shall greet, with much pleasure, the moment which will bring me near to you. There is prevailing here a little dis- ease of the eyes, which lasts a couple of days. I have not yet been affected by it. Adieu, my beloved friend. I am very well, and I greatly desire to clasp you in my arms. NAPOLEON. Immediately after the receipt of this letter, Josephine wrote the following to Hortense. LETTER XXm. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. MUNICH, , 1805. Behold me at Munich, my dear Hortense, a h'ttle fatigued, though pretty well. I have received your letter. It has given me a great deal of pleasure ; but I am extremely sur- prised at the rumors of which you speak to me. Assuredly, if there were really a question of the marriage of your brother, you would be the first person to whom I should com- municate it. I am informed that the Germafr newspapers spoke of it while I was at Strasbourg. I remember that at that time every one believed in the marriage. I found my- self to be the only one who was not in the secret. You know very well, my love, that the Emperor, who has never spoken to me upon the subject, would not marry Eu- gene without my knowledge. Still, I accept the public rumor. 84 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I should love very much to have her for a daughter-in-law. 1 She is a charming character and beautiful as an angel. She unites to an elegant figure, the most graceful carriage I have ever known. I am no better informed as to the time when the Emperor will return to Paris, or when he will come to Munich. He sent to me, yesterday, one of his aides-de-camp with the news of a complete victory gained over the Russians. He wrote me four lines, informed me that his health was very good, but said nothing of his return. I am much pleased with what you have informed me respecting the course of conduct which Stephanie has pursued. She is right in waiting for the Em- peror to decide for her. It is to him that I leave the care of establishing my family ; and she can not do better than to pursue the same course of conduct which she has commenced. M. Deschamps 5 will send you an account of my journey, and the detail of the reception I have met with in all the courts. At Augsburg the Princess Cunegonde spoke to me much of Madame Boubers ; she is delighted to learn that she is with you ; she has entreated me to recommend her to you. It appears that she has preserved for Madame Boubers a very strong attachment. Adieu, my dear Hortense ; I embrace you and also your children with my whole heart. When any of the family speak to you of marriage, you can communicate to them the contents of my letter ; you may even communicate them to Madame Murat. At the moment in which I am closing this sheet, there is announced to me, my dear Hortense, a page, with a letter from the Emperor. I should be very glad to send it to you with this, but I must keep it one day longer. I wish to read it again. The Emperor informs me that he has seen the Em- peror of Germany, and that he has agreed with him to make a speedy peace. JOSEPHINE. 1 The princess Auguste Amelie, of Bavaria^ is here alluded to. 2 Secretary of the Empress. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 85 LETTER XXIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MUNICH. AUSTERLITZ, December 7, 1805. I Lave concluded an armistice. Before eight days, peace will be made. I hope to learn that you have arrived at Mu- nich, in good health. The Russians have retired. They have sustained an immense loss ; more than twenty thousand killed and thirty thousand taken. Their army is reduced some three fourths. Buxhowden, their general-in-chief, is killed. I have three thousand wounded, and seven or eight hundred dead. I have a slight, inflammation in the eyes. It is a prevailing malady, and a trifle. Adieu, my love ; I desire very much to see you again. I sleep this night at Vienna. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MUNICH. BRUNN,' December 10, 1805. It is a very long time since I have heard from you. The splendid fetes of Baden, of Stuttgard, and of Munich, do they cause you to forget the poor soldiers, who live covered with mud, with rain, and with blood ? I shall depart shortly for Vienna. We are laboring to con- clude peace. The Russians are gone ; and have fled far from 1 An important town in Austria, about seventy miles north-east of Vienna, and but a few miles from Austerlitz. Here Napoleon had established his head quarters to conduct negotiations for peace. " Na- poleon," says Thiers, " after attending to his wounded; sending off to Vienna those who were capable of being removed ; after dispatching to France the prisoners and the cannon taken from the enemy, quitted Brunn, leaving M. de Talleyrand to discuss conditions with the Aus- trian commissioners." 86 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. here. They are returning to Eussia, well beaten and very inuch humbled. I desire very much to find myself again near you. Adieu, my love. The inflammation in my eyes is cured. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MUNICH. December 19, 1805. Grand Empress, not one letter from you, since your depart- ure from Strasbourg. You have gone to Baden, to Stuttgard, to Munich, without writing us one word. This is neither very amiable nor very affectionate. I am still at Brunn. The Eussians have left. I have a truce. In a few days I shall see what is to be done. Deign from the height of your grand- eurs to occupy yourself a little with your slaves. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXVH. TO THE EMPRESS AT MUNICH. ScHOENBRtiN, 1 December 20, 1805. I have received your letter of the 16th. I learn, with sor- row, tli at you are sufferring. It is not a wise arrangement to undertake a journey of one hundred miles at this season of the year. I know not what I shall do ; I depend upon events ; I have no will of my own ; I wait entirely their issue. Re- main at Munich ; amuse yourself. That is not difficult when one has so many agreeable companions and is in so fine a 1 Schoenbrun was the most celebrated palace of the Emperor of Austria; it was in the immediate vicinity of Vienna, Soon after this, peace being settled, Napoleon left Vienna for Munich, on his way to Paris. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 87 country. I am, myself, very much occupied. la a few days I shall be decided. Adieu, rny love ; my kind and loving regards. NAPOLEON. Napoleon tarried a few days at Munich, the capital of the kingdom of Bavaria, when on his return to France, to attend the nuptials of Eugene with the Princess Augusta Amelie, of Bavaria. The marriage ceremony took place on the 13th of January, 1806. The following letter from Josephine to Hor- tense, alludes to this event. LETTER XXVIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. MUNICH, January 7, 1806. I am not willing to lose a moment, my dear Hortense, in informing you that the marriage of Eugene with the Princess Augusta, daughter of the Elector of Bavaria, is just definitely arranged. You will appreciate, as I do, all the value of this new proof of the attachment which the Emperor manifests for your brother. Nothing in the world could be more agree- able to me than this alliance. The young Princess unites to a charming figure, all the qualities which can render a woman interesting and lovely. I can conceive all the regret you must experience in not being able to be with us at Munich, and I am not surprised at the chagrin which the letter which your husband has written to you upon this subject, has caused you, and I clearly perceive that you have not been able to resist making earnest entreaties. Still it must be a consolation to you that the marriage is not to take place here ; it is to be celebrated in Paris. Thus you will be able to wit- ness the happiness of your brother, and mine will be perfect, since I shall find myself united to both of my dear children. My health is very good, and the happiness I experience in 88 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. th,e thought of again seeing my son, can only contribute to maintain it. Adieu, my beloved Hortense ; I hope that we shall all soon be reunited. JOSEPHINE. There was subsequently a change in the arrangements, and the nuptials were solemnized in Munich. The Emperor wrote as follows to Hortense. LETTER XXIX. NAPOLEON TO HORTENSE. MUNICH, January 9, 1806. My daughter Eugene arrives to-morrow, and is to be mar- ried in four days. I should have been very happy if you could have attended his marriage ; but there is no longer time. The Princess Augusta is tall, beautiful, and full of good qualities, and you will have, in all respects, a sister worthy of you. A thousand kisses to M. Napoleon. NAPOLEON. After the marriage of Eugene, Josephine returned with Napoleon to Paris. M. Thiers thus speaks of the Emperor's return : " Napoleon, after attending the wedding of Eugene Beau- harnais and the Princess Augusta, after enjoying the happi- ness of a son whom he loved, the admiration of a people eager to see him, the flatteries of an enemy, the Electress of Bavaria, set out for Paris, where the enthusiasm of France awaited him. " A campaign of three months instead of a war of several years, as it had been at first feared, the continent disarmed, the French empire extended to limits which it ought never to have passed, a dazzling glory added to our arms, public and private credit miraculously restored, new prospects of peace JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 89 and prosperity opened to the nation, under a government powerful and respected by the world ; that was what the peo- ple meant to thank him for, by a thousand times repeated shouts of Vive F Empereur ! With these cries he was greeted even at Strasbourg, in crossing the Rhine, and they accom- panied him to Paris." Soon after Napoleon returned to the Tuileries, Louis Bonn- parte became King of Holland, and Hortense, bidding adieu to her saddened mother, retired to that kingdom. Josephine was now separated from both of her children, Eugene being King of Italy, and Hortense, Queen of Holland. In the fol- lowing pensive strain the mother wrote to her daughter. LETTER XXX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT THE HAGUE. ST. .CLOUD, July 15, 1806. I can not permit Despres to leave me, my dear Hortense, without sending to you, by him, a few lines. Since your de- parture I have been continually suffering, sad and sorrowful ; I have even been compelled to keep my bed, having a slight attack of fever. The sickness has almost entirely disappeared, but the grief remains. How can it be otherwise when I am separated from a daughter like you, affectionate, amiable, and lovely, who constitutes the joy of my life. The festivities are still postponed ; they will not take place until the 15th of September. I hope that this postponement will induce you to pass the winter with us. I rely upon the promise of your husband, upon your own, and upon that of the Emperor. Eugene will be here at that time. His wife is decidedly endente. I received a letter from Eugene, yesterday, which gave me this news. He is very happy. How is your husband ? My grandchildren, are they well ? Indeed how sad I am in being no longer able to see them. 90 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. And your health, my dear Hor tense, is it good ? If you are ever sick, inform me. I will immediately hasten to my be- loved child. All the family are well. I have heard news from the Princess of Baden. She has been received very kindly into the family of her husband. Prince Murat is about to be created Grand Duke of Berg. I intend to write soon to your husband to solicit ' his interest for M. d'Osmond. I hear many good things of that young man. It is said that he is intelligent, well educated, perfectly familiar with the Italian, the English, and another language. He solicits the situation of ecuyer in the service of the King. He has a sis- ter who has an income of fourteen thousand louis, and she will provide every thing that may be necessary for him. M. d'Aremberg is still deeply in love with Stephanie. 1 You know that he has gone to the mineral springs. His con- tract of marriage is made ; it appears that they are to be married in the month of September. All the family of Arem- berg are about leaving for Belgium. The mother and the son propose to go to Holland to make you a short visit. The more I become acquainted with this family, the more highly I appreciate the happiness of my cousin in being connected with it. I have written you a long letter. I have wished to recompense myself to-day for the privation of not having written to you since your departure. Adieu, my dear Hortense, my beloved child. Think often of your mother, and believe that there never was a child more tenderly cherished than you. My most affectionate remembrance to your husband. I embrace my grandchildren. JOSEPHINE. 1 Mademoiselle Stephanie Tascher, was a cousin of the Empress. CHAPTER VI. LETTERS IN 1806, DURING THE CAMPAIGNS OP JENA AND AUERSTADT. NOT ten months had elapsed after Napoleon's return to Paris from Austerlitz, ere another coalition, which made the sixth, was organized against the republican Emperor. Alex- ander, mortified by the terrible defeat of Austerlitz, was anx- ious to retrieve his military reputation. England, Russia, and Prussia were combined in this new alliance. In reference to this renewed combination against France, the following ar- ticle appeared in the Mvniteur, which was attributed to the pen of Napoleon : " Why should hostilities arise between France and Russia ? Perfectly independent of each other, they are impotent to in- flict evil, but all powerful to communicate benefits. If the Emperor of France exercises a great influence in Italy, the Czar exercises a still greater influence over Turkey and Per- sia. If the Cabinet of Russia pretends to have a right to affix limits to the power of France, without doubt it is equally dis- posed to allow the Emperor of the French to prescribe the bounds beyond which Russia is not to pass. Russia has par- titioned Poland. Can she then complain that France possesses Belgium, and the>left bank of the Rhine ? Russia has seized upon the Crimea, the Caucasus, and the orthern provinces of Persia. Can she deny that the right of self-preservation gives France a title to demand an equivalent in Europe ? "Let every power begin by restoring the conquests" which it has made during the last fifty years. Let them re-establish 92 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Poland, restore Venice to its senate, Trinidad to Spain, Ceylon to Holland, the Crimea to the Porte, the Caucasus and Georgia to Persia, the kingdom of Mysore to the sons of Tippoo Saib, and the Mahratta States to their lawful owners, and then the other powers may have some title to insist that France shall retire within her ancient limits. It is the fashion to speak of the ambition of France. Had she chosen to preserve her con- quests, the half of Austria, the Venetian States, the States of Holland and Switzerland, and the kingdom of Naples would have been in her possession. The limits of France are, in real- ity, the Adige and the Rhine. Has it passed either of these limits ? Had it fixed on the Solza and the Drave, it would not have exceeded the bounds of its conquest." To this statement no reply was attempted. Alexander, young and ambitious, was anxious to efface the stain of Aus- terlitz ; Prussia, stimulated by a romantic queen, resolved to measure swords with the great conqueror ; England, burdened with her enormous conquests, extending through two hemi- spheres, had the unparalleled effrontery to reiterate her cry against the " insatiable ambition of Bonaparte? Napoleon, with much regret, contemplated the rising of this new storm, but, with his accustomed energy, prepared to meet it. In his parting message to the senate, as he left Paris, he said : " In so just a war, which we have not provoked by any act, by any pretense, the true cause of which it would be impossi- ble to assign, we depend entirely upon the support of the laws, and upon that of the people whom circumstances call upon to give fresh proofs of their devotion and courage." To his brother Joseph he wrote : '* Give yourself no uneasiness. The present struggle will be speedily terminated. Prussia and her allies, be they who they may, will be crushed. And this time I will finally settle with Europe. I will put it out of the 'power of my enemies to stir for ten years." In September the Allies commenced their march. Prussia, JOSEPHINE TO HOKTENSE. to 93 with an army of two hundred thousand men, invaded Saxony, an ally of France, to compel its king to join the alliance against Napoleon. Alexander, with two hundred thousand troops, was making forced marches across the plains of Poland, to swell the enormous host in their invasion of France. En- gland was co-operating, in every possible way, with her bound- less supply of gold, and her invincible fleet. At midnight, on the 24th of September, 1806, Napoleon left Paris in his carriage, with Josephine and Talleyrand, to join the army which he had already forwarded to the banks of the Rhine. Josephine accompanied him as far as Mayence, that she might be nearer her husband, and thus be able to re- ceive from him earlier tidings. LETTER I. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE HAGUE. PARIS (no date), 1806. All your letters, my dear Hortense, are charming, and you are very kind to send them to me so often. I have also news from Eugene and his wife. I see that they are happy, and I am more happy myself, particularly at this moment, for I shall go with the Emperor, and I am making preparations for the journey. I assure you that this new war, if it must take place, causes me no anxiety. But the nearer I am to the Em- peror, the less solicitude I shall feel, and I am confident that I could not live if I must remain here. Another source of joy to me is, that I shall see you again at Mayence. The Emperor wishes me to say to you that he has just given to the King of Holland an army of eighty thou- sand men, and that his command will extend nearly to May- ence. He thinks that you will come and remain with me at Mriyence. Judge, my dear Hortense, if lhat is not delightful news for a mother who loves you so tenderly. Every day we sh;ill receive news from the Emperor, and from your hflsband. We will rejoice together. The Grand Duke of Berg has spoken 94 * CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. to me of you, and of your children. Embrace them for me, until I shall be able to embrace them and my dear daughter myself; and this I hope will be very soon. My most affec- tionate remembrance to the king. The Emperor sends to you his kindest regards. JOSEPHINE. Napoleon, with great skill, had transported his army of one hundred and seventy thousand men to the Rhine, that he might attack the Prussians before they could be strengthened by the arrival of the Russians. Leaving Josephine at May- ence, he placed himself at the head of his troops and com- menced his march to repel his assailants. There was before Rim the prospect of a long war, with these powerful mon- archies, in the distant and wintery north. Already the chill winds of departing autumn began to sweep over these inhos- pitable plains. The Empress, in bidding her husband adieu, wept bitterly. Napoleon was also himself for,a moment over- come, and as he folded Josephine to his bosom his tears were mingled with hers. During this campaign Napoleon wrote to the Empress as follows : LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. October 5, 1806. There can be no objection that the Princess of Baden should repair to Mayence. I know not why you weep ; you do wrong thus to impair your health. Hortense is a little pedant ; she loves to give advice. She has written to me ; I have replied to her. She ought to be happy and cheerful. Fortitude and cheerfulness this is the recipe. Adieu, my love. The grand duke has spoken to me of you. He saw you at Florence during the retreat. Napoleon was much irritated in being thus perfidiously attacked by this new coalition. The following letter which NAPOLEON TO ROCHEFOUCAULD. 95 he wrote the next day to M. de la Rochefoucauld, his minister to the court. of Austria, will show the feelings with which he entered upon this war. LETTER HI. NAPOLEON TO M. DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, FRENCH EMBASSADOR AT VIENNA. WURZBURG, October 6, 1806. I have been, since yesterday, at Wurzburg, which has given me occasion to converse a long time with his Royal High- ness. I have acquainted him with my firm resolution to break all the ties of alliance which bind me to Prussia, be the result of present affairs what it may. According to my last accounts from Berlin, it is possible that war may not take place ; but I am resolved not to be the ally of a power so versatile and so despicable. I shall be at peace with her, no doubt, because I have no right to spill the blood of my peo- ple under vain pretexts. Still the necessity for directing my efforts toward my navy, renders an alliance upon the conti- nent indispensable for me. Circumstances had led me to an alliance with Prussia, but that power is, at this day, what it was in 1740, and what it has been at all times, without con- sistency and without honor. I have esteemed the Emperor of Austria, even amid his reserves and the events which have divided us. I believe him to be constant and faithful to his word. You must explain yourself in this spirit without, how- ever, employing a misplaced urgency. My position and my forces are such that I need not fear any body ; but all these efforts press at last upon my people. Of the three powers, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, I must have one for my ally. In no case can Prussia be trusted. Russia and Austria alone are left me. The navy flourished former- ly in France, through the benefit which we derived from the alliance of Austria. That power, besides, feels the necessity for remaining quiet ; a sentiment in which I also heartily join. 96 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. An alliance founded on the independence of the Ottoman empire, on the guaranty of our dominions, and on amicable arrangements which would consolidate the peace of Europe, and would enable me to throw my efforts upon my navy, would suit me. The House of Austria, having frequently made insinuations to me, the present moment, if it knows how to profit by it, is the most favorable of all. I shall say no more to you. I have explained my sentiments more at length to the Prince of Benevento, who will not fail to in- form you of them. For the rest, your mission will be fulfilled whenever you signify in the slightest possible manner that I am not adverse from adhering to a system which should knit more firmly my ties with Austria. Fail not to keep an eye upon Moldavia and Wallachia, and to inform me of the move- ments of the Russians against the Ottoman empire. Where- upon, etc., etc. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. BAMBERG,' October 7, 1806. I leave this morning, my love, for Cronach." My whole army is in motion. Every thing goes well. My health is perfect. I have as yet received but one letter from you. I have received letters from Eugene and Hortense. Stephanie 3 ought to be with you. Her husband is eager for war. He is with me. Adieu ; a thousand kisses and good health. NAPOLEON. 1 A city of Bavaria, about one hundred and fifty miles east of Mayence. 2 A small town on tbe frontiers of Bavaria, about fifty miles north-east of Bamberg. 3 A niece of Josephine, to whom both she and Napoleon were ten- derly attached. She married the Grand Duke of Baden, a duchy belonging to the confederation of the Rhine which was under the pro- tection of Napoleon. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 07 LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. GERtJ, 1 October 13, 1806; 2 o'clock in the morning. I am, to-day, at Geru, my love. My affairs arc very pros- perous ami all things go as I could wish. With the aid of God, in a few days, this will have assumed a very terrible character, I think, for the poor King of Prussia, whom per- sonally I pity, for he is a good man. The queen" is at 1 A small town in Prussia^ on the Elster, about thirty miles south- west of Leipsic, and about three hundred miles from Mayence. Geru was but a few miles distant from the fields where, the next day, the terrible battles of Jena and Auerstadt were fought. When Napo- leon wrote this letter he was concentrating his troops for the conflict. 2 The Queen of Prussia, with foolish and unwomanly ambition, had instigated the war. In reference to this fact Napoleon stated in his first, bulletin: " The Queen of Prussia is with the army, dressed as an Amazon, bearing the uniform of her regiment of dragoons, writing twenty let- ters a day, to spread the conflagration in all directions. We seem to see Armida in her madness, setting fire to her own palace. After her follows Prince Louis of Prussia, a young Prince full of bravery and courage, hurried on by the spirit of party, who flatters himself that he shall find great renown in the vicissitudes of war. Imitating the ex- ample of these illustrious persons all the court cries ' To armsT But when war shall have reached them with its horrors, all will seek to exculpate themselves from having been instrumental in bringing its thunders to the peaceful plains of the north." In reference to these military assumptions of the queen, Thiers remarks : " To these military personages were added several civil personages, besides a great number of German princes, among the rest the Elector of Hesse, whom vain efforts wore made to drag into the war ; and last- ly, completing this medley, the queen, with some of her ladies, riding on horseback, and showing herself to the troops, who greeted her with their acclamations. When sensible persons inquired what that august personage did there she, who, by her position and rank seemed so out of place in head-quarters the reply was that her energy was use- ful, that she alone kept the king steady, preventing his swerving ; and thus there was alleged, in excuse for her presence, a reason not less in- decorous than her presence itself." 5 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Erfurth 1 with the king. If she wishes to see a battle, she will have that cruel pleasure. I am remarkably well. I have even gained flesh since I left you. Nevertheless, I ride from sixty to seventy-five miles a day, on horseback, in a carriage, and in all ways. I retire at 8 o'clock and rise at midnight. I think sometimes that you have not yet retired. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. Before the battle of Jena, Napoleon, having so effected all his arrangements as to be confident of victory, still anxious to stop the effusion of blood, addressed a letter to the King of Prussia, in the following earnest terms. To this letter no other reply was made than with charges of cavalry, and with the thunders of artillery. LETTER VI. NAPOLEON TO THE KING OF PRUSSIA. Sire The success of my arms is not doubtful. Your troops will be beaten. But it will cost me the blood of my children. If that can be spared by any arrangement consist- ent with the dignity of my crown, I will do all that may de- pend upon myself. Excepting honor, nothing is so precious in my eyes as the blood of my soldiers. LETTER VH. TO THE EMPRESS AT MATENCE. JENA, October 16 ; 3 o'clock in the morning. My love I have made some fine maneuvers against the Prussians. I gained yesterday a great victory. There were one hundred and fifty thousand men. I have taken twenty 1 A strong walled city about seventy miles from Leipsic, and forty miles from Geru. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 99 thousand prisoners, captured one hundred pieces of cannon, and some standards. I was in the presence, and near the per- son of the King of Prussia. I barely failed taking both him and the queen. I have bivouacked two days. I am remark- ably well. Adieu, my love ; take care of yourself, and love me. If Hortense is at Mayence, give her a kiss, also to Napoleon, 1 and to the baby.* This letter was written upon the field of battle, while the cannonade of the pursuers and the pursued still filled the air. In this terrible battle, Prince Louis, of Prussia, in his attempt- ed flight, was thrust through by a sword, and instantly killed. " From Jeua," says Thiers, " Napoleon proceeded to Wei- mar. He found there the whole court of the grand duke, in- cluding the grand duchess, sister of the Emperor Alexander. The grand duke alone was absent, having command of a Prus- sian division. This polished and learned court had made Weimar the Athens of modern Germany, and under its pro- tection Goethe, Schiller, and Wieland lived honored, rich, and happy. The grand duchess, who was accused of having contrib- uted to the war, went to meet Napoleon, and, agitated by the tumult which prevailed around her, she said, approaching him, " ' Sire, I recommend my subjects to you.' " ' You see, madam, what war is,' replied Napoleon, coldly. " For the rest he confined himself to this vengeance, and 1 The eldest son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense. The Emperor was exceedingly attached to this child, and contemplated making him his heir, but unfortunately this little boy, a child of remarkable prom- ise, soon died. 2 The second son of Lpuis and Hortense. He died in Switzerland when about nineteen years of age. Louis Napoleon, the present Em- peror of Franco, is the only survivor of the three children of Hortense. He was not then born. 100 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. treated this inimical but lettered court as Alexander would have treated a city of Greece, showed himself full of courtesy toward the grand duchess, expressed to her no displeasure at the conduct of her husband, caused the town of Weimar to be respected, and ordered due attention to be paid to the wounded generals, of whom it was full. LETTER VIE. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. WEIMAR,' October 16, 1806; 5 o'clock in the evening. M. Talleyrand will have shown you the bulletin, my love. You will there have seen my success. Every thing has gone as I had calculated, and never has any army been more thor- oughly beaten, and more entirely destroyed. It only remains for me to say to you that I am well, and that fatigues, bivouacs, and watchings have made me fat. Adieu, my love. My most affectionate remembrance to Hortense, and the grand Monsieur Napoleon. Ever thine, NAPOLEON. Napoleon, sweeping all opposition before him, stopped one day at Wittemberg. 1 The following is but a part of the labors he pei formed during that one day of rest : He arranged along his extended route places of safety for the sick and the exhausted, and ordered stores of ammunition at appointed stations for the recruits who were to come from 1 An important town but a few miles from Jena. The fugitive Prus- sians fled through this place, pursued, pell-mell, by the victorious French. An awful conflict ensued in the streets of the city ; the houses were shattered with balls and shells, and the streets ran red with blood. Weimar was the capital of the duchy of that name. The Grand Duke of Weimar had married a sister of Alexander, the Emperor of Russia. She had done every thing in her power to instigate the war. 2 An important city on the Elbe, about one hundred miles beyond Weimar, and within about sixty miles of Berlin. - : , -- NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 101 France. He put into the hands of General Chasseloup a large sura of money for the purpose of employing six or seven thou- sand native laborers, and, in default of regular works, for con- stfuctiug field-works of great solidity, he ordered the old scarps to be bared at the foot ; those which wanted height to be raised, and where time would not permit the employment of masonry, he directed wood, which was very abundant in the neighboring forests, to be substituted for stone. Immense palissades were set up ; a Roman camp was in some sort con- structed, such as the ancient conquerors of the world reared against Gaul and Germany. In the same town of Wittem- borg, Napoleon had ovens built, corn collected, biscuit made. He determined, also, that the great park of artillery should be collected in this place, and that workshops for repairs should be established there. He took possession of the public edifices and places, to turn them into hospitals capable of containing the sick and wounded of a numerous army. Lastly, on the suddenly-raised ramparts of this vast depot he ordered more than a hundred pieces of heavy artillery, collected in his victo- rious march, to be placed in battery. He appointed General Lemarrois, one of his aides-de-camp, governor of Wittemberg. " The wounded, separated into two classes, great and little wounded, that is to say, such as would be able to return to the ranks in a few days, and those whose recovery would require a long time, were divided between Wittemberg and Erfurth. Those who were but little wounded remained at Wittemberg, so that they could rejoin their -corps imme- diately ; the others were sent to Erfurth. Each regiment, besides the principal depot which it had in France, had also a field depot at Wittemberg. In the latter could be left men who were fatigued or sightly indisposed, that by means of the attention of a few days, they might be enabled to march afresh, without encumbering the roads, without exhibiting there the spectacle of the tail of an army, sick, i.mpotent, increasing in length in proportion to the rapidity of the movements and the duration of the war. 102 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. "The detachments of conscripts, when leaving France in bodies, had orders to halt at Erfurth and Witteinberg, to be there reviewed, provided with what they needed, augmented by convalescents, and directed to their regiments. Lastly, to the same depots, but especially to that of Wittemberg, Napo- leon ordered the immense quantity of fine horses, picked up in all parts of Germany, to be sent. He directed all the regi- ments of cavalry to pass through them in their turn in order to be remounted. The same order was given to dragoons coming to France on foot. There they would find horses which they could not procure in France. " Thus Napoleon concentrated at these points, in a well de- fended asylum, all the resources of the conquered country, which he had the art to take from the enemy and apply to his own use. Victorious in marching forward, he had in them relays abundantly furnished with every thing, provi- sions, ammunition, material, and situated on the route of the corps, coming to reinforce the army. If obliged to retire they would be supports and means of refitting placed on the lines of retreat. After inspecting and ordering every thing him- self, Napoleon left Wittemberg and took the road for Berlin." Such were the labors of one day at Wittemberg ; and yet Napoleon found time during that day to write to Josephine. LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENOE. WITTEMBERG, October 23, 1806 ; noon. I have received many letters from you. I can write you but a word. My affairs are very prosperous. I shall be to- morrow at Potsdam, and the 25th at Berlin. I am remark- ably well ; fatigue refreshes me. I am very happy to hear that you are with Hortense and Stephanie, in very good company. The weather, until now, has been very fine. My most affectionate remembrance to Stephanie, and to all your household, not forgetting Monsieur Napoleon. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. CHAPTER VII. LETTERS IN 1806, DURING THE MARCH TO THE VISTULA. As the Allies, after the battles of Jena and Auerstadt, re- fused even to listen to Napoleon's propositions for peace, and were rapidly gathering new forces for the more vigorous pros- ecution of the war, Napoleon, being now in possession of nearly the whole of Prussia, inarched resistlessly forward to meet the advancing hosts of the Russians. It was a dreadful march, in the heart of a northern winter. But the foresight of the Emperor had prepared his army with every comfort possible under the circumstances. He marched to the Vis- tula, drove his foes from their entrenchments and established his winter quarters by the side of the forest which frowned along that frozen stream. During this march he wrote the following letters : LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. POTSDAM,' October 24, 1806. I have been at Potsdam, my love, since yesterday. I shall remain here to-day. I continue to be satisfied with affairs. My health is good. I find Sans Souci very agreeable. . * A beautiful city, seventeen miles west of Berlin, which had long been the favorite residence of the kings of Prussia. Its palaces were reared, and its gardens laid out by Frederic the Great, at an enormous expense. The palace of Sans Souci, free from care, is very voluptuous in its appliances. The city contains about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. 104 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Adieu, inv love. My affectionate remembrance to Hor- tense and to Monsieur Napoleon. NAPOLEON. "Napoleon set out," says Thiers, "on the 24th of October, and passed through Kropstadt on his way to Potsdam. Per- forming the journey on horseback, he was caught in a violent storm, though the weather had continued very fine ever since the opening of the campaign. It was not his custom to stop for such a reason. However, he was offered shelter in a house situated amid woods, and belonging to an officer of the hunt- ing establishment of the court of Saxony. He accepted the offer. Some females, who seemed from their language and dress to be of elevated rank, received, around a great fire, this group of French officers, whom from fear, as much as out of politeness, they treated with much civility. The females seemed not to be aware who was the principal of these offi- cers, around whom the others respectfully ranged themselves, when one of them, still young, seized with a strong emotion, exclaimed, " ' That is the Emperor.' " ' How came you to know me ?' asked Napoleon. " ' Sire !' she answered, ' I was with your Majesty in Egypt.' " ' And what were you doing in Egypt ?' inquired the Em- peror. " ' I was the wife of an officer, who has since died in your service. I have solicited a pension for myself and my son, but I was a foreigner and could not obtain it; and I am come to live with the mistress of this house, who has en- trusted me with the education of her children.' "The countenance oT Napoleon, who was displeased at being recognized, stern at first, all at once assumed a soft ex- pression. "'Madame,' said he, 'you shall have a pension; and as for your son, I charge myself with his education.' " The same evening he took care to affix his signature to both these resolutions, and said, smiling, NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 105 " ' I never yet met with an adventure in a forest, in conse- quence of a storm. Here is one, however, and a most agree- able one.' " Another event occurred at Potsdam, which we can not bet- ter describe than in the language of Thiers. " He arrived in the evening of the 25th of October, at Pofsdain. He immediately went to visit the retreat of the great captatn who called himself ' The Philosopher of Sans Souci? Napoleon went through the great and little palace of Potsdam, desired to be shown Frederic's works, crowded with Voltaire's notes, sought to discover in his library in what books he was accustomed to feast his great mind, and then went to the church of Potsdam to inspect the modest tomb where rests the founder of Prussia. " At Potsdam were kept the sword of Frederic, his belt, his order of the Black Eagle. Napoleon seized them, exclaim- ing, "'What a capital present for the invalids, especially for those who have formed part of the army of Hanover ! They will be delighted, no doubt, when they see in our possession the sword of him who beat them at Rosbach.' " Napoleon, in seizing these precious relics, with so much respect, most assuredly offered no affront either to Frederic or the Prussian nation." Marshal Bernadotte left Marshal Davoust to bear the whole brunt of the terrible battle of Auerstadt. Whence could such conduct proceed ? " It proceeded,'-' says Thiers, " from that detestable sentiment, which often causes the blood of men, the welfare of the state to be sacrificed to envy, to ha- tred, to revenge. Marshal Bernadotte felt a deep aversion, conceived on the most frivolous motives, for Marshal Davoust." M. Bernadotte wrote to the Emperor attempting to justify his course. In the following courteous, yet decisive terms, Napo- leon expressed his displeasure. 5* 106 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS, LETTER II. TO THE PRINCE OF PONTE CORVO. "WiTTEMBERG, October 23, 1806. I have received your letter. I am not in the habit of re- criminating upon the past, since it is without remedy. Your corps of the army was not on the field of battle, and that might have been extremely disastrous for me. Still, agreea- bly to a very precise order, you ought to have been at Dorn- burg, which is one of the principle debouches of the Saale, on the same day that Marshal Lannes was at Jena, Marshal Au- gereau at Kala, and Marshal Davoust at Naumburg. In de- fault of having executed these dispositions I had let you know in the night that if you were still at Naumburg you were to march toward Marshal Davoust, for the purpose of support- ing him. When this order arrived you were at Naumberg ; and yet you preferred making a false march, and returning to Dornburg, and in consequence you were not at the battle, and Marshal Davoust had principally to bear the brunt of the enemy's efforts. All this is certainly very unfortunate, etc. NAPOLEON. LETTER ni. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. November 1, 1806; 2 o'clock in the morning. Talleyrand has arrived, and he informs me, my love, that you do nothing but weep. What do you wish for then ? You b'ave your daughter, your grandchildren, and good news. These are surely enough to make one contented and happy. The weather here is superb. There has not yet fallen, dur- ing the whole campaign, a single drop of water. I am very well and every thing is prosperous. Adieu, my love, I have received a letter from Monsieur Na- NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 107 poleon ; I do not think that it can be from him, but from Hortense. My kindest remembrance to all your household. NAPOLEON. The above letter was written from Berlin. Napoleon en- tered the capital on the 28th, with much pomp. " It was the first time," says Thiers, " that he had ever made a triumphant entry like Alexander or Caesar, into a conquered capital. He had not entered Vienna in that manner. Indeed he had scarcely visited the Austrian capital at all, living constantly at Schoenbrun out of sight of its inhabitants. But on this day, whether from pride at having demolished an army re- puted to be invincible, or from a desire to awe Europe by a striking spectacle, or perhaps from the intoxication of victory, mounting higher than usual into his head, he chose the morn- ing of the 28th for his triumphant entry into Berlin." It was a magnificent day. The whole population of the city and its environs, were present to witness the imposing spectacle. The Imperial Guard surrounded him in the richest uniform ; in front the dense masses of the infantry, in the rear the superbly mounted cavalry. " In the middle, Marshals Berthier, Duroc, Davoust, Auger eau, and in the center of this group, left by himself out of respect, Napoleon in the simple dress which he wore in the Tuileries and on the fields of battle. Napoleon, the object of all eyes in that immense con- course was silent, impressed at once with sorrow and admi- ration. "Napoleon received the keys of Berlin from the magis- trates, then proceeded to the palace, where he gave audience to all the public authorities, used mild, cheering language, promised order on the part of the soldiers, on condition of order on the part of the inhabitants, showed no severity in his expressions, save toward the German aristocracy, which was, he said, the sole author of all the calamities of Ger- many." We know not how to reconcile the remark not a drop of 108 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. water, with the statement that Napoleon took shelter from a Storm in a house in the forest. The storm might have been a local and momentary tempest, which was not at all felt by the widely extended army. The following extracts from letters from Marshal Lannes will show the spirit of the French troops at this time, and the feelings they cherished toward the Emperor. LETTER IV. MARSHAL LANNES "TO THE EMPEROR. Sire I have received the letter which your Majesty has done me the honor to write me. It is impossible for me to express the pleasure which it has given me. There is noth- ing in the world that I desire so much as to be sure that your Majesty knows that I do all that lies in my power for your glory. I have communicated to your corps cFarmee what your Maj- esty has been pleased to say to me for it. It would be impos- sible for me to describe to your Majesty the gratification which it has afforded them. A single word from you is sufficient to make the soldiers happy. Three hussars, having lost their way toward Gartz, found themselves in the midst of an enemy's squadron. They ran up to it leveling their pieces, saying that it was surrounded by a regiment and must dismount immediately. The com- mander of this squadron commanded it to dismount, and it surrendered its arms to those three hussars who brought the men thither prisoners of war. I have just been assured that the king has show^ great dis- pleasure with those gentlemen about him who advised him to the war ; that he was never before seen in such a passion ; that he told them that they were scoundrels, that they had made him lose his crown, and that he had no hope left but to NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 109 go and see the great Napoleon, and that he reckoned upon his generosity. I am, with the most profound respect, etc. LANNES. LETTER V. MARSHAL LANNES TO THE EMPEROR. PASSE WALK, November 1, 1806. Yesterday I had your Majesty's proclamation read at the head of the troops. The concluding words 1 deeply touched the hearts of the soldiers. They all set up shouts of Vive PEmpereur d 1 Occident! It is impossible for me to tell your Majesty how much you are loved by these brave fellows, and, in truth, never was lover so fond of his mistress as they are of your person. I beg your M;ijesfy to let me know if you will be pleased to have my dispatches addressed in future to " The Emperor of the West," and I make the inquiry in the name of my corps cTarmee. I am, with the most profound respect, etc.* LANNES. LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. BERLIN, November 2, 1806. I have received your letter of the 26th of October. We have here superb weather. You will see by the bulletin that we have taken Stellin.* It is a very strong place. All my 1 The concluding words were these, " Soldiers ! I love you with the same intensity of affection which you have ever manifested toward me." 2 It is evident that the inquiry which Marshal Lannes made was answered in the negative, since this title which "gushed from the en- thusiasm of the soldiers," was not assumed. 3 A very important and strongly fortified city near the mouth of the Oder. Thiers thus describes its capture : " Lasalle, with the hussars and chasseurs, hastened to Stelh'n, fol- 110 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. affairs proceed a& well as possible, and I am very well satisfied. There is nothing wanting to me but the pleasure of seeing you ; but I hope that will not long be delayed. My love to Hortense, to Stephanie, and to the little Napoleon. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine, NAPOLEON. LETTER VII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. November 6, 1806; 9 o'clock, A. M. I have received your letter, in which it seems you reproach me for speaking ill of women. 1 True it is, that above all things, lowed by the infantry of Lannes. "Wonderful to relate, an officer of light cavalry dared to summon Stellin, a fortress having a numerous garrison, and an immense artillery. General Lasalle had an interview with the governor, and expatiated with such conviction, on the com- plete annihilation of the Prussian army, that the governor surrendered the place with all that it contained, and a garrison of six thousand men, prisoners of war." 1 Napoleon, in one of his bulletins, spoke in terms of great severity of queens who meddle in affairs of state, and expose their husbands and their country to frightful disasters. This allusion to the Queen of Prussia, now overwhelmed by the war which she had provoked, was by many severely censured. But Napoleon deemed it a crime of no ordinary magnitude to kindle throughout Europe the horrid flames of war. Adopting the right ever exercised on such occasions, of intercepting correspondence to ascertain the movements of the enemy, he seized a letter from the Prince of Hatzfeld, informing the Prussian general, Hohenlohe, of the position of the French army around Berlin. Prince Hatzfeld was, by the permission of Napoleon, at the head of the mu- nicipal government of Berlin, and had promised, upon oath, not to at- tempt any thing against the French army, but simply to attend to those police regulations which would promote the peace of the capital. Napoleon, apprehensive that all his movements might thus be re- vealed to the enemy, resolved to prevent the repetition of the crime by an act of signal severity. He ordered Marshal Davoust to form a mili- tary commission, and to bring the prince to trial, as a spy. His guilt NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. Ill I dislike female intrigues. I have been accustomed to kind, gentle, conciliatory women. Such I love, and if they have spoiled me it is not my fault, but yours. However, you will see that I have acted indulgently toward one sensible and de- serving woman. I allude to Madame Hatzfeld. When I showed her her husband's letter she burst into tears, and in a tone of the most exquisite grief and candor exclaimed, " It is indeed his writing." This was too much. It went to my heart. I said, " Well, madam, throw the letter into the fire, and then I shall have no proof against your husband." She burned the letter, and was restored to happiness. Her hus- band is now safe. Two hours later, and he would have been lost. You see, therefore, that I like women who are feminine, unaffected, and amiable, for they alone resemble you. Adieu, my love. I am very well. NAPOLEON. LETTER VHI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. November 9, 1806. My love, I announce to you good news. Magdebourg 1 has was clear. Death was the penalty. The commission was already assembled, and were applying for the proof of the guilt of the accused, which was in the possession of Napoleon, when the Princess of Hatz- feld was informed of the terrible peril of her husband. Though far advanced in pregnancy, she hastened to the palace. Napoleon had just returned from a ride, and as he entered the door of the palace, the princess, conducted by Duroc, presented herself in tears before him. The Emperor could not refuse her an audience, and conducted her into his cabinet. Napoleon presented to her the intercepted letter, and said, " Do you recognize the handwriting of your husband ?" The princess, in despair, admitted that she could not deny that it was his. Napoleon, quite overcome by her ingenuousness and her anguish, immediately addressed her in soothing words of kindness and sympathy, and added, "Throw the paper into the fire, and the military commission will then have no evidence to convict upon." 1 One of the most important, and one of the strongest fortresses of 112 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. surrendered, and on the 7th of November I took, at Lubec, 1 twent} 7 thousand men whom we have been pursuing eight days. Thus behold the whole army taken. There now only remains to Prussia, and on the other side of the Vistula, twenty thousand men. Many of my troops are in Berlin. I am very well. Adieu, my love ; affectionate remembrance to Hortense, to Stephanie, and to the little Napoleon. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. November 16, 1806. I have received your letter of the llth of November. I see with satisfaction that my sentiments afford you pleasure. 5 You are wrong to think that they can be flattery. I have spoken to you of you as I see you. I am grieved to think that you are weary of Mayence. If the journey were not so long, you might come to where I now am, for there is Europe, containing about thirty-six thousand inhabitants. It at this time was held by a garrison of twenty-two thousand men. Marshal Ney invested it, and threw a few bombs into the air, as a threat of bombardment. The terrified inhabitants surrounded the governor's residence, imploring him to save their beautiful city from the horrors of bombardment, and from all the awful woes of being taken by storm. General Klcist, conscious that resistance would only lead to the useless effusion of blood, surrendered, with twenty-two thousand prisoners. 1 One of the free cities of the Germanic Confederacy. It was neutral in this war, and claimed the rights of a neutral. But Blucher, "Prus- sia's debauched dragoon." in defiance of the protest of the magistrates, by main force threw himself into the city, and seized all its resources. The French, who were in pursuit of him, soon attacked him. A terri- ble scene of carnage ensued in the streets of the opulent city. Blucher, entirely discomfited, was compelled to surrender, and twenty thousand prisoners fell into the hands of the French. 2 Napoleon here refers to the remarks he made respecting Josephine, in his letter of November 6. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 113 no longer any enemy nearer than the other side of the Vistu- la, that is to say, at a distance of three hundred and twenty miles from here. I will wait to hear what you think of it. I shall be very glad, also, to see Monsieur Napoleon. Adieu, my love^. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. I have so many things to attend to here, that I can not, at present, return to Paris. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. November 2, 1806; 10 o'clock in the evening. I am in the receipt of your letter. I am sony to perceive that you are so sad ; you nevertheless have only reason to be happy. You are wrong to show so much kindness to people who have proved that they are unworthy of it. Madame L. is a silly woman, so stupid that you ought to understand her, and not pay her any attention. Be cheerful, happy in my love, in all that affection with which you inspire me. I shall decide in a few days to call you here, or have you return to Paris. Adieu, my love; you can easily go, if you wish, to Darm- stadt, to Frankfort, that will divert you. Much love to Hor- tense. NAPOLEON. LETTER XT. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. November 26, 1806. I am at Custrin 1 on a tour of observation. I shall see in two days if you can come here. You must hold yourself 1 A very important fortress on the Oder, which was about sixty miles beyond Berlin. This fortress had just capitulated, surrendering to the French vast magazines of war and four thousand prisoners. Of the army of nearly two hundred thousand men, who, in boundless ex- 114 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ready. I shall be very glad if the Queen of Holland 1 can ac-- compauy you on the journey. It is necessary that the Grand Duchess of Baden 2 should write to her husband about it. It is two o'clock in the morning. I have just risen. This is the . usage of war. My best love to yourself and to all your house- hold. NAPOLEON. LETTER XTI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. MESCRirz, 3 27, 1806 ; two hours after midnight. I am about to take a tour into Poland. I am here in a frontier city. I shall be, to-night, at Posen, 4 after which I ultation one month before, were threatening the invasion of France, now hardly a fraction remained. With the exception of one fugitive band of twenty thousand men, who had escaped beyond the Vis- tula to join the Russians, all wece killed or taken prisoners. Thua in one month Napoleon had absolutely annihilated an army of two hundred thousand men, taken all their standards, guns, and vast mu- nitions of war, captured every fortress of Prussia, and was now undis- puted master of the whole kingdom. Such a feat is indeed sufficient to cause the world to marvel. All this Napoleon did with an army of but one hundred and sixty thousand men. 1 Hortense. Her husband, Louis Bonaparte, was now King of Hol- land. 2 The Grand Duchess of Baden was Stephanie, niece of Josephine. 3 A city about sixty miles beyond Custrin, and just within the bor- ders of that portion of Poland which Prussia had grasped in the iniquitous partition of that kingdom. * A city, of twenty-four thousand inhabitants, was on the Wartha, about eighty miles east of Mescritz. Josephine, at Mayence, was nearly four hundred miles from Napo- leon, at Berlin. It was very evident that the war was still to be con- tinued. The Russian army of two hundred thousand men was con- centrating. The Queen of Prussia, irritated by a defeat so awful, urged her husband not to listen to terms of peace, but, with the aid of Russia, to make another appeal to arms. The King and Queen of Prussia had both joined the Russian camp and were rallying around them all the fugitives they could collect. Napoleon was consequently NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 115 shall call you to Berlin, that you may arrive there on the same day with me. My health is good, the weather a little bad. It has rained for three days. My affairs are prosperous. The Russians fly. Adieu, my love ; my affectionate remembrance to Hortense, Stephanie, and to the little Napoleon. NAPOLEON. LETTER XEI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MATENCE. POSEN, November 29th, 1806 ; noon. I am at Posen, capital of Grand Poland. The cold com- mences. I am very well. I am about to make a circuit in Poland. My troops are at the gates of Warsaw. Adieu, my love. My kindest remembrance. I embrace you with my whole heart. NAPOLEON. The Poles, hating their Prussian conquerors, received the French as deliverers. On the road, and in the villages, the peasants ran to offer them food and liquors of their country. The cordiality of the Poles supplied every deficiency. People quarreled for the privilege of lodging and boarding the French. Marshal Davoust had left Posen on the 16th of November with three divisions of the army for Warsaw, two hundred miles beyond Posen. Lannes and Murat were also putting his armies again in motion to "conquer a peace," if possible, upon the distant shores of the Vistula, nearly four hundred miles be- yond Berlin. The English were aiding the Russians and Prussians with their fleet. Louis Napoleon was very fearful that the English would land in Holland after Napoleon had advanced, with his troops into the \vikls of Poland, and thus cut off his retreat. To these re- monstrances Napoleon wrote to his brother, " The English have something else to do than to land in France, Holland, or Pomerania. They had rather pillage the colonies of all nations than attempt landings. The only advantage they reap from them is to be flung back disgracefully into the sea." 116 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. on the march with other bodies of troops by other routes. Napoleon was resolved, if possible, to restore Poland to inde- pendence. " But," says Thiers, " he did not disguise from himself the immense difficulty of reconstituting a destroyed state, especially with a people whose anarchical spirit was as famous as its valor." LETTER XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. POSEN, December 2, 1806. To-day is the anniversary of Austerlitz. I have been to a ball given by the city. It rains. I am well. I love you, and long for you. My troops are at Warsaw. It is not yet cold. All the Polish ladies are French, but there is only one woman for me. Would you know her? I would draw you her por- trait ; but it would be necessary to flatter it too much, that you might recognize yourself in it. Nevertheless, to speak the truth, my heart has only the most affectionate things to say of her. These nights here are long, all alone. Thine entirely. NAPOLEON. LETTER XV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. Decembers, 1806; noon. I have received your letter of the 26th of November. I see in it two things ; you tell me that I do not read your let- ters ; that is wrong. I take it unkindly of you that you should form so unkind an opinion. You tell me that this is through some dream of the night, and you add that you are not jealous. I have for a long time observed that angry peo- ple ever maintain that they are not angry, and that those who are frightened frequently say that they have no fear ; you are NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 117 then convicted of jealousy ; I am delighted. You are, how- ever, wrong. I thiuk of any thing rather than that ; in the deserts of Poland one dreams little of the belles. I gave a ball yesterday to the nobility of the province. There were enough beautiful ladies, enough wealthy, enough badly dressed, although in Parisian fashion. Adieu, my love. I am very well. Thine entirely. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. POSEN, December 3 ; 6 o'clock in the evening. I have received your letter of the 27th of November, in which I perceive that your little head is turned. (To, petite tete *' est montee.) I recall to mind the verse, " Woman's longing is a consuming flame." It is, nevertheless, necessary that you should calm yourself. I have written to you that I am in Poland, and that, as soon as winter quarters are established you can come here. It is necessary then, to wait some days. The more one attains to greatness the less can he have his own way. Such an one is dependent upon events and circumstances. You can go to Frankfort and Darmstadt. 1 I hope in a few days to call you here. But circumstances must control. The ardor of your letter shows me that all you beautiful women recognize no obstacles. What you wish, must be. But as for myself I 1 Frankfort and Darmstadt were two very attractive German cities about thirty miles from Mayence. Napoleon thought that Josephine, in a visit to those cities, might find change and recreation. While Napoleon was at Posen he was guiding his armies, by differ- ent routes, toward the Vistula. As they pressed forward resistJessly, eighty thousand strong, the advance bands of the Russian army turned and fled before them. 118 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. declare that I am the veriest slave among men. My master has no compassion, and that master is the nature of things. Adieu, my love. Take care of yourself. The person of whom I have wished to speak of you is Madame L. of whom every body speaks badly. They assure me that she was more Prussian than a French woman. I do not believe it. But I thiuk her a silly woman who says only stupid things. NAPOLEON. ^ LETTER XVII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. December 9th, 1806. I have received your letter of the 1st of December. I see with pleasure that you are more happy ; that the Queen of Holland wishes to come here with you. I long to give the order for you to come. But it is still necessary to wait sev- eral days. My affairs, are prosperous. Adieu, my love; I love you, and I wish to see you happy. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVIU. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. December 10, 1806 ; 5 o'clock in the evening. An officer has brought me a carpet from you. It is a lit- tle short and narrow ; I thank you none the less for it. I am very well. The weather is quite variable. My affairs are sufficiently prosperous. I love you and long for you very much. Adieu, my love. I shall write for you to come with, at least, as much pleasure as you will have in coming. Thine entirely. NAPOLEON. A kiss to Hortense, to Stephanie, and to Napoleon. During these few days which Napoleon spent in Posen he was intensely occupied in creating one of those immense mil- NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 119 itary establishments which he was accustomed to establish upon his route for the abundant supply of his army, and as a refuge in case of reverse. He was also daily receiving dele- gations from the Poles, who were exceedingly anxious that he should aid them in the re-establishment of their kingdom. With much candor, Thiers records " Napoleon sincerely de- signed, as we have already said, to restore Poland. It was, according to his ideas, one of the most useful and most ap- proved ways of renewing that part of Europe, the face of which he purposed to change. When, in fact, he created new kingdoms, to form supports for his young empire, noth- ing was more natural than to raise again the most brilliant and the most to be regretted of the destroyed kingdoms. But besides the difficulty of wringing great sacrifices of ter- ritory from Eussia and Prussia, sacrifices which it was not possible to wring from them without fighting to the last ex- tremity, there was another difficulty, that of taking the Gal- licias from Austria. And if these provinces were to be left out, if he were to content himself with recompensing new Poland with two thirds of the old, he should run the very serious risk of exciting, in the cabinet of Vienna, a redoubled distrust, hatred, ill-will, and perhaps of bringing an Austrian army upon the rear of the French army." LETTER XIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. December 12, 1806 ; 7 o'clock in the evening. I have received no letters from you, my love. I know, nevertheless, that you are well. My health is good ; the weather delightful. The bad season has not yet commenced. But the roads are bad in a country where there are no pave- ments. Hortense will come then with Napoleon : I am de- lighted. I long to see things assume such an aspect that I can send for you to come. 120 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I have made my peace with Saxony. The elector is king, and of the confederation. Adieu, my dearly-beloved Joseph- ine. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. P. S. A kiss for Hortense, for Napoleon, and for Stephanie. Paer, 1 the famous musician, his wife, a virtuoso, whom you saw at Milan twelve years ago, and Brizzi, are here. They give me a little music every evening. LETTER XX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. POSEN, December 15, 1806; Scours after midnight. My love I leave immediately for Warsaw. In a fortnight I shall be on my return. I hope that then I shall be able to send for you. Nevertheless, should there be still delay, I should see you with pleasure return to Paris, where you are desired. You know well that I am under the dominion of circumstances. All my affairs are very prosperous. My health is very good. I am perfectly well. Adieu, my love. I have made peace with Saxony. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. It was a dreary ride of two hundred miles from Posen to Warsaw, over bleak and barren plains. The French army had been received in Warsaw by the rejoicing Poles, with the utmost enthusiasm. As the troops defiled through the streets, the whole population seemed to think that the day of their de- liverance had come, and shouts of vive VEmpereur filled the air. Napoleon left Posen on the night of the 15th, having been there nineteen days. He arrived at Warsaw at midnight 1 Pae'r was a very celebrated Italian opera-composer. He had set- tled in Dresden, where he was chipel-master, and his wifeprima donna. They accompanied Napoleon after the battle of Jena, to Posen and "Warsaw, and after the peace of Tilsit, entered his service. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 121 of the 18th, entering the city at that hour that he might avoid noisy demonstrations. On the route he established depots of provisions, and of medical and surgical stores, that he might be prepared for any reverse. Napoleon was at the same time the boldest, and the most cautious and prudent of men. His route to Warsaw led him through Kutno and Lowicz. At the latter place he wrote as follows, to General Clark. LETTER XXI. NAPOLEON TO GENERAL CLARK. Lowicz, December 18, 1806. I have arrived at Lowicz. I write to you to relieve you from every kind of uneasiness. There is no news here. The armies are in presence. The Russians are on the right bank of the Narew, and we on the left. Besides Praga, we have two tetes du pont, one at Modlin, the other at Narew, at the mouth of the Ukra. We have Thorn and an army sixty miles in advance, maneuvering upon the enemy. All this news is for yourself. It is possible that before the end of eight days there may be an affair that will put an end to the campaign. Take your precautions that there may not be a musket left either in Berlin or in the country ; that Spandau and Custrin are in a good state, and that every body does good service. Write to Mayence and to Paris merely to say that you are writing that there is no news. This must be done, in general, every day when I have no couriers passing ; that baffles un- favorable reports. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. WARSAW, December 20th, 1806 ; 3 o'clock P. M. I have received no news from you, my love. I am very well. I have been at Warsaw for two days. My affairs go 122 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. on well. The weather is very mild, and even a little humid. We have as yet had scarcely any frost. It is the weather of October. Adieu, my love. I have an intense desire to see you, and I hope in five or six days to send for you. My love to the Queen of Holland, and to her little Napo- leon. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. " He entered the capital of Poland at night," says Thiers, "to avoid noisy demonstrations, for it did not suit him to pay for a few popular acclamations by imprudent engagements. Prince Poniatowski, nephew of the last king, young, brilliant, and brave, a kind of hero lulled to sleep in the lap of voluptu- ousness, but ready to awake at the first clash of arras, was one of those who had offered themselves to second the plans of Napoleon. " Napoleon, in order to assist the new Polish government, had exempted it from all contribution, on condition of its fur- nishing provision in case of emergency. For the rest, the high society of Warsaw paid him extraordinary homage. All the Polish nobility had left their country-seats, impatient to see him to meet the great man, as well as the deliverer of Poland. "Having arrived in the night, between the 18th and 19th, Napoleon mounted his horse in order to reconnoiter himself the position of Marshal Davoust on the Narew. A thick fog prevented him. He made dispositions for attacking the ene- my on the 22d or 23d of December. ' It is high time' he wrote to Marshal Davoust, ' to take our winter quarters ; but this can not be done till we have driven back the Russians.' " LETTER XXIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. GOLIMIN, December 29, 1806 ; 5 o'clock in the morning. I can write you but a word, my love. I am in a wretched barn. I have beaten the Russians. I have taken thirty NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 123 pieces of cannon, their baggage, and have made six thousand prisoners. But the weather is frightful. It rains ; we have mud to the knees. In two days I shall be at Warsaw from whence I will write to you. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. On the morning of the 23d of December a series of tre- mendous battles ensued. The Russians, one hundred and fif- teen thousand strong, had entrenched themselves in all the strong holds in the valley of the Vistula. The conflict raged incessantly, and with the most desperate courage on both sides, for nearly a week, along a line extending nearly one hundred miles. The country was an immense plain covered alternately with mud and dense forests. It had ever been very thinly peopled ; and the few inhabitants of the dreary region had fled from the storm of war. In this miry desert, and through the glooms of these forests, enveloped in fogs and drenched with rain, nearly two hundred thousand men were struggling, filling those solitudes with the thunders of the cannonade and the cries of the infuriate onset. Twenty thousand Russians and five thousand French, fell in these conflicts. The Russians abandoned the field to their conquerors and fled toward the Pregel. Napoleon had now secured for himself safe winter quarters on the Vistula. Af- ter remaining with his army a few days to cheer them and give them rest, on the 1st of January, 180Y, he returned to Warsaw to make arrangements for the comfortable establish- ment of his army during the severity of the winter which was now upon them. Thus terminated the year 1806. "His soldiers," says Thiers, " encamped on the Vistula, his eagles planted in Warsaw, were a sight extraordinary enough for him to feel gratified, for Europe to remain quiet, Austria awed and affrighted, France confident." 124 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XXIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. Pm/TUSK, 1 December 31, 1806. I have laughed heartily in receiving your last letters. You have conceived an idea of the belles of Poland which they by no means merit. I have had, for two or three days, the pleas- ure of hearing Pae'r and two singers, who have given me some very fine music. I received your letter in a miserable barn, having mud, wind, and straw for my only couch. I shall be, to-morrow, at Warsaw. I think every thing is fin- ished for this year. The army goes into winter quarters. I shrug my shoulders at the silliness of Madame L. You ought, nevertheless, to appear displeased, and to counsel her not to be so foolish. Such conduct can not but become noto- rious and it excites public disgust. As for me I consider ingratitude the most ignoble defect of the heart. I know that instead of consoling you they only cause you pain. Adieu, my love. I am well. I do not think that you ought to go to Cassel ; Q that would not be advisable. You can go to Darmstadt. NAPOLEON. 1 Pultusk was an insignificant place between Gomelin and Warsaw. But for the depth of the mire, which prevented pursuit, the Russian army would have been entirely destroyed. Napoleon, on the banks of the Vistula reared log villages for his soldiers, and provided for all their wants with the most amazing minuteness of attention. Thiers, after speaking in detail of the extraordinary provision he made for his troops, says, " Such were the infinite pains, taken by this great captain, whom party hatred represented, on the day of his fall, as a barbarous con- queror, driving men to the slaughter without giving himself any con- cern about feeding them when he made them march, or about their cure when he had made cripples of them, and caring no more about them than about the beasts which drew his cannon and his baggage." 2 A city, of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, was one hundred and fifty miles north of Mayence. It was the capital of the Electorate Hesse-Cassel, a small state in Germany, but little more than half as NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 125 large as the State of Massachusetts, and containing six hundred thou- sand inhabitants. The elector, one of the most perfidious of despots, was dethroned by Napoleon, and Cassel became the capital of the kingdom of Westphalia, which kingdom Napoleon established as a barrier for France against the despotism of the nortn. Napoleon did not think it decorous that Josephine should visit the court of the elector, and receive hospitality there when such a plan was in con- templation. "Brunswick, Nassau, Cassel," said Napoledn, "are essen- tially English. They will never be our friends." This was the cause of the creation of the kingdom of Westphalia, over which Jerome was appointed king. CHAPTER VIII. LETTERS IN 1807, DURING THE CAMPAIGN OP EYLAU. IN the very depth of the winter the Russians and Prussians made a sudden assault upon Napoleon in his cantonments, hoping to take him by surprise. But the Emperor had been watching all their movements. He vigorously repelled the attack and pursued his discomfited assailants nearly two hun- dred miles to the plains of Eylau. Here the Allies made a stand and concentrated all their force. A pitched battle en- sued, one of the most terrible ever waged by man against his fellow man. The Allies, vanquished, retired with fearful loss to the wilds of Russia. Napoleon remained some days upon the field of battle, and then returned to his winter quarters upon the Vistula. The letters contained in the present chap- ter were written during this world-renowned campaign. The Allies, in the dreadful battle of Eylau, lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners, thirty thousand men, also twenty-four pieces of cannon, and sixteen colors. The French had three thousand killed and seven thousand wounded. Such is the estimate of Thiers. " I undertook," says he, " a careful examination, in order to arrive at precision ; and here follows the truth, at least, as nearly as it is possible to attain it in such matters." LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. "WAESAW, January 3, 180T. I have received your letter, my love. Your grief touches me ; but it is necessary to submit to events. There is too NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 127 wide a country to traverse between Mayence and Warsaw. 1 It is necessary, then, that events should permit me to return to Berlin, that I may write to you to come there. Neverthe- less the enemy, beaten, has retired yet further from us, still I have a great deal to regulate here. I am inclined to the opin- ion that you had better return to Paris, where your presence is needed. Send away those ladies who are so busy ; you will gain in being relieved from the presence of those who only fatigue you. I am well. The weather is disagreeable. I love you with my whole heart. NAPOLEON. LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. WARSAW, January 7, 1807. My love I am deeply afiected by all that you say to me ; but the season cold, the roads wretched, the region unsafe, I can not consent to expose you to such perils and dangers. Return to Paris, to pass the winter there. Go to the Tuiler- ies, hold levees, and maintain the same course of life to which you are accustomed when I am there. Perhaps I shall soon be able to rejoin you. But it is indispensable that you should renounce the idea of taking a journey of nine hundred miles at this season of the year, across a hostile country, and upon the track of an army. Believe me that it causes me more pain than it can you, still to postpone for some weeks the hap- piness of seeing you ; but thus events, and the necessities of business compel. Adieu, my love ; be cheerful, and exhibit strength of character. NAPOLEON. 1 It was nine hundred miles from Mayence to "Warsaw. Berlin was about half way between the two places. As there was now no pros- pect of Napoleon's leaving the army for the winter, Josephine was exceedingly anxious to repair to the headquarters of her husband, and was bitterly disappointed that Napoleon could not consent to that arrangement. 128 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER IE. TO THE EMPRESS JVT MAYENCE. January 8, 1807. My love I have received your letter of the 27th, with those of M. Napoleon, and of Hortense, which were subjoined. I have entreated you to return to Paris. The season is very bad, the roads unsafe and detestable. The distances are too great for me to permit you to come here where I am still de- tained. It would require at the least a month for you to get here. You would arrive sick. It would be necessary, perhaps, immediately to set out on your return. This would be folly. Your sojourn at Mayence is too solitary. Paris demands you. Go there. It is my desire. I am a greater sufferer than you. I should have loved to share the long nights of this season with you, but it is necessary to yield to circumstances. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. January 11, 1807. I have received your letter of the 27th, in which I see that you are a little anxious respecting military events. Every thing is finished, as I have already written to you, to my sat- isfaction. My affairs are prosperous. The distance is too considerable for me to permit, at this season, that you should come so far. I am very well ; a little weary, sometimes, of the length of the nights. I see here, thus far, very few people. Adieu, my love. I wish that you would be cheerful, and that you might contrib- ute a little life and animation to the capital. I earnestly de- sire to be there. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 129 I hope that the queen has gone to the Hague 1 "with Mon sieur Napoleon. LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. January 16, 1807. My love I have received your letter of the 5th of January ; all that you tell me of your sadness grieves me. Why these tears, this sadness ? Have you not, then, more fortitude ? I shall soon see you ; never doubt my affection, and if you wish to be still more dear to me, show strength of character and fortitude of soul. I am mortified to think that my wife can mistrust my destinies. Adieu, my love ; I love you, I desire to see you, and I wish to know that you are contented and happy. NAPOLEON. LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MATENCE. WARSAW, January 18, 1807. I fear that you are greatly disappointed in view of our sepa- ration, which must yet be prolonged some weeks, and of your return to Paris. I expect of you more force of character. They tell me that you weep continually. Fi ! how unbecom- ing that is. Your letter of the 7th of January gave me much pain. Be worthy of me, and assume more character. Make a suitable appearance at Paris, and above all be contented. I am very well, and love you very much but if you con- tinually weep I shall think you to be without courage and without character. I do not love the spiritless. An Empress should have energy. NAPOLEON. 1 A very beautiful town in South Holland, containing forty-four thousand inhabitants, where the King of Holland spent a portion of his time. 6* 130 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER VII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. WARSAW, January 19, 1807. My love I am in the receipt of your letter. I have smiled at your fear for my safety. I am in despair at the tone of your letters, and at what I hear of you. I forbid you to weep, to be melancholy and anxious ; I wish that you may be cheerful, amiable, and happy. NAPOLEON. LETTER VHI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. January 23, 1807. I have received your letter of the 15th of January. It is impossible that I should permit ladies to undertake such a journey wretched roads, roads unsafe and miry. Return to Paris ; be there cheerful, contented. Perhaps I shall be there soon, also. I could but smile at your remark that you took a husband that you might live with him. I thought, in my ig- norance, that the wife was made for the husband, the husband for his country, his family, and glory. Pardon my ignorance : one is continually learning with our beautiful ladies. Adieu, my love. Think how much I suffer in not being able to call you here. Say to yourself, " It is a proof how precious I am to him." NAPOLEON. LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. January 25, 1807. I see with pain that you are suffering. I hope that you a at Paris. I share your sorrows and I do not complain. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 131 But I can not be willing to lose you by exposing you to fatigues and dangers, which are not suitable to your rank or your sex. I desire that you should never receive at Paris, T . He is a bad man. You will pain me should you receive him. Adieu, my love ; love me and be courageous. NAPOLEON. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. January 26, 1807; noon. My love I have received your letter. I see with pain how you afflict yourself. The bridge of Mayence neither increases nor diminishes the distance which separate us. I shall be sorry and disquieted to know that you are so unhappy and so isolated at Mayence. You know that I ought not, and that I can not, consult except for the success of my affairs. If it were in my power to consult my heart I should be with you, or you with me. You will be very unjust if you doubt my love and all my affections. NAPOLEON. LETTER XI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. WARSAW, January 28, 1807. Sire, my brother I could not receive your Majesty's letter and wishes for my happiness, without strong emotion. Your fortunes and my victories have interposed between us vast countries. You are on the shores of the Mediterranean, I am on those of the Baltic ; but in the harmony of our measures we tend toward the same objects. Keep a watch on your coast Do not suffer it to be approached by the English or by their commerce. Their exclusion will restore the tranquil- lity of your country. Your kingdoin is rich and populous ; 132 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. with the aid of God it will be powerful and happy. Accept my most heartfelt wishes for the happiness of your reign, and rely, at all times, upon my fraternal affection. The deputation sent to me i>y your Majesty has honorably fulfilled its mission. I have requested them to take back to your Majesty, the assur- ance of my most sincere attachment. On this I pray to God, sir, my brother, that he may keep you in his holy and honorable care. NAPOLEON. Joseph was at this time King of Naples. He had sent a deputation to the Emperor with his congratulations upon the new year, and the above letter was the official response of Na- poleon. During the month of January, while Napoleon wrote the preceding letters to Josephine, he was incessantly employed in consolidating his position on the Vistula", in hastening forward reinforcements from France and Italy, and in gathering stores of provisions and munitions of war. The Russians, at the same time, protected by the storms of winter, and concealed behind the gloomy forests of the north, collected an army of ninety thousand men, and suddenly fell upon the cantonments of the French upon the Vistula, hoping to take them by sur- prise. Napoleon was prepared for them. He instantly put his army in motion and placed himself at its head to frustrate the plans of his assailants. It was now cold and dreary win- ter. He wrote to Cambaceres and to Talleyrand, that he had broken up his cantonments to take advantage of the fine frost and fair weather, and that the roads were superb, for they were frozen like rock. " But do not," said he, " say one word to the Empress, lest it should cause her useless uneasiness. I am, however, in full movement, and it will cost the Russians dear." A series of terrific battles ensued. The Russians were everywhere driven back. At last the concentrated armies NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 133 met upon the plaius of Eylau, two hundred miles beyond Warsaw. The campaign was terminated by the awful battle of Eylau, one of the most terrific and sanguinary conflicts recorded in history. The shattered bands of the Russian army, mangled and bleeding, retired in dismay to the north. The loss of the French was very severe. Some days after the battle they returned, again victorious, to their winter quarters on the Vistula. During this extraordinary march in the dead of winter, far off in the frigid north, Napoleon wrote the fol- lowing letters to Josephine, who had now, in accordance with his wishes, returnded sadly to Paris. LETTER XII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. WITTEMBERG, February 1, 1807; noon. Your letter of the llth, from Mayence, made me smile. I am, to-day, one hundred and twenty miles from Warsaw. The weather is cold but fine. Adieu, my love ; be happy ; have character. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. My love, your letter of the 20th of January has given me much pain. It is too sad. Behold the evil of not being a little devout. You tell me that your happiness makes your glory ; that is not generous. You ought to say, the happi- ness of others is my glory. That is not conjugal. You must say the happiness of my husband is my glory. That is not maternal ; you should say, the happiness of my children is my glory. But since others, your husband, your children can not be happy without a little glory, you should not say fy ! at it so much. Josephine, your heart is excellent and your rea- 134 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. son feeble. Your perceptions are exquisite, but your delibera- tions are less wise. Enough of fault-finding. I wish that you should be cheer- ful, contented with your lot, and that you should obey, not murmuring and weeping, but with alacrity of heart, and with ?ome degree of satisfaction. Adieu, my love ; I leave to-night to run through my ad- vance posts. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE HAGUE. PARIS, February 3, 1807. I arrived here, my dear Hortense, in the evening of the 31st, as I had contemplated. 1 My journey was pleasant, if I could speak of it as such when it removed me further from the Emperor. I have received five letters from him since my departure. I have great need that you should write to me, particularly at the present time when you are not near to con- sole me. Give me tidings respecting yourself, and speak to me of your husband and your children. Although I receive more visitors here than at Mayence, my heart is not the less alone, and in writing to me you will still keep me company. Adieu, my beloved child ; I love you and embrace you ten- derly. JOSEPHINE. . " At last the retreating Russians concentrated all their forces upon the plains of Eylau. It was the 7th of February, 1807. The night was dark and intensely cold, as the Russians, ex- hausted by the retreating march of the day, took their posi- tion for a desperate battle on the morrow. There was a 1 Josephine and Hortense returned together from Mayence. The Queen of Holland stopped at the Hague, and Josephine continued on to Paris. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 135 gentle swell of land, extending two or three miles, which skirted a vast bleak unsheltered plain over which the piercing wintery gale drifted the deep snow. Leaden clouds, hurrying through the sky as if flying from a defeat or congregating for a conflict, boded a rising storm. Upon this ridge, the Rus- sians, in double lines, formed themselves in battle array. Five hundred pieces of cannon were ranged in batteiy to hurl de- struction into the bosom of their foes. They then threw themselves upon the icy ground for their frigid bivouac. The midnight storm wailed its mournful requiem over the sleeping host, and sifted down upon them the winding sheet of snow. " In the midst of the tempestuous night, Napoleon with his determined battalions came also upon the plain, groping through drifts and gloom. He placed his army in position for the terrific battle which the dawn of morning would usher in. Two hundred pieces of heavy artillery were advantage- ously posted to sweep the dense ranks of the enemy. Upon the ridge eighty thousand Russians slept. In the plain before them sixty thousand Frenchmen were bivouacking upon the snow. The hostile hosts were at but half cannon shot from each other. Indomitable determination inflamed the souls of officers and soldiers in both armies. It was an awful night, the harbinger of a still more awful day. " The frozen earth, the inclement sky, the scudding clouds, the drifting snow, the wailing, wintery wind, the lurid watch- fires, gleaming through the gloom, the spectral movement of legions of horsemen and footmen, taking their positions for the sanguinary strife, the confused murmurs of the voices and of the movements of the mighty armies, blending like the roar of many waters with the midnight storm, presented a spectacle of sublimity which overawed every beholder. The sentinels of each army could almost touch each other with their mus- kets. Cold, hungry, and weary, the spirit of humanity for a moment triumphed over the ferocity of war. Kind words of greeting and of sympathy were interchanged by those who, soon, in frenzy, were plunging bayonets into each other's 136 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. bosoms. At midnight Napoleon slept for an hour in a chair. He then mounted his horse, and marshaled his shivering troops for the horrors of battle. " The dark and stormy morning had not yet dawned when the cannonade commenced. It was terrific. The very earth shook beneath the tremendous detonation. Seven hundred heavy cannon, worked by the most skillful gunners, created an unintennitted roar of the most deafening and appalling thunder. Both armies presented their unprotected breasts to bullets, grape-shot, balls, and shells. Companies, battalions, regiments, even whole divisions, melted away before the mer- ciless discharges. The storm of snow, in blinding, smother- ing flakes, swept angrily into the faces of the assailants and the assailed, as the bands of battle, in exultant victory or in terrific defeat, rushed to and fro over the plain. The tempest- uous air was soon so filled with smoke that the day was as dark as the night. Under this black and sulphurous canopy the infuriate hosts rushed upon each other. Even the flash of the guns could not be seen through the impenetrable gloom. Horsemen plunged to the charge, unable to discern the foe. Thus the conflict continued, one hundred and thirty thousand men firing into each other's bosoms through the morning, and the noon, and the afternoon, and after the sun had gone down in the gloom of a winter's night. Napoleon galloped up and down the field of blood, regardless of danger, ever presenting himself at those points which were most threatened. " It was now ten o'clock at night. Nearly one half of the Russian army was destroyed. A fresh division of the French now appeared upon the field. They had been marching all day, with the utmost haste, guided by the cannon's roar. The Russians could endure the conflict no longer. Proud of hav- ing so long and so valiantly withstood the great Napoleon, they retreated shouting victory. Napoleon remained master of the blood-bought field. The victors, utterly exhausted, bleeding and freezing, again sought such repose as could be found upon the gory ice beneath that wintery sky. Napoleon NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 137 was overwhelmed with grief. Never before had such a scene of misery met even his eye." Upon this dreadful field of woe, of blood, of death oppressed with myriad cares, and in the gloom of the inclement night, Napoleon remembered his faithful and anxious Josephine. She was then in Paris. Seizing a pen, he hurriedly wrote the following lines. Calling a courier to his side he dispatched him at his fleetest speed to convey the note to Josephine. LETTER XV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. EYLAU, February 9, 1807 ; 3 o'clock in the morning. My love there was a great battle yesterday. Victory re- mains with me, but I have lost many men. The loss of the enemy, still more considerable, does not console me. I write these few lines myself, though greatly fatigued, to tell you that I am well, and that I love you. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. In the evening of the same day the Emperor wrote again to Josephine, from the field of battle. LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. EYLAU, February 9, 1807 ; 6 o'clock in the evening. I write one word, my love, that you may not be too anx- ious. The enemy has lost the battle, forty pieces of cannon, ten flags, and twelve thousand prisoners. He has suffered hor- ribly. I have lost many men sixteen hundred killed, and three or four thousand wounded. Corbineau was killed by a shell. 1 I was strongly attached to that officer, who had great 1 General Corbineau was receiving an order from the Emperor, when he was struck by a shell, and, in the words of Napoleon, was "carried away, crushed, annihilated before the Emperor's face." * 138 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. merit. It gives me great pain. My horse-guard has covered itself with glory. Allemagne is wounded dangerously. Adieu, my love. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. " A great deal," writes Thiers, " has been said about the ly- ing bulletins of the Empire, still they were more true than any of the European publications of that period." " Never," says Alison, " was spectacle so dreadful as the field of battle presented on the following morning. Above fifty thousand men lay in the space of two leagues, weltering in blood. The wounds were, for the most part, of the severest kind, from the extraordinary quantity of cannon-balls which had been dis- charged during the action, and the close proximity of the con- tending masses to the deadly batteries, which spread grape at half musket-shot through their ranks. Though stretched on the cold snow, and exposed to the severity of an Arctic win- ter, they were burning with thirst, and piteous cries were heard on all sides for water, or assistance to extricate the wounded from beneath the heaps of slain, or load of horses by which they were crushed. Six thousand of these noble animals en- cumbered the field, or, maddened with pain, were shrieking aloud, amid the stifled groans of the wounded. Subdued by loss of blood, tamed by cold, exhausted by hunger, the foemen laid side by side amid the general wreck." Napoleon was so affected by the awful sight that he gave expression to his feelings, even in the bulletin which he pub- lished. "This spectacle," he wrote, "is fit to excite in Princes a love of peace and a horror of war." In the night of the next day, Napoleon again wrote to Josephine as follows. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 139 LETTER XVII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. EYLAU, February 11, 1807 ; 3 o'clock in the morning. I send you one line, my love. You must have been very anxious. I have beaten the enemy in a memorable battle, but it has cost me many brave men. The inclement weather constrains me to return to my cantonments. Do not indulge in grief, I entreat you. All this will soon end. The happiness of seeing you will lead me soon to forget my fatigues. I never was better. The little Tascher has conducted nobly. He has had a rough trial. I have placed him near me. I have made him an officer of ordnance. Thus his troubles are ended. The young man interests me. Adieu, my dearest. A thousand kisses. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. EYLAU, February 12, 1807. I send you a letter from General Darmagnac ; he is a very good soldier, who commanded the thirty-second. He is much attached to me. If this Madame de Richemont is rich, and it would be a good match, I should see the marriage with pleas- ure. Introduce them to each other. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. EYLAU, February 14, 1807. My love I am still at Eylau. The country is covered with the dead and the wounded. This is not the pleasant part of war. One suffers, and the soul is oppressed to see so many victims. I am well. I have done what I wished. I have 140 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. repulsed the enemy, compelling him to abandon his projects. You must be very anxious, and that thought afflicts me. Nevertheless tranquillize yourself, my love, and be cheerful. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. Say to Caroline and Pauline, 1 that the Grand Duke and the Prince are very well. It will be remembered that before the battle of Jena, Napo- leon made a very earnest appeal to the King of Prussia for peace. To this appeal no reply was made. After the battle of Eylau, Napoleon remained five days upon the field, attend- ing to the wounded, and waiting with the hope that his again discomfited foes would now themselves propose terminating the strife. They were silent. Napoleon then consented him- self to write again to his haughty antagonists to ascertain if reconciliation was impossible. His letter, dignified and cour- teous, was as follows. LETTER XX. NAPOLEON TO THE KINO OF PRUSSIA. EYLAU, February , 1807. Sire I desire to put a period to the misfortunes of your family, and organize as speedily as possible the Prussian mon- archy, whose intermediate power is necessary for the tranquil- lity of Europe. I desire peace with Russia, and, provided the cabinet of St. Petersburg has no designs upon the Turkish Empire, I see no difficulty in obtaining it. Peace with En- gland is no less essential to all nations ; I shall have no hesi- tation in sending a minister to Memel to take part in a 1 Caroline and Pauline were the sisters of Napoleon. Murat, the Grand Duke of Bery, afterward King of Naples, was the husband of Caroline. The Prince Borghese was the husband of Pauline. He was in active service with Napoleon during the whole of this cam- paign. NAPOLEON TO THE KINO OF PRUSSIA. 141 congress of France, Sweden, England, Russia, Prussia, and Turkey. But such a congress may last many years, which would not suit the present condition of Prussia. Your Majesty, therefore, will, I am persuaded, be of opinion that I have taken the simplest method, and which is most likely to secure the prosperity of your subjects. At all events, I entreat your Majesty to believe in my sincere desire to re-establish amica- ble relations with so friendly a power as Prussia, and that I wish to do the same with Russia and England, etc. NAPOLEON. Sir Archibald Alison, in commenting upon this letter, re- marks, "Frederic William, however, was not led to swerve from the path of honor, by this tempting offer. * * s The Emperor of Russia had just given the clearest indication of the heroic firmness with which he was disposed to main- tain the conflict. * * * Foiled in his endeavors to seduce Prussia into a separate accommodation, Napoleon was driven to the painful alternative of a retreat." Such is .the spirit with which hostile historians have described Napoleon's un- wearied endeavors to promote peace. The flagrant injustice ca.ii not always be concealed, and the day is not far distant when it will excite the indignation of every candid and gen- erous mind. Mr. Alison allows himself to say that Napoleon was "foiled in his endeavors to seduce Prussia into a separate accommodation." And yet on the same page, Mr. Alison ad- mits that " Napoleon finding that the Russians were not dis- posed to propose an armistice, he determined himself to take that step. For this purpose General Bertram was sent to Benningsen's outposts, with proposals of peace, both to the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia. The Russian General sent him on to Memel where the latter was, with a letter strongly advising him not to treat, and representing that the fact of Napoleon's proposing an armistice, after so doubt- ful a battle was the best evidence that it was not for the interest of the Allies to grant it." 142 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ; fWjMfl ?""*" -'I* . .'*%': f ' <&>' ' LETTER XXL TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. EYLATJ, February 17, 1807 ; 3 o'clock in the morning. I have received your letter, which informs me of your arrival at Paris. I am very glad to know it. The battle of Eylau was very bloody and very hotly contested. Corbineau was killed. He was a very brave man ; I was strongly at- tached to him. Adieu, my love. It is as warm here as in the month of April. Every thing thaws. I am well. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. LANDSBEUG, February 18, 1807 ; 3 o'clock in the morning. I write you two words. I am very well. I am in move- ment to put my army into winter quarters. It rains and thaws as in the month of April. We have not yet had one cold day. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON.- The weather at this time was mild for winter, seldom fall- ing more than two or three degrees below freezing. The ground was, however, covered with snow. The Emperor with the utmost care, daily devoting his personal attention to the work, transported six thousand of the wounded, on beds of straw placed in sledges, one hundred and fifty miles to the Vistula. After every thing was removed, the sick, the wounded, the baggage of the army and the captured guns, Napoleon on the 17th commenced his march back to his win- ter quarters. In reference to this conflict, Thiers remarks : " Napoleon having pushed his corps to the banks of the Frisching was content to leave them there for a few days, to NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 143 be fully certified of his victory, and then proposed to retire and resume his cantonments. He had not, indeed, obtained the whole result with the prospect of which he had at first flattered himself, and which would certainly not have escaped him if an intercepted dispatch had not revealed his designs to the Russians. But he had pursued them fighting for fifty leagues ; had destroyed nine thousand of them in a series of rear-guard actions ; and finding them at Eylau, formed into compact mass, covered by artillery, resolved to desperation, eighty thousand strong, including the Prussians, in a plain where no maneuvering was possible, he had attacked them with fifty-four thousand, destroyed them with cannon-balls, and parried all the actions of the engagement with impertur- bable coolness, while his lieutenants were exerting themselves to rejoin him. The Russians, on that day, had all their ad- vantages, solidity, immovableness in fire. The Emperor had not had all his upon a ground where it was not possible for him to maneuver. But to the tenacity of his foes he had op- posed invincible courage, a moral force above the horrors of the most frightful slaughter. The spirit of his soldiers was displayed, on that day as strongly as his own. Assuredly he had reason to be proud of this test. Besides, for the twelve or thirteen thousand men whom he had lost on those eight days, he had destroyed thirty-six thousand of the enemy. CHAPTER IX. LETTERS IN THE TEAR 1807, DURING THE WINTER ENCAMPMENT UPON THE VISTULA. ON the 17th of February, Napoleon commenced his march back to the comfortable winter quarters he had provided for his troops upon the banks of the Vistula. Here he remained for four months, sustaining with apparently perfect ease, all the myriad cares of his distant empire and of his vast armies. The letters contained in this chapter were written during this period. LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. LETBSTADT, 1 February 20, 1807; 2 o'clock in the morning. I write you two words, my love, that you may not be anx- ious. My health is very good and my affairs are prosperous. I have put my army into cantonments. The season is capri- cious ; it freezes and it thaws ; it is humid and inconstant. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. LEIBSTADT, February 21 ; 2 o'clock in the morning. I have received your letter of the 4th of February. I see, in it, with pleasure, that your health is good. Paris will serve 1 A hamlet on the Passarge, where Napoleon tarried for a few days as his troops were on their return march. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 145 to restore to you gayety and repose a return to your former habits and health. I am remarkably well. The weather and the country are very bad. My affairs are sufficiently prosperous. It thaws and freezes in twenty-four hours. No one ever saw so capri- cious a winter. ' Adieu, my love ; I love you, I think of you, and desire to know that you are contented, cheerful, and happy. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER HI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. LEIBSTADT, February 21, 1807 ; noon. I have received your letter of the 8th, my love. I see with pleasure that you have been to the opera, and that you intend to have receptions every week, and always in grand state. I see with pleasure the fetes which have been given you. I am very well. The weather is ever variable ; it freezes and thaws. I have put my army into cantonments for repose. Never be sad ; love me, and believe in my constant affection. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OsTERODE, 1 the 23d ; 2 o'clock p. M. My love I have received your letter of the 10th. I see with pain that you are a little incommoded. I have been in 1 A wretched little village on the banks of the Passarge, where Na- poleon established his headquarters, that he might be in the midst of his army, and might thus personally superintend every movement of importance. A barn was his palace, where he shared every hardship and privation of his troops. " If, instead of remaining in a hole like Osterode," says Savary, "where every one was under his eye, and 7 146 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. the field for a month, in frightful weather, because inconstant, and varying from cold to heat in one week. Nevertheless, I am very well. Seek to pass your time agreeably. Lay aside care, and never doubt the love with which I cherish you. NAPOLEON. On the 1st of March, Napoleon at Osterode, wrote to his brother Joseph at Naples, who had complained of the hard- ships to which the army was exposed in his kingdom. LETTER V. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. ' OSTERODE, March 1, 1807. I refer you to what General Berthier will tell you, respect- ing the comparison you make of the army of Naples and the grand army. The officers of the staff have not undressed for two months, and some not for four. I myself have been fif- where he could set his whole force in motion, the Emperor had estab- lished himself in a great town, it would have required three months to do what he effected in less than one." "It is surely an imposing and instructive sight," says Thiers, "to see that impetuous general, who, as his detractors allege, was fit only for offensive war, carried, at a bound, from the Rhine to the Vistula, pausing all at once before the difficulties of localities and seasons, shut- ting himself up in a narrow space, carrying on cold, slow, methodical war there, disputing petty streams foot by foot, after passing the larg- est rivers without stopping, confining himself to covering a siege, and placed at so vast a distance from his empire, in presence of Europe, which this new mode of proceeding astonished, and in which doubt began to gain ground, retaining unutterable firmness, not seduced even by the desire of striking a signal blow, and knowing how to defer that blow till the moment when the nature of things made it sure and pos- sible it is, we say, worthy of interest, astonishment, admiration. It is a fine subject for study and reflection for any one who can appreciate the combinations of great men, and who takes delight in meditating upon them." NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 147 teen days without taking off my boots. We are in the midst of snow and mud, without bread, without wine, without brandy, eating potatoes and meat, making long marches and counter-marches, without any comforts whatever; fighting without the bayonet, and frequently under grape ; the wound- ed being obliged to be transported in sledges, in the open air, a hundred and fifty miles. It is, then, but cruel jesting, to compare us with the army of Naples, which is carrying on war in the beautiful country of Naples, where you have bread, wine, oil, cloth, sheets to your beds, society, and even that of the ladies. After having destroyed the Russian monarchy, we are fighting against the rest of the Prussians, against the Rus- sians, against the Cossacks, the Calmucks, and the northern tribes which of old overran the Roman Empire. We are wag- ing war in all its energy, and in all its horror. The army of Naples has no cause to complain. Say to them, "do you complain? Ask General Berthier, and he will tell you that your Emperor, during fifteen days, has eaten nothing but potatoes, and has bivouacked amid the snows of Poland. Judge from that what must be the condition of the under officers. They have nothing to eat but mere meat." LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, March 2, 1807. My love it is two or three days since I have written to you. I reproach myself for it, for I know your anxiety. I am very well. My affairs are moving prosperously. I am in a miserable village, where I must still remain for some time. Tin's is not like being in a great city. I repeat to you that I was never so well. You will find that I have gained in flesh. We have here the weather of spring; the snow melts, the rivers thaw, that gives me pleasure. I have ordered what you 148 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. desire for Malmaison. Be cheerful and happy ; it is my wish. Adieu, my love. I embrace you with my whole heart. En- tirely thine. NAPOLEON. Anxious as Napoleon was for peace, and untiring as were his efforts to secure it, the following letter, written at this time to Talleyrand, his minister at Warsaw, shows very con- clusively that he did not fear the issues of war. Andreossy, to whom the letter refers, was the French minister at Vienna. St. Vincent was the Austrian minister in Warsaw. LETTER VII. NAPOLEON TO TALLEYRAND. OSTERODE, March, 1807. General Andreossy is opinionated ; an indifferent observer, probably exaggerating what he sees. But you are credulous ; as inclined to allow yourself to be seduced as you are clever in seducing others. One need but flatter in order to deceive you. M. de Vincent deceives you while caressing you. Aus- tria fears us, but she hates us. She is arming to take advan- tage of any reverse. If we gain a great victory in the spring, she will behave like M. de Haugwitz the day after the battle of Austerfitz, and you will have been right. If the war is merely doubtful, we shall find her in arms upon our rear. Meanwhile we must oblige her to speak out. It is, in fact, a great fault in her not to come to an under- standing at once, and not to take advantage of a moment when we are masters of Prussia, to recover, through qnr means, what Frederic formerly wrested from her. She can, if she pleases, indemnify herself in a day for all that she has lost in half a century, and remake the fortune of the house of Austria, so diminished at one time by Prussia, at another by France. But she must explain herself. Does she want indemnities for what she has lost ? I offer JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 149 her Silicia. Does the state of the East alarm her ? I am ready to satisfy her respecting the fate of the Lower Danube, by disposing pf Moldavia and Wallachia as she pleases. Is our presence in Dahnatia a subject of umbrage ? I am ready to make any sacrifices there, receiving an equivalent. Or lastly, is it for war that she is preparing, to try, for the last time the power of her arms, taking advantage of the union of the whole continent, against us ? Be it so. I ac- cept this new adversary. But let her not hope to surprise me. None but women and children can suppose that I shall penetrate the deserts of Russia without having taken my pre- cautions. Austria will not find me unprepared. In Saxony, in Bavaria, in Italy, she will meet with armies ready to oppose her. She will see me, by a rearward march, drop down upon her with my whole weight, crush her, and punish her more severely than I have punished any of the powers that I have ever conquered. For her treachery I will make her an ex- ample more striking, more terrible than any thing that.is sug- gested by the present state of Prussia. Let her explain herself then, that I may know what to depend upon in regard to her dispositions," etc. NAPOLEON. LETTER VIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. PARIS, March 1, 1807. I have received much pleasure in speaking of you with M. Janssens. I perceive, from what he tells me respecting Hol- land, that the king is very much beloved and that you share in the general affection. This renders me happy. My health is very good at the present moment, but my heart is always sad. All the private letters which I have seen agree in the dec- laration that the Emperor exposed himself very much at the battle of Eylau. I frequently receive tidings from him, and 150 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. sometimes two letters in a day. This is a great consolation, but it does not replace him. I was, a few days ago, the witness of a frightful accident at the opera. The actress who performed the part, of Minerva in the ballet of Ulysses, fell from the height of twenty feet and broke her arm. As she is poor, and the mother of a fam- ily, I sent her two hundred and fifty dollars. M. Janssens has brought me a little savage who is truly charming and very amusing. They took him yesterday to the opera, and they had all the difficulty in the world to pre- vent him from whistling and dancing. Adieu, my dear Hortense ; I love you tenderly, and tenderly embrace you. If you wish that I should be more happy, permit me to hope that in a few months I may have a little grand- daughter. A thousand kind remembrances to the king. I embrace your children. JOSEPHINE. LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. March 10, 1807 ; 4 o'clock, p. M. My love I have received your letter of the 25th. I see with pleasure that you are well, and that you go sometimes to walk at Malmaison. My health is good and my affairs pros- perous. The weather is becoming a little cold. I see that this winter has been everywhere very variable. Adieu, my love. Take care of yourself. Be cheerful, and never doubt my affection. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, March 11, 180T. My love I have received your letter of the 27th. I see then with pain that you are sick. Take courage. My health is NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 151 good, rny affairs prosperous. I am waiting for the fine season which must soon come. I love you, and I wish to know that you are contented and happy. Many foolish things are said about the battle of Eylau. The bulletin tells all. The losses there are rather exagger- ated than made too small. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. There was at the time much dispute about the respective numbers who fell at Eylau. Napoleon, in his bulletin, written immediately after the battle, states the French loss at two thousand killed, and five or isix thousand wounded. " We may assert," says Thiers, " that in the evening after the battle he was authorized to suppose that there were not more." It subsequently appeared by the most careful official returns, that there were three thousand killed and seven thousand wounded. It is always difficult to estimate with accuracy, the wounded, as the slightest contusion may be called a wound. "The Russians," says Thiers, " retired, leaving upon the ground seven thousand dead and more than five thousand wounded. They took with them about fifteen thousand wounded, more or less severely. They consequently had twenty-seven thousand men hors de combat. We had taken three our four thousand pris- oners. Their total loss amounted to thirty thousand men. LETTER XI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, March 13, 1807 ; 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I learn, my love, that the mischievous talk which was held in your saloon, at Mayence, is renewed. Silence it. I shall be much displeased if you do not find a remedy for this. You allow yourself to be afflicted by the remarks of those who ought to comfort you. I recommend to you more force of character and to learn how to put every one into his proper place. 152 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I am very well. My affairs are prosperous. We are enjoy- ing a little repose and are collecting provisions. Adieu, my love. Take care of your health. NAPOLEON. Thiers, speaking of the condition of the two armies at this time, while the French were in winter quarters upon the Vis- tula, says, "All the Russian officers, filled with admiration of our army, sensible that in fact they were fighting much more for England or Prussia than for themselves, longed for peace and called loudly for it. Their troops, not supplied, like those of Napoleon, by a superior forecast, were dying of hunger. Weary of war they had ceased to fight with our men. They met, in marauding bands, almost without attacking each other. They seemed to have instinctively agreed not to add to the hardships of their situation. Sometimes it happened that unfortunate Cossacks, driven by hunger, and expressing themselves by signs, came to beg bread of our soldiers, giving them to understand that, for several days, they had not had any thing to eat ; and our men, always disposed to pity, gave them potatoes, of which they had a great abundance. Singu- lar sight this return to humanity even amid the cruelties of war." , LETTER XH. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, March 15, 1807. I have received your letter of the 1st of March, in which I perceive that you were much moved by the catastrophe of Minerva at the opera. I am very glad to see you go out and divert yourself. My health is good ; my affairs very prosperous. Do not place any reliance in the mischievous rumors which are in circulation. Never doubt my affection, and lay aside all anxiety. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 153 LETTER XIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, March 17, 1807. It is not right for you to go with humble equipage to the minor theaters. That is not suitable to your rank. You ought only to go to the large theaters in impsoing state. Live as you were accustomed to do when I was in Paris. My health is very good. The weather has changed to cold. The thermometer has been at eight degrees. Enty^ely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, March 17, 1807; 10 o'clock in the evening. I have received your letter of the 5th of March, in which I see with pleasure that you are well. My health is perfect. The weather, for the last two days has, however, been a little colder. The thermometer, to-night, is at ten degrees ; but the sun gave us a very fine day. Adieu, my love; my kindest remembrance to all your household. Speak to me of the death of poor Dupuis. Let it be said to his brother that I wish to do him a kindness. My affairs here are very prosperous. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. March 25, 1807. I have received your letter of the 13th of March. If you would please me you must absolutely, in all respects, live as you were accustomed to live when I was in Paris. Then you never went out to the minor theaters or to such places. You 7* 154 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ought always to appear in state. As to your life -at home, to have receptions and stated soirees, this is the only way of mer- iting my approbation. Grandeur has its inconveniences. An Empress can not move with the freedom of a private person. A thousand and a thousand loves. (Mille et mille amities). My health is good. My affairs are prosperous. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. March 27, 180? ; t o'clock in the evening. My love your letter has given me pain. You are not going to die. You are in good health 'and have no reasonable cause for grief. I think that you might go to St. Cloud in the month of May, but you should remain all of the month of April in Paris. My health is good, and my affairs pros- perous. You must not think of making a journey this summer ; that is impossible. You must not run through inns and camps. I desire as much as you to see you, and to live in tranquillity. I know how to do other things besides making war, but duty must be attended to before all things else. All my life I have sacrificed every thing, tranquillity, interest, happiness to my destiny. See but little of that Madame P. She is too vulgar and low. NAPOLEON. P. S. I have had reason to complain of M. T. * * * I have sent him to his estates in Burgundy. I wish to hear nothing more about him. LETTER XVII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE HAGUE. PARIS, March 29, 1807. I have been sick, my dear Hortense, for many days. I find myself much better and profit by it to write to you. It is NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 155 Madam Villeneuve who will take to you my letter. The last week has passed with me very rapidly and agreeably ; I have spent it at Malmaison, in the midst of the improvements which they are making there, and this occupation has recruited my health. . You will have learned with pleasure of the happy accouch- ment of the Princess Augusta. Eugene is delighted with his daughter. He only complains of her sleeping so much which prevents him from seeing her at his leisure. I have this mo- ment received news from Milan. All there are well. The Emperor writes to me veiy frequently. His last letter was dated on the 17th. He assures me that his health is very good ; but he says nothing about his return, and I can not be happy until he is here. My most affectionate remembrance to the king. I embrace your children and you also, my be- loved daughter, very tenderly. You know my heart and all my affection for you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XXVIH. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. OSTERODE, April 1, 1807. I have received your letter of the 20th, my love. I see with pain that you are sick. I have written to you to remain in Paris during the month of April, and to go to St. Cloud the 1st of May. At Malmaison you could go there to pass the Sundays and for a day or two. At St. Cloud you can have your receptions as usual. My health is good. It is still quite cold here. Every thing is tranquil. I have named the little Princess Josephine. 1 Eugene ought to be very happy. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. 1 This Princess, born the 14th of March, 1807, the eldest daughter of Eugene, was married the 18th of June, 1827, to Prince Joseph Francis Oscar, son of Bernadotte, King of Sweden. 156 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. PlNCKENSTEIN, April 2, 1807. My love I write you a word. I have removed ray head- quarters to a very pleasant chateau, something like that of Bessieres, where I have many fire-places. This is very grate- ful to me, as I rise often in the night. I love to see the fire. My health is perfect. The weather is beautiful, hut still cold. The thermometer is at four or five degrees. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. Thiers gives the following account of Napoleon's condition and employments at this time. After enumerating the enor- mous multiplicity of his cares, he says : " Such is the multitude of objects to which Napoleon di- rected his attention in the village of Osterode, living in a sort of barn, whence he awed Europe and governed his Empire. A more suitable abode was at length found for him at Fincken- stein. It was a country house, belonging to one of the em- ployees of the crown of Prussia, and spacious enough to accommodate himself with his staff and his military house- hold. There, as at Osterode, he was in the center of his can- tonments, and had it in his power to repair to any quarter where his presence might be necessary. The portfolios of the several ministers were sent to him every week, and he turned his attention to the most important as well as the most trivial matters." LETTER XX. FROM THE EMPRESS TO HORTENSE. PARIS, April 2, 1807. Lady Shaftesbury desires, my dear daughter, that I would give her a Mter of recommendation to you. I consent to do NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 157 it the more readily, since I believe that this lady is worthy of your interest. She has passed six months here with the per- mission of the Emperor, and Prince Jerome has given her a letter of recommendation to the. King of Holland. I know not what Lady Shaftesbury desires of you, but I should be greatly gratified if you can be useful to her should any oppor- tunity present itself. Adieu, my beloved Hortense. I love you, and embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XXI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. April 6, 1807 ; 3 o'clock in the afternoon. My love I have received your letter, in which I perceive that you have passed the holy week at Malmaison, and that you are better. I hope that you have entirely recovered. I am in a fine country-house, where there are fire-places. That is very agreeable. It is still cold. Every thing is frozen up. You will have seen that I have good news from Constan- tinople. 1 My health is good. There is nothing new. En- tirely thine. NAPOLEON. 1 The British government made a desperate endeavor to compel Turkey to unite in the coalition against France. A British fleet forced the Dardanelles, and anchored opposite Constantinople. Mr. Wellesley Pole, the agent of the British government, presented himself before the Turkish divan in his riding-dress, with his whip in his hand, and per- emptorily announced that if the Turkish government did not imme- diately enter into the alliance against France, the city should, in one half-hour, be laid in ashes. The English were beguiled into a parley. The Turks worked day and night, throwing up concealed batteries, and then, with red-hot balls, pelted the expedition out of the Straits. It is to this that the Emperor refers. 158 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PAEI8. April 10, 1807 ; 6 o'clock in the evening. My love I am very well. The spring commences here, but as yet there is no vegetation. I desire that you should be cheerful and contented, and that you should never doubt my affection. All things are prosperous. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXIII: TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. April 14, 1807. I have received your letter of the 3d of April. I see by it that you are well, and that it is very cold in Paris. The weather here is very variable ; nevertheless, I think that the spring has at last arrived. All the ice is thawed. I am re- markably well. Adieu, my love. I have long ago ordered for Malmaison every thing which you have desired. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXIV. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. FIXCKENSTEIS, April 14, 1807. My brother I have received your letter of the 26th of March. I have appointed Colonel Destrees Brigadier-General. Since you wish me to speak to you of the transactions at Na- ples, I will say to you that I was not very highly pleased with your preamble to the decree suppressing the convents. 1 1 The preamble of the decree, suppressing several of the monkish in- stitutions, stated that the religions orders, which had formerly been NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 159 In what concerns religion, the language employed should be in a religious and not in a philosophical spirit. This is the great art of him who is a governor, and not an author, or a man of letters. Why speak of the services rendered to the arts and the sciences by the monks ? Their merit does not consist in such services, but in their administration of the consolations of religion. This preamble is entirely philosoph- ical, and I think that that does not meet the case. This seems to me to insult the men who are removed. The pre- amble for the suppression of the monks would have been suit- able if it had been in accordance with the system of the monks. One can endure disagreeable things, with less impa- tience from a man who agrees with you, than from one who urges an opposite opinion. It should have been said that the great number of monks renders their support difficult that the dignity of their pro- fession requires that they should be well supported, hence the necessity of a reform that some must be preserved for the administration of the sacraments, and that others must be re- moved, etc. I state this as a general principle. I conceive a bad opinion of a government all whose edicts are expressed in fine writing. Each decree ought to have its appropriate and professional style. But a well-instructed monk, who should approve of the suppression, would not have expressed himself in that manner. People can bear injury when it is not accompanied by insult, and when the blow is not struck by an enemy. Now the enemies of the monks are the literary men and the philosophers. You know that I my- self am not fond of them, since I have destroyed them wher- ever I could. NAPOLEON. preservers of the arts, and promoters of the sciences, were now unnec- cessary, since the whole attention of the age was directed toward these objects. 160 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XXV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. FINCKBNSTEIX, April 18, 1807. 1 have your letter of the 5th of April. I see with pain that you are chagrined at what I said to you. As usual, your little Creole head becomes excited and afflicted, " tu petite tete Creole se monte et s'afflige" Let us then say no more about it. I am very well. The weather is, nevertheless, rainy. Savary is very sick, before Dantzic, of a bilious fever. I hope it will not amount to any thing. Adieu, my love. My best affections are with you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXVI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. FINCKENSTEIN, April 18, 1807. My brother I have received your letter of March 29th. I thank you for all that you say to me. Peace is a marriage which depends upon the union of inclinations. If it is neces- sary still to fight I am prepared to do so. You will see, by my message to the senate, that I am raising fresh troops. I am not of your opinion that the Neapolitans love you. This is the test. If there were not a single Frenchman in Naples, could you raise there an army of thirty thousand men to defend you against the English and the partisans of the queen ? Since I am satisfied to the contrary I can not think as you do. Undoubtedly your people will become attached to you ; but it will be after eight or ten years of peace, when you know them well and they know you. To love with the people means to esteem ; and they esteem their sovereign when he is dreaded by the bad, and when the good have such confi- dence in him that he can, under all circumstances, rely upon their fidelity and their aid. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO THE SWEDISH GOVERNMENT. 161 In the letter, to which the above was a reply, Joseph had urged his brother to make peace at any price ; he had also expressed the opinion that he was beloved by his Neapolitan subjects. Sweden had also been drawn by the British govern- ment into this iniquitous coalition against the Empire of France. Immediately after the battle of Eylau, Napoleon said, in one of his bulletins, on the 23d of April, 1807 : " Should Swedish blood flow for the ruin of the Ottoman Empire or for its defense ? Should it be shed to subvert the freedom of the seas, or to establish that freedom ? What has Sweden to fear from France ? Nothing. What from Rus- sia? Every thing. A peace, or even a truce with Sweden, would accomplish the dearest wish of his Majesty's heart, who has always beheld with pain the hostilities in which he was engaged with a nation, generous and brave, linked alike by its historical recollections and geographical position to the alli- ance with France." In accordance with these views Napoleon sent the follow- ing pacific letter to the Swedish government. LETTER XXVII. NAPOLEON TO THE SWEDISH GOVERNMENT. I have nothing more at heart than to re-establish peace with Sweden. Political passion may have divided us, but state in- terest, which ought to rule the determination of sovereigns, should reunite our policy. Sweden can not be ignorant that in the present contest she is as much interested in the success of our arms as France itself. She will speedily feel the con- sequences of Russian aggrandisement. Is it for the destruction of the Empire of Constantinople that the Swedes are fighting ? Sweden is not less interested than France in the diminution of the enormous maritime power of England. Accustomed by the traditions of our fathers to regard each other as friends, our bonds are drawn closer together by the partition of Poland, and the dangers 162 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ,' of the Ottoman Empire. Our political interests are the same. Why then are we at variance ? The views contained in the above letter, strengthened by the powerful and victorious armies which Napoleon had now at his command, induced the Swedish generals, on the 18th of April, to enter into an armistice. The king Gustavus, however, who declared that Napoleon was the " beast" spoken of in the Book of Eevelation, refused to ratify the convention, and wrote to the King of Prussia on the 2d of June, " Nothing would gratify me more than to be able to con- tribute with you to the establishment of general order and the independence of Europe. But to attain that end, I think a public declaration should be made in favor of the legitimate cause of the Bourbons, by openly espousing their interests which is plainly that of all established governments. My opinion upon this point is fixed and unalterable? LETTER XXVIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. April 24, 1807 ; 7 o'clock in the evening. I have received your letter of the 12th. I see that your health is good and that you experienced great pleasure in going to Malmaison. The weather has become fine. I hope that it will continue so. There is nothing new here. I am very well. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. May 2, 1807 ; 4 o'clock in the afternoon. My love I have received your letter of the 23d. I see with pleasure that you are well, and that you always enjoy Malmaison. They say that the arch-chancellor is in love. Is NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 163 that mere pleasantry or is it true ? It quite amuses me, but you have not said one word about it. I am very well, and the season has become fine. The spring at last shows itself and the buds begin to swell. Adieu, my love ; my most affectionate regards. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXX. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. FINCKENSTEIN, May 4, 1807. I have received your letter of the 15th of April. I do not doubt that in time M. Roederer may become all that you say. When a man has accustomed himself to the management of affairs, he despises theory, or uses it as geometers do, not to march in a straight line, but to keep in the same direction. However, I believe in the attachment of M. Roederer ; I believe in his honesty and in his intelligence. But his imagination, will it ever become accustomed to the calm of business ? This can only be proved by experience. I think that the habit of governing will, with your good sense and your excellent natural qualities, strengthen your char- acter, and render you capable of conducting this immense machine, should it be your destiny to live longer than I. Prince Jerome is doing well. I am much pleased with him, and I am much deceived if he has not within him the materials for making a man of the first order. You may be sure, however, that he has no idea of it, for all my letters are filled with complaints. He is adored in Silesia. I placed him there purposely in a distant and independent command, because I do not believe in the proverb, that it is necessary to know how to obey in order to know how to command. I am pretty well satisfied with Louis ; but he has a little too much of the spirit of charity, which is poorly allied with the dignity of the crown. He does not pay much attention to the advice which I give him. Still I do not cease giving 164 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. him advice, and experience will ere long teach him that many things which he has done are wrong. I have blamed the institution of bis order, not as wrong in itself, but as premature ; for how could he avoid giving it to the persons who surrounded him ? and how impress this in- delible stamp upon men who were not well known, and who, at the first reverse, perhaps, will reveal that they are but worthless. This remark is also for you. You will perceive its force. Wait till you know something of the men who sur- round you. The desire to establish an order must not arise like the wish to go upon a hunting-party. It must be attached to some memorable recollection. The time of your coronation will be a memorable epoch. Then we shall be at peace with all Europe. Louis has also pst permitted the Dutch ladies to reassume their ancient ti- tles ; his chamberlains even confer these titles upon them. I am sorry. Je me suisfache. I have not been satisfied with your example, which he has quoted to me as if there were any thing in common between a kingdom like yours, and a repub- lic which has passed through all the trials which France has endured. If you have occasion to write to him, say a word to him about it ; for, as it is supposed that all this is done by my ad- vice, it has a bad effect in France. As I do not wish to re- establish these ancient titles in France, I do not wish to have them re-established in a country to which I have guarantied a constitutional government, and whose vicissitudes have so much resembled those of France. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXXI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. FINCKEXSTEIN, May 10, 1807. I have received your letter. I do not understand what you tell me about ladies in correspondence with me. I love none NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 165 but my little Josephine, good, pouting, and capricious, who knows how to quarrel with grace, as she does every thing else ; for she is always amiable, excepting, indeed, when she is jeal- ous. Then she becomes truly diabolic. Alors die dement toute diablesse. But let us return to these ladies. If I must occupy myself with any one among them, I should wish them to be beautiful as rosebuds. Those of whom you speak, are they so pretty ? I desire that you would never dine but with those who have dined with me ; let your list be the same for your receptions ; never admit to Malmaison, to your intimacy, embassadors and strangers. If you do differently you will displease me. Do not allow yourself to be circumvented by persons whom I do not know, and who would not be received by you if I were there. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXXIL. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. FIXCKENSTEIX, May 12, 1807. I have received your letter of the 2d of May, in which I see that you are inclined to go to St. Cloud. I have seen with pain the bad conduct of Madame . Could you not speak to her to amend her life ? Such conduct must soon draw upon her serious disagreements with her husband. Napoleon has recovered, as I am informed. I can conceive all the anxiety which his sickness has caused his mother. The measles are a malady to which every one is subject. I hope that he has been vaccinated, and that he will at least escape the small-pox. Adieu, my love. The weather is quite warm, and vegetation commences. But it will still be some days before we shall have On the 5th of May, 1807, Charles Napoleon, prince royal of Holland, eldest sou of Louis Napoleon and Hortense, died 166 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. at the Hague, five years of age. He was a child of unusual promise. Napoleon was exceedingly attached to him, and contemplated making him his heir. But for the death of this child, the fatal divorce would probably never have taken place. The sad tidings were conveyed to Napoleon in his cheerless encampment upon the Vistula. It was a terrible blow to his hopes and his affections. He sat down in silence, buried his face in his hands, and for some time seemed lost in painful musings, while no one ventured to disturb his grief. The be- reavement to Josephine was inexpressibly dreadful. She wept day and night. Soon after receiving the intelligence, she left Paris, to condole with Hortense. But being taken sick by the way, she was compelled to stop, and wrote as follows, to her daughter. LETTER XXXm. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT THE HAGUE. LtrcKBN, 1 May 14, 1807; 10 o'clock in the evening. I have arrived this moment at the chateau of Lucken, my dear daughter. It is from there I wiite to you, and there I await you. Come, to restore me to life. Your presence is necessary to me ; and you must also feel the necessity of see- ing me that you may weep with your mother. I earnestly wished to proceed further, but my strength has failed me, and moreover I have not had time to apprise the Emperor. I have found strength to come thus far ; I hope you also will find strength to come and see your mother. Adieu, my beloved child. I am overwhelmed with fatigue, and still more so with grief. JOSEPHINE. 1 A palace near Brussels. Hortense came there to see her mother, and returned with her to Paris. Hortense, then, by the direction of her physicians, continued her journey, in bereavement and tears, to the Pyrenees, leaving Josephine gt St. Cloud. On the same day in which Josephine arrived at Lucken, the Emperor wrote to her. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 167 LETTER XXXIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. FINCKENSTEIS, May 14, 1807. I can appreciate the grief which the death of poor Napo- leon has caused you. You can understand the anguish which I experience. I could wish that I were with you, that you might become moderate and discreet in your grief. You have had the happiness of never losing any children. But it is one of the conditions and sorrows attached to suffering humanity. Let me hear that you have become reasonable and tranquil. Would you magnify my anguish ? NAPOLEON. LETTER XXXV. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. FINCKENSTEIN, May 16, 1807. I have received your letter of the 6th of May. I see in it already the injury which you are suffering ; and I fear that you are not reasonable, and that you afflict yourself too much from the calamity which has befallen us. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXXVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. FINCKENSTEIN, May 20, 1807. I have received your letter of the 10th of May. I see that you have gone to Lucken. I think that you may rest there a fortnight. That will give much pleasure to the Belgians, and will serve to divert your mind. I see with pain that you are not wise. Grief has bounds which it should not pass. Pre- serve yourself for your friend, and believe in all my affection. NAPOLEON. 168 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XXXVII. NAPOLEON TO HOKTENSE. FENCKENSTEIN, May 20, 1807. My daughter Every thing' which reaches me from the Hague informs me that you are unreasonable. However legit- imate may be your grief it should have its bounds. Do not impair your health. Seek consolation. Know that life is strewed with so many dangers, and may be the source of so many calamities, that death is by no means the greatest of evils. Your affectionate father. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXXVIH. TO THE EMPRESS AT LUCKEN. FINCKENSTEIN, May 24, 1807. I have received your letter from Lucken. I see with pain that your grief is still unabated, and that Hortense has not yet arrived. She is unreasonable, and does not merit that one should love her, since she loves only her children. Strive to calm yourself and give me no more pain. For every irremediable evil we should find consolation. Adieu, my love. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXXIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT LUCKEN. FINCKENSTEIX, May 26, 1807. I have received your letter of the 16th, and see with pleas- ure that Hortense has arrived at Lucken. I am, indeed, grieved by what you tell me of the state of stupor in which she still continues. She should have more fortitude and should govern herself. I can not conceive why they should JOSEPHINE TO nOKTENSE. 169 wish her to go to the springs. Her attention would be much more diverted at Paris, and she would find there more conso- lation. Control yourself, be cheerful, and take care of your health. My health is very good. Adieu, my love. I share deeply in all your griefs. It is painful to me that I am not with you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XL. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, ON HER JOURNEY TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. ST. CLOUD, May 27, 1807. I have wept much since your departure, my dear Hortense. This separation has been very painful to me. Nothing can give me courage to support it but the certainty that the jour- ney will do you good. I have received tidings from you through Madame Broc. I pray you to thank her for that attention and to request her to write to me when you may be unable to write yourself. I had also news, yesterday, from your son. 1 He" is at the chateau of Lucken^ very well, and awaiting the arrival of the king. The Emperor has written to me. He shares very keenly in our grief. I have need of this consolation, for I have had none other since your departure. Always alone with my- self, every moment dwelling upon the subject of our affliction, my tears flow incessantly. Adieu, my beloved child. Preserve yourself for a mother who loves you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. The attack of croup of which the child died was very vio- lent, and came to its fatal termination in a few hours. The devoted mother did not leave her son for a moment. When 1 This allusion was to the second son of Hortense. He subsequent- ly died in Switzerland. The third and only surviving child, Louis Nupoleon, now Emperor of France, was not born until April 20, 1808. 8 170 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. the little sufferer breathed its last the attendants endeavored to wile her from the apartment. Delirious with grief, she clung to the sofa upon which she was lying by the side of the bed which contained the corpse of her child. In a state of almost insensibility she was taken from the room upon the sofa. Her anguish was so intense that for many hours serious appre- hensions were felt for her life. Her limbs wefe rigid and not a tear moistened her eyes, fixed and glazed. At last they brought into the room the lifeless body of her little son, dressed for the grave, and placed it in the lap of the mother paralyzed by grief. Hortense clasped the inanimate form to her bosom and found relief in sobbings and a flood of tears. The anguish of Josephine was, if possible, still greater than that of the mother. She knew that the Emperor intended to make the child his heir, and in addition to the anguish she felt in the loss of one she so tenderly loved, she had dreadful fears for the consequences. The result proved that her fears were but too well grounded. But for the death of little Na- poleon Charles, the fatal divorce would never have taken place. Josephine had but just received tidings of the child's sickness, when the tidings came of its death. For three days she could not leave her apartment, and did nothing but weep. She placed before her his portrait and gathered around her his playthings, his hair every relic which could revive the image of the dear departed child. An affecting incident added to the poignancy of the sorrow. One day, just before the Emperor set out upon the campaign of Jena, he reviewed the guard in the court -yard of the Tuil- eries, and after the review, entered the saloon of Josephine. Throwing down his hat and sword upon a sofa, he took the arm of the Empress and walked up and down the room, en- gaged in conversation. Little Napoleon Charles who was with Josephine, unobserved, put the sword-belt over his little neck and the hat upon his head, and began to follow behind the Emperor with a military step and attempting to whistle a martial air. The Emperor turning round and seeing the child JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 171 caught him in his arms and fondly imprinting a kiss upon his forehead, said to Josephine, " What a charming picture !" . The Empress immediately ordered a portrait to be taken by the celebrated painter, Gerard, of the young Prince in that costume, intending to send it as a present to the Emperor. Upon the very morning, and but a few moments before Josephine received the intelligence of the death of Napoleon Charles, she had received this portrait at St. Cloud. One anecdote of this child very interestingly shows that the children of the poor have many enjoyments from which the children of the rich are deprived. On the birthday of Napoleon Charles, Hortense was seated at a window of her palace at the Hague, which opened upon the grand avenue. A heavy shower had fallen and pools of water flooded the avenue. Some barefooted children were wading in the p.uddles and playing with little chip boats. The young Prince, in the magnificent saloon, was surrounded with costly presents, which he had just received from his friends, and particularly from his grandmother Josephine. Unmind- ful of his toys he was earnestly looking out of the window. " So then, my son," said Hortense, " you are not grateful for grandmamma's kindness ?" " O yes, mamma," the young Prince replied, " but then she is so good I am used to it. But look at those little boys, mamma." " Well, do you wish for some money to give them."* " No ; papa gave me some money this morning and it is all given away." " Well, what ails my dear child ? What do you want ?" " 0," said the Prince, hesitatingly, " I know you won't let me, but if I could run about in that beautiful puddle, it would amuse me more than even all good gramma 's presents" 172 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XLI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. FINCKENSTEIN, May 28, 1807. My brother Address a letter to the bishops of your king- dom to order, throughout all your realm, prayers in thanks- giving for the success of the French armies and for the capture of Dantzic. You will also publish in all your newspapers the news from Constantinople. It is necessary to contradict frequently the evil reports which the agents of England and Russia are pleased to disseminate. The memorable siege of Dantzic had lasted for fifty-one days after the opening of the trenches. The capitulation was signed and executed on the 26th of May. The besieged gar- rison was nearly equal to the besieging army, and the conflict was carried on by both parties with the utmost desperation of valor. More than four thousand of the garrison, during the siege, deserted to the French. During the progress of this siege, Marshal Lefebvre, who was in command, became very impatient, and was anxious to lead his troops to an assault which would have been attended with great slaughter, even if it had been successful. Napoleon addressed to him the fol- lowing letter, containing strong language of reprimand. The marshal had spoken very abusively of his allies, and contempt- uously of the science of the engineers, declaring that he could do more with the breasts of his soldiers, than the engineers with all their science, and insisting upon a general assault. LETTER XLII. NAPOLEON TO MARSHAL LEFEBVRE. You can do nothing but find fault, abuse our allies and change your opinion at the pleasure of the first comer. You NAPOLEON TO MARSHAL LEFEBVBE. l73 wanted troops. I sent them to you. I am preparing more ; for you, like an ingrate, continue to complain without think- ing even of thanking me. You treat our allies, especially the Poles and the Baden troops, without any delicacy. They are not used to fire, but they will become accustomed to it. Do you imagine that we were as brave in '92 as we are now, after fifteen years of war. Have some indulgence then, old sol- dier as you are, for the young soldiers who are starting in the career, and have not yet your coolness amid danger. The Prince of Baden, whom you have with you, has chosen to leave the pleasures of the court for the purpose of leading his troops into fire. Pay him respect, and give him credit for zeal which his equals rarely imitate. The breasts of your grenadiers, which you are for bringing in everywhere, will not throw down walls. You must allow your grenadiers to act and h'sten to the advice of General Chasseloup, who is a man of science, and from whom you ought not to take your confi- dence at the suggestion of the first petty caviler pretending to judge of what he is incapable of comprehending. Reserve the courage of your grenadiers for the moment when science shall tell you that it may be usefully employed, and in the mean time learn patience. It is not worth while, for the sake of a few days, which besides I know not how to employ just now, to get some thousand men killed whose lives it is possible to spare. Show the calmness, the consist- ency, the steadiness which befit your age. Your glory is in the taking of Dantzic. Take that place and you shall be sat- isfied with me. CHAPTER X. LETTERS WRITTEN IN 1807, DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF FRIEDLAND. EARLY in May, Napoleon, in preparation for the summer campaign, called all his troops from the villages in which they had been cantoned, and camped them, in divisions, within reach of each other, behind good field-works. He thus guard- ed against surprise, and his army, maneuvering every day, was ready at any moment for a march. His whole force, extend- ing along a line three hundred leagues in length, from the Rhine to the Vistula, consisted of four hundred thousand men. But so many of these were needed to protect his rear, to keep open his lines of communication, to watch menacing Austria, and to hold conquered Prussia quiet, that he had but one hundred and sixty thousand men to lead from his encamp- ments upon the Vistula, to meet his foes. His army, in admir- able discipline, was rested, abundantly fed, and well clothed. His cavalry, eighteen thousand in number, were all assembled on the plain of Elbing, and for a whole day maneuvered before the Emperor, under the command of Murat. The sight was sufficiently imposing even to dazzle the eyes of Napoleon. The campaign was opened, on the 5th of June, by an at- tack, at break of day, by a formidable column of the Russians upon a portion of the French lines. Napoleon immediately put his hosts in motion, and drove all opposition before him. Day after day the battle raged, as the Russians fled, hotly pur- sued by the French. At last the allies, on the 14th, were) driven into an elbow of the river Alle. Here, upon the plain NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 1*75 of Friedland, they were compelled to make a stand. A decis- ive battle ensued, and the allied army was almost utterly destroyed. Napoleon, after the victory, thus addressed his army : " Soldiers ! on the 5th of June we were attacked, in our cantonments, by the Russian army. The enemy had mistaken the cause of our inactivity. He perceives, too late, that our repose was that of the lion. In a campaign of ten days we have taken one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, seven standards, and have killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, sixty thousand Russians. We have taken from the enemy all its magazines, its hospitals, its ambulances, the fortress of Konigs- burg, the three hundred vessels which were in that port, laden with all kinds of military stores, and one hundred and sixty thousand muskets, which England was sending to arm our en- emies. From the banks of the Vistula we have come, with the speed of the eagle, to those of the Niemen. At Austerlitz you celebrated the anniversary of the coronation. At Fried- land you have worthily celebrated the battle of Marengo, where we put an end to the Avar of the second coalition. u Frenchmen ! you have been worthy of yourselves, and of me. You will return to France covered with laurels, having obtained a glorious peace, which carries with it the guaranty of its duration. It is time- for $ur country to live in repose, sheltered from the malignant influences of England. My bounties shall prove to you my gratitude, and the full extent of the love which I feel for you." Alexander and Frederic William now condescended to im- plore peace. Napoleon, with the greatest courtesy and cor- diality, met their advances. The treaty of Tilsit was the result. The bitterest enemies of Napoleon have admitted the extraordinary magnanimity he extended to his foes, in the con- ditions of_this peace. The letters contained in the present chapter were written mostly during this campaign. His spirit was still saddened by the grief caused by the death of the lit- tle Napoleon. 176 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. June 2, 1807. , My love I have learned of your arrival at Malmaison ; I have received no letters from you ; I am displeased with Hor- tense, she does not write me a word. Every thing which you say to me of her gives me pain. Why is it that you have not been able a little to console her. You weep. I hope that you will control your feelings, that I may not find you overwhelmed with sadness. I have been at L)antzic for two days, The weather is very fine, and I am well. I think more of you than you can think of one who is absent. Adieu, my love ; my most affectionate remembrance. Send the inclosed letter to Hortense. NAPOLEON. The letter to Hortense, to which Napoleon refers, was as follows : LETTER II. NAPOLEON TO HORTENSE. DAXTZIC, June 2, 1807. My daughter You have not written me a word in your well-founded and great affliction. You have forgotten every thing, as if you had no other loss to endure. I am informed that you no longer love that you are indifferent to every thing. I perceive it by your silence. This is not right, Hor- tense. It is not what you promised to me. Your child was every thing to you ! Your mother and I, are we nothing, then? Had I been at Malmaison, I- should have shared your anguish, but I should have also wished that you would restore yourself to your best friends. Adieu, my daughter ! Be cheerful. We must learn resignation. Cherish your health, JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 1 that you may be able to fulfill all your duties. My wife is very sad in view of your condition. Do not add to her anguish. Your affectionate father. NAPOLEON. LETTER IE. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. June 3, 1807. I have slept to-day at Maninbourg. Yesterday I left Dant- zic. My health is very good. All the letters which come to me from St. Cloud say that you weep continually. This is not right. It is necessary to control one's self, and to be content- ed. Hortense is entirely wrong. What you write me about her is pitiful. Adieu, my love. Believe in all the affection with which I cherish you. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE WATERS OF CAUTERETS. ST. CLOUD, June 4, 1807. Your letter has greatly consoled me, my dear Hortense, and the tidings of your health, which I have received from your ladies, contribute very much to render me more tranquil. The Emperor has been deeply affected. In all his letters he seeks to give me fortitude, but I know that this severe afflic- tion has been keenly felt by him. The king 1 arrived, yesterday, at St. Leu. He has sent me word that he would come to see me to-day. He will leave the little one with me, during his absence. You know how dearly I love that child, and the solicitude I feel for him. I 1 Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, husband of Hortense. He was in feeble health, having suffered from an attack of paralysis. He brought with him his second, and then only surviving child, Napoleon Louis. 8* 178 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. hope that the king will follow the same route which you have taken. It will be, my dear Hortense, a consolation for you both to see each other again. All the lettets which I have received from him since his departure are full of his attachment for you. Your heart is too affectionate not to be touched by this. Adieu, my dear child. Take care of your health. Mine can never be established till I shall no longer suffer for those whom 1 love. I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. June 6, 1807. I am very well, my love. Your letter of yesterday gave me much pain. It appears that you are continually sad and that you are not reasonable. The weather is very bad. Adieu, my love ; I love you and desire to hear that are cheerful and contented. NAPOLEON. LETTER VI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE WATERS OF CAUTERETS. ST. CLOUD, June 11, 1807. I inclose in this, my dear Hortense, a letter which the Em- peror has sent to me for you, 1 and which he charges me to transmit to you. The Emperor is at Dantzic. His health is perfect. Marshal Lefebvre is created Duke of Dantzic, with one hundred thousand francs of revenue from land in France. Your son is remarkably well. He amuses me much ; he is so pleasant. I find that he has all the endearing manners of the poor child over whose loss we weep. Adieu, my dear daughter. I embrace you tenderly. 1 The letter from the Emperor to Hortense, here referred to, is the second letter in this chapter. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 1*79 LETTER VII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE WATERS OF CAUTERETS. ST. CLOUD, , 1807. Your letter has affected me deeply, my dear daughter. I see how profound and unvarying is your grief, and I perceive it still more sensibly by the anguish which I experience my- self. We have lost that which in every respect was the most worthy to be loved ; my tears flow as on the first day. Our grief is too well founded for reason to be able to cause it to cease ; nevertheless, my dear Hortense, it should moderate it. You are not alone in the world. There still remains to you a husband, an interesting child, and a mother whose tender love you well know ; and you have too much sensibility to regard all that with coldness and indifference. Think of us ; and let that memory calm another, well grounded and griev- ous. I rely upon your attachment for me, and upon the strength of your mind. I hope also that the journey and the waters will do you good. Your son is remarkably well. He is a charming child. My health is a little better, but you know that it depends upon yours. Adieu. I embrace you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. FRIEDLAND, June 15, 1807. My love I can write you but a word, for I am very much fatigued. For many days I have bivouacked. My children have worthily celebrated the anniversary of the battle of Marengo. The battle of Friedland will be equally celebrated, and is as glorious for my people. All the Russian army put to rout ; eighty pieces of cannon, thirty thousand men killed or taken 180 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. prisoners; twenty-five Russian generals slain, wounded or captured ; the Russian guard trampled down it is a worthy sister of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena. The bulletin will tell you the rest. My loss is not great. I maneuvered the enemy with success. Have no anxiety, and be contented. Adieu, my love ; I mount my horse. NAPOLEON. P. S. This news may be communicated as intelligence, should this letter arrive before the bulletin. The cannon also may be fired. Cambaceres will give the notice. LETTER IX: TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. June 16, 1807 ; 4 o'clock, p. M. My love yesterday I dispatched Moustache to you with the news of the battle of Friedland. Since, I have continued to pursue the enemy. Konigsberg, which is a city of eighty thousand souls, is in my power. I have found many cannons, abundance of military stores, and more than sixty thousand muskets which had been sent from England. Adieu, my love; my health is perfect, though I have a slight cold from the rain and the cold of the bivouac. Be content and cheerful. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER X. NAPOLEON TO HOHTENSE. June 16, 1307. My daughter I have received your letter dated Orleans. Your griefs touch my heart ; but I could wish that you would summon more fortitude. To live is to surfer ; and the sincere man struggles incessantly to retain the mastery over himself. I do not love to see you unjust toward the little Napoleon Louis, and toward all your friends. Your mother and I had NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 181 cherished the hope of being more than we are in your heart. I have gained a great victory on the 14th of June. I am well, and love you very much. Adieu, my daughter. I embrace vou Avith my whole heart. NAPOLEON. LETTER XL TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. TILSIT, June 19, 1807. I have this morning dispatched Tascher to you to relieve you from all inquietudes. Every thing here is prosperous. The battle of Friedlaud has decided every thing. The enemy is confounded, humbled, and thoroughly enfeebled. My health is good and my army is superb. Adieu, my love ; be cheerful and contented. NAPOLEON. LETTER XII. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. TILSIT, June 20, 1807. My brother I am on the Niemen. The battle of Fried- land, which was fought on the anniversary of that of Marengo, has decided the contest. The Russian army has been de- stroyed. You will doubtless have received already the bulle- tins. I presume that you will have a Te Deum throughout your kingdom for so happy au event. This battle has been as decisive as those of Marengo, of Austerlitz, and of Jena. LETTER XIH. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. TILSIT, June 22, 1807. My love I have received your letter of the 10th of June. I see with pain that you are so sad. You will see by the bul- 182 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. letin'that I have concluded a suspension of arms, and that we are negotiating for peace. Be contented and cheerful. I have sent to you Borghese, and twelve hours later, Mous- tache. You must thus, at an early hour, have received my letters, and news of the fine day of Friedland. I am remark- ably well, and desire to hear that you are happy. Entirelv thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. June 25, 1807. My love I have just come from an interview with the Em- peror Alexander. He is a very handsome, amiable, and youth- ful emperor. He has more ability than is generally supposed. To-morrow he takes his lodgings in the city of Tilsit. Adieu, my love. I earnestly desire that you may be well and contented. My health is very good. NAPOLEON. LETTER XV. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. TILSIT, June 27, 1807. My brother I have concluded an armistice with the Em- peror of Russia. He orders his flag to cease all hostilities against the French flag, or the flags of Italy and Naples. My desire is, that if any Russian ships enter your ports and apply for refreshments, that you should furnish them with every thing, either in return for payment, or else keeping an account of the value. I have instructed Prince Eugene to give you the detail of all that has transpired here for the last few days. Make known at Corfu the orders which the Emperor of Rus- sia has given to his admiral, and all that has happened. KAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 183 LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. . CLOUD. July 3, 1807. My love M. de Turenne will give you all the details of every thing which is passing here. All things are prosperous. I think that I have mentioned to you that the Emperor Alex- ander drinks your health with much amiability. He dines, and also the King of Prussia, every day with me. I desire that you may be contented. Adieu, my love. My most affec- tionate remembrance. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVH. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. July 6, 1807. I have received your letter of the 25th of June. I see with pain that you are selfish, and that the success of my arms has no attractions for you. The beautiful Queen of Prussia is to come and dine with me to-day. I am well, and most earnestly desire to see you, when destiny shall appoint the hour. It is not impossible that that may be soon. Adieu, my love. My most affectionate remembrance. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVin. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. July 7, 1807. My love the Queen of Prussia dined with me yesterday. I had to defend myself from the attempts she made to oblige me to concede still more to her husband. Though I was polite, I held myself firm to my political views. She is very amiable. 184 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I would give you the details, but it is impossible, it would take so much time. When you read this letter, peace with Prus- sia and Russia will be concluded, and Jerome will be recog- nized as King of Westphalia, with a population of three mil- lions. This news is for you alone. Adieu, my love. I love you, and wish to hear that you are contented and cheerful. NAPOLEON. The Queen of Prussia was a remarkably beautiful woman, of very fascinating manners, not more than thirty-two years of age. Napoleon subsequently said of her : " The Queen of Prussia unquestionably possessed talents, great information, and singular acquaintance with affairs. She was the real sovereign for fifteen years. In truth, in spite of my address and utmost efforts, she constantly led the conver- sation, returned at pleasure to her subject, and directed it as she chose but still with so much tact and delicacy that it was impossible to take offense. " Had the Queen of Prussia arrived earlier at our conferences, it might have had much influence upon the result of our nego- tiations. But happily she did not make her appearance till all was settled. As soon as she arrived I went to pay her a visit. She was very beautiful, somewhat past the first flower of youth. After all, a fine woman and gallantry are not to be weighed against affairs of state." The ratification of the treaty of Tilsit took place on the 8th of July. The next day the two Emperors parted. Napoleon and Alexander, side by side, on horseback, and engaged in the most friendly conversation, passed the rounds, everywhere greeted with the most enthusiastic acclamations. At the banks of the Niemen they embraced for the last time, and Alexander entered a boat to cross the stream. Napoleon re- mained upon the bank until his friend had reached the oppo- site shore. He then retired, and immediately made arrange- ments for the long march of his troops back to France. Napoleon, in the treaty of Tilsit, manifested moderation JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 185 which excited the surprise of Europe. He did nothing directly to aggrandize France. He only endeavored to establish friendly governments which would aid in protecting France from future attacks. He immediately appointed Savary as his minister at the court of St. Petersburg, and said to him, "I have concluded peace. I am told that I have done wrong, and that I shall find myself deceived. But truly we have had war enough. It is time that the world should enjoy repose. I wish to send you to St. Petersburg, until I make choice of an embassador. I will give you a letter to Alex- ander, which will serve as your credentials. You will manage the business for me. Recollect that I do not wish to go to war with any power whatever. Let this principle be the guide of your conduct. I shall be much displeased if you do not avoid drawing me into fresh difficulties. In your conver- sation, carefully avoid any thing that may be offensive. For instance, never speak of war. Do not condemn any custom, or comment upon any absurdity. Every nation has its pecu- liarities. It is too much the habit of the French to compare all customs with their own, and to set themselves up as mod- els. You know how I have been deceived by the Austrians and Prussians. I place confidence in the Emperor of Russia." LETTER XIX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT THE WATERS OF CAUTERETS. ST. CLOUD, July 10, 1807. I receive frequently, my dear Hortense, news from the Em- peror. He speaks much of the Emperor Alexander, with whom he appears to be very well satisfied. He has sent to me, M. Monaco, and M. de Montesquieu, to give me the details of what they have seen. These gentlemen relate that the first interview was a mag- nificent spectacle. The two armies were, one upon the right, and the other upon the left bank of the Niemen. The Ein- 186 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. peror arrived the first at a pavilion constructed in the middle of the river. The boat of the Emperor Alexander had some difficulty in approaching it, Avhich furnished occasion for some very agreeable words from 'Alexander upon his eagerness being poorly seconded by the stream. They say that, at the moment in which the two Emperors embraced, universal acclamations ascended from both sides of the river. That which increases still more for me the inter- est of these happy tidings, is the hope which I have of soon seeing the Emperor again. Why, my dear Hortense, is this happiness marred by memories so sad, which can never be effaced. Your little son is perfectly well. I hope that the waters will do you and the king much good. Remember me to him ; and believe, my dear daughter, in all the tender affec- tion of your mother. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XX. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. KONIGSBERG, July 12, 1801. My brother I see, in the French papers, some letters of King Ferdinand, which have probably been taken fiom the Neapoli- tan newspapers. What is the object of this ? Who can find fault that King Ferdinand defends his throne in every possible way ? Why then print these insignificant letters ? It is your policy, on the contrary, never to speak of them. These dis- embarkations and incursions of the banditti, which are very trivial matters, are improperly exaggerated. Your ministers are always cracking their whips. They ought, on the con- trary, to make as little as possible of these disturbances, and represent them to the public as really less than they actually are. The inference naturally drawn, is, that the kingdom of Naples is a prey to every species of depredation, and that is not true. The maladroitness of your police creates the im- pression. The strife of different parties produces the same NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 187 effect. It was thus in France during the Revolution. It was' one party which pushed another to extremities. But such is not the situation of your realm. LETTER XXI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. DRESDEN, July 18, 1807. My brother I have received your letter of the 6th of June. If you send Neapolitan troops into Italy they must be paid by you, as the troops belonging to the kingdom of Italy, which are in the kingdom of Naples, are paid by Italy. I greatly fear that your finances will be damaged by theories and spec- ulations. Every thing which I hear from Naples announces this. The lapse of many years, and men of experience are necessary to effect changes in the finances of a state ; and yet I see that at the commencement of a reign, and during war, changes are made in the mode of collecting the revenue. I look upon men of learning and brilliancy as I do upon co- quettes. They are very well to live and converse with, but we should no more think of taking the latter for our wives than the former for our ministers. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. July 18, 1801. My love I arrived yesterday, at five o'clock in the even- ing, at Dresden, in very good health, although I have been a hundred hours in the carriage without leaving it. I am here at the house of the King of Saxony, with whom I am very much pleased. I have thus approached you by more than one half of the journey. It is possible that one of these fine 188 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. nights I may fall upon St. Cloud like a jealous husband, and I forewarn you of it. Adieu, my love. I shall have great pleasure in seeing you. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. At six o'clock in the morning of the 27th of July, Napo- leon entered Paris. Even enthusiasm became enthusiastic in greeting. He tarried not a moment, however, to receive these acclamations, but hastened to St. Cloud, where Josephine was awaiting him. The same morning he assembled his cabinet ministers in council. He had said to them before he left Paris, to enter upon these extraordinary achievements, " I am innocent of this war. I have done nothing to pro- voke it. It did not enter into my calculations. Let me be defeated if it be of my own seeking. One of the principal reasons of the assurance I feel that my enemies will be de- stroyed, is that I view in their conduct the finger of Provi- dence, who, willing that the guilty should be punished, has set wisdom so far aside in their councils, that when they intend to attack me in the moment of weakness, they select the very instant when I was stronger than ever." CHAPTER XI. LETTERS DURING NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER OP 1807. FRANCE was now at peace with all the world, England ex- cepted. The British government still unrelentingly refused to listen to any terms of accommodation, and, with her vast fleet, utterly annihilated French commerce, and assailed France wherever a vulnerable point could be found. Arrogantly the British government boasted that England was mistress of the seas. It was no idle boast. Not a ship could float upon any ocean but by the permission of Great Britain. Napoleon, in order to compel England to allow the world repose from the ravages of war, endeavored to unite the whole continent in a league to refuse to have any mercantile transactions with such a quarrelsome people. By this bloodless measure he hoped to compel the British government to sheath the sword. The following letter to his brother Louis, King of Holland, exhibits his political views at this time. LETTER I. NAPOLEON TO LOUIS BONAPARTE. It is not to the present alone that sovereigns should accom- modate their policy. The future must also be the object of their consideration. What is, at this moment, the situation of Europe ? On one side England, who possesses by her sole exertions a dominion to which the whole world has hitherto been compelled to submit. On the other hand the French empire and the continental states, which, strengthened by the 190 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. union of their powers, can not acquiesce in this supremacy exercised by England. Those states had also their colonies and a maritime trade. They possess an extent of coast much greater than England ; but they have become disunited and England has attacked the naval power of each separately. England has triumphed on every sea, and all navies have been destroyed. Russia, Sweden, France, and Spain, which possess such ample means for having ships and sailors, dare not ven- ture to send a squadron out of their ports. I wish for peace. I wish to obtain it by every means com- patible with the dignity of the power of France at the ex- pense of every sacrifice which our national honor can allow. Every day I feel more and more that peace is necessary. The sovereigns of the continent are as anxious for peace as I am. I have no passionate prejudice against England. I bear her no insurmountable hatred. She has followed against me a system of repulsion. I have adopted against her the conti- nental system, not so much from a jealousy of ambition, as my friends suppose, but in order to reduce England to the necessity of adjusting our differences. Let England be rich and prosperous. It is no concern of mine, provided France and her allies enjoy the same advantages. The continental system has, therefore, no other object than to advance the moment when the public rights of Europe and of the French empire will be definitely established. The sovereigns of the north observe and enforce strictly the sys- tem of prohibition, and their trade has been greatly benefitted by it. The manufactures of Prussia may now compete with ours. You are aware that France, and the whole extent of coasts, which now form part of the empire, from the Gulf of Lyons to the extremity of the Adriatic, are strictly closed against the produce of foreign industry. I am about to adopt a measure, with respect to the affairs of Spain, the result of which will be to wrest Portugal from England, and subject all the coasts of Spain on both seas, to the influence of the policy of France. The coasts of the whole of Europe will NAPOLEON TO LOUIS BONAPARTE. 191 then be closed against England, with the exception of those of Turkey, which I .do not "care about, as the Turks do not trade with Europe. Do you not perceive, from this statement, the fatal conse- quences that would result from the facilities given by Holland to the English for the introduction of their goods on the con- tinent ? They would enable England to levy upon us the subsidies which she would afterward offer to other powers to fight against us. Your Majesty is as much interested as I am, to guard against the crafty policy of the English cabinet. A few years more, and England will wish for peace as much as we do. Observe the situation of your kingdom, and you will see that the system I allude to is more useful to yourself than it is to me. Holland is a maritime and a commercial power. She possesses fine sea-ports, fleets, sailors, skillful commanders, and colonies which do not cost any thing to the mother coun- try. Her inhabitants understand trade as well as the English. Has not Holland, therefore, an interest in defending all these advantages ? May not peace restore her to the position she formerly held ? Granted that her situation may be painful for a few years ; but is not this preferable to making the King of Holland a mere governor for England, and Holland and her colonies a vassal of Great Britain ? Yet the protection which you would afford to English commerce would lead to that result. The examples of Sicily and Portugal are still before your eyes. Await the result of the progress of time. You want to sell your gins, and England wants to buy them. Point out the place where the English smugglers may come and fetch them ; but let them pay for them in money, and never in goods positively never ! Peace must at last be made. You will then make a treaty of com,merce with England. I may per- haps also make one with her, but in which our mutual inter- ests shall be reciprocally guarantied. If we must allow England to exercise a kind of supremacy on the sea a suprem- acy which she will have purchased at the expense of her 192 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. treasure and of her blood, and which is the* natural conse- quence of her geographical position of her possessions in the three other quarters of the globe at least our flags will be at liberty to appear on the ocean without being exposed to insult, and our maritime trade will cease to be ruinous. For the present we must direct our efforts toward preventing En- gland from interfering in the affairs of the continent. NAPOLEON. Napoleon devoted his attention, with unabated zeal to the internal improvement of France. "His attention," says the "Encyclopaedia Americana," "to this subject appears from many documents, and is strikingly shown in the following let- ter. It shows his large, penetrating prospective views, and constant reference to posterity and to their opinions ; the lofty spirit in which he undertook labors of practical utility, the blended familiarity and elevation of tone with which he ad- dressed his ministers ; the impulse which he gave to his gov- ernment by the paths which he traced out for others to follow, and its practical spirit. As it was not written for publication it will not be charged with deception." LETTER II. NAPOLEON TO MONSIEUR CRETET, MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR. FONTAINEBLEAU, November 14, 1807. You have received the imperial decree by which I have authorized the sinking fund to lend eight million francs to the city of Paris. I suppose that you are employed in taking measures which may bring these works to a speedy conclusion, and may augment the revenues of the city. In these works there are some which will not be very productive, but are merely for ornament. There are others, such as the galleries over the markets, the slaughter-houses, etc., which will be very productive, but to make them so will require activity. NAPOLEON TO MONSIEUR CRETET. 193 The shops, for which I have granted you funds, are not yet commenced. I suppose you have taken up the funds destined for the fountains and that you have employed them provision- ally for the machine at Marly. Carry on the whole with spirit. This system of advancing money to the city of Paris, to augment its branches of revenue is also intended to con- tribute to its embellishment. My intention is to extend it to other departments. I have many canals to make ; that from Dijon to Paris ; that from the Rhine to the Saonne ; that from the Rhine to the Scheldt. These three canals can be carried on as vigor- ously as could be wished. My intention is, independently of the funds which are granted from the revenues of the State, to seek extraordinary funds for the three canals. For this purpose I should like to sell the canal of St. Quentin, the produce of which might be employed to expedite the works of the canal of Burgundy. In fact, I would sell even the canal of Languedoc and apply the proceeds to the construc- tion of the canal from the Rhine to the Saonne. I suppose that the canal of St. Quentin might be sold for eight million francs ; that of Loing for as much, and the canal of Langue- doc for more. There would then be thirty millions procured immediately, which I should employ in carrying on the three great canals with all possible rapidity. I have the money. The State will lose nothing. On the contrary it will gain, since, if it loses the revenues of the ca- nals of Loing, St. Quentin, and that of the south, it will gain the products of the canals of the Scheldt, Napoleon, and Bur- gundy ; and, when these works are completed, if circumstances permit, I shall sell these, in order to make others. Thus, my object is, to pursue a directly opposite course to England, or to what is proposed to be done there. In England, a charter would have been granted for constructing the canal of St. Quentin, and the work would have been left to the capitalists. I have, on the contrary, begun by constructing the canal of St. Quentin. It has cost, I believe, eight million francs ; it will 194 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. produce five hundred thousand francs. I shall then lose noth- ing by selling it to a company for what it has cost me, since, with this money I shall construct other canals. Make me, I beg of you, a report upon this subject, otherwise we shall die without seeing these three canals navigated. In fact, it is six years since the canal of St. Quentin was begun, and it is not yet finished. Now these canals are of much more importance. The expense of that of Burgundy is estimated at thirty millions. What can be expended from the general funds of the State, does not exceed a million yearly. The departments do not furnish more than five hundred thousand francs. It would then require twenty years to finish this canal. What may not happen in this time ? Wars, and inefficient men will come, and the canals will remain unfinished. The canal from the Rhine to the Scheldt will also cost a large sum. The general funds of the State are not sufficient to carry them on as quickly as we could wish. The canal of Napoleon is in the same situ- ation. Let me know how much it would be possible to expend yearly on each of these three canals. I suppose, that without injuring other works, we might allow to each three or four mil- lions, and that thus, in five or six years, we might see them all navigated. You will inform me how much the existing imposts will furnish for these three canals, and how much I have granted for 1808, and the supplementary which I granted for 1806, for carrying on these works with the greatest activity. You will propose to me to sell the three canals already finished, and at what price it would be best to sell them I take upon myself the charge of finding purchasers then we shall have money in abundance. You must tell me, in your report, how much the three which I wish speedily to finish, are estimated to cost, and compare it with the sum which the three old ca- nals have cost, that I wish to sell. You understand what I wish. My intention is to go beyond your report. Perhaps it will lead to opening a fund for public works, into which the proceeds of the navigation of the canals NAPOLEON TO MONSIEUR CRETET. 195 would be immediately thrown. We might thus grant to this the proceeds of the sale of the three Canals, and of others be- sides, if there are any which can be sold. With this institu- tion we should change the face of the country. I have made the glory of my reign to consist in changing the face of the territory of my empire. The execution of these great works is as necessary to the interests of my people as to my own satisfaction. I attach equal importance and great glory to the suppression of mendicity. Funds are not wanting, but it seems to me that the work proceeds slowly, and, mean- time, years are passing away. We must not pass through thii world without leaving traces which may commend our memory to posterity. I am going to be absent for a month. Be ready, on the 15th of December, to answer all these questions, which you will have examined in detail, that I,may be able, by a general decree, to put the finishing blow to mendicity. You must find, before the 15th of December, in the reserve fund, and the funds of the communes, the necessary means for the support of sixty or one hundred houses for the extirpation of beggary. The places where they shall be erected must be designated, and the regulations completed. Do not ask me for three or four months to obtain further instruction. You have young auditors, intelligent prefects, skillful engineers bring all into action, and do not sleep in the ordinary labors of the bureau. It is necessary, likewise, that at the same time, all that relates to the administration of the public works should be completed, so that at the commencement of the fine season, France may present the spectacle of a country without a single beggar, and where all the population may be in action to embellish and render productive our immense territory. You must also prepare for me all that is necessary respect- ing measures to be taken for draining of the marshes of Cot- tentin and Rochefort, money for supporting the fund for public works, and for finishing the draining or preparing others. The winter evenings are long. Fill your portfolios, that we 196 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. may be able, during the evenings of these three months, to discuss the means for attaining great results. Upon this may God have you in His holy keeping. NAPOLEON. On the 16th of November Napoleon left Paris, to take a rapid tour through Italy, visiting Eugene and Joseph. Joseph- ine accompanied the Emperor a short distance, but as the jour- ney was to be accomplished as speedily as possible, by driving day and night, the Empress soon took leave of her husband, and returned to Paris. Early on the morning of the 21st, Napoleon arrived in Milan, taking Eugene, the viceroy, by surprise. He immediately went, the same morning, to the cathedral, to attend religious services ; in the afternoon he called at the palace of Monza, to see the wife of Eugene, who was sick ; in the evening, he attended the theater of La Scala, that he might gratify the Italians who were eager to see him. In crossing Mount Cenis, he encountered a terrible storm. The poor accommodations he found for the comfort of trav- elers, led him immediately to establish three small hamlets, one at the summit, and one at the foot, on each side. Here he collected every comfort that could be needful for travelers, and granted exemption from taxes, and other privileges to the peas- ants who removed to these hamlets. From Milan he went to Venice, taking the road by Brescia, Verona, and Padua. He was greeted in every village and city through which he passed, by the most enthusiastic accla- mations, lu Venice his reception was gorgeous in the ex- treme. He had met, on his route, the King and Queen of Ba- varia, whose daughter Eugene had married, his own sister, Eliza, Princess of Lucca, and his brother, Joseph, to whom he was most ardently attached, and whom he had not seen since he had appointed him King of Naples. Many of the generals of the old army of Italy, here met and united with their re- nowned leader, composing a train of magnificence such as is rarely witnessed. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 197 The authorities of Venice, with a vast assemblage of the populace, received the Emperor at one of the lagoons, with gondolas richly decorated to convey him and his retinue across the water to the Queen of the Adriatic. But Napoleon's only joy was in the accomplishment of great and useful enterprises. All his energies were expended during these hours of fes- tivity -in promoting vast improvements. In his short visit to Venice, notwithstanding the time necessarily occupied in receptions, he visited all the public establishments, the dock- yards, the arsenals, and the canals. He issued a decree of twelve heads comprehending all the great wants of Venice. He organized an administration for keeping the canals in good condition and for deepening the lagoons. He ordered a large canal to be dug for conveying vessels from the arsenal to the passage of Malamocco ; a basin was decreed sufficiently capa- cious to hold a seventy-four gun ship, and hydraulic works of great magnitude were commenced. He seemed to comprehend every want at a glance. To promote the public health he transferred the burials from the churches to an island which he set apart for that purpose. He embellished with new attractions, and brilliantly lighted, the Place St. Mark, a celebrated public promenade, and re- newed the funds of several decaying charitable institutions. The people could appreciate such benefits, and acclamations resounded wherever the benefactor appeared. From Venice Napoleon returned to Milan, where, on the 17th of December, he issued in retaliation for an edict on the part of the British Government, his celebrated Milan decree. The British Government by three orders in council had declared France and all the continental States of Europe in a state of blockade, and had declared all neutral vessels as good prize which should attempt to trade with those ports without first stopping in England and paying an average duty of twenty- jive per cent, upon all the goods they conveyed. History mav be searched in vain for audacity equal to that which enabled the British Government, after such a decree, to 198 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. clamor against the retaliatory measures of Napoleon. Those who have not examined this subject will hardly think that such a decree could have been issued. The details may easily be found. ' % From Milan Napoleon passed to Alexandria, near the field of Marengo, where he examined a magnificent fortress which he was having constructed. He ordered the Po to be deep- ened, and laid out the route of a canal to connect the waters of the Po and of the Mediterranean. He then went to Turin, and opened a magnificent road over Mount Genevre to con- nect France with Piedmont. During this journey seven bridges were ordered to span as many streams. For all these vast improvements he provided the necessary financial means. On the evening of the 1st of January, 1808, he returned to Paris. He wrote as follows to Josephine during this rapid tour. LETTER IH. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. MILAN, November 25, 1807. I have been here, my love, for two days. I am very glad that you did not come with me. You would have suffered dreadfully in the passage of Mont Cenis, where a tempest de- tained me for twenty-four hours. I have found Eugene very well. I am much pleased with him. The Princess is siek. I have been to see her at Monza. She has been prematurely confined. She is now better. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. Immediately after Napoleon's arrival in Milan the Legisla- tive Assembly was called together, and the Emperor thus ad- dressed them : " GENTLEMEN It is with pleasure that I see you around my throne. After an absence of three years I am much grat- ified to observe the progress which has been made by my NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 199 people. But there are still many things to be done ere the errors of our fathers can be effaced, and Italy rendered worthy of the high destiny reserved for her. The intestine divisions of our ancestors, occasioned by their miserable egotism and love of individual localities, led to the gradual loss of all their rights. The country was disinherited of its rank and dignity, bequeathed by those who, in remote ages, had spread afar the renown of their arms, and the fame of their manly virtues. To restore that renown and those virtues, will be the object and the glory of my reign." LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. VENICE, November 30, 180T. I have received your letter of the 22d of November. I have been at Venice for two days. The weather is very bad, but it has not prevented me from traversing the lagoons to examine the different forts. I see with pleasure that you are amusing yourself in Paris. The King of Bavaria, with his family, and also the Princess Eliza are here. After the 2d of December, which I shall pass here, I shall be on my return, and shall be very happy to see you. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. UDINE, December 11, 1807. A have received, my love, your letter of the 3d of De- cember, in which I perceive that you have been much pleased with the Garden of Plants. I am now at the most distant point of my journey. It is possible that I may soon be in Paris, where I shall be most happy to see you. The weather 200 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. is not very cold here as yet, but very rainy. I have improved the last moment of the season, for I suppose that at Noel the winter begins to make itself felt. Adieu, my love. Thine entirely. NAPOLEON. LETTER VI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. MILAN, December 17, 1807. My brother I saw Lucien at Mantua, and had with him a conversation of several hours. He has no doubt acquainted you with the sentiments with which he left me. His notions and his expressions are so different from mine, that I can hardly make out what it is that he wants. I think that he told me that he wished to send his eldest daughter to Paris, to live with her grandmother. If he is still thus disposed, I desire to be immediately informed of it. It is necessary that the young lady should be in Paris in the course of the month of January, either accompanied by Lucien or under the care of a governess, who will conduct her to Ma lame. Lucien appears to me to be contending against opposite feelings, with- out having sufficient force of character to come to a decision. I have exhausted all the means which are in my power to induce Lucien, who is still in his early youth, to employ his talents for me and for his country. If he still wishes to send me his daughters he should set out without delay, and he should send me a declaration by which he will place her en- tirely at my disposal ; for there is not a moment to lose, events .-ire pressing on and my destiny must be accomplished. If he has changed his mind let me be informed of it immediately, for I shall then make other arrangements. Say to Lucien that his grief and the feelings which he ex- pressed toward me have touched me ; and that I regret the more that he will not be reasonable and contribute to his own comfort and to mine. NAPOLEON. CHAPTER XII. LETTERS WRITTEN IN THE SPRING OP 1808, MOSTLY DURING A BRIEF VISIT TO BAYONNE. NAPOLEON returned to Paris from Italy on the 1st of Janu- ary, 1808. Soon after, the King of Spain abdicated, being driven to the act by a conspiracy organized by his son. Both father and son appealed to Napoleon for assistance. Early in April he went to Bayonne on the southern frontier of France, and there met Charles IV., and Ferdinand ; and there he was induced to adopt those measures in regard to Spain which subsequently proved so disastrous. During this time he wrote the letters contained in the present chapter. The first letter shows how great was his perplexity in reference to the course which it was politic to pursue. Murat was in Spain with a French army to assist the Spaniards to resist an anticipated attack from the English. The Empress accompanied the Em- peror on this journey as far as Bordeaux. LETTER I. NAPOLEON TO MURAT. March 29, 1808. MONSIEUR GRAND DUKE OF BERG I fear that you may be deceiving me respecting the situa- tion of Spain, and that you may be deceiving yourself. The affair of the 19th of March has very considerably embarrassed the state of things. Do not imagine that you are attacking an unarmed nation, and that your troops have only to show 0* 202 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. themselves in order to reduce Spain to subjection. The revo- lution of the 20th of March proves that there is spirit among the Spaniards. You have to deal with a people in the prime of their energies, fired with all the courage and all the enthu- siasm which animate men who have not been worn out by political excitement. The aristocracy and the clergy are masters of Spain. Should they become alarmed for their piivileges and their existence, they may raise against us levies en masse, which will perpetuate the war. The Prince of the Peace is detested, because he is charged with having delivered Spain over to Fiance. This is the grievance which favored the usurpation of Ferdinand. The popular party is the weakest. The Prince of the Asturias has none of the qualifications requisite for the head of a nation ; nevertheless, for the sake of setting him up in opposition to us, he will be elevated into a hero. I will not consent to any violence being exercised toward the personages of that family. It never answers any 'purpose to render one's self odious, and to stir up hatred. Spain has upward of one hundred thousand men in arms more than enough to carry on internal war with advantage ; and this force, if dispersed over various points, may serve to keep the whole monarchy in a state of insurrectionary fer- ment. I here point out to you all those obstacles which are inevi- table. There are others which your judgment will enable you to comprehend. England will not let slip this opportunity of multiplying our embarrassments. She is daily forwarding advice to the forces she keeps up on the coast of Portugal, and in the Med- iterranean, arid she is enlisting Sicilian and Portuguese troops. The royal family, not having quitted Spain to proceed to South America,, nothing but a revolution can change the face of the country ; and Spain is, perhaps, of all the countries of Europe, that which is least prepared for revolution. The per- NAPOLEON TO MUBAT. 203 sons who are sensible of the monstrous vices of the govern- ment, and of the anarchy which has usurped the place of legal authority are in the minority ; the majority take advan- tage of these vices and of that anarchy. In the interest of my empire I can effect much good to Spain. The question is, What are the best means of doing so ? Shall I go to Madrid ? Shall I set up the authority of a Grand Protectorate, by deciding between the father and the son ? It appears to me that it would be a very difficult matter to keep Charles IV. on the throne. His government and his favorite have sank so low in popular estimation that they could not support themselves for three months. Ferdinand is the enemy of France, and, for that reason he has been made king. To place him on the throne will be to serve the factions, which, for the space of twenty-five years have been seeking the annihilation of France. A family alli- ance would be but a feeble bond. It appears to me that mat- ters ought not to be precipitated ; and that it will be well to take counsel of coming events. We must reinforce the corps on the frontiers of Portugal and wait patiently. I do not approve of the course adopted by your imperial highness in so hurriedly taking possession of Madrid. The army ought to have been kept at the distance of ten leagues from the capital. You had no satisfactory assurance that the people and the magistracy would willingly recognize Ferdi- nand. I have ordered Savary to go to the old king and learn how things are proceeding. He will concert with your imperial highness. I will hereafter direct what course is to be adopted ; in the mean time I think it necessary to prescribe to you the following line of conduct. You must not bind me to any interview in Spain, with Fer- dinand, unless you judge the position of things to be such as will warrant me in recognizing him as King of Spain. You must keep up an appearance of amicable sentiments toward the king, the queen, and Prince Godoy. You must exact for them and render to them the same honors as formerly. You '204: CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. must manage so that the Spaniards may have no suspicion of the course I am about to take. This will not be difficult, since I do not myself know what that course will be. You must make known to the nobility and clergy that if 'France should interfere in the affairs of Spain, their privileges and immunities will be respected. Inform them that the Em- peror desires the improvement of the political institutions of Spain, that they may be raised to a level with the state of civil- ization throughout Europe, and released from the control of favorites. Tell the magistrates, citizens, and all enlightened persons, that Spain must reconstruct the machine of her gov- ernment; that she must have laws which will protect her citi- zens against the arbitrary power and the usurpations of feudalism, institutions which will revive industry, agriculture, and the arts. Portray to them the state of tranquillity and happiness enjoyed by France, notwithstanding the wars in which she has been involved, and point to the glory of her religion which owes its re-establishment to the concordat I have signed with the Pope. Prove to them the advantages they may derive from a political regeneration order and peace at home, respect and power abroad. Such must be the spirit of your addresses to the Spanish people, either in speak- ing or writing. Do not hurry on any measures. I can wait at Bayonne, or I can cross the Pyrenees and, fortifying my- self in the direction of Portugal, I can continue the war in that quarter. I will attend to your private interests ; do not trouble your- self about them. Portugal will be at my disposal. Let no personal project occupy your thoughts, or guide your conduct ; thnt would injure me, and would injure you still more. You go too fast in your instructions of the 14th. The movement you prescribe for General Dupont is too rapid ; the event of the 19th of March has rendered changes necessary. You must make new arrangements, and you will receive instruc- tions from my Minister for Foreign Affairs. I desire that discipline may be maintained in the strictest manner no par- NAPOLEON TO MUEAT. 205 don, even for the smallest faults. Let the inhabitants be treated with the greatest consideration ; above all, let churches and convents be respected. Our troops must avoid any sort of collision, either with the corps of the Spanish army, or with detachments. Not a cart- ridge must be fired on either side. Let Sokno get beyond Badajoz, and keep watch upon him. Trace out, yourself, the marches of our army, so as to keep it always at the distance of several leagues from the Spanish corps. If war should be kindled, all is lost. T.he destiny of Spain must be determined by diplomacy and negotiations. I recommend you to avoid explanations with Solano, as well as with the other Spanish governors and You will send me two expresses daily. In case of events of urgent importance, you must dispatch orderly officers. Send back, immediately, the Chamberlain, de Tournou, who is the bearer of this dispatch, and deliver to him a detailed report. NAPOLEON. We give the following brief extracts from the account which Napoleon gave at St. Helena, of his difficulties with Spain : " The old king and queen," said the Emperor, " at the mo- ment of the event, were the objects of the hatred and the con- tempt of their subjects. The Prince of Asturias conspired against them, forced them to abdicate, and at once united in his own person the love and hopes of the nation. That nation was, however, ripe for great changes, and demanded them with energy. I enjoyed vast popularity in the country, and it was in that state of things that all these personages met at Bayonne, the old king calling upon me for vengeance against his son, and the young prince soliciting my protection against his father, and imploring a visit at my hands. I resolved to convert this singular occasion to my advantage, with the view of freeing myself from that branch of the Bourbons, of con- tinuing in my own dynasty the family system of Louis XIV., 206 . CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. and of binding Spain to the destinies of France. Ferdinand was sent to Valence, the old king to Marseilles, as he wished, and my brother Joseph went to reign at Madrid, with a liberal constitution, adopted by a congress of the Spanish nation, which had come to receive it at Bayonne. " The impolicy of my conduct was irrevocably decided by the results. But independently of that kind of proof, depending upon consequences., I have to reproach myself with serious faults in the execution of my plans. One of the greatest, was that of treating the dethronement of the dynasty of the Bour- bons as a matter of importance, and of maintaining, as the basis of my system for a new sovereign, precisely the man who, by his qualities and character, was certain to produce its failure. " Charles IV. was, however, too stale for the Spaniards. Ferdinand should have been considered in the same light. The plan most worthy of me, and the best suited to my pro- ject, would have been a kind of mediation, like that of Switzer- land. I ought to have given a liberal constitution to the Spanish nation, and charged Ferdinand with its execution. If he acted with good faith, Spain must have prospered, and har- monized with our new manners. The great object would have been obtained, and France would have acquired an intimate ally, and an addition of power truly formidable. Had Ferdi- nand, on the contrary, proved faithless to his new engage- ments, the Spaniards themselves would not have failed to dismiss him, and would have applied to me for a ruler in his place. At all events, that unfortunate war of Spain was a real affliction, and the first cause of the calamities of France. " I was then assailed with imputations, for which, however, I had given no cause. History will do me justice. I was charged, in that affair, with perfidy, with laying snares, and with bad faith, and yet I was completely innocent. Never, whatever may have been said to the contrary, have I broken any engagement, or violated any promise, either with regard to Spain or any other power. NAPOLEON TO MURAT. 20T " The -world will one day be convinced that in the princi- pal transactions relative to Spain I was completely a stranger to all the domestic intrigues of its court ; that I broke no promise made either to Charles IV., or to Ferdinand VII ; that I violated no engagement either with the father or the son ; that I made use of no falsehoods to entice them both to Bayonne, but that they both strove which should be first to show himself there. When I saw them at my feet, and was enabled to form a correct opinion of their total incapacity, I beheld with compassion the fate of a great people. I eagerly seized the singular opportunity held out to me by fortune, for regenerating Spain, rescuing her from the yoke of England, and intimately uniting her with our system. It was, in my conception, laying the fundamental basis of the tranquillity and security of Europe. But I was far from employing, for that purpose, as it has been reported, any base and paltry stratagems. If I erred it was, on the contrary, by daring openness and extraordinary energy. Bayonne was not the scene of premeditated ambush, but of a vast master-stroke of state policy. I could have preserved myself from these impu- tations by a little hypocrisy, or by giving up the Prince of Peace to the fury of the people. But the idea appeared hor- rible to me, and struck me as if I were to receive the price of blood. When I had them all assembled at Bayonne I felt a confidence in my political system to which I never before had the presumption to aspire. I had not made any combi- nations, but I took advantage of the moment. I here found the Gordian knot before me, and I cut it. I proposed to Charles IV. and the queen to resign the crown of Spain to me and to live quietly in France. " They agreed, I could almost say with joy, to the proposal, so inveterately were they exasperated against their son, and so earnestly did they and their favorite wish to enjoy for the future, tranquillity and safety. The Prince of the Asturias made no extraordinary resistance to the plan, but neither vio- lence nor threats were employed against him, and, if he was 208 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. influenced by fear, which I am very willing to believe, that could only be his concern. " There you have in a few words the complete historical sketch of the affairs of Spain; whatever may be said or writ- ten upon it must amount to that ; and you see that there could be no occasion for me to have had recourse to paltry tricks, to falsehood, to breaches of faith or violation of en- gagements. In order to establish my guilt, it would have been necessary to show my inclination. to degrade myself gra- tuitously. But of that propensity I have not given an in- stance." LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT BORDEAUX. BAYON-NE, April 16, 1808. I have arrived here in good health, a little fatigued by the route which is melancholy and very rough. I am very glad that you stopped, for the houses here are very bad and very small. I am, to-day, to go to a small house in the country, half a league distant from the city. Adieu, my love. I wish you good health. NAPOLEON. LETTER III. TO THE EMPRESS AT BORDEAUX. April 17, 1808. I have received your letter of the 15th of April. What you tell me of the landlord of the country house, gives me pleasuje. Go there to pass the day sometimes. I give an order that an addition of four thousand dollars a mouth be made for your private purse to commence from the 1st of April. I am horribly lodged. I am going in half an hour to JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 209 make a change, and take up my abode at a half league's dis- tance in a country house. The Infant don Charles, and five or six Spanish nobles are here. The Prince of Asturias is twenty leagues distant. King Charles and the queen have arrived. I do not know where I shall lodge all these peo- ple. All are, as yet, at the inn. My troops are doing well in Spain. It took me a moment to comprehend your pretty thoughts (tes gentillesses). I have smiled at your souvenirs. You ladies have such memories. My health is quite good, and I love you with the truest affection. I desire that you should make friends with every body at Bordeaux ; my occupations have not allowed me to pay any attentions. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT BORDEAUX. April 21, 1808. I have received your letter of the 19th of April. Yester- day I had the Prince of the Asturias and his court, to dine. It caused me much embarrassment. I am expecting to see Charles TV. and the queen. My health is good. I am pretty well established and fairly in the country. Adieu, my love. I receive always with a great deal of pleasure, tidings from you. NAPOLEON. LETTER V. JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E AT PARIS. BORDEAUX, April 23, 1808. I am, my dear Hortense, in an excess of joy. The tidings of your happy accouchment were brought to me yesterday by M. de Villeneuve. I felt my heart beat the moment I saw 210 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. him enter; but I cherished the hope that he had only good tidings to bring me, and my presentiments did not deceive me. I have just received a second letter, which assures me that you are very well, and also your son. I know that Na- poleon will console himself in not having a sister, and that he already loves very much his brother. 1 Embrace them both for me. I received, yesterday, a letter from the Emperor. His health is very good. The Prince of Asturias and Don Carlos have dined with him ; he expects, also, the king, Charles IV., and the queen, to dine with him to-morrow. But I must not write you too long a letter, from fear of fa- tiguing you. Take care of yourself with the utmost caution. Do not receive too much company at present. Let me hear from you every day. I await tidings from you with as much impatience as I love you with tenderness. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT BORDEAUX. BAYONNE, April 23, 1808. My love Hortense has become the mother of another son. It affords me the greatest joy. I am not surprised that you say nothing to me about it, since your letter is dated the 21st, and she was confined on the night of the 20th. You can set out on the 26th, sleep at Mount de Maisan, and arrive here on the 27th. Let your attendants who go before 1 The child to whose birth Josephine here refers, was Louis Napo- leon, now Napoleon III., Emperor of France. He was born in the palace of the Tuileries in Paris, on the 20th of April, 1808. He had then one brother, Napoleon Louis, a few years older than himself, who has since died. Louis Napoleon has for many years been without either father or mother, brother, or sister. His life has been one of great reverses and of many and severe sufferings. The spirit of melancholy has left deep traces upon his countenance. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 211 you leave on the evening of the 25th. I will arrange for you here a little country-seat by the side of that which I occupy. My health is good. I am expecting King Charles and his wife. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER VII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT PARIS. BORDEAUX, April 25, 1808. I have received, my dear Hortense, a letter from the Em- peror, who informs me that he has been apprised of your con- finement, and that the intelligence has given him very great joy. It appears that he had received the news before the ar- rival of M. de Villeneuve. The Emperor sent at the same time for me to come and meet him at Bayonne. You can judge, my dear daughter, that it is a great happiness for me not to be separated from the Emperor ; I set out early to-mor- row morning. The news which I have received of your health gives me much pleasure. I entreat you to be very careful of your health, and particularly to avoid receiving too much company at present. I shall be two or three days without writing to you, but not a moment without thinking of you. Adieu, my dear Hortense. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VHI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. BAYONNE, May 11, 1808. My brother You will find annexed the letter of King Charles to the Prince of the Asturias, and a copy of my treaty with the king. The Grand Duke of Berg is Lieutenant-Gene- ral of the kingdom, President of the Junta, and Generalissimo of the Spanish forces. King Charles starts in two days for Compeigne. The Prince of the Asturias is going toward 212 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Paris. The other Spanish princes are to occupy villas in the environs of Paris. King Charles, by his treaty with me, sur- renders to me all his rights to the crown of Spain. The prince had already renounced his pretended title of king, the abdication of King Charles in his favor having been involun- tary. The nation, through the supreme council of Castile, asks me for a king. I destine this crown for you. Spain is very different from Naples. It contains eleven millions of inhabitants, and has more than one hundred and fifty millions of revenue, without counting the immense reve- nues and the possession of all the Americas. It is, besides, a throne which places you at Madrid, at three days journey from France, which borders the whole of one of its frontiers. At Madrid you are in France. Naples is at the end of the world. I desire, then, that immediately after having received this letter, you will leave the regency to whom you please, the command of the troops to Marshal Jourdan, and that you set out for Bayonne by the way of Turin, Mount Cenis, and Ly- ons. You will receive this letter on the 19th, you will leave on the 20th, and you will be here on the 1st of June. Leave with Marshal Jourdan, before you set out, directions as to the disposition of your troops, and make arrangements as if you were to be absent only to the 1st of July. Be secret, however. Your journey will probably excite only too much suspicion. You can say that you are going to the north of Italy, to confer with me upon affairs of importance. NAPOLEON. At St. Helena Napoleon remarked, in reference to these transactions : " If the government I established had remained, it would have been the best thing that ever happened for Spain. I would have regenerated the Spaniards. I would have made them a great nation. Instead of a feeble, imbecile, and super- stitious race of Bourbons, I would have given them a new dy- nasty, that would have no claim upon the nation, except by NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 213 the good it would have rendered unto it. For a hereditary race of asses, they would have had a monarch with ability to revive the nation, sunk under the yoke of superstition and ig- norance. Perhaps it is better for France that I did not suc- ceed, as Spain would have been a formidable rival. I would have destroyed superstition and priestcraft, and abolished the Inquisition, and those lazy beasts of friars. I would have ren- dered the priests at least harmless. The guerillas who fought so bravely against me, now lament their success. When I was last in Paris, I had letters from Mina, and many other leaders of the guerillas, craving assistance to expel their friar from the throne." The British government took Spain from the hands of Na- poleon, and placed it in the hands of Ferdinand VII. The world can look at Spain now, and see what has been the result. CHAPTER XIII. LETTERS IN THE YEAR 1808, DURING THE CONGRESS AT ERFURTH. ABOUT the middle of September, Napoleon left Paris to meet at Erfurth the Emperor Alexander, and a brilliant as- semblage of kings, princes, and statesmen, from all parts of Europe, to deliberate upon the general welfare of the conti- nent. The Congress assembled on the 27th of September, and continued until the 14th of October, when it was dis- solved, and Napoleon and Alexander took very friendly leave of each other. They never met again. LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. ERFURTH, September 29, 1808. I have a slight cold. I have received your letter from Mal- maison. I am highly pleased here with the Emperor and with every one. It is one hour after midnight and I am fatigued. Adieu, my love. Take care of your health. NAPOLEON. This celebrated congress had attracted to Erfurth all the most illustrious of the literati of Germany. Wieland and Goethe were there. Wieland, the renowned poet and histo- rian, thus describes an interview he had with the Emperor Napoleon, one evening in the saloon of the Princess of Tour : NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 215 " I had been but a few moments in the room when Napo- leon crossed it to come to us. I was presented by the Duchess of Weimar. He paid me some compliments in an affable tone, fixing his eye piercingly upon me. Few men have ap- peared to me to possess in the same degree, the power of pen- etrating, at a glance, the thoughts of others. I have never beheld one more calm, more simple, more mild, or less osten- tatious in appearance. Nothing about him indicated the feel- ing of power in a great monarch. " He spoke to me as an old acquaintance would speak to an equal. What was more extraordinary on his part, he con- versed with me exclusively for an hour and a half to the great surprise of the assembly. He appeared to have no relish for any thing gay. In spite of the prepossessing amenity of his manners he seemed to me to be of bronze. Toward midnight I began to feel that it was improper to detain him so long and I took the liberty to demand permission to retire. ' Go then,' said he, in a friendly tone ; ' Good-night.' " LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. October 9, 1808. I have received, my love, your letter. I see with pleasure that you are well. I have just come from a drive over the battle-field of Jena. We breakfasted upon the spot where I passed the night in bivouac. I have been present at a ball in Weimar. The Emperor Alexander danced. But 1? No! Forty years are forty years. My health is in the main good, notwithstanding some little ills. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. I hope to see you soon. NAPOLEON. Erfurth was distant but a few miles from the field of Jena. A magnificent fete was arranged there in honor of Napoleon, by those who were willing, in their present admiration of his 216 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. character, to forget their past defeats. A tent was pitched, and breakfast provided, upon the summit of the Landgrafen- herg, where Napoleon had bivouacked on the night of the ]9th of October, two years before the night before the terri- ble battles of Jena and Auerstadt. LETTER IH. TO THE EMPRESS AT ST. CLOUD. My love I write you but little. I am intensely occupied. Conversation engrosses every moment of the day. That does not cure my cold. Nevertheless every thing is prosperous. I am well satisfied with Alexander ; he ought to be so with me. If he were a woman, I think I should fall in love with him. I shall be with you soon. Take good care of your health, and let me find you plump and rosy. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. Austria, assuming an unfriendly attitude, was not invited to this congress. The neglect irritated Francis ; he, however, sent an embassador, with some message, but in reality to watch the proceedings. Napoleon received the embassador cour- teously, and transmitted by him to Francis the following letter : LETTER IV. NAPOLEON TO THE EMPEROR FRANCIS OF AUSTRIA. ERFURTH. Sire and brother I have never doubted your Majesty's up- right intentions. I have, notwithstanding, had fears, for a while, of seeing hostilities renewed between us. There is a faction in Vienna which affects alarm in order to hurry your NAPOLEON TO THE KINO OF ENGLAND. 217 cabinet into violent measures. I have had it in my power to dismember your Majesty's monarchy, or, at least, to leave it less powerful. I did not choose to do so. What it is, it is by my consent. This is the most convincing proof that I desire nothing of your Majesty. I am always ready to guaranty the integrity of your Majesty's dominions. I will never do any thing contrary to the established principles of your mon- archy. " But your Majesty must not open questions which fifteen years of war have settled. Your Majesty must prohibit every proclamation or proceeding provocative of war. By pursuing a straightforward and frank line of conduct, your Majesty will render your people happy, and you will enjoy yourself the repose which you so earnestly desire after so many troubles. Let your Majesty's proceedings display confidence and they will inspire it. The best policy, in these days, is simplicity and truth. Let your Majesty make known to me your appre- hensions ; I will instantly disperse them, etc. NAPOLEON. One of the great objects of the congress at Erfurth was so to combine Europe, as to compel the British Government to sheathe the sword, and thus, at last, to allow the world to be at peace. A letter was accordingly written to the King of England by Napoleon, and signed by both Napoleon and Alexander. This important document was as follows : LETTER V. TO THE KINO OF ENGLAND. ERFTOTH. Sire The present situation of Europe has brought us to- gether at Erfurth. Our first wish is to fulfill the desire of all nations, and, by a speedy pacification with your Majesty, to take the most effectual means for relieving the sufferings of Europe. The long and bloody war, which has convulsed the 10 218 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. continent is at an end, and can not be renewed. Many changes have taken place in Europe ; many governments have been destroyed. The cause is to be found in the uneasiness and the sufferings occasioned by the stagnation of maritime com- merce. Greater changes still may take place, and all will be unfavorable to the politics of England. Peace, therefore, is at the same time the common cause of the nations of the conti- nent, and of Great Britain. We unite in requesting your Majesty to lend an ear to the voice of humanity, to suppress that of the passions, to reconcile contending interests, and to secure the welfare of Europe and of the generations over which Providence has placed us. Signed, NAPOLEON. ALEXANDER. This letter was addressed to Mr. Canning, then Prime Min- ister of England, inclosed in an envelop, the inscription of which signified that it was a letter from the Emperors of France and Russia to the King of Great Britain. But the British government was so determined to make no peace whatever with Napoleon, that they would not even listen to any proposals from him. They issued stringent orders not to allow a flag of truce to pass. But a French brig, convey- ing the envoys, pushed boldly into the Downs and cast anchor. The English government, however, refused all negotiation, and returned the insulting answer, that " the English ministers could not reply to the two sovereigns, since one of them was not recognized by England. 1 ' 1 And then with effrontery, for which the world may be searched in vain for a parallel, these same ministers continued to bombard France, clamoring more loudly than ever that Bonaparte, in his " insatiable ambition" would not allow the world to be at peace. Just before Napoleon set out for Erfurth, he wrote the fol- lowing letter to his brother Joseph : NAPOLEON TO JOJ3EPH. 219 LETTER VI. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. ST. CLOUD, September 17, 1808. My brother I shall not answer your last letter, in which you appear to me to be out of humor. I have observed this rule with you for a long time past. You have too much sense not to be aware that this is the only course open to me when you write in such terms. Nor shall I ever discuss the past with you, unless you ask me to do so, for your particular ben- efit, and to serve you as a rule for the future. But when you are convinced that one could not have done better than has been done, I ought to leave you in that belief, and not to af- flict you, since the past is always without remedy. I have granted all the rewards which General Merlin asked me for, on account of the affair of Bilboa, the more willingly as his demands seemed to me to be reasonable. NAPOLEON. About this time, Miiller, the celebrated Swiss historian, had an interview with Napoleon. In the following language he described the impression which the Emperor's presence pro- duced upon his mind : " Quite impartially and truly, as before God, I must say that the variety of his knowledge, the acuteness of his observation, the solidity of his understanding, filled me with astonishment. His manner of speaking to me inspired me with love for him. It was one of the most remarkable days of my life. By his genius and his disinterested goodness he has conquered me also." In reference to the proposals for peace made to England, by Napoleon and Alexander, at the close of this conference, Colonel Napier, the historian of the Peninsular War, says : " What Napoleon's real views, in proposing to treat, were, it is difficult to determine. He could not expect that Great Britain would have relinquished the cause of Spain. He must 220 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. therefore have been prepared to make some arrangement upon that head, unless the whole proceeding was an artifice to sow distrust among his enemies. The English minister asserted that it was so. But what enemies were they among whom he could create this uneasy feeling ? Sweden, Sicily, Portugal ! The notion, as applied to them, was absurd. It is more prob- able that he was sincere. He said so, at St. Helena, and the peculiar circumstances of the period at which the conference of Erfurth took place, warrant a belief in that assertion." CHAPTER XIV. LETTERS IN 1808 AND 1809, DURING NAPOLEON'S CAM- PAIGN IN SPAIN. THE Spanish peasantry, generally, roused by the priests, and aided by England, resisted the measures of Napoleon. En- gland landed a large army to assist the Spaniards to drive Joseph from Spain. Napoleon returned from Erfurth to Paris on the 18th of October. On the 29th he took his carriage for Bayonne, " traversing the earth," says Sir Walter Scott, "as a comet does the sky, working changes wherever he came." The fleet of England was hovering around the shores of Spain and Portugal, landing, at every available point, mon- ey, arms, and munitions of war. Heading his armies, he swept onward like a whirlwind, everywhere driving the En- glish and the Spaniards before him. He was pursuing Sir John Moore, who was retreating with great precipitation to his ships, when, on the 2d of January, he was stopped on the road near Astorga, in a snow-storm, by dispatches informing him that Austria had entered into another coalition with En- gland, to attack him on the north. He accordingly surren- dered the pursuit to Marshal Soult, and returned to Paris, to make preparations to meet this new danger. During this short campaign of two months, Napoleon wrote as follows to Josephine : LETTER I. 11 % TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. BAYONNE, November 3, 1808. I arrived here, this night, with much difficulty. I have traveled over several stages on horseback. I am, nevertheless, 222 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. very well. I leave, to-morrow, for Spain. My troops are as- sembling in force. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER IT. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. BAYONNE, November 3, 1808. My brother I have this instant reached Bayonne ; all your troops are scattered. Let us hear from you at least once or twice a day, that I may know the positions of all the different corps. Having ridden post over a part of the Landes, I am rather tired. NAPOLEON. LETTER HI. NAPOLEON TO THE MINISTER, DEJEAN, DIRECTOR OP THE ADMINISTRATION OF WAR. BAYONNE, November 4, 1808. You will find annexed a report of the commissary. You will see how shamefully I am treated. I have only fourteen hundred coats, seven thousand great coats, instead of fifty thousand ; fifteen thousand pairs of shoes, instead of one hun- dred and twenty-nine thousand. I am in want of every thing. Nothing can be worse than the clothing. My army will begin the campaign naked. It has nothing. The conscripts are not clothed. Your reports are waste paper. Merely sending convoys is not enough ; they should be dispatched regularly under an officer or a clerk, and they would arrive. You will find inclosed letters from the Prefect of the Gi- ronde, and a report from the inspector, Dufreme. You will see that all is robbery and peculation. My army is naked just as it is entering on a campaign. I have spent a great deal, which has been money thrown into the sea. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO DEJEAN. 228 LETTER IV. NAPOLEON TO DEJEAN. TOLOSA, November 5, 1808. What I want are great coats and shoes. I should want nothing if my orders had been executed. Not one has been executed, because the commissary can not be relied upon, and because he has dealing with rogues. You must send to Bayonne a commissary above suspicion. I wish to have no contracts. You know that contracts produce nothing but robbery. I have annulled the contract for clothing at Bordeaux. Send thither a director to make clothing on my account, who will receive from the Prefect assistance, a work place and work people. Act on this principle, that every contractor is a thief; that when you pay, contracts are unnecessary ; and that the best plan is always to make for yourself. How is this working establishment to be managed ? Like those in our regiments. An honest commissary must be put at its head, and three or four master tailors under him ; and three field officers among those at Bordeaux must receive the clothing and see that it is good. Give the commissary funds and no contract will be necessary. You will see, by my de- cree that a commissioner is to be added to the commissary, a man who will stake his reputation on the success of the un- dertaking, and two good store-keepers, and two master tailors. These five persons are enough ; and I shall have clothing as good as that of my guard. There can be no difficulty in get- ting through with the work. Ten thousand suits of clothes a day might be made ; all that would be necessary would be to send for work people from every part of France. If you had acted thus, all would now be going on well. I wish for no contracts. This must be the system when the clothing is made out of the regiment, etc. NAPOLEON. 224 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. November 5, 1808. I am at Tolosa. I leave for Vittoria where I shall be in a few hours. I am very well, and I hope that all this will soon be finished. NAPOLEON. LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. November 7. My love I have T)een for two days at Vittoria. I am very well. The guard arrived to-day. The king is very well. My time is very much occupied. I learn that you are at Paris. Do not doubt my afiection. NAPOLEON. LETTER VH. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. CABO, November 10, 1808; 8 P. M. My brother I shall start at one o'clock to-morrow morn- ing for Burgos, where I shall make my arrangements for (he day; for to conquer is nothing; it is necessary to know how to profit by success. I think that you are to be at Breviesca to-morrow. I am as anxious that you should be treated with ceremomy as I am careless about myself. As for me, it does not suit the character of a soldier, and I do not wish for it. I think that deputations from Burgos ought to meet you and receive you in the best manner possible. Upon my arrival I will give all the orders for the disarmament and for burning the standard which was used on the proclamation of Ferdi- nand. Make it evident that this is no laughing matter, etc. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 225 LETTER VIH. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. BURGOS, November 14, 1808. Affairs move here with great activity. The weather is very fine. We are successful. My health is good. NAPOLEON. LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. November 26, 1808. I have received your letter. I hope that your health may be as good as mine is, though I am very much occupied. All things move prosperously here. I think that you ought to return to the Tuileries, by the 21st of December, and to com- mence, from that date, giving a concert every week. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. P. S. My love to Hortense and to Monsieur Napoleon. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. December 7, 1808. I have received your letter of the 28th. I see with pleas- ure that you are well. You have seen that the young Tascher has conducted himself nobly. That gives me much pleasure. My health is good. The weather here is like the last fortnight of May in Paris. We have it warm and no fire, except at night, when it is quite cold. Madrid is tranquil. All my affairs are prosperous. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. NAPOLEON. P. S. My love to Hortense and to Monsieur Napoleon. 10* 226 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XL TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. December 10, 1808. My love I have received your letter. You tell me that the weather is bad in Paris. We have here the most delight- ful weather in the world. Tell me, I pray you, what is the meaning of the reductions made hy Hortense. They tell me that she is sending back her domestics. Do they refuse her the number which is necessary ? Say to me a word upon that subject. Such reductions are indecorous. Adieu, my love. We have the most delightful weather. Every thing is prosperous. I entreat you to take good care of your health. NAPOLEON. LETTER XII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. December 21, 1808. You ought to enter the Tuileries on the 12th. I hope that you will be pleased with your apartments. I have authorized the presentation to you of Kourakin. Receive him kindly, and make him enjoy himself while with you. Adieu, my love. I am very well. The weather is rainy ; it is a little cold. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. December 22, 1808. I leave this instant to march against the English who seem to have received reinforcements and to wish to bluster a little. The weather is beautiful; my health is perfect. Have no solicitude, NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 227 The English, under Sir John Moore, commenced their re- treat from Sahugun on the evening of the 24th. On the 27th Napoleon wrote to Joseph, " I, with all the troops that have come from Madrid, am on the right of the English. Their number appears to be about thirty-six thousand. I shall reach Medina de Rio Seco to-day ; and either to-day or lo-morrow, great events will probably take place. If the English have not already retreated they are lost ; and if they retire, they will be pursued so vigorously to their ships, that certainly one half of them will not re-embark." Three days after this, on the 31st, Napoleon wrote to Joseph : " My vanguard is near Astorga. The English are running away as fast as they can, abandoning ammunition, drums, and baggage. There are more than two hundred carriages on the Astorga road. The English have not only cut the bridges, but have undermined and blown up the arches, a barbarous and unusual use of the rights of war, as it ruins the country to no purpose. They are therefore abhorred by every body. They have carried off every thing, oxen, mattresses, blankets, and then maltreated and beaten the inhabitants. There could not have been a better sedative for Spain, than to send here an English army. LETTER XTV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. BENEVENTO, December 31, 1808. My love I have been for several days pursuing the En- glish, but they fly in terror. They have meanly abandoned the wrecks of the army of Romany, that their flight might not be retarded by a single half day. More than one hun- dred baggage-wagons are already taken. The weather is very bad. Lefebvre has been taken. He got himself, with three hun- 228 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. dred horsemen, into an affray. These braggadocios crossed the river by swimming, and plunged into the midst of the English cavalry. They slew many of them, but on their return, Lefeb- vre had his iiorse wounded. He was drowning, when the current swept him upon the bank where the English were. He was taken. Console his wife. Adieu, my love. Bessieres, with ten thousand horse, is at Astorga. NAPOLEON. P. S. A happy new year to every body. On the same day, Napoleon thus alludes to this event in a letter to Joseph : " General Lefebvre, in command of the chas- seurs of my guard, has allowed himself to be taken prisoner. I had sent him, with a detachment of chasseurs, to reconnoiter, desiring him to run no risks. He crossed the river opposite Benevento, and found there three thousand British horse. He charged them, killed a great many, but was forced to yield to numbers. In attempting to recross the river, his horse was wounded, and he was drowning when two of the English saved him. This affair has cost me sixty of my chasseurs killed, wounded, and prisoners. You may conceive how much it has annoyed me. In the evening, I brought eight thousand cavalry to the spot, but the English were far away." LETTER XV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. January 3, 1809. I have received, my love, your letters of the 18th and of the 21st. I am pursuing the English, the sword at their loins. The weather is cold and rigorous, but every thing goes well. Adieu, my love. Entirely thine. A happy and a very happy new year to my Josephine. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 229 LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. BENEVENTO,' January 5, 1809. My love I write a word. The English are in utter rout. 1 The Castle of Benevento is, if we except the Castle of Heidelberg, perhaps the most imposing relic which now remains of feudal magnifi- cence. Southey gives the following fine description of its present as- pect of decayed grandeur : " The castle of Benevento is one of the finest models of the age of chivalry ; nothing in England approaches to it in magnificence. Berke- ley, Bjaby, and even "Warwick are poor fabrics in comparison. With Gothic grandeur, it has the richness of Moorish decoration ; open al- coves, where Saracenic arches are supported by pillars of porphyry and granite ; cloisters with fountains playing in their courts, jasper columns and tesselated floors, niches all over and seats in the walls, over- arched in various forms, and enriched with every grotesque adornment of gold and silver, and colors which are hardly less gorgeous. It be- longed to the Duke of Osruna, and the splendor of old times was still continued there. "The extent of this magnificent structure maybe estimated from the single circumstance that two regiments, besides artillery, were quartered within its walls ; they proved the most destructive enemies that had ever entered them. The officers, who felt and admired the beauties of this venerable pile, attempted in vain to save it from de- struction. Every thing combustible was seized, fires were lighted against the fine walls, and pictures of unknown value, the works per- haps of the greatest Spanish masters, were heaped together as fuel." Napoleon drove these English soldiers, of whom Southey speaks, from the Castle, and took possession of it himself The French soldiers protected the edifice with scrupulous care. The British army, during this retreat, were in the most shameful state of brutal disorganization. Sir Archibald Alison says : " The native and ineradicable vice of northern climates, drunken- ness, here appeared in frightful colors. The great wine vaults of Bem- bebre proved more fatal than the sword, of the enemy ; and when the gallant rear-guard, which preserved its ranks unbroken, closed up the array, they had to force their way through a motley crowd of the Eu- glish and the Spanish soldiers, stragglers and marauders, who reeled 230 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I have charged the Duke of Dalmatia 1 to pursue them, the sword at their loins. I am well. The weather is bad. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVII. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. BENEVENTO, January 6, 1809. My brother I thank you for your wishes in reference to the new year. I have no hopes that Europe will be at peace this year. I expect it so little that I yesterday signed a decree for raising one hundred thousand men. The fierce hatred of England, the events at Constantinople, every thing presages that the hour of repose and tranquillity has not yet struck. As for you, it seems as if your realm were becoming tranquil. NAPOLEON. The above letter was written in reply to the following from LETTER JOSEPH TO NAPOLEON. LA FLORIDA, January 1, 1809. j^Sire I beg your Majesty to accept my wishes, that in the course of the present year, Europe, pacified through your ex- ertions, may render justice to your intentions. May Europe, as does France and your family, bless the labors of your Maj- esty, and witness everywhere prosperity and happiness. JOSEPH. out of the houses in disgusting crowds, or lay stretched on the road- side, an easy prey to the enemy's cavalry, which thundered in close pursuit." ' Marshal Soult. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 231 LETTER XIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. January 9, 1809. Moustache brings me a letter from you, of the 31st of De- cember. I see, my love, that you are sad, and that you are oppressed with the deepest anxiety. Austria will not make war against me, but if she does, I have one hundred and fifty thousand men in Germany, and as many upon the Rhine, and four hundred thousand Germans, with whom to meet her. Russia will not separate herself from me. They are simpletons at Paris. Every thing is prosperous. I shall be in Paris as soon as I think it to be important. It is a beautiful day, at 2 o'clock in the morning. But, adieu, my love. I am well, and entirely thine. NAPOLEON. Josephine was rendered very unhappy by the indications of a new coalition which was being organized in the north. Na- poleon, pursuing the English, left Astorga in a snow-storm. He had proceeded but a few miles, when he was overtaken by a courier, bearing dispatches of great importance. Napoleon alighted from his horse, and read them by the wayside. They contained the tidings that Austria, taking advantage of his absence in Spain, had entered into a coalition with England again to attack him ; that the Turks, exasperated by his alli- ance with Alexander, were assuming a threatening aspect in the East ; that the queen-mother of Russia, and the great ma- jority of the nobles, were unceasingly bitter in their hostility, since Napoleon would not consent to the annexation of Con- stantinople to Russia. Thus suddenly blazed forth the flames of another continental war. Napoleon read the dispatches, and uttering not a word, rode back sadly to Astorga. He then, having commissioned Marshal Soult to pursue the enemy, made immediate prepara- tions for his return to Paris. 232 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Just before Napoleon left Spain to return to Paris, he wrote to Joseph a letter containing the following directions : LETTER XX. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. VALLADOLID, January 16, 1809. My brother I have received your letter of the 14th. You must not write to me that you have received such and such a letter, and that what it prescribes shall be executed. It is necessary to repeat, in detail, the order, and state, point by point, its execution. By these means I shall have at once be- fore my eyes, the orders which have been given, the execution which they have received, and I shall be enabled to see if they have been understood. The court of alcades, at Madrid, has acquitted, or onlv sen- tenced, thirty wretches whom Belliard had arrested ; a court- martial must be appointed to try them over again, and shoot the guilty. Give orders, immediately, that the members of the Inquisition, and of the Council of Castile, who are detained in La Porcelaine, be removed to Bayonne, as well as the hun- dred wretches arrested by Belliard. Five sixths of the population of Madrid are well-disposed. But the honest people have need of encouragement, and that can only be given by protecting them against the mob. Here they did every thing which could be done, to obtain pardon for the bandits who had been condemned. I refused ; I had them hanged ; and I have since seen that in the bottom of their hearts, the very people who solicted their pardon, are very glad that I did not listen to them. I think it essential that your government, particularly at first starting, should show some vigor against the mob. The mob loves and re- spects only those whom it fears. And it is only by being feared by the mob that you can make yourself loved and es- teemed by the rest of the nation. If my presence should become indispensable, I think that I NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. 233 might return by the 30th of February, and that I might even spend the months of March and April here. You know that I do not love to live in cities. Give orders that they should keep Chamartin in readiness for me, both the house which I occupied, and the one opposite ; let persons be put in to take charge of them, that I may go there immediately on my return. NAPOLEON. The Marquis of Londonderry, a British nobleman, and a colonel in the second British regiment of Life Guards, says, in his story of the Peninsular War : " The prospect of that rupture with Prussia that ended with the peace of Tilsit, struck Godoy as furnishing a favorable op- portunity of stirring up all Europe against a man whose am- bition seemed to be unbounded. A secret arrangement was accordingly entered into between him and the embassador, Strogonoff (the Russian Minister), into which the Portuguese envoy was admitted, that the two kingdoms of Spain and Por- tugal should instantly arise, for the purpose of attacking France at a moment when her troops should be called away, to oppose the Emperor of Russia on the north. These prepa- rations were to begin in Portugal, with the ostensible view of overawing which, Spain was next to increase her armies, while expeditions were being fitted out in the English ports, a combined force was to invade the south of France, which it was believed would not be in a state to offer any efficient opposition. Had Bonaparte, as soon as the designs of Spain became known to him, directed his victorious legions upon Madrid, the dethrone- ment of Charles would have been viewed by the rest of Eu- rope as an arrangement of self-defense." Napoleon, considering the safety of France dependent upon the removal of the perfidious Bourbons from the throne of Spain, who were ever threatening him with a stab in the back, endeavored to accomplish this all-important object without exposing the unoffending people to the horrors of war. " He never," says the Marquis of Londonderry, " effected that by 234 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. force of arms which he believed it practicable to effect by di- plomacy." Afid again says the same authority : " But the event to which the Peninsula owed its escape from immediate conquest, was the unlocked for arming of Austria, and conse- quent departure of Bonaparte to another scene of operations." " To restore Ferdinand to Spain," writes Colonel Na- pier, " England expended one hundred millions sterling ($500,000,000), on her own operations. She subsidized Spain and Portugal besides, and with her supply of clothing, arms, and ammunition, maintained the armies of both, even to the guerillas. From forty to seventy thousand troops were em- ployed by her, constantly, and while her naval squadrons con- tinually harassed the French with descents upon the coast, her land forces fought and won nineteen pitched battles, and innu- merable combats ; they killed and took about two hundred thousand enemies, and the bones of forty thousand British soldiers lie scattered on the plains and mountains of the Pe- ninsula." The world can look at the condition of Spain now, and see the fruit of this expenditure of treasure and blood. CHAPTER XV. LETTERS DURING THE CAMPAIGN IN GERMANY IN 1809. NAPOLEON returned from Spain to Paris, and arrived at the Tuileries in the night of the 22d of January. He immedi- ately commenced vigorous preparations to repel the attack with which he was threatened from Austria, while at the same time he did every thing in his power to avert hostilities. All his exertions for peace were in vain. " The Emperor Francis," says Bourrienne, " notwithstanding the instigation of his counselors, hesitated about taking the first step ; but at length yielding to the open solicitations of England, and the secret insinuations of Russia, and, above all, seduced by the subsidies of Great Britain, he declared hostil- ities, not first against France, but against her allies of the Con- federation of the Rhine." On the morning of the 10th of April, the Austrian Arch- duke Charles, crossed the Inn, invading the territory of Bava- ria and marched resolutely upon Munich, the capital of that kingdom. Austria had equipped an army of five hundred thousand troops for this new and unprovoked war. Two days aftff this, on the 12th, at ten o'clock at night, Napoleon received a telegraphic dispatch informing him of the commencement of hostilities. As he read the dispatch he calmly remarked, " Very well. Behold us once more at Vienna. But what do they wish now ? Has the Emperor of Austria been bitten by a tarantula ? Well ! since they force me to it, they shall have war to their heart's content." 5*30 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. In an hour he was in his carriage, with Josephine seated by his side. He traveled day and night until he reached Stras- bourg. Here he left Josephine, and crossing the Rhine, placed himself at the head of his army. In reference to this cam- paign, Sir Walter Scott says : " At no period in his momentous career, did the genius of Napoleon appear more completely to prostrate all opposition ; at no time did the talents of a single individual exercise such an influence on the fate of the universe. The forces he had in the field had been, not only unequal to those of the enemy, but they were, in a military point of view, ill placed and im- perfectly combined. Napoleon arrived alone, found himself under all these disadvantages, and, we repeat, by his almost un- assisted genius, came, in the course of five days, in complete triumph out of a struggle which bore a character so unprom- ising. It was no wonder that others, nay, that himself, should have annexed to his person the degree of superstitious influ- ence claimed for the chosen instrument of destiny, whose path must not be crossed and whose arms can not be arrested." LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. DONAUWOERTH, April 18, 1809. I arrived here at four o'clock in the morning. I am leav- ing. Every thing is in motion. Military operations are in great activity. Up to the present moment, there is nothing new. My health is good. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. In reference to these movements, Colonel Napier says : " Berthier, incapable of acting a principal part, was surprised and made a succession of false movements that would have been fatal to the French army, if the Emperor, journeying NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 237 day and night, had not arrived at the very hour when his lieutenant was on the point of consummating the ruin of the army. But then was seen the supernatural force of Napoleon's genius. In a few hours he changed the aspect of affairs, and, in a few days, mauger their immense numbers, his enemies, baffled and flying in all directions, proclaimed his mastery in an art which, up to that moment, was imperfect ; for never, since troops first trod a battle-field was such a display of military skill made by man." LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. May 6, 1809; noon. My love I have received your letter. The ball which touched me has not wounded me. It just grazed the tenci of Achilles. My health is very good. You are wrong to be anxious. My affairs here are very prosperous. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. P. S. Kind remembrances to Hortense and the Duke of Berg. 1 The wound to which the Emperor here refers was received at Ratisbon. While Napoleon was guiding the assault upon this city a bullet struck him upon the foot. The news spread that the Emperor was wounded. The soldiers broke from their ranks, crowded around him, for he had dismounted, and the wound was dressed upon the spot. Napoleon smiled kindly upon them and assured them that the wound was a mere trifle. He soon mounted his horse again and was greeted with a shout of joy which rose distinctly above the uproar of the battle. 1 The son of Hortense, an older brother of Napoleon in. CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER m. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. SAINT-POTTEN, May 9, 1809. My love I write to you from Saint-Pot ten. To-morrow, I shall be before Vienna ; that will be exactly one mouth after the very day on which the Austiians passed the Inn, and vio- lated the peace. My health is good, the weather splendid, and the soldiers in fine spirits ; there is wine here. May you be well. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. SCHOENBRUNN, May 12, 1809. I have dispatched the brother of the Duchess of Montebello to inform you that I am master of Vienna, and that every thing here is entirely prosperous. My health is very good. NAPOLEON. Before the commencement of this campaign, Napoleon, ex- ceedingly anxious to avert hostilities, had an interview with M. Metternich, the Austrian embassador at Paris, in reference to the vast armies which Austria was raising, and thus ad- dressed him : " Why these armaments ? Why agitate yourselves and Europe ? Why put peace in jeopardy and ruin your finances ?" M. Metternich hypocritically replied, "These armaments, sire, are only defensive." Napoleon mildly but firmly rejoined, "Were your arma- ments only defensive, they would not be so hurried. When new organizations are to be created one takes time, does NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 239 nothing abruptly. Things are done best that are done slowly. One does not, under such circumstances, erect magazines, or- der assemblages of troops, and buy horses. Your army amounts to nearly four hundred thousand men. Were I to imitate you, I should add four hundred thousand men to my effective force. That would be an armament out of all reason. I will not follow your example. It would soon be necessary to arm women and children, and we should relapse into a state of barbarism. a Wherefore all this military preparation ? Have I de- manded any thing of you ? Have I advanced claims to any of your provinces ? The treaty of Presbourg has settled all the claims between the two empires. Your master's word ought to have settled every thing between the two sovereigns. I demand nothing of you. I want nothing of you, excepting mutual quiet and security. Is there any difficulty any one difficulty, between us ? Let it be known, that it may be set- tled upon the spot." M. Metternich, with Austrian perfidy, allowed himself to say, " The Austrian government, sire, has no thought of at- tacking France. It has not ordered any movement of troops." " You are mistaken," Napoleon with quiet dignity rejoined. " Assemblages of troops have taken place in Gallicia and Bo- hemia, in front of the quarters of the French army. The fact is incontestable. The immediate result must be the assemblage of equal forces on the French side. I must consequently, in- stead of demolishing the fortresses of Silesia, repair, arm, and provision them, and put every thing again upon a war footing. You are well aware that I shall not be taken by surprise. I shall be always prepared. " You rely perhaps upon aid from the Emperor of Russia. You deceive yourself. I am certain of his adhesion, of the disapprobation he has manifested respecting your armaments, and of the course he will adopt on the occasion. Do not im- agine then that the opportunity is a favorable one for attack- ing France. It would be a grievous mistake on your part. 240 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. " You do not desire war. I believe it of you, M. Metter- nich, of your Emperor, and of the enlightened men of your country. But the German nobility, dissatisfied with the changes which have occurred, fill Germany with their rancor. You allow yourselves to be influenced. You communicate your emotions to the masses in urging them to arm. By and by you will be brought to that point at which one longs for a crisis, as a means of escaping out of an insupportable situa- tion. That crisis will be war. Moral and physical nature alike, when they are come to that troubled state which pre- cedes the storm, have need to explode, in order to pacify the air and bring back serenity. This is what I fear from your present conduct. I repeat to you, I want nothing of you. I demand nothing but peace. But if you make preparations, I shall make such that the superiority of my arras will not be more doubtful than in the preceding campaigns. Thus, in order to preserve peace, we shall have brought on war." This remarkable conversation was held in the presence of the ministers of several of the other European courts. It is given in full by Thibaudeau. In reference to it, Sir Archibald Alison says : " How easily may Napoleon's ideas and words be always distinguished from those of all other men ! At least, he always lets us understand his meaning; no inconsiderable advantage ,jn the midst of the general studied obscurity and evasions of diplomatic language." LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. May 28th, 1809. I dispatched a page to inform you that Eugene has rejoined me with all his army ; that he has perfectly discharged the service which I assigned him ; that he has almost entirely destroyed the army of the enemy which was opposed to him. NAPOLEON TO HORTENSE. 241 I send you my proclamation to the army of Italy, which will enable you fully to comprehend the whole. 1 I am very well. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. P. S. You can have this proclamation printed at Strasbourg, and translated into French and German, that it may be circu- lated throughout all Germany. Return to the page, who is going to Paris, a copy of the proclamation. LETTER VI. NAPOLEON TO HOETENSE. EBERSDORF, May 28, 1809. My daughter I am very much displeased that you should have left France without my permission, and particularly that you should have taken my nephews from France. Since you are at the waters of Baden, remain there. But in one hour after the reception of this letter, send my two nephews to Strasbourg, near to the Empress. They ought never to leave France. It is the first time that I have had occasion to be dissatisfied with you. But you ought not to dispose of my 1 The following is the proclamation to which Napoleon refers : " Soldiers I In a month after the enemy passed the Inn, on the same day, at the same hour, we entered Vienna. Their militia, their levies en masse, their ramparts, created by the impotent rage of the princes of the bouse of Lorraine, have fallen at the first sight of you. The princes of that house have abandoned their capital, not like soldiers of honor, who yield to circumstances and the reverses of war, but as per- jurers haunted by the sense of their own crimes. In flying from Vi- enna, their orders have been murder and conflagration. Like Medea, they have, with their own hands, murdered their own offspring. Sol- diers I the people of Vienna, according to the expression of a deputa- tion of the suburbs, 'abandoned, widowed,' shall be the object of our regard. I take its good citizens under my special protection. As to thu turbulent and wicked, they shall meet with exemplary justice. Let us exhibit no marks of haughtiness or pride, but regard our triumphs as a proof of the divine justice, which punishes by our hands the ungrateful and the perjured." 11 242 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. nephews without my permission. You ought to perceive the mischievous effect which that may produce. Since the waters of Baden are beneficial to you, you can remain there some days ; but I repeat to you do not delay for a moment sending my nephews to Strasbourg. Should the Empress go to the waters of Plombieres they can accompany her there ; but they ought never to cross the bridge of Stras- bourg. Your affectionate father, NAPOLEON. This letter was sent to Josephine to be transmitted by her to Hortense. She received it on the first of June, and imme- diately sent it to her daughter with the following letter : LETTER VII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. STRASBOURG, June 1, 1809. I send you, my dear Hortense, a letter from the Emperor for you. I was so anxious at not having heard from him that I opened it. I see with pain that he was dissatisfied with your sojourn at the waters of Baden. I entreat you to write to him immediately that you had anticipated his wishes, and that your children are with me ; that you have had them but a few days that you might see them, and give them a change of air. The page who was announced to me in the letter by Mene- val has not yet arrived. I hope that he will bring me a letter from the Emperor, and that at least he will not be so dis- pleased with me because you have been at Baden. Your children have arrived in very good health. Adieu, my be- loved daughter. I embrace you. JOSEPHINE. In the tumultuous state of Europe at that time it was not safe for the nephews of Napoleon to be out of France. The youngest of these two children is now Emperor of France. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 243 The elder, Napoleon Louis, died in Switzerland in 1831. He had married a daughter of Joseph Bonaparte. LETTER VIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. May 29, 1809; 7 o'clock, p. M. My love I have been here since yesterday. I am detained by the river. The bridge has been burned ; I shall pass at midnight. Every thing here is just as I could wish, that is to say, very well. The Austrians are thunderstruck. Adieu, my love. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. May 31, 1809. I received your letter of the 26th. I have written that you can go to Plombieres ; I do not care to have you go to Baden ; it is not necessary to leave France. I have ordered the two Princes to return to France. The loss of the Duke of Montebello, 1 who died this morn- 1 Marshal Lannes. He was one of Napoleon's most devoted friends. At the battle of Essling he was struck by a cannon-ball which carried away both of his legs. Just as Napoleon was informed of the disas- ter, he perceived a litter approaching, which bore the dying marshal. Though the battle was then raging with terrific fury, the Emperor, for- getful of every thing in his overwhelming grief, rushed to the litter, and clasping the hand of Lannes, while tears gushed from his eyes, exclaimed, " Lannes 1 do you know me? It is the Emperor; it is Bonaparte ; it is your friend. Lannes, you will yet be preserved to us." The fainting, dying warrior languidly raised his eyes to the Em- peror, and said, " I wish to live to serve you and my country ; but in an hour you 244 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ing, has afflicted me very much. Thus all things end ! ! Adieu, my love; if you can do any thing to comfort the poor Duchess do it. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT STRASBOURG. June 9, 1809. I have received your letter ; I learn with pleasure that you are going to the baths of Plombieres ; they will do you good. Eugene is in Hungary with his army. I am well ; the weather is fine. I see with pleasure that Hortense and the Duke of Berg are in France. Adieu, my love. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XL TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBlfeRES. SCHOEtTORUNN, June 16, 1809. I dispatch a page to announce to you, that, on the 14th, the anniversary of the battle of Marengo, Eugene gained a battle against the Archduke John, and the Archduke Pala- tiu, at Raab, in Hungary, that he took from them three thou- sand men, several pieces of ordnance, four standards, and has passed them a long distance on the road to Buda. NAPOLEON. will have lost your most faithful companion in arms, and your best friend. May you live and save the army." He lingered for a few days in great pain, and then died. Napoleon did not forget the family of his friend. He appointed the Duchess of Montebello, lady of honor to the Empress, and ever after watched over her interests with fraternal care. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 245. LETTER XII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. June 19, 1809; middiy. I received your letter, in which you tell me of your depart- ure for Plombieres. I hear of this journey with pleasure, because I hope it will do you good. Eugene is in Hungary and is well. My health is very good and the array is in good condition. I am very glad to learn that the Grand Duke of Berg is with you. Adieu, my love ; you know my affection for Josephine ; it is unchangeable. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. ST. CLOUD, June 19, 1809. I have learned, my dear Hortense, with much pleasure, by Mademoiselle Cochelet, that you have arrived at Bagneres, and that you were pleased with the country which you have traversed. She has informed me, also, as I charged her to do, that you begin to have a fuller consciousness of your griefs. This gives me much hope for the re-establishment of your health. That hope reconciles me more to the failure of my own. I am gaining but very slowly, and have become very thin. But I am happy to have your son with me. He is charming. I am attached to him more and more in thinking that he will be a solace to you. His little reasons amuse me much. You need feel no solicitude respecting his health. He grows every day, and his complexion is very fine. I have still another subject of satisfaction which you will share with me. Eugene has informed me that his wife is enciente. I wish very much to join you, but the Emperor has 246 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. not replied to the article in my letter, in which I made the re- quest. We begin to think that he will be able to return here during the month of August. That is what I desire above all things, but I dare not hope for it. His health is always very good. Adieu, my dear Hortense. Say to Mademoiselle Cochelet that I appreciate her attention, and that I request of her, al- ways, the same promptness. You ought to receive many let- ters from me. I am far from you, but I frequently embrace your son, and love to imagine to myself that it is my dear daughter whom I embrace. JOSEPHINE. LETTER -XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. EBERSDOEF, July 7, 1809; 5 o'clock, A.M. I dispatch a page to bear to you the good news of the vic- tory of Ebersdorf, which I gained on the 5th, and that of Wagram, which I gained on the 6th. The enemy flies in disorder, and all succeeds according to my wishes. Eugene is well. The Prince Aldobrandini is wounded, but slightly. Bessieres was struck by a ball on the thigh ; the wound is very trifling. Lasalle was killed. My losses are quite large, but the victory is decisive and complete. We have more than a hundred pieces of ordnance, twelve standards, and many prisoners. I am sunburned. Adieu, my love ; I embrace you. Kind regards to Hor- tense. NAPOLEON. The Emperor of Austria now found it necessary to come to terms of peace. He sent M. Babna, a confidential pnvoy, to Napoleon. Napoleon received him kindly, and said, in char- acteristic language of ingenuousness and sincerity : NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 247 " If you will deal honestly with me, we will bring matters to a conclusion in forty-eight hours. I desire nothing from Austria. I have no great interest in procuring a million more of inhabitants for Saxony or for Bavaria. You know very well that it is for my true interests, either to destroy the Aus- trian monarchy, by separating the three crowns of Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary, or to attach Austria to me by a close alliance. To separate the three crowns would require more bloodshed. Though I ought, perhaps, to settle the matter in that way, I give you my word that I have no wish to do so. " The second plan suits me. But how can a friendly alli- ance be expected of your Emperor ? He has good qualities, but he is swayed by the violence and animosities of those about him. There would be one way of bringing about a sincere and firm alliance. It is reported that the Emperor Francis is weary of his crown. Let- him abdicate in favor of his brother, the Grand Duke of Wurzburg, who likes me, and whom I like. Let this be done, and I will withdraw from Austria without demanding a province or a farthing, notwithstanding all the war has cost me. I shall consider the repose of the world as secured by that event. Perhaps I will do still more, and give to Austria the Tyrol, which the Bavarians know not how to govern." M. Babna replied : " If the Emperor Francis thought this possible, he would abdicate immediately. He would rather insure the integrity of his empire for his successors, than re- tain the crown upon his own head." " Well," Napoleon continued, " if this be so, I authorize you to say that I will give up the whole empire on the instant, with something more, if your master, who often declares himself disgusted with the throne, will cede it to his brother. The re- gards mutually due between sovereigns, forbid me to propose any thing on this subject. But you may hold me as pledged, should the supposition I make be realized. Nevertheless, I do not believe that this sacrifice will be made." 248 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XV. TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. July 9, 1809 ; 2 o'clock, A. M. Every thing here is going on as I wish, my love. My ene- mies are defeated, beaten, and wholly routed. They were very numerous : I have crushed them. My health is good to-day ; yesterday I had a slight bilious attack, occasioned by so much fatigue, but it did me great good. Adieu, my love ; I am well. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. Camp, before Znaim, July 13, 1809. I send you the truce which was concluded yesterday, with the Austrian general. Eugene is on the border of Hungary, and is well. Send a copy of the truce to Cambaceres, in case he may not already have received it. I embrace thee, and am very well. NAPOLEON. You can have this truce printed at Nancy. LETTER XVII. TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. July 17, 1809. My love I have sent a page to you. You will have learned the issue of the battle of Wagram, and since of the truce of Znaira. My health is good. Eugene is very well ; and I desire to hear that you are well, and also Hortense. Embrace the Grand Duke of Berg for me. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 249 LETTER XVIH. TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. July 24, 1809. I received your letter of the 18th of July. I learn with pleasure that the baths have been beneficial. I see nothing to prevent your going to Malmaison, when you have finished your baths. The heat is very great here. My health is very good. Adieu, my love. Eugene is at Vienna, and very well. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIX. * TO THE EMPRESS AT PLOMBIERES. SCHOENBKUNN, August 7, 1809. I see by your letter that you are at Plombieres, and that you intend to remain there. You do well. The baths and the fine climate must be beneficial to you. I remain here. My health and my affairs are just as I wish. I beg you to give my kind regards to Hortense and to the Napoleons. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XX. TO THE EMPRESS AT PARIS. SCHOEXBR0NN, August 21, 1809. I have received your letter of the 14th of August from Plombieres. I see by that, you must have arrived at Paris on the 18th, or at Maltnaison. You must have been ill from the beat, which is very great here. Malmaison must be very dry and parched by this time. My health is good. I have, however, a slight cold from the heat. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON, 11* 250 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XXI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. SCHOENBRUNN, August 26, 1809. I received your letter from Malmaison. I have heard that you are fleshy, fresh, and blooming. I assure you that Vi- enna is not an interesting city. I wish very much to be at Paris. Adieu, my love. I go to the play twice a week. It is quite common-place. It whiles away the evening. There are fifty or sixty ladies in Vienna, mais au parterre, comme n'ayant pas ete presentees. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. * August 31, 1809. I have not received letters from you for many days. The pleasures of Malmaison, the beautiful green-houses and the delightful gardens, cause the absent to be forgotten ; that is the case, they say, with you all. Every one speaks continu- ally of your fine health : this, however, I receive with some distrust. I am going to-morrow to spend two days in Hungary with Eugene. My health is quite good. Adieu, my love. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. KEMS, September 9, 1809. My love I arrived here yesterday at two o'clock in the morning : I came in order to see my troops. My health was NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 251 never better. I know that you are well. I shall be in Paris at a moment when nobody expects me. Every thing goes well here, and to my satisfaction. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXTV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAI8ON. September 23, 1809. I received your letter of the 16th. I see that you are well. The house of the old maid's is worth only 120,000 francs ; they will never get more for it. Nevertheless, I leave it to you to do as you choose, since that pleases you ; but, once purchased, do not tear it down in order to pile up there some rocks. v Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. September 26, 1809. I received your letter. Do not be too confident, and I warn you to keep a careful watch at night ; for one of these com- ing days you will hear a great noise. My health is good. I know not what they report. I have not been better for years. I have not needed Corvisart. Adieu, my love. All goes well here. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. October 14, 1809. My love I write to inform you that peace was signed be- tween Champagny and Prince Metternich, two hours sinc6. Adieu, mv love. NAPOLEON. Iio2 CONFIDE NTIAi LETTERS. Napoleon signed this treaty with, but little confidence in the honor of Austria. " He could not forget," says Baron Mene- val, " that twelve years before Austria had implored peace when the French were at Leoben, and thaf, as soon as he was in Egypt she had again grasped arms ; that she had again signed the treaty of Luneville after the defeat of Hohenlinden, which she violated when she saw us seriously occupied in pre- paring for the descent upon England ; that she had signed again a treaty of peace after the battle of Austerlitz, which she again violated when she hoped to surprise Napoleon while pursuing the English in the heart of Spain ; and that now she reluctantly sheathed the sword only because Napoleon was in possession of Vienna." LETTER XXVH. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. NYMPHENBOTJRG, near Munich, October 21, 1809. I have been here since yesterday, and am very well. I shall not leave until to-morrow. I shall stop one day in Stutt- gard. You will be informed twenty-four hours in advance of my arrival at Fontainebleau. To see you will be a festival day for me, and I await that moment with impatience. I embrace you. Wholly thine. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXVIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. MUNICH. My love I leave in an hour. I shall arrive at Fontaine- bleau on the 26th or 27th. You can repair there with some of your ladies. NAPOLEON. Just before the treaty of peace was signed, a deputation from one of the Austrian provinces called upon Napoleon, NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 253 soliciting relief from some burdens imposed upon them by the presence of the French army. Napoleon said to them : "GENTLEMEN I am aware of your suifeiings. I join with you in lamenting the evils entailed upon your people by the conduct of your government, but I can afford you no relief. Scarcely four years have elapsed since your sovereign pledged his word, after the battle of Austerlitz, that he would never again take up arms against me. I trusted that a perpetual peace was cemented between us ; and I have not to reproach myself with having violated its conditions. Had I not firmly relied upon the protesta'ious of sincerity which were then made to me, rest assured that I should not have retired as I did from the Austrian territories. Monarchs forfeit the rights which have been vested in them by the public confidence, from the moment that they abuse such rights and draw down such heavy calamities upon nations." CHAPTER XVI. LETTERS IN THE YEAR 1809 AND 1810, DURING THE FIRST THREE MONTHS AFTER THE DIYORGE. THE divorce of Josephine was the great wrong and calam- ity of Napoleon's life. In reference to this event the Duke of Rovigo, who was better- acquainted with Napoleon's secret thoughts than perhaps any other person, writes : " A thousand idle stories have been related concerning the Emperor's motives for breaking the bonds which he had con- tracted upward of fifteen years before, and separating from one who was the partner of his existence during the most stormy events of his glorious career. It was ascribed to his ambition to connect himself with royal blood ; and malevo- lence has delighted in spreading the report, that to this con- sideration he had sacrificed every other. This opinion was quite erroneous, and he was as unfairly dealt with upon the subject as all persons are, who happen to be placed above the level of mankind. " Nothing can be more true than that the sacrifice of the object of his affections was the most painful that he expe- rienced throughout his life, and that he would have preferred adopting any other course than the one to which he was driven by the motives which I am about to relate. Public opinion was, in general, unjust to the Emperor when he placed the imperial crown upon his head. A feeling of personal ambition was supposed to be the mainspring of all his actions. This was, however, a very mistaken impression. I have al- NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 255 ready mentioned with what reluctance he had altered the form of government, and that if he had not been apprehen- sive that the state would fall again a prey to those dissensions which are inseparable from an elective form of government, he would not have changed an order of things which ap- peared to have been the first solid conquest achieved by the Revolution. Ever since he had brought the nation back to monarchical principles, he had neglected no means of consoli- dating institutions which permanently secured those princi- ples, arid yet firmly established the superiority of modern ideas over antiquated customs. Differences of opinion could no longer create any disturbance respecting the form of gov- ernment when his career should be closed. " But this was not enough. It was further requisite that the line of inheritance should be defined in so clear a manner, that, at his death, no pretense might be made for the conten- tion of any claimants to the throne ; for if such a misfortune were to take place, the least foreign intervention would have sufficed to revive a spirit of discord among us. This feeling of personal ambition consisted, in this case, in a desire to hand his work down to posterity, and to resign to his successor a stale resting upon his numerous trophies for its stability. He could not be blind to the fact, that the perpetual warfare into which a jealousy of his strength had plunged him, had, in reality, no other object than his own downfall, because with him must necessarily crumble that gigantic power which was no longer upheld by the revolutionary energy he had himself repressed. "The Emperor had not any children. The Empress had two. But he never could have entertained a thought of them, without exposing himself to the most serious inconveniences. I believe, however, that if the two children of the Empress had been the only ones of his family, he would have made some arrangements for securing his inheritance to Eugene. He, however, dismissed the idea of appointing him his heir, because he had nearer relations, and it would have given rise 256 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. to disunions, which it was his principal object to avoid. He also considered the necessity in which he was placed, of form- ing an alliance sufficiently powerful, in order that in the event of his system being at any time threatened, that alliance might be a resting-point, and save him from total ruin. He likewise hoped that it would be the means of putting an end to that series of wars of \vhich he was desirous, above all things, to avoid a recurrence. These were the motives which determined him to break a union so long contracted. He wished it less for himself than for the purpose of interesting a powerful state in the maintenance of the order of things established in France. He reflected often on the mode of making this communication to the Empress. Still he was reluctant to speak to her. He was apprehensive of the con- sequence of her tenderness of feeling. His heart was never proof against the shedding of tears." The divorce was consummated on the 15th of December, 1809. The whole imperial family, and the most illustrious officers of the empire were then assembled. Funereal gloom oppressed them all. Napoleon, with a pallid cheek, but with a firm voice, thus addressed them : " The political interests of my monarchy, and the wishes of my people, which have constantly guided my actions, require that 1 should transmit to an heir inheriting my love for the people the throne on which Providence has placed me. For many years I have lost all hopes of having children by my beloved spouse, the Empress Josephine. It is this considera- tion which induces me to sacrifice the dearest affections of my heart. But there is no sacrifice too great for my courage, when it is proved to be for the interests of France. " Far from having cause of complaint, I have nothing to say but in praise of the attachment and tenderness of my beloved wife. She has embellished fifteen years of my life, and the remembrance of them will be forever engraven on my heart. She was crowned by my hand. She shall always retain the title and rank of Empress. Above all, let her never doubt NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 257 my affection, or regard me but as her best and dearest friend." Napoleon having ended, Josephine rose to express her as- sent. She held a paper in her hand, which she attempted to read. But, overwhelmed with uncontrollable emotion, sobs choked her utterance, and she was unable to proceed. Sink- ing into a chair, she handed the paper to M. Reynaud, and buried her face in her handkerchief. He read her declaration as follows : " With the permission of my august and dear spouse I must declare that, retaining no hope of having children who may satisfy the requirements of his policy and the interests of France, I have the pleasure of giving him the greatest proof of attachment and devotedness that was ever given on earth. I owe all to his bounty. It was his hand that crowned me, and on his throne I have received only manifestations of affec- tion and love from the French people. I respond to all the sentiments of the Emperor, in consenting to the dissolution of a marriage which is now an obstacle to the happiness of France, by depriving it of the blessing of being one day gov- erned by the descendants of that great man who was evi- dently raised up by Providence to efface the evils of a terrible revolution, and to restore the altar, the throne, and social or- der. But the dissolution of my marriage will in no respect change the sentiments of my heart. The Emperor will ever find in me his best friend. I know how much this act, com- manded by policy and exalted interests, has rent his heart. But we both glory in the sacrifices we make for the good of the country." " After these words," says Thiers, " the noblest ever uttered under such circumstances, for never, it must be confessed, did vulgar passions less prevail in an act of this kind, Napoleon, embracing Josephine, led her to her own apartment, where he left her, almost fainting in the arms of her children." The grief of Napoleon was unquestionably sincere. It could not but be so. He ardently loved Josephine, and he 258 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. had formed no new attachment whatever. Vagrant passions had never influenced him. In dejection, he retired to the seclusion of the Little Trianon at Versailles. The divorce was a funereal act, and it seemed decorous that it should be ac- companied by the externals of mourning. The Emperor left the Tuileries, for the solitude of Versailles, the morning after the consummation of this melancholy tragedy. " The orders for the departure for Trianon," says the Baron Meneval, Napoleon's private secretary, " had been previously given. When in the morning the Emperor had been in- formed that his carriages were ready, he took his hat, and said, ' Meneval, come with me.' I followed him by the little winding staircase which, from his cabinet, communicated with the apartment of the Empress. Josephine was alone, and ap- peared absorbed in the most melancholy reflections. At the noise which we made in entering, she eagerly rose, and threw herself sobbing upon the neck of the Emperor. He pressed her to his bosom with the most ardent embraces. In the ex- cess of her emotion she fainted. I rang the bell for succor. The Emperor, wishing to avoid the renewal of scenes of an- guish which he could no longer alleviate, placed the Empress in my arms as soon as she began to revive. Directing me not to leave her, he hastily retired to his carriage, which was waiting for him at the door. "The Empress, perceiving the departure of the Emperor, redoubled her tears and moans. Her women placed her upon a sofa. She seized my hands, and franticly urged me to en- treat Napoleon not to forget her, and to assure him that her love would survive every event. She made me promise to write her immediately on my arrival at Trianon, and to see that the Emperor wrote to her also. She could hardly con- sent to let me go, as if my departure would break the last tie which still connected her with the Emperor. " I left her, deeply moved by the exhibition of a grief so true, and an attachment so sincere. I was profoundly sad- dened during my ride, and I could not refrain from deploring NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 259 the rigorous exigences of state which rudely sundered the ties of a long-tried affection, to impose another union offering only uncertainties. Having arrived at the Trianon, I gave the Emperor a faithful account of all that had transpired after his departure. He was still oppressed by the melancholy scenes through which he had passed. He dwelt upon the noble qualities of Josephine, and upon the sincerity of the affection which she cherished for him. He ever after preserved for her the most tender attachment. The same evening he wrote to her a letter to console her solitude." The first letter from Napoleon to Josephine, after the di- vorce, which has been preserved, is as follows : LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. December, 1809 ; 8 o'clock in the evening. My love I found you more feeble to-day than you ought to be. You have exhibited much fortitude, and it is necessary that you should still continue to sustain yourself. You must not yield to funereal melancholy. Strive to be tranquil, and above all to preserve your health, which is so precious to me. If you are attached to me, if you love me, you must maintain your energy, and strive to be cheerful. You can not doubt my constancy, and my tender affection. You know too well all the sentiments with which I regard you, to suppose that I can be happy if you are unhappy, that I can be serene if you are agitated. Adieu, my love. May you have peaceful sleep. Believe that I wish it. NAPOLEON. The day after Napoleon's arrival at Trianon, in the follow- ing laconic note he communicated the tidings of the divorce to his brother Joseph, King of Spain : 260 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER n. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPH. TRIANON, December 17, 1809. Sire, my brother I send your Majesty the Moniteur, which will inform your Majesty of the step which I have thought it my duty to take. I received your Majesty's letter of the 4th of December, by the aide-de-camp intrusted with it. NAPOLEON. LETTER III. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Tuesday, 6 o'clock. The Queen of Naples, whom I have just seen at the chase in the woods of Boulogne, where I ran down a stag, informed me that she saw you yesterday at one o'clock in the afternoon, and that you were very well. I pray you to tell me what you are doing to-day. As for me, I am very well. Yesterday, when I saw you, I was sick. I think that you have been out to walk. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. The beautiful palace of Malmaison had been assigned to Josephine for her residence. She still retained the title of Empress, and received an income of six hundred thousand dollars a year. LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. ("Without date), 7 o'clock in the evening. I have received your letter, my love. Savary tells rne that you weep continually. That is not right. I hope that you NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 261 will be able to go out to walk to-day. I sent you a line from the chase. I shall go to see you, as soon as you inform me that you are reasonable, and that your fortitude resumes its ascendancy. To-morrow, all the day, I shall be occupied with the ministers. Adieu, my love. I am as sad as the weather is gloomy. I have need to know that you are tranquil, and to learn that you have regained your self-control. May you have peaceful sleep. NAPOLEON. LETTER V. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Thursday, at noon, December, 1809. I have wished to go to see you to-day, my love, but I am very much occupied, and a little unwell. Nevertheless, I am going to the cabinet council. I beg you to inform me how you are. The weather is very damp, and not at all healthy. NAPOLEON. LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. TRIANON, Tuesday. I went to bed, yesterday, after you left me. I am going to Paris. I hope you will be cheerful. I am coming to see you during the week. I have received your letter, which I shall read in the car- riage. NAPOLEON. 262 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER VTI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Wednesday noon. Eugene has told me that you were very sad yesterday. That is not right, my love. It is contrary to what you have promised me. 1 have been very lonely in returning to the Tuileries. This great palace appears to me empty, and I find myself in solitude. Adieu, my love. Be careful of your health. NAPOLEON. Napoleon remained eight days at the Trianon. During this time he visited Josephine at Malmaison, and also received her with Hortense, to dine at the Trianon. At the close of the eight days he returned to Paris, where he remained hard at work, in his cabinet at the Tuileries, for three months. He was calm, but joyless and a general gloom surrounded him. LETTER VIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. PARIS, Friday. My love I have received your letter. I see with pain that you have been sick. I fear that it can not be otherwise in this dismal weather. Madame de T. is one of the most silly of women. I have for a long time endured her tittle-tattle. I am weary of it, and have ordered that she shall no more re- turn to Paris. There are five or six other such women, whom I equally desire to send from Paris. They corrupt the young by their indecencies. I will name Madame de Makau baroness, since you desire it, and will also fulfill your other commissions. My health is pretty good. The conduct of B. appears to me very ridiculous. I hope to hear that you are well. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 263 LETTER IX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Sunday, 6 o'clock in the morning. I have to-day a grand parade, my love. I shall see all my Old Guard, and sixty trains of artillery. The King of Westphalia 1 is going from here to his king- dom, which will leave one vacant house in Paris. I am very sad in not seeing you. If the parade is over at three o'clock, I shall go otherwise, to-morrow. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER X. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Thursday evening. Hortense, whom I have seen this afternoon, has given me, my love, news from you. I hope that you will have been out to-day, to see your plants, the weather has been so fine. I have been out but a moment, at three o'clock, to shoot some hares. Adieu, my love ; may you have peaceful sleep. NAPOLEON. LETTER XI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Friday, 8 o'clock ; 1810. I wish very much to see you to-day, but shall not be able I hope for that pleasure to-morrow. It is a long time since you have given me any tidings about yourself. I have learned with pleasure that you have been walking in your garden dur- ing this cold weather. Adieu, my love. Take care of your health, and never doubt of my affection. NAPOLEON. 1 Jerome Bonaparte. 264 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Sunday, 8 o'clock in the evening; 1810. I was very happy in seeing you, yesterday. I perceive how much your society has charms for me. I have been busy to- day with Esteve. I have granted twenty-five thousand dollars for 1810, for the improvement of Malmaison. You can there- fore plant as much as you wish, and can distribute the sum as you approve. I have charged Esteve to remit fifty thousand dollars as soon as the contract with the house of Julien shall be made. I have ordered that you should receive your set of rubies, which will be valued by the intendant, as I do not wish for any pilfering by the jewelers. All this will cost me a hundred thousand dollars. I have ordered that the two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars which the civil list owes you, for 1808, should be held subject to the order of your agent, for the payment of your debts. You will find in the closet at Malmaison, one hundred, or a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. You can take them for your plate and wardrobe. I have ordered that a very beautiful service of porcelain should be made for you. They will receive your orders that it may be very beautiful. NAPOLEON. LETTER TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Tuesday, 1810. I should have gone to see you to-day, if I had not been under the necessity of going to see the King of Bavaria, who has just arrived in Paris. I shall visit him this evening at eight o'clock, and return at ten. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 265 I hope to see you to-morrow, and to find you cheerful and self-possessed. Adieu, iny love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. "Wednesday, 1810 ; 6 o'clock in the evening. My love I see no objection to your receiving the King of Wurtemberg whenever you wish. The King and Queen of Bavaria will visit you day after to-morrow. I desire greatly to go to Malmaison; but you must be strong and tranquil. The page of this morning says that he has seen you weep. I am just going to dine, all alone. Adieu, my love ; never doubt my affection for you. If you do, you will be unjust and wrong. NAPOLEON. LETTER XV. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Saturday, 1810; 1 o'clock, P. M. My love I saw Eugene yesterday, who has informed me that you will receive the kings. I went to the concert at eight o'clock, and dined, alone, not till that hour. I desire to see you very much. If I do not come to-day I will come after mass. Adieu, my love. I hope to find you wise and in good health. This weather must weigh heavily upon you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. TRIANON, January 17, 1810. My love D'Audenarde, whom I sent to you this morning, informs me that you have no more fortitude since you have 12 266 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. been at Malmaison. And yet that place is full of our affec- tion which will not and can not ever change, at least on my part. I have a great desire to see you, but it is necessary that I should be sure that you are strong and not feeble. I am a little weak myself and that makes me afraid. Adieu, Joseph- ine. Good-night. If you doubt my love, you will be very ungrateful. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. January 20, 1810. I send you, my love, the box which I promised you day be- fore yesterday, and which represents the isle of Lobau. I was a little fatigued yesterday. I work much and do not go out. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. January 30, 1810. My love I have received your letter. I hope that the walk which you took yesterday, to show your conservatory, will have done you good. I shall learn with pleasure that you are at the Elysee, and shall be very happy to see you more frequently ; for you know how much I love you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Tuesday, 1810; noon. I learn that you grieve. That is not right. You are with- out confidence in me, and all the rumors which are in circu- NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 267 lation afflict you. That is not to know me, Josephine. I wish you to be contented and cheerful, and if I do not learn that you are so I shall blame you severely. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XX. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Saturday, 1810 ; 6 o'clock in the evening. I have said to Eugene, that you are more ready to listen to the gossip of a great city than to what I say to you ; that it must not be permitted that people should tell you idle stories to afflict you. I have had your effects transported to the Elysee. You will come immediately to Paris. But be tranquil and con- tented and have entire confidence in me. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXI. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Sunday, 1810 ; 9 o'clock. My love I was very glad to see you day before yesterday. I hope to go to Malmaison during the week. I have arranged your affairs here and have ordered that every thing should be carried to the Elysee Napoleon. I pray you to take care of your health. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXTI. TO THE EMPRESS AT THE ELYSEE NAPOLEON. Friday, 1810 ; 6 o'clock in the evening. Savary, upon his arrival, gave me your letter. I see with pain that you are sad. I am very glad that you did not hear of the fire. 268 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I have had a pleasant time at Rambouillet. Hortense tells me that you had formed the plan of going to dine at Bes- sie res and of returning to sleep in Paris. I am very sorry that you did not put your plan into execution. Adieu, my love ; be cheerful. Believe that is the means of pleasing me. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT THE ELYSEE NAPOLEON. February 19, 1810. My love I have received your letter. I long to see you, but the ideas you have suggested may be true, and there may be objections to our residing beneath the same roof, during the first year ; and still the country seat of Bessieres is too far distant for us to return the same day ; and besides, I have a slight cold and am not sure that I should be able to go there. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. From motives of delicacy, Napoleon, never after the di- vorce saw Josephine alone. He often conversed with her for a long time in the garden at Malmaison, where they could be seen, but not overheard. CHAPTER XVII. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE TEAR 1810, AFTER THE MARRIAGE OF THE EMPEROR WITH MARIA LOUISA. ON the 12th of March, 1810, the marriage ceremony was celebrated in Vienna with splendor which the Austrian capi- tal had never seen paralleled. The Emperor was at this time in Paris, and the Archduke Charles of Austria received the bride as proxy for Napoleon. Maria Louisa was conducted in triumph to France. Napoleon had never yet seen his wife. He met her at Compeigne. The marriage was again cele- brated at St. Cloud on the 1st of April. As Malmaison was but a few miles out from Paris, and very near St. Cloud, the Emperor, to save Josephine the anguish she must feel in lis- tening to the rejoicings with which her successor would be received in Paris, assigned to her the rural palace of Navarre, in the vicinity of Evreaux, about fifty miles from the metrop- olis. The first letter in the chapter was written on the day of the marriage ceremony in Vienna. LETTER I. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. March 12, 1810. My love I hope you will be pleased with what I have done for Navarre. You will see in it a new proof of my desire to make you happy. Take possession of Navarre. You can go there on the 25th of March, to spend the month of April. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. 270 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER II. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT COMPEIGNE. NAVARRE, April, 1810. I have arrived here in good health, my dear Hortense, although a little fatigued by the jourriey. I have been sad- dened by the kind reception I have met. The inhabitants of Evreaux have manifested great eagerness at my arrival ; but this preparation of fetes resembles a little the attentions of condolence. They undoubtedly pity me in being no longer any thing, but I banish all these gloomy thoughts. The Em- peror is happy, and he ought to be so more and more. This thought is a great consolation to me, and the only one which sustains my fortitude. Navarre will become a beautiful place of residence, but it demands many and expensive repairs. Absolutely every thing is to be renovated. The chateau is not habitable. The per- sons whom I have brought with me have but one chamber each, and neither the doors nor windows will shut. My room is very small and inconvenient, and the wainscotings are in a bad condition. The park is magnificent. It is a valley be- tween two hills planted with trees of the grandest beauty. But there is too much water, which renders the situation hu- mid and unhealthy. Navarre must be occupied in the months of May, June, July, and the early part of August. Then it is the most enchanting place in the world. During those months Malmaison could not be more delightful. The few days I have passed there, have already done me much good, and I intend to return there in three weeks or a month. I have invited here all the persons of my household, but many of them will not be able to come. I have with me only the ladies Arberg, Audenarde, and Viel-Castel, and also Mad- ame Gazzani, who arrived here three days ago. I am expect- ing the ladies Cobbert and Turenne. The gentlemen who have accompanied me are Messrs. Mon- JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 271 aco, Viel-Castel, Turpin, Pourtates, and Andlaw. The life I lead is that of the country. I go out on foot or in the calash when it does not rain. In the evening I play a game of back- gammon -with the Bishop of Evreux, a very amiable man, notwithstanding he is seventy-five years of age. The time hangs a little heavily upon me, but it will appear less long when you shall have arrived here. I await you with impa- tience. I have had your room prepared for you. It is not beautiful ; you will only be encamped ; but you know with what tenderness you will be received. Adieu, my beloved daughter. I embrace you. JOSEPHINE. P. S. If the Emperor inquires for me, you may say to him, and with truth, that it is my only occupation to think of him. " But time," says Memes, " the only balm for such wounds as hers, was required, before Josephine could freely give her- self up to retirement. In detailing her life at Malmaison, we have anticipated, describing rather what it subsequently be- came than as it was immediately on the divorce. For long after that event she did little but weep, and so severe had been her sufferings that it was six months before her sight recovered from the effects of inflammation and swelling of the eyes. " The first circumstance which produced any thing like a change for the better, was her removal to Navarre, the restor- ing and embellishing of which became at once a source of amusement, and a means of benevolence. This, formerly a royal residence, and celebrated by Delille for the many mag- nificent beauties of its park, had been visited by the usual con- sequences of the Revolution, and when purchased by the ex- Empress, was in a state of nearly complete dilapidation. The chateau itself, or, as it was called, palace, though small, is delightfully situated, surrounded and overhung by the roman- tic forest of Evreux. The park, of great extent, was traversed by beautiful streams, and intersected by lakes, which, being 272 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. partly artificial, had become ptitrescent marshes, from the neglect of the water-courses. Two hundred thousand dollars, advanced by Napoleon on her retired allowance, were expended in the first instance; the marshes were drained, the roads through the forest repaired, public buildings* erected, by which means, with planting and agriculture, Josephine enjoyed the satisfaction of spreading comfort and fertility over a neighbor- hood where formerly existed extreme misery." LETTER III. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT COMPEIGNE. NAVARRE, AprU 4, 1810. I am touched, my dear Hortense, with all the griefs which you experience. I hope that there is no more question of your return to Holland, and that you will have a little repose. I know how .much you must suffer from these disappointments, but I entreat you not to allow yourself to be affected by them. As long as any thing remains Jo me, you shall be mistress of your destiny ; grief and happiness, you know that I share all with you. Take, then, a little courage, my dear daughter. We both of us have much need of it. Often mine is too feeble, and sorrow makes me sick. But I seek fortitude all the time, and with my utmost efforts. I avail myself of the departure of Berthaut to write to you. I will give you, in another- letter, some details about Navarre, in anticipation of the time when you shall come to judge of them yourself. Adieu, my dear Hortense ; I embrace you tenderly, and also your children. JOSEPHINE. P. 8. Embrace, for me, Eugene and Auguste. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. 2*73 LETTER IV. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. NAVARRE, April 10, 1810. Sire I received, this morning, the welcome note which was written on the eve of your departure for Saint Cloud, and hasten to reply to its tender and affectionate contents. These, indeed, do not in themselves surprise me, but only as beiug received so early as fifteen days after my establishment here, so perfectly assured was I that your attachment would search out the means of consoling me, under a separation so necessary to the tranquillity of both. The thought that you can follow me into my retreat, renders it almost agreeable. After having known all the sweets of a love that is shared, and all the sufferings of one that is so no longer after having exhausted all the happiness that supreme power can confer, and the happiness of beholding the man whom I loved enthusi- astically admired, is there aught else save repose to be desired ? What illusions can now remain for ' me ? All such vanished ^when it became necessary to renounce you. Thus the only ties which yet bind me to life, are my sentiments for you, at- tachment for my children, the possibility of beiug able still to do some good, and, above all, the assurance that you are hap- py. Do not, then, condole with me on my being he-re, distant from a court which you appear to think I regret. Surrounded by those who are attached to me, free to follow my taste for the arts, I find myself better at Navarre than any- where else ; for I enjoy more completely the society of the former, and form a thousand projects which may prove useful to the latter, and which will embellish the scenes I owe to your bounty. There is much to be done here, for all around are discovered the traces of destruction ; these I would efface, that there may exist no memorial of those horrible inflictions which your genius has taught the nation almost to forget. In repairing whatever these ruffians of Revolution labored to an- 12* 274 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. nihilate, I shall diffuse comfort around me, and the benedic- tions of the poor will afford me infinitely more pleasure than the feigned adulation of courtiers. I have already told you what I think of the functionaries in this Department, but have not spoken sufficiently of the respect- able bishop, M. Bourlier. Every day I learn some new trait, which causes me still more highly to esteem the man who unites the most enlightened benevolence with the most amia- ble disposition. He shaft be intrusted with my alms-deeds in Evreux, and as he visits the indigent himself, I shall be assured that my charities are properly bestowed. I can not sufficiently thank you, sire, for the liberty you have permitted me of choosing the members of my household, all of whom contribute to the pleasures of a delightful society. One circumstance alone gives me pain, namely, the etiquette of costume, which becomes a little tiresome in the country. You fear there may be something wanting to the rank I have preserved, should a slight infraction be allowed in the toilet of these gentlemen. But I believe you are wrong in thinking they would for one minute forget the respect due to the woman who was your companion. Their respect for yourself, joined to the sincere attachment which they bear to me, which I can not doubt, secures me against the danger of being ever obliged to recall what it is your wish they should remember. My most honorable title is derived, not from having been crowned, but assuredly from having been chosen by you. None other is of value that alone suffices for my immortality. I expect Eugene. I doubly long to- see him, for he will doubtless bring me a new pledge of your remembrance ; and I can question him at my ease of a thousand things concern- ing which I desire to be informed, but can not inquire of you ; things too of which you ought still less to speak to me. My daughter will come also, but later, her health not permitting her to travel. I beseech you, sire, to recommend that she take care of herself; and insist, since I am to remain here, that she do every thing possible to spare me the insupportable anxiety JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. 275 I feel under any increase of her ill health. The weakness in her chest alarms me beyond all expression. I desire Corvisart to write me his opinion without reserve. My circle is, at this time, somewhat more numerous than usual, there being several visitors, besides many of the inhab- itants of Evreux and the environs, whom I see of course. I am pleased with their manners, and with their admiration of you a particular in which, as you know, I am not easily sat- isfied ; in short, I find myself perfectly at home in the midst of my forest, and entreat you, sire, no longer to fancy to your- self that there is no living at a distance from court. Besides you, there is nothing there I regret, since I will have my chil- dren with me soon, and I already enjoy the society of the small number of friends who remain faithful to me. Do not forget your friend. Tell her sometimes that you preserve for her an attachment which constitutes the felicity of her life ; often repeat to her that you are happy, and be assured that for her the future will then be peaceful, as the past has been stormy and often sad. JOSEPHINE. LETTER V. FROM JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. NAVARRE, April 19, 1810. Sire I have received through my son the assurance that your Majesty consents to my return to Malmaison, and that your Majesty has kindly granted me the advance money which I asked, in order to render the chateau of Navarre habitable. This double favor, sire, dissipates in a great degree the anx- ieties and even the fears with which the long silence of your Majesty has inspired me. I had feared that I was entirely banished from your memory. I see that I am not. I am consequently to-day less unhappy, and even as happy as it is henceforth possible for me to be. 276 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I slu;ll go, at the end of the month, to Maltnaison, since your Majesty sees no objection to my doing so. But I ought to say to you, sire, that I should not so soon have availed my- self of the liberty which your Majesty has granted me in this respect, if the house at Navarre did not require, for my health, and for that of the persons of my household, repairs which are very urgent. It is my intention to remain at Malrnaison but a very short time. I shall leave there very soon to go to the springs. But during the time that I shall be at Malrnaison, your Maj- esty may rest assured that I shall live there as if I were a thousand leagues from Paris. I have made a great sacrifice, sire, and each day I perceive more clearly its magnitude. Nevertheless, that sacrifice will be as it ought to be. It will be entire on my part. Your Majesty will not be disturbed in your happiness by any expression of my regrets. I shall unceasingly offer prayers that your Majesty may be happy ; perhaps in seeing you happy, happiness may again visit me. But that your Majesty may be convinced of it, I shall always respect your new situation ; I shall respect it in silence. Confiding in the affection with which you formerly regarded me, I shall provoke no new testimonials ; I shall leave all to your justice and your heart. I limit myself in seeking one favor : it is that you will yourself seek means sometimes to convince me and those who surround me, that I have still a little place in your memory and a large share of your esteem and of your friendship. These means, whatever they may be, will soothe my anguish, without the danger, as it seems to me, of compromising that which is more important than all things else, the happiness of your Majesty. JOSEPHINE. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. 277 LETTER VI. TO THE EMPRESS AT NAVARRE. COIIPEIGXE, April 21, 1810. My love I have received your letter of the 19th of April. It is in a bad style. I am always the same. My affections never change. I know not what Eugene may have said to you. I have not written because you have not done so, and because I have desired to do only that which might be agree- able to you. I see with pleasure that you go to Malmaison, and trust that you may have tranquillity of spirit. As for me, I shall be happy to hear from you, and to give you all the news re- specting myself. Upon this subject I can say no more than merely to request that you would compare this letter with yours, and after that I leave you to judge which is the better and the most friendly, yours or mine. Adieu, my love. Take care of your health, and be just to yourself and to me. NAPOLEON. LETTER VH. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. NAVARRE, 1810. A thousand, thousand, tender thanks that you have not for- gotten me. My son has just brought me your letter. With what eagerness have I read it ; and yet it required much time, for there was not one word in it which did not make me weep. But these tears were very sweet. I have recovered my heart all entire, and such as it will ever remain. There are senti- ments which are even life, and which can only pass away with life. I am in despair that my letter of the 19th has wounded you. I can not recall entirely the expressions, but I know the very painful sentiment which dictated it. It was that of cha- 278 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. grin in not hearing from you. I had written to you at my departure from Malmaison, and since, how many times have I desired to write to you ! But I perceived the reason of your silence, and I feared to be obtrusive by a letter. Yours has been a balm to me. May you be happy ; may you be as hap- py as you deserve to be. It is my heart all entire which speaks to you. You have just given me my happiness, and a portion most sensibly appreciated. Nothing can be more precious to me than a token of your remembrance. Adieu, my love. I thank you as tenderly as I always love you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VIII. TO THE EMPRESS AT NAVARRE. COMPEIGNE, April 28, 1810. My love I have received two letters from you. I write to Eugene. I have ordered that the marriage should take place between Tascher and the Princess of Leyen. I shall go to-morrow to Antwerp to see my flotilla, and to direct the works. I shall be on my return the 15th of May. Eugene has informed me that you wish to go to the springs. Do not deprive yourself of any thing. Do not listen to the gossip of Paris. They are idlers and know nothing of the true state of affairs. My affection for you is unchangeable ; and I desire exceedingly to hear that you are tranquil and happy. NAPOLEON. LETTER IX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AMSTERDAM. NAVABBE, May 3, 1810. I have received your letter, my dear Hortense, and I see, with much pain, that your health is not good. I hope that repose will re-establish it, and I can not doubt that the king JOSEPHINE TO HORTENBE. 279 will contribute to it every thing in his power by his attentions and his attachment. Every day will lead him to see more and more how much you merit. Take care of yourself, my dear daughter; you know how much I have need of you. My heart has suffered to a degree which has somewhat im- paired my health ; but fortitude triumphs over sorrow, and I begin to be a little better. I intend to go, early in June, to the waters of Aix-la-Cha- pelle, which are prescribed for me by Corvisart. I shall pass a few days before at Malmaison. I shall not go there until the 20th or 21st of this month, for the sojourn at Navarre pleases me much. I am there a stranger to all intrigues. I know that it is absolutely necessary that you should go to the springs this year. I hope that those of Aix-la-Chapelle may be suitable for you, as I should derive great pleasure from pass- ing the time with you there. Eugene has informed you that he has been on a journey with the Emperor to Antwerp. Adieu, my beloved Hortense. I embrace you tenderly, and tenderly I love you. JOSEPHINE. Embrace Napoleon for me. LETTER X. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AMSTERDAM. NAVARRE, May 15, 1810. I have been extremely anxious on account of your health, my dear Hortense. I know that you have experienced several attacks of fever, and I have need to be tranquillized. Your letter of the 10th has just reached me, but it has not given me the consolation which I hoped for. I see in it an aban- donment of yourself which gives me great pain. How many ties are there which should bind you to life ! And if you have so little affection for me, is it then, when I am no longer happy, that you can think, with so much tranquillity, of leav- ing me. Take courage, my dear daughter, and especially be 280 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. careful of your health. I am confident, as I have already sent you word, that the waters which have been prescribed for you, will do you good. Speak of it to the king with frankness. He certainly will not refuse you any thing which may be essential to your health. I am making all my arrangements to go to the springs in the month of June ; but I do not think that I shall go to Aix-la- Chapelle, but rather to Aix in Savoy, which place I prefer. Diversion of mind is necessary for my health, and I have more hope of finding that in a place which I have never seen and whose situation is picturesque. The waters of Aix are particularly efficacious for the nerves. I earnestly recommend you to take them instead of those of Plombieres; we can pass the time together. Reply to me immediately upon this subject. We can lodge together ; it will not be necessary for you to take many companions with you ; I shall take but very few, intending to travel incognito. To-morrow I go to Mal- maison where I shall remain until I leave for the springs. I see with pleasure that the health of Napoleon is good, and that he has not suffered from the change of air. Embrace him for me, my dear Hortense, and love me as tenderly as I love you. JOSEPHINE. P. S. Remember me to the king. LETTER XL TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. Without date. My love I have received your letter. Eugene will give you the news of my journey and of the Empress. I very much approve of your going to the springs. I hope that the waters will do you good. I long exceedingly to see you. If you are at Malmaison at the close of the month, I will come and make you a visit. I intend to be at St. Cloud on the 30th of the month. My JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 281 health is very good. There is only wanting for me to know that you are well and contented. Inform me of the name you wish to assume on your journey. Never entertain a doubt of the whole truth of my affection for you. It will continue as long as I exist. You will be very unjust if you doubt it. NAPOLEON. LETTER XTI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AMSTERDAM. MA-LMAISON, May 31, 1810. I have just received your letter of the 24th, my dear Hor- tense. I am better pleased with it than with the last, and I rely upon your promise to take care of your health ; but I still see in your letter a tone of discouragement which afflicts me, and which arises doubtless from the depression which you suffer. I long to have you commence the use of the waters, although those of Plombieres are far removed from those of Aix in Savoy, where I intend to go. I hope that you will find yourself benefited by them, and that your fortitude will in- crease with your strength. I hope you will pass through Paris, I desire so much to see you. Adieu, my dear daughter. I await your arrival with impa- tience, and I love you most tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XHI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PLOMBIERES. MALMAISON, June 8, 1810. I have received your letter dated at Verdun, my dear Hor- tense. It has comforted me very much, and I think with pleasure that you have now arrived at Plombieres. I, do not doubt that you will soon experience the beneficial effects of the waters, and I entreat you to prolong your stay as much as 282 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I am going immediately to those of Aix in Savoy, and I in- tend on my return, if it is not too late, to go to see you at Plornbieres. In any event, I hope that we shall meet at Paris, and that you will not return to Holland. Do not, therefore, yield to dejection, but take courage. Tranquillity of soul seconds the effects of the waters. I avail myself of the opportunity of writing by the depart- ure of an aide-de-camp whom Eugene sends to you. You ask me if I have seen the Emperor. I have not yet had that pleasure, but he has sent me word by Eugene that he will soon come to see me. Adieu, my beloved daughter. Think often of my tender- ness for you. Sorrow and joy, we must share them together ; and you can never have a grief so great but that my attach- ment for you will be still greater. JOSEPHINE. P. S. Remember me to Julia. The following passage is extracted from Abbott's History of Napoleon : " Josephine remained for some time at Malmai- son. In deeds of kindness to the poor, in reading, and in re- ceiving, with the utmost elegance of hospitality, the members of the court, who were ever crowding her saloons, she gradu- ally regained equanimity of spirits, and surrendered herself to a quiet and pensive submission. Napoleon occasionally called to see her, and taking her arm, he would walk for hours in the embowered paths of the lovely chateau, confidingly un- folding to her all his plans. He seemed to desire to do every thing in his power to alleviate the intensity of anguish with which he had wrung her heart. His own affections still clung to Josephine. Her lovely and noble character commanded increasingly his homage." Josephine thus describes an interview with Napoleon at Mallnaison : " I was one day painting a violet, a flower which recalled to my memory my more happy days, when one of my women ran toward me, and made a sign by placing NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 283 her finger upon her lips. The next moment I was overpow- ered I beheld Napoleon. He threw himself with transport into the arms of his old friend. Oh, then I was convinced that he could still love me ; for that man really loved me. It seemed impossible for him to cease gazing upon me, and his look was that of most tender affection. At length, in a tone of deepest compassion and love, he said : " ' My dear Josephine, I have always loved you. I love you still. Do you still love me, excellent and good Josephine ! Do you still love me, in spite of the relations I have contract- ed, and which have separated me from you ? But they have not banished you from my memory.' " ' Sire !' I replied. " ' Call me Bonaparte,' said he ; ' speak to me, my beloved, with the same freedom, the same familiarity as ever.' " Bonaparte soon disappeared, and I heard only the sound of his retiring footsteps. how quickly does every thing take place on earth ! I had once more felt the pleasure of being loved." LETTER XIV. TO THE EMPRESS AT THE WATERS OF AIX. TRIANON, June 10, 1810. I have received your letter. I see with pain the danger through which you have passed. For an inhabitant of the isles of the ocean to perish in a lake that had been a fatality. The queen 1 is better, and I hope that her health will soon be restored. Her husband is in Bohemia, as it appears, not knowing what to do. I am pretty well, and I entreat you to believe in all my affection. NAPOLEON. 1 The queen here alluded to was Hoi-tense. 284 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT PLOMBIERES. MALMAISON, June 14, 1810. I did not know how much you had suffered, my dear Hor- tense, until you ware better, but I had a presentiment of it, and my anxiety induced me to write to one of your ladies, to indi- cate to her the telegraph from Nancy, as a prompt resource to call a physician. You ask me what I am doing. I had, yes- terday, a day of happiness. The Emperor came to see me. His presence made me happy, although it renewed my grief. These are emotions such as one could wish often to experience. All the time he remained with me I had sufficient fortitude to restrain the tears which I felt were ready to flow ; but after he had left, I had no longer power to restrain them, and I found myself very unhappy. He was to me kind and amiable as ever, and I hope that he will have read in my heart all the affection and all the devotion with which I cherish him. I spoke to him of your situation, and he listened to me with in- terest. He is of opinion that you should not return to Hol- land, the king not having%pnducted as he would wish to Lave him ; your health, and the course you have pursued, were a sacrifice ; you have proved by that, to the Emperor, and to the family of your husband, how much you desire to do any thing which may be agreeable to them. The opinion of the Emperor is, therefore, that you should take the waters for the necessary time, that you should then write to your husband that it is the opinion of your physicians that you should reside in a warm climate for some time, and that consequently you are going to Italy. As to your son, the Emperor will give or- ders that he is not to leave France. These details, my dear Hortense, will afford you pleasure. They will confer upon you, I hope, fortitude and tranquillity. I hope to see you, perhaps at Aix, in Savoy, if the waters at Plombieres do not agree with you, perhaps in Switzerland, where the Emperor has permitted me to journey. We shall JOSEPHINE TO HOKTENSE. 285 be able to appoint for ourselves a rendezvous where we may meet. Then I will relate to you with the living voice, those details which it would require too much time to write. I in- tend to leave, next Monday, for Aix, in Savoy. I shall travel incognito, under the name of Madame d'Aubery. You can send your letters for me to Lavalette. Your son, 1 who is here now, is very well. He has rosy cheeks, and a fair skin. Adieu, my beloved Hortense. Let me often hear from you, and rely always upon my ardent affection. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XVI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT PLOMBIERES. AT THE WATERS OP AlX, July 3, 1810. I wrote to you a few days ago, my dear Hortense. It seems to me a long time since I have received any tidings from you, and I have not had a line since the 18th of last month. How I regret not having known before my departure the true state of your health : I should have been at Plombieres to have taken care of you, and I should not have experienced the anxiety which tortures me at this great distance. My only consolation is to think that you will c*ome here. I have taken the waters for a few days, and find myself benefit- ted by them. I am confident that they will prove beneficial for you, and the more so since one can render them as mild as one wishes. They are very good for the lungs. If you can not come here, I hope at least that we shall meet in Switzer- land. Let me soon see you ; alone, desolate, far from all my friends, and in the midst of strangers, you can judge how sad I am, and all the need I have of your presence. Adieu, I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. 1 The son of Hortense here referred to, was Louis Napoleon. He was then two years of age, and in consequence of delicate health, had remained in Paris with his grandmother, Josephine. 286 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XVII. TO THE EMPRESS AT THE WATERS OF AIX, IN SAVOT. RAMBOUILLET, July 8, 1810. My love I have received your letter of the 3d of July. You will have seen Eugene, and his presence will have done you good. I have learned with pleasure that the waters agree with you. The King of Holland has abdicated the crown, leaving the regency, according to the constitution, with the queen. He has departed from Amsterdam, and leaves behind him the Grand Duke of Berg. I have reunited Holland with France. But this act accom- plishes one pleasant end, in that it emancipates the queen, and this unfortunate daughter returns to Paris with her son, the Grand Duke of Berg. That will render her perfectly happy. My health is good. I have come here to spend a few days in the chase. I shall see you with pleasure this autumn. Never doubt my love. I never change. Take care of your health, be cheerful, and believe in the truthfulness of my affections. NAPOLEON. LETTER XVHL JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PLOMBIERES. AT THE WATERS OP AlX, July 18, 1810. Your courier arrived this morning, my dear daughter. I thank you for all the details you have given me respecting the abdication of the king. They are full of interest, and I have sent them to Eugene who is waiting for them with impatience. I knew that the Emperor had written to you. He informed me of it in a letter, kind and amiable in respect both to you and to me ; but I know not what will become of the king, and I unite with you in anxiety respecting his destiny. I long, my dear daughter, to have you here. I am delighted JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 287 with the resolution which you have taken to come here. I am occupied, in preparing your lodgings, more pleasantly than I could have hoped. A gentleman here has relinquished his house. I have accepted it, for it is delightfully situated and the view is enchanting. The houses here are very small, hut that which you will inhabit is larger. You can ride any- where in a caleche. You will he very glad to have your own ; I have mine, and ride out in it every day. Adieu, my dear Hortense. I am impatient for the moment when I can embrace you. JOSEPHINE. P. S. Embrace Julia for me. My love to the persons who are with you. Say to Madame Souza that I cherish her son as if he were my own. My kindest remembrance to Madame Caulaincourt. LETTER XIX. TO THE EMPRESS AT THE WATERS OF AIX. ST. CLOUD, July 20, 1810. I have received, my love, your letter of the 14th of July. I see with pleasure that the waters have done you good, and that you like Geneva. I think that you will do well to re- main there several weeks. My health is pretty good. The conduct of the King of Holland grieves me. Hortense will soon come to Paris. The Grand Duke of Berg is on the way. I expect him to-mor- row. Adieu, my love. NAPOLEON. LETTER XX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX IN SAVOY. SECHERON, September 9, 1810. M. Gerard, the brother of the painter, returns to Chambery. I profit by this occasion to send you tidings, my dear Hor- 288 CONFIDENT AL LETTERS. tense, respecting myself. I have received no letters from the Emperor ; but I have thought it proper to testify to him all the interest which I feel in the pregnancy of the Empress. I have just written to him upon that subject. I hope that this act will place him at his ease, and that he will be able to speak to me of that event with as much confidence as I have of attachment for him. For the last few days you must have had very unpleasant weather to take the waters, but the sun begins to reappear. I shall profit by it, by commencing to-morrow the tour of the lake. I shall then go to pass a few days at Secheron before leaving it finally. I wait impatiently for you to receive the answer from the Emperor, and to receive myself the assurance that you will come to rejoin me. Adieu, my dear daughter ; % I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. P. S. Remember me to all your companions. Hortense had written to the Emperor for permission to rejoin her mother. But for some reason the Emperor had requested her to return immediately to Fontainebleau, where she met her two children. LETTER XXI. TO THE EMPRESS AT THE WATERS OF AIX. ST. CLOUD, September 14, 1810. My love I have received your letter of the 9th of Sep- tember. I learn with pleasure that you are well. The Empress is decidedly enciente for four months. She is well and is very much attached to me. The little Princes Napoleon are very well. They are at the Italian pavilion in the park of St. Cloud. My health is pretty good. I desire to hear that you are contented and happy. They say that one of your household has broken her leg by going upon the ice. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 289 Adieu, my love ; never doubt the interest I feel in you, and tlie affection with which I cherish you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXII. TO THE EMPRESS AT GENEVA. FONTAINEBLEAIT, October 2, 1810. I have received your letter. Hortense, whom I have seen, will tell you what I think. Go to see your son this winter ; return the next year to the waters of Aix, or spend the spring time at Navarre. I should advise you to go immediately to Navarre did I not fear that you would be lonely. My opin- ion is that you can not be pleasantly situated this winter, except at Milan or at Navarre. After that I shall approve of any course you may pursue ; for I do not wish to thwart you in any thing. Adieu, my love. The Empress is enciente four months. I have named Madame de Montesquieu governess for the Princes of France. Be content, and do not allow yourself to get excited. Never doubt my affection. NAPOLEON. It had been suggested to Josephine that she had better be absent from France during the accouchment of Maria Louisa. She had got the impression that this was but the first step to- ward her virtual banishment from the kingdom. This idea caused her intense grief. Hortense spoke to the Emperor upon the subject, which led him to write the above letter. LETTER XXIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT FONTAINEBLEAU. BERNE, October 12, 1810. A courier of Monsieur, the Duke of Cadove, who returns to France, has called to inquire if I have any commissions. I 13 290 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. profit by the opportunity, my dear Hortense, to testify to you all my grief. Not a word from you during the twenty days since you have been separated from me ! What can your silence mean ? I confess that I lose myself in conjectures, and no longer know what to think. You alone, my dear daughter, should relieve me from the frightful uncertainty in which I live. If I do not, within three days, receive letters which shall inform me what I ought to do, I shall think that the Emperor does not approve of the request which I have made to him ; I shall leave for Geneva, and shall consequently renounce the idea of visiting the remainder of Switzerland ; from Geneva I shall return to Malmaison ; there I shall at least be in France ; and, if all the world abandons me I will live there alone, with the consciousness of having sacrificed my own happiness to promote that of others. I pray you, my dear Hortense, write me of your situation. The grief I have endured for the last eight days, preys upon me, and it should render the most callous person sensitive. Adieu, my dear daughter ; I embrace you ; may you be as happy as you deserve to be. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XXIV. FROM MADAME DE REMUSSAT TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. PARIS, No date. Madame I have delayed a little writing to your Majesty, because you have desired that I should be able, on my return, to give you-information about this great city. If I had yield- ed to my impatience upon the day of my arrival, I should have addressed to you expressions of my gratituVle. Your kindness to me has been our constant conversation since my return to my home. In being reunited to my husband and children, I have conveyed to them the memory of the pleas- ant hours for which I am indebted to you. Neither absence nor time, Madame, can efface you from hearts which know MADAME DE RKMUSAT TO JOSEPHINE. 291 how to appreciate your virtues. Condescend to add to your kindness, by never doubting of that gratitude with which you have inspired me by so many favors. I have need, in writing to you to-day, to strengthen myself with this prayer, and when your Majesty shall have seen the subject upon which I write, you will understand why I implore, with more earnest- ness than usual, your confidence in my unalterable attachment. I will commence by saying to you, Madame, that, having learned upon my arrival here that the Emperor was very much occupied with important business, and that he with difficulty granted audiences, I did not dare to solicit an audience, as you advised. I have, therefore, not as yet appeared at court ; but I have already seen many distinguished personages, and I have been questioned respecting your Majesty with the deep- est interest. Frequent inquiries are made respecting your health ; and they wish to know how you employ your time ; if you are tranquil and happy in the retreat to which you have retired ; if you have received upon your route the testimonials of affection which you merit ; in fine, what are your feelings and your mode of life. It was pleasant to me to be able to respond to all these questions in the most satisfactory manner. The pleasure with which the simple and truthful recital was received, of the em- ployment of your time, of your secret feelings, of your mod- eration, and of that devotedness, so true, which directs your conduct, has clearly proved to me that those by whom I was questioned were sure to give pleasure in conveying to a higher source the truth. But, Madame, I have questioned in my turn ; I have made observations on my part ; and I dare to submit to your reason the result of my observations with the confidence of my at- tachment. The grossesse of the Empress is a public joy, a new hope which each one seizes with eagerness. Your M;ij- esty, whom I have seen contemplate this event as the recom- pense for a great sacrifice, will easily understand this. Indeed, Madame, after all that I have observed, it seems to 292 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. me that you have still another step to take in order to give perfection to your work ; and I am emboldened to explain myself, because it seems to me that the last sacrifice which your reason imposes upon you, will be but momentary. You will undoubtedly remember that you have sometimes regretted with me that the Emperor did not, at the moment of his marriage, urge an interview between two persons whom he flattered himself he c.ould easily bring together, because he could then reunite them in his affections. You have said to me that since then he had hoped that une grossesse, in tran- quilizing the Empress respecting her claims, woulH give to him the means of accomplishing the wishes of his heart. But, Madame, unless I am deceived in my observations, the time has not yet come for such an interview. The Empress appears to have brought with her an imagina- tion lively and prompt to take alarm. She loves with tender- ness, with the entire devotion of a*first affection. But that very affection seems to unite with it some little solicitude, from which indeed it is rarely separated. The proof of this may be found in a little anecdote which the Grand Marshal has related to me, and which will strengthen all that which I have had the honor to say to you. One day the Emperor, walking with her in the environs of Malmaison, invited her, as you were absent, to visit that beau- tiful place. In an instant the countenance 'of the Empress was flooded with tears. She dared not decline. But the proofs of her grief were too visible for the Emperor to insist. This disposition to jealousy, which time will undoubtedly di- minish, can only be augmented under existing circumstances by the presence of your Majesty. You will recall to mind, perhaps, that this summer, in seeing you so well, so tranquil, I will even venture to say, so beautified, by the serenity of the life we were leading, that I dared smilingly to remark to you, that no skill could convey to Paris the power of securing such tranquillity ; and that I perceived clearly that, were I in the place of another, I should experience more or less of inquietude MADAME DE REMU8AT TO JOSEPHINE. 293 In truth, Madame, this pleasantry appears to me to-day the cry of reason. The Grand Marshal, with whom I have con- versed, has spoken also of the solicitudes which I feel. It has appeared to me that he dared not be explicit with the Empe- ror upon a subject to which he could not allude but with grief. He has spoken to me, in accents of truth, of the attach- ment which you still inspire, and which enjoins the greater circumspection on the part of the Emperor. The new rela- tions now existing call for new duties. And if I dared, I should say that it is not the office of a soul like yours to tempt the ' Emperor to be wanting in any of his responsi- bilities. Here, in the midst of the joy which the condition of the Empress awakens, at the epoch of the birth of an infant, ex- pected with so much impatience, in the contusion of the fetes which will follow this event, what can you do, Madame ? What can the Emperor do, who must devote himself to the tender attentions which the condition of this young mother will require, and who will yet be troubled by the memory of those affections which he still feels for you ? He will surfer, although your delicacy may not permit you to exact any thing from him. But you will suffer also. You can not listen with impunity, to the shouts of such rejoicings, yourself left, as you perhaps will be, in entire oblivion, or become the object of compassion of a few who will pity you perhaps from the spirit of party. By degrees, your situation will become so painful that per- fect retirement will alone be able to restore you to yourself. Since I have commenced, permit me to finish. It is necessary for you to leave Paris. Malmaison, Navarre even, will be too near the shoutings of a city, idle and sometimes evil inten- tioned. Obliged at length to retire, it will appear that you have received orders to depart, and you will lose the honor which arises from taking the initiative in a courageous act. Such are the observations which I have wished to submit to you ; such are the results of the long conversations which I 294 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. have bad with my husband, and even of an interview which chance procured for me of the Grand Marshal. Feeling less interested than we do in your concerns, and accustomed, as you know, not to form opinions unless he has received orders to transmit his thoughts, it was with much labor and not a little address that I drew from him a few of his ideas, but im- mediately upon receiving them, I became convinced that there remained another sacrifice for you to make, and that it was worthy of you not to await events, but to anticipate them, in informing the Emperor of a courageous determination. In relieving him from an embarrassment, from which his tenderness for you alone prevents him from extricating him- self, you will acquire new claims to his gratitude. And more- over, in addition to the recompense ever attached to an action just and reasonable, with that amiable character which distin- guishes you, this disposition to please and to make yourself beloved, will perhaps secure for you, in a journey a little more prolonged, pleasures which you do not at first foresee. In Milan, the spectacle, so gratifying, of the well-merited success of a son awaits you. Florence, and Rome even, offer to your taste enjoyments which will embellish your temporary ab- sence. You will encounter at each step in Italy, souvenirs which the Emperor will not be displeased to see you renew, because they form the epochs of his first glory. Every thing which the Grand Marshal says to me, proves conclusively that his Majesty wishes that you should ever re- tain the dignities of a rank to which you have been elevated by his success and his affection. In the meanwhile the winter will pass away. The season in which one can occupy Navarre will restore you to the occupations of embellishment which there await you. Time, the grand repairer, will have consoli- dated all, and you will have put the finishing stroke to that conduct, so noble, which secures for you the gratitude of a whole nation. I do not know but that I deceive myself, Madame, but it appears to me that there is even happiness to be found in the JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 295 exercise of such duties. The heart of a woman knows how to find pleasure in the sacrifices which it makes for him whom she loves. To relieve the Emperor from the embarrassment from which he could easily extricate himself, did he love you less to soothe the anxieties of a young woman, whom time and further acquaintance with yourself would render more calm all this is worthy of you. If you were less sure of the effect which the graces of your person could still produce, the part for you to perform would be less difficult. But it appears to me that since your Majesty knows very well that you pos- sess advantages that would enable you to maintain a rivalry, that you ought, on that account, to conduct with the greater delicacy. I dare to hope that your Majesty will pardon me for this long letter, and for the reflections which it contains. When I urge so strongly the imperious necessity of your separating yourself from us for a short time, I flatter myself that you will condescend to think that I have, perhaps, never given you more sincere proof of the affection which attaches me to you. I am, with profound respect, Madam, your Majesty's very humble and obedient servant, VERGENNES REMUSAT. LETTER XXV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E, AT FONTAINEBLEATT. BERNE, October 13, 1810. My dear Hortense I received, yesterday, your letter which you wrote me on the 4th, and we are now at the 13th ; think how long it has been in reaching me. I confess that notwith- standing the delay, it at least decides the path of duty for me. Having reflected upon it well, I shall follow the first idea of the Emperor I go to establish myself at Navarre. I find many difficulties in the way of my going to Italy, particularly to pass the winter there. If it were a journey of but one or 296 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. two months, I would cheerfully go to see my son, but to re- main there longer is impossible. Moreover, my health, which was quite improved, has be- come very bad during the last fortnight. My physician advises repose, and I shall have all the time at Navarre to take care of my health. All that you say of the interest which the Em- peror still takes in me gives me pleasure. I have made for him the greatest of sacrifices, the affections of my heart. I am sure that he will not forget me, if he has sometimes said that another would never have had the courage to sacrifice herself to such a degree. I shall go from here Tuesday or Wednesday, and shall be at Geneva Saturday, or Sunday the 21st. I hope to receive another line from you before deciding upon the time of leav- ing for Navarre, that I may know if the Emperor cordially approves of my passing the winter there. Write to me frankly upon that subject. I confess to you, that if it were necessary for me to banish myself from France for more than a month, I should die of grief. At Navarre, I shall have the pleasure at least of seeing you, sometimes, my dear Hortense, and that is so great a hap- piness for me that I must prefer the place which brings me nearest to my beloved daughter. Adieu ; I embrace you with my whole heart. Embrace for me my grandchildren. JOSEPHINE. P. S. My dear Hortense, if I should go to Italy, I am sure that many persons who belong to my household would give me their resignation. This is very sad to think of. LETTER XXVI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT FONTAINEBLEAU. GEKEVA, 1810. The Emperor has written me an affectionate little letter. You can judge, my dear Hortense, what pleasure it has afford- JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 297 ed me. The Emperor advises me to go to Milan or to Navarre. I have decided in favor of Navarre. There I shall at least be in France. If there had only been a question about my pass- ing one or two months in Italy, with my dear Eugene, I should cheerfully have taken the journey. But to separate myself from France for six months, that would cause anxiety to all the members of my household, and that is beyond my strength. You will find me much changed, my dear Hortense. I have lost all the good effects of the waters. For a month I have grown considerably thin, and I perceive that I need re- pose, and particularly that the Emperor should not forget me. I hope he will fix, definitely, arrangements for you. It is indeed one of my griefs to know that you are in constant un- certainty in that respect ; but I place great reliance in the attachment of the Emperor for you. I regret that you have not taken the journey which I have just made in Switzerland ; you would have seen one of the most beautiful countries in the world, the most magnificent mountains, and the richest vege- tation. I have seen the Grand Duchess Constantine. 1 She came to see me twice, and I have been once to see her. She is charm- ing, elegant, graceful, and amiable. She has the most beauti- ful figure possible, and unites with that charming features ; she has the air of not being happy. Adieu, my dear Hortense. I am going to write to the Em- peror. I shall inform him that I intend to leave Geneva the 1st of November, and that I shall go to pass twenty -four hours at Malmaison. You will be very kind to come and make me a little visit. I shall then go to establish myself at Navarre. Inform me if this arrangement meets the views of the Em- peror. Embrace for me your children. Again adieu, my dear daughter. I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. I have heard sung all over Switzerland your romance of 1 The Grand Duchess Constantine was the wife of Constantino, the brother of Alexander, Emperor of Russia. 13* CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Beau Dunois.* I have even heard it played upon the piano with beautiful variations. LETTER XXVII. TO THE EMPRESS AT NAVARRE. FONTAINEBLEATT, November 14, 1810. My love I have received your letter. Hortense has spoken to me of you. I see with pleasure that you are contented. I 1 "Hortense was a woman of very superior accomplishments. The Duchess of Abrantes speaking of her as a young lady, says : " Hortense de Beauharnais was at this time seventeen years old. She was fresh as a rose, and though her fair complexion was not relieved by much color, she had enough to produce that freshness and bloom which was her chief beauty. A profusion of light hair played in silky locks round her soft and penetrating blue eyes. The delicate roundness of her figure, slender as a palm-tree, was set off by the elegant carriage of her head. Her feet were small and pretty, her hands very white with pink, well rounded nails. But what formed the chief attraction of Hortense, was the grace and suavity of her manners, which united the creole nonchalance with the vivacity of France. She was gay, gentle, and amiable. She had wit which, without the smallest ill temper, had just malice enough to be amusing. " A polished and well-conducted education had improved her nat- ural talents. She drew excellently, sung harmoniously, and performed admirably in comedy. In 1800 she was a charming young girl. She afterward became one of the most amiable princesses in Europe. I have seen many, both in their own courts and in Paris, but I never knew one who had any pretensions to equal talents. She was beloved by every one. "The First Consul looked upon her as his child; and it was only in that country, so fertile in the inventions of scandal, that so foolish an accusation could have been imagined, as that any feeling less pure than paternal affection actuated his conduct toward her. The vile calumny met with the contempt it merited, and is now only remem- bered to be confuted." Hortense acquired much celebrity from several pieces of music which she composed and which became very popular all over Europe. The piece to which Josephine here alludes, was called, " Partant pour la Syrie le jeune et beau Dunois," or " The Knight Errant." JO8EPHIXE TO HORTEN8E. 299 hope that you will not find Navarre tiresome. The Empress advances happily in her pregnancy. I shall make the various improvements which you have mentioned for your house. Take care of your health, be contented, and never doubt my love for you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXVHI. TO THE EMPRESS AT NAVARRE. Without date. I have received your letter. I see no objection to the mar- riage of Madame Mackau with Vattier, if that is agreeable to her. The general is a very brave man. I am well. I hope to have a son. I shall inform you of it immediately. I am very glad that Madame d'Arberg 1 has told you things which give you pleasure. When you see me you will find me with unchanged affection for you. NAPOLEON. LETTER XXIX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. NAVARRE, December It, 1810. I have seen with pain, my dear Hortense, by your last let- ter that you have been sick, and that your little boy has had the fever. Frere, 2 who has just come from Paris, informs me that he is now better, and that tranquilizes me. You will do well to leave your children in Paris when you come to Na- varre. It is very damp everywhere now, but particularly so here. You have heard with pleasure of the happy accouch- ment of Auguste. I am very glad for her that she has had a son, for she desired it very earnestly. 1 The Countess of D'Arbourg was lady of honor of the Empress Josephine. 2 Valet-de-chambre of the Empress. 300' CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. I expect to-day, Monsieur de Caprara, 1 who stopped yester- day in Paris to pay his respects to the Emperor. My health is a little improved since they gave me the emetic, but I am still suffering from an inflammation of the eyes. My physi- cian pretends that that arises from my having wept so much ; nevertheless, for some time I have wept but occasionally. But I hope that the calm life which I lead here, far from in- trigues and idle talk, will give me fortitude, and that my eyes may recover. The Emperor has not yet appointed my household; he has the list of the persons for whom I have asked. You will be very kind if you will speak to him in favor of Monsieur Chau- mont of Guitri, an excellent person of whom every one speaks well. I have applied for him for esquire. He is an only son and enjoys an income of fifteen thousand livres. He is threatened with the loss of his income by the re-organization of the canal of Languedoc. I send you the letter he has writ- ten me upon this subject, that it may be submitted to the Em- peror from me. Adieu, my dear Hortense ; I embrace you and also your children, very tenderly. JOSEPHINE. " My divorce," said Napoleon at St. Helena, " has no par- allel in history. It did not destroy the ties which united our families, and our mutual tenderness remained unchanged. Our separation was a sacrifice demanded of us by reason, for the interests of my crown and of my dynasty. Josephine was devoted to me. She loved me tenderly. No one ever had a preference over me in her heart. I occupied the first place in if, her children the next. She was right in thus loving me, and the remembrance of her is still all powerful in my mind. "A son by Josephine would have completed my happiness, not only in a political point of view, but as a source of do- mestic felicity. As a political result, it would have secured to me the possession of the throne. The French people 1 Monsieur de Caprara ; Cardinal Caprara, a legate from the pope. JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 301 would have been as much attached to the son of Josephine, as they were to the King of Rome, and I should not have set my foot on an abyss covered with a bed of flowers. But how vain are all human calculations ! Who can pretend to decide on what may lead to happiness or unhappiness in this life ?" CHAPTER XVIII. LETTERS DURING THE YEAR 1811. ON the 20th of March of this year, while the Empress was at Navarre, Maria Louisa gave birth to the King of Rome. The following extract, from Abbott's History of Napoleon, exhibits the public feeling with which this event was then regarded : "On the evening of the 19th of March, 1811, Maria Louisa was placed upon that couch of suffering from which no regal wealth or imperial rank can purchase exemption. It had pre- viously been announced that the cannon of the Invalides should proclaim the advent of the expected heir to the throne. If the child were a princess, twenty-one guns were to be fired ; if a prince, one hundred. At six o'clock in the morning of the 20th of March, all Paris was aroused by the deep boom- ing of those heavy guns in annunciation of the arrival of the welcome stranger. Every window was thrown open. Every ear was on the alert. The slurnberers were aroused from their pillows, and silence pervaded all the streets of the busy me- tropolis, as the vast throngs stood motionless to court the tid- ings which those explosions were thundering in their ears. The heart of the great capital ceased to beat ; and in all her glowing veins the current of life stood still. " The twenty-first gun was fired. The interest was now in- tense beyond conception. For a moment, the gunners delayed the next discharge, and Paris stood waiting in breathless sus- pense. The heavily-loaded guns then, with redoubled voice, pealed forth the announcement. From the entire city one universal roar of acclamation rose, and blended with their JOSEPHINE TO HOKTENSE. 303 thunders. Never was an earthly monarch greeted with a more affecting demonstration of a nation's love and homage. " The birth of the King of Rome ! how illustrious ! The thoughtful mind will pause and muse upon the striking con- trast furnished by his death. Who could then have imagined that his imperial father would have died a prisoner in a dilapi- dated stable at St. Helena, and that this child, the object of a nation's love and expectation, would linger through a few short years of neglect and sorrow, and then sink into a forgotten grave !" LETTER I. JOSEPHINE TO HOETENSE AT PARIS. NAVARRE, January 8, 1811. I am very much astonished, my dear Hortense, at what Frere has said to you respecting me. I do not know how he could have conceived that I was displeased with you because you have not come here. I knew that this was caused by your health alone, and that afflicted me. But regrets are not reproaches, and I do not remember that I have said any thing which in the least degree in the world resembled a reproach. Rest assured that with me your health is paramount to every thing else. I intreat you still to defer your visit for some days, for the weather is much too cold, and your lungs would suffer from it ; and to prove to you how far I am from being displeased, I send to you a little necklace, which I have had made for you. You will find upon it these words, which are an expression of my tenderness : Josephine to her beloved daughter. The cross marks the date which they had an- nounced to me for your arrival, the second of January. I sent you, the evening before new year's day, a letter with the congratulations of the new year for the Emperor. You have forgotten to inform me whether you have received and delivered it. Tell me in a word in your first letter. Adieu, my dear Hortense. I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. 304 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. P. S. I received, two days ago, a letter from Eugene with the bulletin of the health of Augusle. She suffers continual- ly, though not in danger. 1 But poor Eugene is very uu- happy. LETTER II. TO THE EMPRESS AT NAVARRE. PARIS, January 8, 1811. I have received your letter for the new year. I thank you for what you say to me. I see with pleasure that you are contented. They say that at Navarre there are more ladies than gentlemen. My health is very good, though I have not been out for a fortnight. Eugene does not seem to me to be anxious about his wife. He gives you a little boy. Adieu, my love. Take care of your health. NAPOLEON. The tidings of the birth of the King of Rome arrived at Navarre late in the evening of the 20th. It so happened that all Josephine's household were at a grand entertainment at Evreux, given by the Prefect. The official news reached that officer in the midst of the gayeties, and he immediately issued his orders for public rejoicing. The cannon were fired and the bells were rung. Josephine had remained at home with the Princess d'Arberg, her lady of honor. The ringing of the bells and the booming of the guns conveyed to her the first announcement that Napoleon was a father. Madame Decrest, who was then a youthful visitor at Navarre, thus describes the scene which ensued : " I confess that my boundless affection for Josephine caused 1 Auguste, the wife of Eugene, just after her confinement, was at- tacked with paralysis, which deprived her for a time of the use of one of her arms. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. 305 me violent sorrow, when I thought that she who occupied her place was now completely happy. Knowing as yet but im- perfectly the grandeur of soul which characterized the Em- press, her entire denial of self, and absolute devotion to the happiness of the Emperor, I imagined there must still remain in her so much of the woman as would excite bitter regret at not having become the mother of a son so ardently desired. I judged like a frivolous person of the gay world, who had never known cares beyond those of a ball. "On arriving at the palace, where 'the first comers had spread the news, I learned how to appreciate one who had so long been the cherished companion, often the counselor, and always the true friend of Napoleon. I beheld every face beaming with joy, and Josephine's more radiant than any, for all but reflected her satisfaction. No sooner had the party from the carriages entered the saloon, than she eagerly in- quired what details we had learned. " ' I do regret,' she continued to repeat, ' being so far dis- tant from Paris. At Malmaison I could have had information every half hour ! I greatly rejoice that the painful sacrifice which I made for France is likely to be useful, and that her future destiny is DOW secure. How happy the Emperor must be ! One thing alone makes me sad, namely, not having been informed of that happiness by himself. But then he has so many orders to give, so many congratulations to receive. Young ladies, we must do here as elsewhere ; there must be a fete to solemnize the accomplishment of so many vows. I will give you a ball. As the saloons are small I will have the hall of the guards floored above the marble ; for the whole city of Evreux must come and rejoice with us. I can never have too many people on this occasion. Make your prepara- tions ; get ready some of my jewels. I must not, in the present case continue to receive my visitors in a bonnet de nuit. As for you, gentlemen, I require for this once your grand cos- tume.' " I have added nothing," continues Madame Decrest, " to the 3U0 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. words of Josephine, only they were not all uttered in regular succession. Her Majesty's pleasing countenance was, if pos- sible, more than usually open, -and frank in its expression while she spoke, and never, in my opinion, did she show her- self more worthy of the high fortune she had enjoyed." The effort which the Empress Josephine made upon this occasion must have been very great. At midnight she re- tired to her private apartment and wrote as follows to the Emperor : LETTER III. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. NAVARRE, March 20, 21, 1811. Sire Amid the numerous felicitations you receive from every corner of Europe, from all the cities of France, and from each regiment of your army, can the feeble voice of a woman reach your ear, and. will you deign to listen to her who so often consoled your sorrows and sweetened your pains, now that she speaks to you only of that happiness in which all your wishes are fulfilled ? Having ceased to be your wife, dare I felicitate you on becoming a father ? Yes, sire, with- out hesitation, for my soul renders justice to yours, in like manner as you know mine. I can conceive eveiy emotion you must experience, as you divine all that I feel at this mo- ment ; and though separated, we are united by that sympathy which survives all events. I should have desired to learn the birth of the Ring of Rome from yourself, and not from the sound of the cannon of Evreux, or the courier of the prefect. I know, however, that in preference to all, your first attentions are due to the public authorities of the State, to the foreign ministers, to your fam- ily, and especially to the fortunate Princess who has realized your dearest hopes. She can not be more tenderly devoted to you than I ; but she has been enabled to contribute more toward your happiness by securing that of France. She has JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. 307 then a right to your first feelings, to all your cares ; and I, who was but your companion in times of difficulty I can not ask more than a place in your affection far removed from that occupied by the Empress Maria Louisa. Not till you shall have ceased to watch by her bed, not till you are weary of embracing your son, will you take the pen to converse with your best friend I will wait. Meanwhile it is not possible for me to delay telling you, that more than auy one in the world do I rejoice in your joy. And you doubt not my sincerity when I here say, that far from feeling affliction at a sacrifice necessary for the repose of all, I congratulate myself in having made it since I now suffer alone. But I am wrong I do not suffer while you are hap- py ; and have but one regret, in not having yet done enough to prove to you how dear you were to me. I have no account of the health of the Empress. I dare to depend upon you, sire, so far as to hope that I shall have circumstantial details of the great event which secures perpetuity of the name you havfe so nobly illustrated. Eugene and Hortense will write me, imparting their own satisfaction. But it is from you that I desire to know if your child be well, if he resemble you, if I shall one day be per- mitted to see him ; in short, I expect from you unlimited confidence, and upon such I have some claims, in considera- tion, sire, of the boundless attachment I shall cherish for you while life remains. JOSEPHINE. The above letter is taken from Meme's " Life of Josephine." Whence he obtained it we are not informed. He also informs us that the next morning Eugene arrived, bearing a message to his mother from the Emperor. Eugene assured his mother that the Emperor said to him on departing, "You are going to see your mother, Eugene ; tell her that I am certain that she will rejoice more than any one at my good fortune. I would have written to her already, had I not 808 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. been completely absorbed in the pleasures of looking upon my son. I tear myself from him only to attend to the most indispensable duties. This evening I will discharge the sweet- est duty of all ; I will write to Josephine." About eleven o'clock in the evening of the same day, as Josephine was surrounded by her friends in the saloon of Na- varre, the folding doors were thrown open with much cere- mony and a page announced from the Emperor. A beautiful boy in the costume of the court entered the apartment and presented the Empress with a billet from Napoleon. Joseph- ine immediately retired to read the long looked-lbr coimmmi- cation in her private chamber. She beckoned to Eugene to accompany her. " On re-entering the saloon," writes a lady who was present on the occasion, " after an absence of half an hour, it was easy to perceive that she had been weeping, and that the viceroy, who had accompanied her, exhibited also much emotion. We dared not question the Empress ; but observing our curi- osity she had the condescension to gratify us with a sight of the letter. It consisted of about ten or twelve lines, traced on one page, and was, as usual, covered with blots. I do not exactly remember the commencement, but the conclusion was, word for word, " This infant, in concert with our Eugene, will constitute my happiness and that of France" " ' Is it possible,' remarked the Empress, ' to be more amia- ble : could any thing be better calculated to soothe whatever might be painful in my thoughts at this moment, did I not so sincerely love the Emperor ? This uniting of my son with his own is, indeed, worthy of him, who, when he wills is the most delightful of men. This it is which has so much moved me.' " Calling then for the messenger, Josephine said, ' For the Emperor, and for yourself,' giving the page a letter for Napo- leon, and a small morocco case for the messenger, containing a diamond broach, value one thousand dollars." JOSEPHINE TO MAEIA LOUISA. 309 LETTER IV. TO THE EMPRESS AT NAVARRE. PARIS, March 22, 1811. My love I have received your letter. I thank you. My son is stout and very well. I hope that he will be prospered, qu'il viendra a bien. He has my chest, my mouth, and eyes. I hope that he will fulfill his destiny. I am always well pleased with Eugene. He has never caused me any dissatisfaction. NAPOLEON. It is said that Josephine, in her sincere and ingenuous be- nevolence, endeavored to cultivate friendly relations with Maria Louisa. " But the latter," Josephine is reported to have said, "rejected the .proposal with such manifest dissatisfaction that it was not renewed. I am sorry for it. Her presence would have given me no uneasiness, and I might have bestowed good counsel as to the best means of pleasing the Emperor." The following letter is given by Memes as one which she wrote on the present occasion. It seems characteristic of Jo- sephine, and certainly exhibits much magnanimity of spirit. LETTER V. JOSEPHINE TO MARIA LOUISA. NAVARRE, March, 1811. Madame While you were only the second spouse of the Emperor, I deemed it becoming to maintain silence toward your Majesty. That reserve, I think, may be laid aside, now that you are become the mother of an heir to the Empire. You might have had some difficulty in crediting the sincerity of her whom perhaps you regarded as a rival ; you will give faith to the felicitations of a Frenchwoman, for you have be- 810 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. stowed a son upon France. Your amiableness and sweetness of disposition have gained you the heart of the Emperor your benevolence merits the blessings of the unfortunate the birth of a son claims the benedictions of all France. How amiable a people, how feeling, how deserving of admi- ration, are the French ! To use an expression which paints them exactly, " They love to love." Oh, how delightful, then, to be loved by them ! It is upon this facility, and at the same time steadiness of affection, that the partisans of their ancient kings have so long rested their expectations ; and here their trust is not without reason. Whatever may happen, the name of Henry IV., for instance, will always be reverenced. It must be confessed, however, that the Revolution, without corrupting the heart, has greatly extended the intelligence, and rendered the spirits of men more exacting. Under our kings, they were satisfied with repose, now they demand glory. These, Madame, are the two blessings, the foretaste of which you have been called to give to France. She will enjoy them to perfection under your son, if, to the manly virtues of his sire, he join those of his august mother, by which they may be tempered. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. MALMAISON, September 5, 1811. The approach of autumn, and the great number of the sick whom I have in my household, have induced me to leave Na- varre, my dear Hortense. I have been at Malmaison for two days. My health is pretty good, and I shall have the pleasure, to-morrow, of embracing your children. They must come here and spend some time. I will give them your apartment. Madame Boucheporn will be with them, and you may rely upon their being the object of my constant care. I have al- ready made provision for playthings, and I will give them as JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 311 many as they wish for but as for sugar-plums, set your mind at ease, they shall have none. As you regard the poor as also your children, I have prom ised to Mademoiselle Cavanac to write to you in her favor. I have sent to her two hundred and forty dollars. If you can give her the same sum it will be a good deed, and so much the better since this assistance will aid her in her marriage with a young man of merit, M. de Caglies. Adieu, my dear daughter. Let me hear from you soon. I do not speak to you of my affection for you. You know how much I love you. JOSEPHINE. My kindest remembrance to Madame Broc, without forget- ting M. de Marmol. From the day of the divorce until the death of Josephine, the correspondence continued between the Emperor and the Em- press with undiminished respect and affection. Whenever he returned from a journey, he immediately called upon Joseph- ine. Occasionally she saw the Bang of Rome. "The reserve, or rather jealousy of Maria Louisa," says Memes, " indeed would have prohibited, as a matter of course, any communication with his son. Josephine, however, did frequently see the child, though secretly ; for so Napoleon had resolved, both* in compliance with her own request, and be- cause he himself seemed thence to derive a pleasure. These meetings took place at Bagatelle, a royal pavilion near Paris, Napoleon and Madame de Montesquieu, governess to the young prince, being the sole confidants. At first these inter- views were frequent, and always most affecting on Josephine's part. But afterward, as the boy grew up, and the danger of discovery consequently augmented, they became more rare, and were finally discontinued altogether. The following are extracts from a letter written by Josephine to Napoleon, after the last of these meetings." 812 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER VII. JOSEPHINB TO NAPOLEON. Assuredly, sire, it was not mere curiosity which led me to desire to meet the King of Rome. I wished to examine his countenance, to hear the sound of his voice, so like your own, to behold you caress a son, on whom center so many hopes, and to repay him the tenderness which you lavished on my own Eugene. When you recall how dearly you- loved my son, you will not be surprised at my affection for the son of another, since he is yours likewise, nor deem either false or exaggerated, senti- ments which you have so fully experienced in your own heart. The moment I saw you enter, leading the young Napoleon in your hand, was unquestionably one of the happiest in my life. It effaced, for a time, the recollection of all that had pre- ceded ; for never have I received from you a more touching mark of affection. It is more : it is one of esteem, of sincere attachment. Still, I am perfectly sensible, sire, that these meetings, which afford me so much pleasure, can not be frequently renewed ; and I must not so far intrude on your compliance, as to put it often under contribution. Let this sacrifice to your domestic tranquillity be qne proof of my desire to see you happy. JOSEPHINE. CHAPTER XIX. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE TEAR 1812. EARLY in May of this year, Napoleon left Paris for the fatal Russian campaign. He was accompanied as far as Dresden by Maria Louisa. Just before leaving Paris, he called at Mal- maison to bid adieu to Josephine. Seated upon a circular bench in the garden, before the windows of the saloon, where they could both be seen, but not overheard, they for two hours continued engaged most earnestly in conversation. They then arose, and walked arm-in-arm to the iron gate at the entrance of the avenue. Napoleon here kissed the hand of the Em- press, entered his carriage, and disappeared. This was almost their last interview. The Emperor soon returned from Mos- cow, overwhelmed with disasters, and after a few months of despairing conflict, was overwhelmed and crushed. In his last interview, fixing his eye tenderly upon Josephine, he said : " Josephine, I have been as fortunate as was ever man on the face of this earth. But in this hour, when a storm is gathering over my head, I have not, in this wide world, any one but you on whom I can repose." LETTER I. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. MALMAISON, June 1, 1812. My most pleasant care, in arriving here, my dear daughter, is to tell you how much I have been enchanted with the so- 14 814 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. journ I have made at Saint Leu. I have regretted not to have known that your departure would be postponed ; I should also have delayed my return, that I might remain a longer time with yotf and your children. The few days which I have passed with you have been for me a season of happiness, and have done me much good. All the persons who come to see me find that I was never better, and I am not surprised at it. My health always depends upon the impressions which I ex- perience, and all those which I have had while with you, were soothing and delightful. I am touched with all the kind things which the members of your household have said to you respecting me. I have experienced great pleasure in seeing them reunited. I have received a letter from Eugene, dated the 23d. He is still at Plock ; his health is very good. He hopes soon to see the Emperor. Madame Dane, whom I have seen this morning, has just received a letter from her husband. He informs her that the Emperor left Dresden the 27th of May. Eugene desires very much that I should go and pass a few weeks at Milan, near his wife. Thus, my dear Hortense, we shall be, this summer, separated far from each other. I hope the waters will do you good, and I pray you to let me hear from you frequently. , -v Adieu, my dear daughter. I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTE& II. : , TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. GUBIN, June 20, 1812. I have received your letter of the 10th of June. I see no objections to your going to Milan, near the vice-queen. You will do well to go incognito. You will be very warm. My health is very good. Eugene is well, and conducts well. Never doubt my interest in your welfare, and my affec- tion. NAPOLEOX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 315 LETTER III. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX-LA-OHA.PELLE. MALMAISON-, July 13^1812. I have been very anxious, my dear daughter ; and if the letter of M. de Macmel had not promptly reassured me, in giving me better news, I should have renounced my journey to Italy, and have set out immediately for Aix-la-Chapelle. It is fortunate that we do not now need Corvisart, for notwith- standing the strong desire he had to go to you, he has been compelled to remain, suffering from the rheumatism. If my anxieties could have been alleviated, they would have been before the arrival of your last courier ; for, after the letter of M. de Lassere, he had judged that the malady of Napoleon was a scarlet fever, which demands much care, but which is not dangerous, particularly when the irruption comes out well. I was so unhappy and so anxious about you, my dear daughter, that I had entreated the Archchancellor to inquire respecting you through the telegraph from Brussels. I had not decided to set out for Milan until after the arrival of the courier this morning. I hope that before the 16th, the day of my departure, I shall receive again good news of your son, for it will be im- possible for me to leave if the least occasion for solicitude re- mains. But I entreat you to take your children back to Paris as soon as possible. You know that at Aix it is very damp. Adieu, my dear Hortense. \ will write to you again before my departure. I entreat you to take care of your health. I embrace you tenderly, and also your children. JOSEPHINE. LETTER IV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. MALMAISON, July 15, 1812. I am very happy, my dear daughter, from the good news rhich I received yesterday, through a letter which I received 316 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. from Madame de Broc, and this morning from Mademoiselle Cochelet. Indeed, bow much need had I to be relieved from the state of anxiety and grief which I was suffering. I love to think that there is no longer cause for solicitude, and after this assurance I shall not much longer delay my journey. I shall leave to-morrow, the 16th, and perhaps, before my de- parture I shall again receive tidings from you. You have done well to separate Louis from Napoleon. I hope that this precaution will have a good effect, but I entreat you to take back these children as soon as possible. Adieu, my dear daughter. Write to me frequently, if you wish that I should enjoy the least tranquillity and happiness. JOSEPHINE. LETTER V. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. MIL AX, July 28, 1812. I have arrived here very much fatigued, my dear Hortense. Though before my departure I had no longer any solicitude about Napoleon, I have experienced during the jouruey, the effects of that which I have already felt. I have also suffered, since I left Geneva, from the unfavorable weather, and from the inundations of the Rhine which overflowed the roads. At last, here I am at Milan. The pleasure of seeing Au- guste re-animates me. Her health, is very good and her pveg- nancy quite advanced. I am with her at the villa Bonaparte. I occupy the apartment of Eugene. You can imagine the pleasure I have had in becoming acquainted with his little family. Your nephew is very strong ; he is an infant Her- cules. His sisters are extremely pretty ; the eldest is a beauty. She resembles her mother in the upper part of her face. The younger has a physiognomy lively and spiritual. She will be very pretty. I have received here three letters from Eugene, the last JOSEPHINE TO HOBTEN8E. 3lY dated the 13th. His health is very good. He continually pursues the Russians without reaching them. It is generally hoped that the campaign will not be long. May that hope be realized ! I have received letters from Madame Broc and from Mademoiselle Cochelet. I pray you to thank them. The letter you wrote me on the 18th, has arrived. You are very kind not to have forgotten me in the midst of your anx- iety for your son. Embrace for me that dear child, and my little Oui Oui, 1 (Yes Yes.) You do not speak of your health. I hope the waters may have done you good ; it is the most earnest wish of a mother who loves vou more than she does herself. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. MILAN, July 31, 1812. I hasten to announce to you, my dear Hortense, that the vice-queen has given birth to a daughter to-day, at four o'clock in the morning. 8 Yesterday at two o'clock the first pains commenced, but not sufficiently severe to prevent her from dining with me, and from going then to ride in the caleche. At midnight she suffered more, and from that moment I have not left her, until the accouchment was entirely finished. She is perfectly well and her daughter is superb, full of vigor and health. I will write you often about her. To-day I am a little fatigued, not having retired to sleep until five o'clock. Auguste, whom I have just seen, is wonder- fully well. She has had a very good sleep, and assures me that she was never better. I hope that our dear Napoleon continues to improve, and that the little Oui Oui is doing well. Embrace them for me. 1 Old Oui, was a pet name given to the little Louis Napoleon. a The child whose birth is here recorded was the Princess Amelia, subsequently married to the Emperor of Brazil. 818 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Adieu, my dear Hortense. You know with what tender- ness I lore you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VH. JOSEPHINE TO HOETENSE AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. MILAN, August 4, 1812. I have been suffering for several days, my dear Hortense ; but the emetic I took yesterday has relieved me and I am much better to-day. I intend, if the season permits, to pass a fortnight at the waters of Aix (in Savoy), before returning to Paris. For how long a time have we been separated ! I shall be happy again to see you and to embrace your children for whom I have felt so much solicitude. Auguste sends her most affectionate remembrance to you. She is most lovely, and far from being debilitated by her confinement. I find her more beautiful and fresh than I have ever seen her before. Her children are superb. The eldest 1 particularly, is remarka- ble. Auguste loves Eugene tenderly. I see unceasing proofs of this, and it is a great happiness to me. She has received news from him up to the 31st of July. He is very well and seems contented. Adieu, my dear Hortense ; I love you tenderly, and tenderly embrace you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. PREGNY, 2 near Geneva, September 30, 1812. I have received your letter, my dear Hortense, at the mo- ment of my departure from Aix. I thank you for the news 1 The eldest daughter of Eugene and Auguste, was Josephine, who subsequently married Oscar, the King of Sweden, son of Bernadotte. 2 Pregny was a small chateau in the vicinity of Geneva, situated upon the borders of the lake, in full view of Mont Blanc. JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 319 which you have sent rne, and for your attention in re-assuring me respecting Eugene. 1 The Empress is very amiable in en- deavoring to save the vice-queen from anxiety. I am touched with an attention so kind and so obliging. Nevertheless, not having received letters from him, and the bulletin not having yet appeared, I can not guard myself against anxiety. I await tidings with impatience. If you receive any letters, im- mediately inform me of their contents. I have derived much benefit from the waters, but the cold drove me away, and I came here to repose a few days before returning to Malmaison. I experience much pleasure in find- ing myself at Pregny. Although it had been furnished in a hurry, the sojourn which you have made in this house renders it dear to me. The Queen of Spain" has returned to Paris. I have had much pleasure in passing a few moments with her ; she was kind and affectionate, as usual. The Princess of Sweden has also been very kind to me. I therefore did not wish to prolong my stay at Aix after their departure. I should have been still more happy if you had been able to come and join me. But I console myself for this, in thinking that the end of our separation is approaching, and that I soon shall be able to embrace you and also my grandchildren as tenderly as I love you. JOSEPHINE. 1 Eugeno was now with the Emperor struggling amid all the disas- ters of the Russian campaign. The Empress Maria Louisa had kindly written to Eugene's wife, informing her that she had heard of the safety of her husband. 2 The Queen of Spain was the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, Julia Clary. Bernadotte, the King of Sweden, had married her sister Eu- genia Clary. It was to Oscar, the son of Bernadotte and Eugenia, that the lovely Josephine Beauharnais was subsequently married. Julia and Eugenie Clary were both remarkable women for personal loveliness and great moral excellence. Eugenie was one of the early loves of the Emperor Napoleon. The circumstances of those stormy times separated their destinies. 320 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER IX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. MALHAISON (without date), 1812. You restore me to life again, my dear Hortense, in assuring me that you have read the letters from the Emperor to the Empress. She is very kind in having showed them to you. I feel infinitely grateful to her for the friendship she manifests for you. I acknowledge that I am all the time exceedingly anxious. Why does not Eugene write ? I am compelled, in order to calm my agitation, to believe that the Emperor for- bids him to write, that there may be no private letters. This, however, would be very cruel, as I am exceedingly anxious to see a letter from our good Eugene. I am very glad that you have not sent your children. The weather has been too cold, and while it continues so, I love them too much to wish to expose them to it. If, on Thursday, I am disengaged, I will go and pass the evening with you, for I am very sad in being so near you, and yet not seeing you. Good-night, my dear daughter. I embrace you with my whole heart, and with my whole heart I love you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER X. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. PREGNY, October 2, 1812. I have this moment received a letter from Eugene, 1 my dear Hortense. He has foreseen our anxieties, and has hastened to tranquilize us. I send you his letter, which will give you as much pleasure as it has given me. The one you wrote me on the 23d arrived at the same time with his. 1 The letter from Eugene, which will be found the next in order, was written immediately after the terrible battle of Borodino. JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 321 I share in all the regrets which you feel for poor Caulain- court ;' they are very just, and you will have much difficulty in consoling his unhappy toother. But, my dear Ilortense, do not surrender yourself to these sad thoughts. Every thing afflicts you too keenly. Have you not already suffered too much anguish of spirit ? Lay aside these griefs, and I am persuaded that your health will be restored. It is your sensi- bility which does you the greatest injury. I regret that you are not here with me. The weather is beautiful. The view of the lake, and that of Mont Blanc, are magnificent. I need only to have you with me to experience with delight all the pleasures of a tranquil life. Take care of yourself, my dear Hortense. Let me frequently hear from you. You kn.ow that my health depends upon yours. Adieu ; I embrace you, you and your children, tenderly. JOSEPHINE. 1 The allusion to poor Caulaincourt will be explained by the follow- ing extract from Abbott's History of Napoleon : " Napoleon had with him a young officer, to whom he was strongly attached, Count Augustus Caulaincourt, brother of Caulaincourt the Duke of Vicenza. During the anxious night before the battle, this young man did not close his eyes. "Wrapped in his cloak, he threw himself on the floor of his tent, with his eyes fixed upon the miniature of hia young bride, whom he had left but a few days after their marriage. In the heat of the battle, Count Caulaincourt stood by the side of the Em- peror, awaiting his orders. "Word was brought that General Montbrun, who had been ordered to attack a redoubt, was killed. Count Caulain- court was immediately instructed to succeed him. As he put spurs to his horse, he said, ' I will be at the redoubt immediately, either dead or alive.' " He was the first to surmount the parapet. At that moment a musket-ball struck him dead. He v had hardly left the side of the Em- peror ere intelligence was brought of his death. The brother of the unfortunate man was standing near, deeply afflicted. Napoleon, whose heart was touched with sympathetic grief, moved to his side, and said, in a low tone of voice, ' You have heard the intelligence ; if you wish, you can retire.' The Duke, in speechless grief, lifted his hat and bowed, declining the offer. The mangled remains of the noble young man were buried in the blood-red redoubt on the field of Borodino," 14* 322 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER XL EUGENE TO JOSEPHINE. September 8, 1812. My good mother I write you from the field of battle. The Emperor has gained a great victory over the Russians. The battle lasted thirteen hours. I commanded the right, and hope that the Emperor will be satisfied. I can not sufficiently thank you for your attentions and kindness to my little family. . You are adored at Milan, as everywhere else. They write me most charming accounts of you, and you have won the love of every one with whom you have become acquainted. Adieu. Please give tidings of me to my sister. I will write to her to-morrow. Your affectionate son, EUGENE. LETTER XII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. MALMAISON (without date), 1812. I hasten, my dear daughter, to send you letters from Eugene. 1 I have read them with avidity. From the most in- tense anxiety I have passed to great happiness. At least, my son lives ! I have just received a letter from the vice-queen, and I send it to you. You will return it to me on Thursday evening, when I shall have the pleasure of embracing you. JOSEPHINE. LETTER XIII. EUGENE TO JOSEPHINE. MALVIAVOSLAVITZ, October 25, 1812. I can write you but two words, my good mother, to tell you that I am well. My corps of the army had yesterday a very 1 The letter above referred to from Eugene will be found the next in order. EUGENE TO JOSEPHINE. 323 brilliant battle. I have had a conflict with eight hostile divis- ions, from morning till evening, and preserved my position. The Emperor is satisfied, and you can judge if I am not. Your faithful and very affectionate son, EUGENE. Napoleon, a victor, left Moscow on the 1 7th of October, to return to Poland, and establish his winter quarters there. On the 18th, he slept at Berousk, about sixty miles from Moscow. Eugene, with eighteen thousand men, was about twelve miles in the advance. Just after midnight, when his exhausted troops were all asleep, he was attacked by fifty thousand Rus- sians. JSugene rallied his troops, and after a long and bloody conflict, dispersed the vastly outnumbering foe, leaving the ground covered with their dead. As Napoleon, the next morning, rode over the field, he embraced Eugene with pater- nal pride, exclaiming, " This is the most glorious of your feats of arms." Immediately after this, the Russians assembled in great force, the storms of winter began, and the awful retreat was commenced. We have no more letters for the remainder of this year. On the 5th of December Napoleon left the army, and on the 18th arrived at the Tuileries. All his energies were then ex- pended in preparing for those last campaigns in which he was finally overpowered. CHAPTER XX. LETTERS DURING THE YEARS 1813 AND 1814. ON th*e 15th of April, 1813, Napoleon left Paris for the campaign in Germany, which has become so renowned through the conflicts of Lutzen and Bautzen, Dresden and Leipsic. Despotic Europe rose in arms against the republican Emperor. The conflict was protracted and terrible. Napoleon left St. Cloud at 4 o'clock in the morning for the head-quarters of his army. Caulaincourt, who accompanied him, says : "When the carriage started, the Emperor, who had his eyes fixed on the castle, threw himself back, placed his hand on his forehead, and remained for some time in that meditat- ive attitude. At length, rousing himself from his gloomy rev- erie, he began to trace, in glowing colors, his plans and pro- iects, the hopes he cherished of the faithful co-operation of Austria, etc. Then he resumed his natural simplicity of man- ner, and spoke to me, with emotion, of the regret he felt in leaving his bonne Louise, and his lovely child. " ' I envy,' said he, ' the lot of the meanest peasant of my empire. At my age he has discharged his debts to his coun- try, and may remain at home, enjoying the society of his wife and children, while I, I must fly to the camp, and engage in the strife of war. Such is the mandate of my inexplicable destiny,' " He again sunk into his reverie. To divert him from it, I turned the conversation on the scene of the preceding evening, when, at the Elysee, the Empress, in the presence of the JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 325 princes, grand dignitaries, and ministers, had taken the solemn oath in the character of Regent. " ' My good Louise,' said the Emperor, ' is gentle and sub- missive. I can depend on her. Her love and fidelity will never fail me. In the current of events there may arise cir- cumstances which will decide the fate of an empire. In that case I hope the daughter of the Caesars will be inspired by the spirit of her grandmother, Maria Louisa.' " The awful disasters of Dresden and Leipsic compelled the Emperor, in November, to return^to Paris, to raise reinforce- ments. Here, by the most vigorous efforts, he created another small army to resist the million of allied troops who were marching triumphantly to invade Fiance., Early in January, 1814, with the few and feeble, yet courage- ous battalions thus organized, he again marched from Paris to meet his foes. The struggle was short, but awful. Napoleon was overwhelmed by resistless numbers. France was exhaust- ed, and Paris capitulated March 31st, 1814. On the llth of April Napoleon abdicated, and on the 20th of the same month departed for the Island of Elba. Hirlly four weeks after Na- poleon's arrival at Elba, the gentle and sorrow-stricken Joseph- ine, on the 29th of May, sank into the repose of the grave. It was during the stormy scenes of these twelve months of disaster and anguish that the letters in the present chapter were written. LETTER I. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. MALMAISOJT, June 11, 1813. I have received your letter of the 7th, my dear Hortense. I see with pleasure that you have already been benefited by the waters. I advise you to continue them, in taking, as you do, a few days of repose. Be very "tranquil respecting your children. They are perfectly well. Their complexion is of the lily and the rose. I can assure you that since they have 326 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. been here they have not had the slightest indisposition. I must relate to you a very pretty response on the part of Oui Oui. The Abbe Bertrand caused him to read a fable, where there was a question about metamorphoses. Being called to explain- the word, he said to the Abbe : " I wish I could change myself into a little bird, I would then fly away at the hour of your lesson, but I would return when M. Hase (his teacher of German) arrived." " But, prince," replied the Abbe, " to say that to me is not being polite to me." " Oh !" replied Oui Oui, " that which I say is only for the lesson, not for the man." Do you not think, with me, that that repartee was very in- genious. It was impossible to extricate himself from the em- barrassment with more delicacy and gracefulness. Your chil- dren were with me when I received your letter. They were very happy to hear tidings from their mamma. Continue to write often, my dear daughter, for their sake, and for mine : it is the only means of enabling me to endure your absence. Adieu, my dear Hortense ; I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER II. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX, IN SAVOY. MALMAISON, June 16, 1813. What a horrible accident, my dear Hortense ! What a friend you have lost, and by what a frightful calamity ! Since yesterday, when I heard of it, I have been so horror-struck as not to be able to write to you. Every moment I have before my eyes the fate of that poor Adele. 1 Every body is in tears 1 Madame de Broc, widow of the Grand Marshal of the court of Hol- land, and who had been frorn-cliildhood an intimate friend of Hortense, while visiting with Hortense a cascade near Aix, in Savoy, slipped into the torrent, and before the eyes of her distracted friends, perished in the tumultuous waters. JOSEPHINE TO HORTEN8E. 327 for her. She was so beloved, so worthy of being beloved, by her excellent qualities, and by her attachment for you ! But yourself, my dear Hortense, how much solicitude and anxiety I have for you. I can think of nothing but what condition you are in. I arn so anxious, that I send my chamberlain, M. de Turpin to you, that he may give me more certain intelli- gence respecting your health. I shall make haste to leave, myself, for a short time, that my presence and my care may be useful to you. I feel keenly your grief. It is too well founded. But, my dear daughter, think of your children, who are so worthy of your love. Preserve yourself for them, you are so necessary for them ! Think, also, of your mother, who loves your tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER IH. JOSEPHINE TO HOKTENSE. MALMAISON, June 18, 1813. Your letter has reanimated me, my dear Hortense. In the dejection in which I was, I experienced time consolation in seeing your hand-writing, and in being assured by yourself that you strive to conquer your grief. I fully realize how much it must cost you. Your letter, so tender, so touching, has renewed my tears. Ever since this frightful accident I have been sick. Alas ! rny dear daughter, you did not need this new trial. I have embraced your children for you. They also are deeply afflicted and think of you very much. I am consoled in thinking that you will not forget us, and that you will strive to maintain your fortitude for their sake, and for mine. It is the strongest proof of affection you can give us. I thank you for it, my dear Hortense, my daughter tenderly beloved. JOSEPHINE. 328 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. LETTER IV. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX IN SAVOY. MALMAISON, 1813. I can not permit your courier to leave without transmitting to you intelligence from ine, iny dear daughter ; without let- ting you know how much I think of you. I fear that you may surrender yourself too much to the grief which you have experienced. I shall not feel fully reassured until M. Turpin shall have returned. Think of your charming chil- dren, my dear Hortense ; think also of a mother who adores you, and whom your life alone attaches to this world. I hope that all these motives will give you courage to support with more resignation the loss of a friend so tender. I have just received a letter from Eugene; he fully shares your grief, and desires that you would go and pass some time with him, if you have sufficient strength. I should be happy to know that you were now with him. Your children are enjoying perfect health ; they are truly interesting. It would, indeed, touch your feelings if you knew how much they think of you. Life is very precious, and one clings to it when one has such good children. Adieu, my dear daughter ; think often of a mother who loves you tenderly and who tenderly embraces you. JOSEPHINE. P. S. Remember me to M. d'Aijuzon. Every one here shares your grief. LETTER V. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX IN SAVOY. MALMAISOX, June 29, 1813. M. de Turpin has brought me your letter, my dear daughter. I see with pain how sad and melancholy you still are ; but it is at least a great consolation to me to be assured that your JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE. 329 health has not severely suffered. Take courage, my dear Hortense ; I hope that happiness will yet be your lot. You have passed through many trials : have not all persons their griefs ; the only difference is in the greater or less fortitude of soul with which one supports them. That which ought particularly to soothe your grief is that every one shares it with you. There are none who do not regret our poor Adele as much for themselves as for you. Your children mourn over your sorrows. Every thing an- nounces in them an excellent character and a strong attach- ment for you. The more I see of them the more I love them. Nevertheless I do not spoil them. Feel easy on their account. We follow exactly what you have prescribed for their regimen and their studies. When they have done well during the week, I invite them to breakfast and dine with me on the Sab- bath. The proof that they are in good health is, that they have grown much. Napoleon had one eye slightly inflamed yesterday, from the sting of a gnat ; he was not, however, on that account, less well than usual. To-day it is no longer manifest. It would not be worth mentioning, were we not in the habit of rendering to you an exact account of every thing which concerns them. The day of the arrival of M. de Tur- pin, I had received from Paris two little golden hens, which by means of an ingenious contrivance, laid golden eggs. I gave them to the children as a present from you, coming from Aix. Adieu, my dear daughter ; let me hear from you, and think of me, of your mother who loves you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VI. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT AIX IN SAVOY. MALMAISON, August 6, 1813. The beautiful days of summer have at last come with the month of August. I hope that they will strengthen you, ray dear daughter. Your lungs will feel the influence of them, 330 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. and tbe baths will do you much more good. I see with pleasure that you have not forgotten the years of your child- hood, and you are very kind to your mother in recalling them to her. I did right in making happy two children so good and so affectionate, and they have since abundantly recom- pensed me for it. Your children will do the same for you, my dear Hortense. Their hearts resemble yours ; they will never cease to love you. Their health is wonderfully good, and they have never been more fresh, and vigorous. The little Oui Oui is always gallant and amiable to me. Two days ago, in seeing Madame Tascher leave us, who went to join her husband at the springs, he said to Madame Bon- cheporn, " She must love her husband very much indeed, to be will- ing, for him, to leave my grandmother? Do you not think that was charming ? On the same day he went to walk in the woods of Butard. As soon as he was in the grand avenue he threw his hat into the air, shouting, " Oh, how I love beautiful nature? Not a day passes in which some one is not amused by his amiability. 1 The children animate all around me. Judge if you have not rendered me happy, in leaving them with me. I can not be more happy, until the day in which I shall see you. Adieu, my dear daughter. I love you and embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER VII. TO THE EMPRESS AT MALMAISON. TRIANON, August 25, 1813. I have received your letter. I see with pleasure that you are in good health. I have been some days at Trianon. I 1 The above anecdotes of the childhood of Louis Napoleon, now Emperor of France, all will read with interest. In subsequent life he has more fully developed the traits here exhibited. The stories in circulation in this country about his dissipation are entirely unfounded. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 331 Intend to go to Compeigne. My health is very good. Intro- duce order into your affairs. Do not expend more than three hundred thousand dollars a year. Lay aside as much yearly. That will leave a reserve of three millions of dollars in ten years for your grand-children. It is pleasant to be able to give them something, and to be useful to them. Instead of that they tell me that you are in debt. That is very bad. Give your personal attention to your affairs, and do not sur- render them to those who wish to take charge of them. If you wish to please me, so manage that I may know that you have a large treasure. Judge how bad an opinion I must have of you, if I know that you are in debt, with a revenue of six hundred thousand dollars. Adieu, my love ; take care of your health. NAPOLEON. There is some error in the date of this letter. On the 25th of August, 1813, Napoleon was near Dresden, concentrating his troops for the terrible battle which took place beneath the walls of that city. In November and December Napoleon was in the vicinity of Paris. In reference to Josephine's expenses, Memes says : " Out of an income of six hundred thousand dollars a year, a sum by no means large with an imperial title and establish- ment conforming, to be supported, between twenty and twenty- five thousand dollars a year were expended, in charity, in the neighborhood of Navarre alone. This is exclusive of the sums disbursed to the poor at Malrnaison, and throughout the whole of France, for wherever misfortune was known to Jo- sephine, its claims met with sympathy and relief. Nor was this a thoughtless profusion, as some have represented, or productive of embarrassment in her family concerns. Her charities were confided to competent and pious men, while her own sorrows had taught discrimination ; and the slight disorder at first occasioned by the injudicious pus-chases of an agent at Navarre ; the waste of her attendants, too apt to for- get the diminished resources of their mistress, and it may be 832 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. her own inexperience of a limited incom?, was quickly restored, the establishments at Malmaison and Navarre being latterly distinguished alike for economy and elegance." LETTER VIII. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT PARIS. MALMAISON, Saturday evening, 1813. My dear Hortense Monsieur and Madame Remusat dined yesterday at Malmaison. They have assured me that King Louis has written to the Emperor for reconciliation with him, saying, that since the Emperor is now in the midst of misfor- tunes, he implores that he may no longer be separated from him. This is certainly very kind and praiseworthy. But this return leads me to fear new griefs for you, and that idea afflicts me. Have courage, my dear daughter, and a soul pure as yours, must always, in the end, triumph over every thing. I have the greatest desire to see you. I shall go to pass the d:iy with you on Tuesday. Eugene has made his retreat with much order. He was, on the 29th of October, at four leagues from Trevise. The Italians show much energy. May my children be perfectly happy. It is the single wish of my heart, Adieu, my beloved Hortense ; I embrace you tenderly. JOSEPHINE. LETTER IX. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE, AT PARIS. MALMAISON, 1814. I send to you, my dear Hortense, my response to the vice- queen. If you approve of it, will you send it to Lavalette, that it may be forwarded ? I have expressed to Auguste, my sin- cere thouD-hts. I am convinced that the Emperor will surren- JOSEPHINE TO HOBTENSE. 333 der Italy. But no matter what happens, our dear Eugene will have acquired a noble reputation ; that is beyond all loss. Let me hear from you. I can not tell you how sad I am. I have endeavored, in my letter, to inspire Auguste with fortitude, but I have taken upon myself a heavy task. I embrace you tenderly, my dear Hortense. JOSEPHINE. LETTER X. JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT PARIS. MALMAISON, March 28th, 1814. My dear Hortense I maintained my courage until the moment in which I received your letter. I can not think without grief that I am to be separated from you, and heaven only knows for how long a time. I follow your advice, and to-morrow I shall leave for Navarre. I have here but sixteen men for a guard, and all wounded. I shall take care of them, but in truth I have no need of them. I am so unhappy in being separated from my children, that I am indifferent re- specting my fate. I am only anxious for you. Endeavor to send me news, that I may be informed of what you are doing, and tell me where you shall go. I shall endeavor at least to follow you from afar. Adieu, my dear daughter ; I embrace you very tenderly. JOSEPHINE. At eight o'clock in the morning Josephine took her carriage for Navarre. The allies were rapidly approaching Paris, and universal consternation reigned. Two or three times she was alarmed on the road by the cry of " Cossacks." When about half way on her journey, the pole of the carriage broke. It was a dark and stormy day, and the rain was falling in tor- rents. At this moment a troop of horsemen appeared in the distance. The Empress, in terror, thinking them to be barba- rian Cossacks, leaped from the carriage, and fled through the 334 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. . fields. The troops proved to be French. Her attendants fol- lowed her, and informed her of the mistake. She again en- tered her carriage, and uttered hardly a word during the rest of her melancholy journey. Upon entering the palace at Na- varre, she threw herself upon a couch, exclaiming : " Surely, surely Bonaparte is ignorant of what is passing within sight of the gates of Paris, or, if he knows, how cruel the thoughts which must now agitate his breast." During these terrible scenes, Josephine had received many hurried notes from Napoleon. These letters have not been preserved. The' last was dated from Brienne, where the Em- peror had engaged in a desperate conflict with his vastly out- numbering foes. The note closed with the following affecting words : "On beholding these scenes where I had passed my boy- hood, and comparing my peaceful condition then with the agi- tation and terrors I now experience, I several times said, in my own mind, ' I have sought to meet death in many conflicts I can no longer fear it to me death would now be a blessing, but I would once more see Josephine.' " LETTER XL JOSEPHINE TO HORTENSE AT RAMBOUILLET. NAVARRE, March 31, 1814. I have been at Navarre since yesterday, my dear Hortense. It took me two days to make the journey, having come with my horses. I can not tell you how sad I am. I have had fortitude in the afflicted positions in which I have found my- self, and I shall have enough to bear my reverses of fortune ; but I have not sufficient to sustain me under absence from my children, and uncertainty respecting their fate. For two days I have not ceased to weep. Send me tidings respecting your- self and your children. If you can learn any thing respecting Eugene and his family, inform me. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. 335 I greatly fear that I shall not be able to hear from Paris while the mail between Paris and Evreux is interrupted. This gives rise to many rumors ; among others, it is asserted that the bridge at Neuilly has been occupied by the enemy. That would be very near Mahnaison. Tell me what you shall do. They say that you are at Chartres : I send you an ex- press courier. If you remain in that town, it will be easy to establish a correspondence between us which will at least keep me informed respecting you. The Prefect of Evreux will arrange with the Prefect of Chartres upon the means of communication. There are but eighteen leagues between Evreux and Chartres. As you will be in a situation to receive sure intelligence, you can send it to me ; for the hews I shall obtain here will be very uncertain. I have been very well received at Evreux. The national and departmental guards escorted me to Navarre. They have offered me a guard, which I have not yet accepted. I did not take with me the guard which General Ornano placed at my disposal. It was composed of but sixteen sick and disabled men. Adieu, my dear daughter. I await an answer from you to console me. I embrace you tenderly, and also your chil- dren. JOSEPHINE. Two days after the date of this letter, Hortense joined her mother at Navarre. Upon the invitation of the Emperor Alexander of Russia, they returned together to Malmaison, where Alexander stationed a guard for theip protection. LETTER XII. NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. FOXTAINEBLEAU, April 16, 1814. Dear Josephine I wrote to you On the 8th of this month (it was a Friday), and perhaps you have not received my let- 336 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ter. Hostilities still continued ; possibly it may Have been intercepted. At present, communications must be re-estab- lished. I have formed my resolution. I have no doubt that this billet will reach you. I will not repeat what I said to you. There I lamented my situation ; now I congratulate myself thereon. My head and spirit are freed from an enormous weight. My fell is great, but at least it is useful, as men say. In my retreat, I shall substitute the pen for the sword. The history of my reign will be curious. The world has yet seen me only in profile ; I shall show myself in full. How many things have I to disclose ! how many are the men of whom a fatal estimate is entertained ! I have heaped benefits upon millions of wretches. What have they done in the end for me ? They have all betrayed me ; yes, all. I ex- cept from the number the good Eugene, so worthy of you and of me. Adieu, my dear Josephine. Be resigned, as I am, and ever remember him who never forgets, and never will forget you. Farewell, Josephine. NAPOLEON. The above letter is not found among those whose authen- ticity is verified by Queen Hortense. It is, however, found in most of the memoirs of Josephine ; but from what authority it is obtained, we know not. We also find in nearly all the memoirs of Josephine, the letter to the Emperor which will be found the next following. Maria Louisa was not permitted to accompany Napoleon to Elba. It was then supposed, erro- neously, that she did not wish to accompany him. It is said that, as Josephine read the above sad letter from the Emperor, she was overwhelmed with grief, and said to her compan- ions : " I must not remain here. My presence is necessary to the Emperor. That duty is indeed more Maria Louisa's than mine ; but the Emperor is alone, forsaken. Well, I at least will not abandon him. I might be dispensed with while he was happy ; now I am sure he expects me. I may, however, interfere with his arrangements. You will remain here with JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON. 337 me till intelligence be received from the allied sovereigns. They will expect her who was the wife of Napoleon." She then wrote to the Emperor as follows : LETTER XIH. JOSEPHINE TO NAPOLEON AT ELBA. MALMAISON, May, 1814. Sire Now only, can I calculate the whole extent of the misfortune of having beheld my union with you dissolved by law. Now, do I indeed lament being no more than your friend, who can but mourn over a misfortune great as it is un- expected. It is not the loss of a throne that I regret on your accQunt. I know, from myself, how such a loss may be en- dured. But my heart sinks from the grief you must have ex- perienced on separating from the old companions of your glory. You must have regretted, not only your officers, but the sol- diers, whose countenances even, names, and brilliant deeds in arms, you could recall, and all of whom you could not recom- pense, for they were too numerous. To leave heroes like them, deprived of their chief, who so often shared in their toils, must have struck your soul with unutterable grief. In that sorrow especially do I participate. You will also have to mourn over the ingratitude and fall- ing away of friends, on whom you deemed you could confide. Ah, sire, why can I not fly to you ! why can not I give you the assurance that exile has no terrors save for vulgar minds, ' and that, far from diminishing a sincere attachment, misfor- tune imparts to it new force ! I have been on the point of quitting France to follow your footsteps, and to consecrate to you the remainder of an existence which you so long embel- lished. A single motive restrained me, and that you may di- vine. If I learn that, contrary to all appearance, / am the only one who will fulfill her duty, nothing shall detain me, and I will go to the only place where henceforth there can be happiness for me, since I shall be able to console you when 15 338 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. you are there isolated and unfortunate. Say but the word and I depart. Adieu, sire ; whatever I could add would still be too little. It is no longer by words that my sentiments for you are to be proved, and for actions your consent is neces- sary. JOSEPHINE. P. S. Malmaison has been respected. I am there surround- ed by the foreign sovereigns, but had much rather not remain. But a few days after the date of the above letter, Josephine was taken sick, and on the 29th of May, 1814, died in the arms of her beloved children, Eugene and Hortense. Her last prayer was, as she held in her hand the miniature of Na- poleon, and gazed fondly upon it : " Oh God ! watch over Napoleon while he remains in the desert of this world. Alas ! though he hath committed great faults, hath he not expiated them by great sufferings ? Great God, Thou hast looked into his heart, and hast seen by how ardent a desire for useful and durable improvement he was animated. Deign to approve this last petition, and may this image of my husband bear me witness that my latest prayer was for him and for my children." At the moment of death, she still held in her hand the min- iature of her husband, and faintly exclaiming, " Island of Elba ! Napoleon !" her gentle spirit passed away into the repose of death. CHAPTER XXI. LETTERS DURING THE EMPEROR'S CAPTIVITY AT ST. HELENA. DURING the first year of the Emperor's captivity at St. Helena, he carried on no correspondence with his friends iu Europe. Sir Hudson Lowe, by the orders of his government, refused to allow any sealed letters to pass to or from the Em- peror. Even the newspapers, with the exception of an oc- casional copy of the Times, were studiously withheld from him. Consequently he was totally ignorant of the state of affairs in the world, outside of his prison walls. In the summer of 1816, the Emperor received from the allied powers, through Sir Hudson Lowe, a copy of the treaty into which they had entered, in reference to his captivity. The treaty was as follows : TREATY OF THE SECOND OF AUGUST, 1815. "Napoleon Bonaparte, being in the power of the allied sovereigns, their Majesties, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Emperor of Austria, the Em- peror of Russia, and the King of Prussia, have determined, by virtue of the stipulations of the treaty of the 26th of March, 1815, on the measures best calculated to render it impossible for him, by any new enterprise, to disturb the peace of Eu- rope. "Article 1. Napoleon Bonaparte is regarded by the powers 340 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. who have signed the treaty of the 26th of March last, as their prisoner. "Article 2. His safe keeping is intrusted to the British government. The choice of the place, and of the measures best calculated to insure the object of these stipulations, is reserved to his Britannic Majesty. " Article 3. The imperial courts of Austria and Russia, and the royal court of Prussia, shall appoint commissioners to reside in the place which his Britannic Majesty shall determine on, as the residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, and who, without being responsible for his safe custody, shall assure themselves of his presence. " Article 4. His most Christian Majesty is invited, in the name of the four courts above named, in like manner to send a French commissioner, to the place of Napoleon Bonaparte's detention. ''Article 5. His- Majesty, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, binds himself to fulfill the en- gagements assigned to him by the present convention. "Article 6. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications exchanged within a few days, or sooner if possible. "in ratification of which, the respective plenipotentiaries have affixed their hands and seals. "Given at Paris, the 2d of August, 1815. "(Signed) PRINCE METTERNICH, ABERDEEN, " [A true copy.] PRINCE HARDENBURG, COUNT NESSELRODE. "HUDSON LOWE, governor of the island of St. Helena, and commissioner of his Britannic Majesty." The Emperor having read this treaty very carefully, dic- tated to Count Montholon the following protest, addressed to Sir Hudson Lowe : MONTHOLON TO HUDSON LOWE. 341 LETTER I. COUNT MONTHOIiON TO SIB HUDSON LOWE. LONGWOOD, August 23, 1816. To GENERAL, SIR HUDSON LOWE: Sir I have received a copy of the treaty of the 2d of August, 1815, concluded between his Britannic Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, inclosed in your letter of July 23d. The Emperor Napoleon protests against the contents of this treaty. He is not the prisoner of the English government. After having resigned his crowns into the hands of represent- atives, for the advantage of the constitution adopted by the French people, and in favor of his son, he retired freely and of his own will, to England, to live there as a private individ- ual, under the protection of British laws. The violation of laws can never constitute a right In point of fact, the Em- peror is in the power of England, but neither de facto nor de jure, has he been,, nor is he, in the power of Austria, Russia, or Prussia, even according to the laws and customs of En- gland, which never included the Russians, the Austrians, the Prussians, the Spaniards, or Portuguese, in any exchange of prisoners, even while allied with those powers, and carrying on war conjointly with them. The treaty of the 2d of August, agreed to fifteen days after the Emperor Napoleon's arrival in England, can have no effect in law ; it merely presents the spectacle of the four greatest powers of Europe, entering into a coalition for the oppression of a single individual a coali- tion in direct opposition to the feelings of all nations, as it is to the doctrines of sound morality. The Emperors of Austria and of Russia, and the King of Prussia, having, neither in fact, nor in law, any authority over the person of the Emperor Napoleon, could not legally make any arrangement respecting him. If the Emperor Napoleon had fallen into the power of the Emperor of Austria, that 342 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Prince would have remembered the relation which the laws of religion and nature have established between father and son, a relation which can never be disregarded with impunity. He would have remembered that Napoleon had four times restored to him his crown at Leoben, in 1797, and at Luneville in 1801, when his armies were at the walls of Vien- na; at Presburg in 1806, and at Vienna in 1809, when his armies were masters of the capital, and of three fourths of the empire. That Prince wouU have remembered the pro- testations of friendship which he had made to him at the bivouac in Moravia in 1806, and at the interview at Dresden in 1812. If the person of the Emperor Napoleon had fallen into the power of the Emperor Alexander, he would have remembered the bonds of friendship contracted at Tilsit, at Erfurt, and during twelve years of daily intercourse. He would have re- membered the conduct of the Emperor Napoleon the day after the battle of Austerlitz, when he might have made him prisoner, with the wreck of his army, but contented himself with his parole, and allowed him to retreat. He would have remembered 'the personal danger to which the Emperor Napo- leon exposed himself in his endeavors to extinguish the fire of Moscow, and to preserve his capital. Certainly, this prince would not have violated the duties of friendship and gratitude toward a friend in misfortune. F the person of the Emperor had ever fallen into the power of the King of Prussia, that sovereign would not have forgot- ten that it had been in the power of the Emperor, after the battle of Friedland, to have placed another prince on the throne of Berlin. He would not have forgotten, before a dis- armed enemy, the protestations of friendship and the senti- ments he expressed toward him at Dresden in 1810. Thus we see, by Articles II. and V. of the said treaty of the 2d of August, that these princes, not being able to influence in any degree the fate of the Emperor, refer to what his Bri- tannic Majesty, who takes upon him to fulfill all their obliga- MONTHOLON TO HUDSON LOWE. 343 gations, may determine on the subject. These princes have reproached the Emperor for having preferred the protection of England to theirs. The false ideas which the Emperor en- tertained respecting the liberality of the English laws, and in reference to the influence which the opinion of a generous and free people ought to have upon its government, determined him to prefer the protection of its laws to those of his father-in- law or of his old friend. The Emperor Napoleon always had it in his power to secure his personal freedom by means of a diplomatic treaty, either by putting himself at the head of the army of the Loire, or by taking the command of the army of the Gironde, then commanded by General Clausel. But, as he sought merely for a retreat, and the protection of free laws, whether English or American, all stipulations appeared to him unnecessary. He believed that the English people would be more bound by his frank, noble, and generous pro- ceeding than it would have been by any treaty whatever. He has been deceived. But this error will always cause a true Briton to blush, either in the present generation or in those to come, and it will be a lasting proof of the want of honor dis- played by the English government. Austrian and Russian commissioners have arrived at St. Helena. If their mission is intended to fulfill a part of the duties which the Emperors of Austria and Russia have con- tracted, in consequence of the treaty of the 2d of August, and to take care that, in a little island surrounded by the ocean, the agents of the English government should not treat with disrespect a prince connected with them by the bonds of rela tionship, and by several other ties, this proceeding is worthy of the character of those two sovereigns. But you, sir, have taken upon you to assert that these commissioners have neither the right nor the power to have an opinion on any thing which may take place on this rock. The English ministry has caused the Emperor Napoleon to be sent to St. Helena, two thousand leagues from Europe. This rock, situated under the tropics, at five hundred leagues 344 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. from any continent, is exposed to the dreadful heat of these latitudes. It is covered with clouds and fogs three fourths of the year. It is at the same time the driest and the most humid climate in the world. It is hatred alone, which has presided over the choice of this residence, detrimental as it is, and must be, to the health of the Emperor, as well as over the instructions dispatched by the English government to the offi- cers commanding at St. Helena. They were ordered to ad- dress the Emperor as " General," wishing to oblige him to ac- knowledge that he had never reigned in France ; and it was this that determined him not to assume an incognito, as he had decided upon doing when he quitted France. When chief magistrate of the Republic, under the title of First Con- sul, he concluded the preliminaries of the treaty of London, and the treaty of Amiens, with the King of Great Britain. He received as embassadors, Lord Cornwallis, Mr. Merry, and Lord Whitworth, who signed the treaty as such at his court. He accredited, as embassadors to the Court of Great Britain, Count Otto and General Andreossy, who resided as such at the Court of Windsor. When, after an exchange of notes between the ministers of foreign affairs of the two monarchies, Lord Lauderdale came to Paris as plenipotentiary from the King of England, he treated with the plenipotentiaries of the Emperor Napoleon, and remained for several months at the court of the Tuileries. When afterward, at Chatillon, Lord Castlereagh signed the ultimatum which the allied powers laid before the Emperor Napoleon, he recognized, in this act, the fourth dynasty. This ultimatum was more advantageous than the treaty of Paris, but it was required by it that France should give up Belgium, and the left bank of the Rhine, which was contrary to the arrangements of Frankfort, and to the proclamations of the allied powers, and also to the oath which the Emperor had sworn at his coronation, to maintain the integrity of the Empire. The Emperor thought then that these natural limits were necessary to the protection of France, as well as to the MONTHOLON TO HUDSON LOWE. 345 balance of power in Europe. He considered that the French nation, in the circumstances in which it was then placed, ought rather to run the risk of a war than to depart from them. France would have obtained its claims, and with them have preserved its honor, if treason had not aided the allies. The treaty of the 2d of August, and the bill passed by the British Parliament, call the Emperor " Napoleon Bonaparte," and give him no title but that of "general." The title of General Bonapprte, is, no doubt, an eminently glorious one. The Emperor was only General Bonaparte at Lodi, at Castig- lione, at Rivoli, at Arcola, at Leoben, at the Pyramids, at Aboukir ; but for seventeen years he has borne the names of First Consul and Emperor. This would, in effect, amount to acknowledging that he had. neither been first magistrate of the republic, nor sovereign of the fourth dynasty. Those who consider nations flocks of sheep, which, by divine right, are the property of some family, belong neither to the century, nor to the spirit of English legislation, which has several times changed the order of its dynasty, because great changes which had occurred in public opinion, and in which the reign- ing princes had not participated, had rendered them unfit to provide for the happiness of the majority of the nation for kings are but hereditary magistrates, who exist merely for the happiness of the nations, not nations for the satisfaction of kings. It is this same spirit of hatred which has decreed that the Emperor Napoleon is not to be allowed to write or receive any letter which has not been opened and read by the English officers at St. Helena. By this means he has been prevent- ed from receiving any account of his mother, his wife, his son, or his brothers ; and when he wished to free himself from the inconvenience of his letters being read by subaltern offi- cers, and endeavored for this purpose to send a sealed letter to the Prince Regent, he received for answer that only unsealed letters could be received that such were the instructions of the ministry. This measure must give strange ideas of the 15* 346 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. spirit of the administration by which it was dictated ; it would not have been acknowledged at Algiers. Letters arrived for general officers in the service of the Emperor : they were opened and sent to you. You detained them because they did not pass through the English ministry. They were obliged to perform a journey of four thousand leagues, and these officers had the pain of knowing that there were, on this rock, accounts of their wives, their mothers, and their chil- dren, and that they would be obliged to wait six months be- fore receiving them. The heart revolts. We have not been allowed to subscribe to the Morning Chronicle, to the Morning Post, or to some French news- papers. Occasionally some copies of The Times have been sent to Longwood. In consequence of the request made on board the Northumberland, some books have been sent us ; but all those relating to the affairs of the last few years were carefully kept away. At a later period we wished to enter into correspondence with a London bookseller, to obtain directly such books as we might require this was prevented. An English author, having written an account of a journey jn France, sent you a copy of his work which he had printed in London, to present it to the Emperor. You did not do so, because it did not come through the medium of the English government. It is said, also, that several books, forwarded by their authors for the Emperor, have not been given to him, be- cause the addresses on some were to " the Emperor Napoleon," on others, to " Napoleon the Great." The English ministry has no right to inflict all these vexations. The law of the British Parliament, although unjust, considers the Emperor Napoleon as a prisoner of war, and prisoners of war have never been prevented from subscribing to newspapers, or from receiving books. Such a prohibition is as yet only known in the dun- geons of the Inquisition. The island of St. Helena is ten leagues in circumference. It is .inaccessible on every side. Vessels guard the coast, and gentries are placed along the shore within sight of one another, MONTHOLON TO HUDSON LOWE. 347 thus rendering any communication with the sea impossible. There is but one little town, Jamestown, where vessels touch, or get ready for sea. To prevent any individual from escap- ing from the island, it would be sufficient to blockade the coast by sea and land. By preventing the Emperor from en- joying the liberty of the interior of the island, only one object can be gained, that of depriving him of an opportunity of en- joying a ride or a walk of eight or ten miles, the privation of which exercise, according to medical men, will tend to shorten his life. The Emperor has been settled at Longwood, which is ex- posed to every wind, is on a barren soil, uninhabited, without water, and susceptible of no cultivation. There is a space of about two thousand or three thousand yards without any cul- tivation. At a distance of some six hundred yards a camp has been established. Another has been placed at about the same distance on the opposite side ; so that, under all the heat of the tropics, on whichever side you turn your eyes, you see only camps. Admiral Malcolm, perceiving of what use a tent would be to the Emperor, caused one to be erected by his sailois, about twenty paces from the house. This is the only spot where there is any shade. The Emperor feels him- self here compelled to remark, that he has had reason to be satisfied with the spirit which animates both officers and men of the 53d, as he also was with the crew of the Northum- berland. The house a Longwood, was built to serve as a barn for the company's farm. At a later period*the deputy-governor of the island Lad some rooms built there. It served him as a country house, but was in no respect suitable for a dwelling. The Emperor has been settled there a year. During the whole time, workmen have been employed in and about the house, and he has constantly been subject to the inconve- nience and unhealthiness of living in a house in course of build- ing or repair. The room in which he sleeps is too small to contain a bed of an ordinary size. But any additional build- 348 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. ing would cause the inconveuience of workmen to be pro- longed. And yet in this miserable island, there are some beautiful spots, with fine trees, gardens, and tolerable houses among others, Plantation House. But the positive instruc- tions of the ministry forbid you to give up this house, which would have spared you a considerable expense, employed in building at Longwood, cabins covered with pitched paper, which are already out of repair. You have prohibited all correspondence between us and the inhabitants of the island. You have, in fact, isolated the house of Longwood. You have even perverted our intercourse with the officers of the garrison. You seem, then, to have taken pains to deprive us of all the resources which even this miserable country offers, and we are just as we should be on the uncultivated and unhabited rock of Ascension. In the four months dur- ing which you have been here, sir, you have rendered the Emperor's situation much worse. Court Bertrand has already had occasion to remark to you, that you were violating even the laws of your legislature that you were trampling under foot the right of general officers when prisoners of war. You replied that you Only recognized the letter of your instruc- tions, and that they were worse still than your conduct ap- peared to us. GENERAL COUNT MONTHOLON. P. S. I had already signed this letter, sir, when I received yours of the 17th, in which you inclose an estimate concern- ing an annual sum of 20,000 [$100,000], which you consider necessary for the expenses of the establishment at Longwood, after all the reductions which you have thought it necessary to make. The discussion of this estimate can not concern us in any respect. The table of the Emperor is scarcely fur- nished with what is strictly necessary ; all the provisions are of bad quality, and four times as dear as at Paris. You re- quire from the Emperor a sum of 12,000 [$60,000], for all these expenses. I have already had the honor of informing you, that the Emperor has no funds at his disposal ; that, dur- ing the last year, he has neither written nor received any let- NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 349 ters, and that he is completely ignorant of every thing which has taken place, or which might have taken place, in Europe. Violently carried off' to this rock, at a distance of two thou- sand lengues from Europe, without being able to receive or write any letters, he is entirely at the discretion of English agents. The Emperor has always desired, and still desires, to bear all his own expenses of- every kind, and he will do so as soon as you make it possible, by removing the prohibition to the merchants of the island with reference to conveying his correspondence, and as soon as he is certain of its being submitted to no examination from you or any of your agents. As soon as the necessities of the Emperor become known in Europe, those who take an interest in him will send him the necessary funds. The letter of Lord Bathurst, which you have communicated to me gives rise to strange ideas. Were your ministers igno- rant that the sight of a great man struggling with adversity is a most sublime .sight ? Were they ignorant that Napoleon, at St. Helena, in the midst of persecutions of all kinds, which he meets with never-changing serenity, is greater, more sacred, more venerable than upon the first throne in the world, where he was so long the arbiter of kings? Those who fail in respect to Napoleon in such a situation, merely debase their own character and the nation which they represent. GENERAL COUNT MONTHOLON. During the Emperor's long confinement and suffering sick- ness at St. Helena, he conversed with the utmost freedom upon all topics. The following record of some of his remarks upon spiritual subjects will be read with interest. They bear the impress of his profound genius and of his deep emotional nature : "In the year 1819, the British government consented that the friends of Napoleon should send to him from Europe a physician. On the 19th of September of that year, Doctor 350 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. Antomrnarchi, who had been selected, arrived at St. Helena. Two ecclesiastics accompanied Dr. Antommarchi, as Napoleon had expressed reiterated and very earnest desires that the or- dinances of religion might be regularly administered to his household at St. Helena. One of these, the Abbe Buonavita, was an aged prelate, who had been chaplain to Napoleon's mother at Elba, and also to the Princess Pauline at Rome. The other was a young man, the Abbe Vignali, who was also a physician. "September 22, 1819. Dr. Antommarchi had his first in- terview with Napoleon. He found him in bed, in a small, dark room, very meanly furnished. It was a quarter past two o'clock in the afternoon. The room was so dark that when the Doctor first entered he could not see'Napoleon. The Em- peror, perceiving this, in gentle tones requested him to ap- proach. He questioned him very minutely respecting his par- entage, his past history, his motives for consenting to come to such a miserable rock, and his medical education. Satisfied with his replies, the Emperor entered into a frank and touch- ing conversation respecting his friends in Europe. " He then saw the two Abbes. At the close of a confiding and an affecting interview, the Emperor said, in the tones of a man upon the verge of the grave : " ' We have been too long deprived of the ordinances of religion not to be eager to enjoy them immediately, now that they are within our power. Hereafter we will have the com- munion service every Sabbath, and we will observe the sacred days recognized by the Concordat. I wish to establish at St. Helena the religious ceremonies which are celebrated in France. On these occasions we will erect a movable altar in the dining-room. You, Monsieur Abbe, are aged and infirm. I will select the hour which will be most convenient for you. You may officiate between nine and ten o'clock in the morn- ing.' " In the evening, the Emperor was alone with Count Mon- tholon. The Count was not a religious man. He has frankly NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 351 said, 'In the midst of camps, I forgot religion.' Napoleon, with great joy, informed Montholon of his intention to attend mass the next day. He then uttered the following remarkable confession : " ' Upon the throne, surrounded by generals far from de- vout, yes, I will not deny it, I had too much regard for public opinion, and far too much timidity, and perhaps I did not dare to say aloud, " / am a believer" I said, " Religion is a power a political engine" But, even then, if any one had ques- tioned me directly, I should have replied, " Yes f I am a Christian" And if it had been necessary to confess my faith at the price of martyrdom, I should have found all my firm- ness. Yes! I should have endured it rather than deny my religion. But now that I am at St. Helena, why should I dis- semble that which I believe at the bottom of my heart? Here I live for myself. I wish for a priest, I desire the communion of the Lord's Supper, and to confess what I believe. I will go to the mass. I will not force any one to accompany me there. But those who love me will follow me.' " General Bertrand was an avowed unbeliever, and often dis- pleased Napoleon by speaking disrespectfully of sacred things. The Emperor was one day, about this time, conversing with him upon the subject of atheism'. " 'Your spirit,' said he, 'is it the same as the spirit of the herdsman, whom you see in the valley below, feeding his flocks ? Is there not as great a distance between you an 1 him as between a horse and a man ? But how do you know this ? You have never seen his spirit. No ! the spirit of a beast has the endowment of being invisible. It has that privilege equally with the spirit of the most exalted geniu-% " ' But you have talked with the herdsman ; you have ex- amined his countenance ; you have questioned him, and his responses have told you what he is. You judge, then, the same from the effects, and you judge correctly. Certainly your reason, your intelligence, your faculties are vastly above 352 COHFIDENTIAL LETTERS. those of the herdsman. Very well ; I judge in the same war. Divine effects cofripel me to believe in a Divine Cause. Yes ! there is a Divine Cause, a Sovereign Reason, an Infinite Being. That Cause is the cause of causes. That Reason is the reason creative of intelligence. There exists an Infinite Being, compared with whom, you, General Bertrand, are but an atom ; compared with whom, I, Napoleon, with all my genius, am purely nothing a pure nothing: do, you under- stand ? I perceive Him, God ; I see .Him ; have need of Him ; I believe in Him. If you do not perceive Him ; if you do not believe in Him ; very well, so much the worse for you. But you will, General Bertrand, yet believe in God. I can pardon many things ; but I have a horror of an atheist and a materi- alist. Think you that I can have any sympathies in common with the man who does not believe in the existence of the soul ? who believes that he is but a lump of clay, and who wishes that I may also be like him, a lump of clay ?' " General Montholon, after his return to Europe, said to M. de Beauterne : " ' Yes ; the Emperor was a Christian. With him faith was a natural, a fundamental principle. The religious sentiment was immediately roused when in the slightest degree sum- moned by an exterior sensation or an incidental thought. When any thing cruel or irreligious presented itself, it seemed to do violence to his deepest feelings ; he could not restrain himself. He protested, opposed, and was indignant. Such was his natural character. I have seen it, yes, I have seen it ; and I, a man of camps, who had forgotten my religion I confess it who did not practice it, I at first was astonished ; but then I received thoughts and impressions which still con- tinue with me the subjects of profound reflection. I have seen the Emperor religious, and I have said to myself, " He died a Christian, in the fear of God." I can not forget that old age is upon me, that I must soon die ; and I wish to die like the Emperor. I do not doubt even that General Bertrand often recalls, as I do, the religious conversations and the death NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 353 of the Emperor. The General, perhaps, may finish his career like his master and his friend." ' * The conversation at St. Helena very frequently turned upon the subject of religion. One day Napoleon was speaking of the Divinity of Christ, when General Bertrand said : " I can not conceive, sire, how a great man like you can believe that the Supreme Being ever exhibited himself to men under a human form, with a body, a face, mouth, and eyes. "Let Jesus be whatever you please the highest intelli- gence, the purest heart, the most profound legislator, and, in all respects, the most singular being who has ever existed. I grant it. Still he was simply a man, who taught his disciples, and deluded credulous people, as did Orpheus, Confucius, Brahma. Jesus caused himself to be adored, because his pre- decessors, Isis and Osiris, Jupiter, and Juno, had proudly made themselves objects of worship. The ascendancy of Jesus over his time, was like the ascendancy of the gods and the heroes of fable. If Jesus has impassioned and attached to his chariot the multitude if he has revolutionized the world I see in that only the po\ver of genius, and the action of a command- ing spirit, which vanquishes the world, as so many conquerors have done Alexander, Csesar, you, sire, and Mohammed, with a sword." Napoleon replied : " I know men, and I 'tell you that Jesus Christ is not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religion^ That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and whatever other religion the distance of infinity. " We can say to the authors of every other religion, ' You are neither gods nor the agents of the Deity. You are but missionaries of falsehood, molded from the same clay with the rest of mortals. You are made with all the passions and * J Sentiment de Napoleon sur le Christianisme : Conversations reli- gieuses a Sainte Helene par M. le General Comte de Montholon, par M. le Chevalier de Beauterno, p. 21. 354 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. vices inseparable from them. Your temples and your priests proclaim your origin.' Such will be the judgment, the cry of conscience, of whoever examines the gods and the temples of paganism. " Paganism was never accepted, as truth, by the wise men of Greece ; neither by Socrates, Pythagoras, Plato, Anaxa- goras, or Pericles. On the other side, the loftiest intellects, since the advent of Christianity, have had faith, a living faith, a practical faith, in the mysteries and the doctrines of the gospel ; not only Bossuet and Fenelon, who were preachers, but Descartes and Newton, Leibnitz and Pascal, Corneille and Racine, Charlemagne and Louis XIV. " Paganism is the work of man. One can here read but our imbecility. What do these gods, so boastful, know more than other mortals ? these legislators, Greek or Roman, this Numa, this Lycurgus, these priests of India or of Memphis, this Confucius, this Mohammed ? Absolutely nothing. They have made a perfect chaos of morals. There is not one among all them who has said any thing new in reference to our future destiny, to the soul, to the essence of God, to the crea- tion. Enter the sanctuaries of paganism. You there find perfect chaos, a thousand contradictions, war between the gods, the immobility of sculpture, the division and the rend- ing of unity, the parceling out of the Divine attributes muti- lated or denied in their essence, the sophisms of ignorance and presumption, polluted fetes, impurity and abomination adored^all sorts of corruption festering in the thick shades, with the rotten wood, the idol, and his priest. Does this honor God, or does it dishonor him ? Are these religions and these gods to be compared with Christianity ? " As for me, I say no. I summon entire Olympus to my tribunal. I judge the gods, but am far from prostrating my- self before their vain images. The gods, the legislators of India and of China, of Rome and of Athens, have nothing which can overawe me. Not that I am unjust to them ! No ; I appreciate them, because I know their value. Undeniably NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 355 princes, whose existence is fixed in the memory as an image of order and of power, as the ideal of force and beauty, such princes were no ordinary men. " I see in Lycurgus, Numa, and Mohammed only legisla- tors, who, having the first rank in the State, have sought the best solution of the social problem ; but I see nothing there which reveals Divinity. They themselves have never raised their pretensions so high. As for me, I recognize the gods and these great men as beings like myself. They have per- formed a lofty part in their times, as I have done. Nothing announces them Divine. On the contrary, there are numerous resemblances between them and myself; foibles and errors which ally them to me and to humanity. " It is not so with Christ. Every thing in him astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me. Be- tween him and whoever else in the world, there is no possible term of comparison. He is truly a being by himself. His ideas and his sentiments, the truths which he announces, his manner of convincing, are not explained either by human or- ganization or by the nature of things. " His birth, and the history of his life ; the profundity of his doctrine, which grapples the mightiest difficulties, and which is of those difficulties the most admirable solution ; his gospel, his apparition, his empire, his march across the ages and the realms every thing is, for me, a prodigy, a mystery insoluble, which plunges me into a reverie from which I can not escape a mystery which is there before my eyes a mys- tery which I can neither deny nor explain. Here I see noth- ing human. " The nearer I approach, the more carefully I examine, every thing is above me, every thing remains grand, of a grandeur which overpowers. His religion is a revelation from an intelli- gence which certainly is not that of man. There is there a pro- found originality, which has created a series of words and of maxims before unknown. Jesus borrowed nothing from our sciences. One can absolutely find nowhere, but in him alone, 856 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. the imitation or the example of his life. He is not a philoso- pher, since he advances by miracles, and from the commence- ment his disciples worshiped him. He persuades them far more by an appeal to the heart, than by any display of method and of logic. Neither did he imppse upon them any pre- liminary studies, or any knowledge of letters. All his religion consists in believing. " In fact, the sciences and philosophy avail nothing for salva- tion ; and Jesus came into the world to reveal the mysteries of heaven and the laws of the spirit. Also, he has nothing to do but with the soul, and to that alone he brings his gos- pel. The soul is sufficient for him, as he is sufficient for the soul. Before him the soul was nothing. Matter and time were the master of the world. At his voice every thing re- turns to' order. Science and philosophy become secondary. The soul has reconquered its sovereignty. All the scholastic scaffolding falls, as an edifice ruined, before one single word Faith. " What a master, and what a word, which can effect such a revolution ! With what authority does he teach men to pray ! He imposes his belief. And no one, thus far, has been able to contradict him ; first, because the Gospel contains the purest morality, and also because the doctrine which it contains of obscurity, is only the proclamation and the truth of that which exists where no eye can see, and no reason can penetrate. Who is the insensate who will say No to the intrepid voyager who recounts the marvels of the icy peaks which he alone has had the boldness to visit ? Christ is that bold voyager. One can doubtless remain incredulous. But no one can venture to say, It is not so. " Moreover, consult the philosophers upon those mysterious questions which relate to the essence of man and the essence of religion. What is their response ? Where is the man of good sense who has ever learned any thing from the system of metaphysics, ancient or modern, which is not truly a vain and pompous ideology, without any connection with our domestic NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 357 life, with our passions ? Unquestionably, with skill in think- ing, one can- seize the key of the philosophy of Socrates and Plato. But to do this, it is necessary to be a metaphysician ; and moreover, with years of study, one must possess special aptitude. But good sense alone, the heart, an honest spirit, are sufficient to comprehend Christianity. " The Christian religion is neither ideology nor metaphysics, but a practical rule, which directs the actions of man, corrects him, counsels him, and assists him in all his conduct. The Bible contains a complete series of facts and of historical men, to explain time and eternity, such as no other religion has to offer. If this is not the true religion, one is very excusable in being deceived ; for every thing in it is grand and worthy of God. I search i.n vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or any thing which can approach the Gospel. Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature, offer me any thing with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here every thing is extraordinary. The more I consider the Gospel, the more I am assured that there is nothing there which is not beyond the march of events, and above the hu- man mind. Even the impious themselves, have never dared to deny the sublimity of the Gospel, which inspires them with a sort of compulsory veneration. What happiness that book procures for those who believe it ! What marvels those ad- mire there who reflect upon it ! " All the v^brds there are imbedded and joined one upon an- other, like trie stones of an edifice. The spirit which binds these words together is a Divine cement, which now reveals the sense, and again vails it from the mind. Each phrase has a sense complete, which traces the perfection of unity and the profundity of the whole. Book unique, where the minds finds a moral beauty before unknown, and an idea of the Supreme, superior even to that which creation suggests. Who, but God could produce that type, that idea of perfection, equally ex- clusive and original ? " Christ, having but a few weak disciples, was condemned to 358 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. death. He died, the object of the wrath of the Jewish priests, and of the contempt of the nation, and abandoned and denied by His own disciples. " ' They are about to take me, and to crucify me,' said He. ' I shall be abandoned of all the world. My chief disciple will deuy me at the commencement of my punishment. I shall be left to the wicked. But then, Divine justice being satis- fied, original sin being expiated by my sufferings, the bond of man to God will be renewed, and my death will be the life of my disciples. Then they will be more strong without me than with me ; for they will see me rise again. I shall ascend to the skies ; and I shall send to them, from heaven, a Spirit who will instruct them. The spirit of the cross will enable them to understand my Gospel. In fine, they will believe it ; they will preach it ; and they will convert the world.' " And this strange promise, so aptly called by Paul, the 'foolishness of the cross,' this prediction of one miserably cruci- fied, is literally accomplished. And the mode of the accom- plishment is perhaps more prodigious than the promise. " It is not a day, nor a battle which has decided it. Is it the life-time of a man ? No ! It is a war, a long combat of three hundred years, commenced by the apostles and contin- ued by their successors and by succeeding generations of Christians. In this conflict all the kings and all the forces of the earth were arrayed on one side. Upon the other I see no army, but a mysterious energy ; individuals scattered here and there, in all parts of the globe, having no other rallying sign than a common faith in the mysteries of the cross. " What a mysterious symbol ! the instrument of the punish- ment of the Man-God. His disciples were armed with it. ' The Christ,' they said, ' God, has died for the salvation of men.' What a strife, what a tempest these simple words have raised around the humble standard of the punishment of the Man-God. On the one side we see rage and all the fu- ries of hatred and violence. On the other, there is gentleness, moral courage, infinite resignation. For three hundred years NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 359 spirit struggled against the brutality of sense, conscience against despotism, the soul against the body, virtue against all the vices. The blood of Christians flowed in torrents. They died kissing the hand which slew them. The soul alone protested, while the body surrendered itself to all tor- tures. Everywhere Christians fell, and everywhere they tri- umphed. " You speak of Caesar, of Alexander ; of their conquests, and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers. But can you conceive of a dead man making con- quests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his mem- ory. My armies have forgotten me, even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power ! A single battle lost crushes us, and adversity scatters our friends. " Can you conceive of Caesar as the eternal Emperor of the Roman senate, and from the depths of his mausoleum govern- ing the empire, watching over the destinies of Rome ? Such is the history of the invasion and conquest of the world by Christianity. Such is the power of the God of the Christians ; and such is the perpetual miracle of the progress of the faith and of the government of His church. Nations pass away, thrones crumble, but the church remains. What is then the power which has protected this church, thus assailed by the furious billows of rage, and the hostility of ages ? Whose is the arm which, for eighteen hundred years, has protected the church from so many storms which have threatened to en- gulf it ? " Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself, founded em- pires. But upon what did we rest the creations of our genius ? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire upon love ; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. " In every other existence but that of Christ, how many im- perfections ? Where is the character which has not yielded, vanquished by obstacles ? Where is the individual who has never been governed by circumstances or places, who has 360 .CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. never succumbed to the influence of the times, who has never compounded with any customs or passions ? From the first day to the last He is the same, always the same ; majestic and simple, infinitely firm and infinitely gentle. " Truth should embrace the universe. Such, is Christianity, the only religion which destroys sectional prejudice, the only one which proclaims the unity and the absolute brotherhood of the whole human family, the only one which is purely spir- itual ; in fine, the only one which assigns to all, without dis- tinction, for a true country, the bosom of the Creator, God. Christ proved that He was the Son of the Eternal, by His dis- regard of Time. All His doctrines signify one only, and the same thing, Eternity. " It is true that Christ proposes to our faitli a series of mys- teries. He commands, with authority, that we should believe them, giving no other reason than those tremendous words, ' / am God. 1 He declares it. What an abyss He creates, by that declaration, between Himself and all the fabricators of religion. What audacity, what sacrilege, what blasphemy, if it were not true ! I say more ; the universal triumph of an affirmation of that kind, if the triumph were not really that of God Himself, would be a plausible excuse, and the proof of atheism. " Moreover, in propounding mysteries, Christ is harmonious with nature, which, is profoundly mysterious. From whence do I come ? whither do I go ? who am I ? Human life is a mystery in its origin, its organization, and its end. In man and out of man, in nature, eveiy thing is mysterious. And can one wish that religion should not be mysterious ? The creation and the destiny of the world are an unfathomable abyss, as also is the creation and destiny of each individual. Christianity at least does not evade these great questions. It meets them boldly. And our doctrines are a solution of them for every one who believes. " The Gospel possesses a secret virtue, a mysterious efficacy, a warmth which penetrates and soothes the heart. One finds, NAPOLEON'S RELIGIOUS VIEWS. 361 in meditating upon it, that which one experiences in contem- plating the heavens. The Gospel is not a book ; it is a living being, with an action, a power, which invades every thing which opposes its extension. Behold it upon this table, this book surpassing all others (here the Emperor deferentially placed his hand upon it) ; I never omit to read it, and every day with the same pleasure. " Nowhere is to be found such a series of beautiful ideas, admirable moral maxims, which pass before us like the bat- talions of a celestial army, and wfiich produce in our soul the same emotions which one experiences in contemplating the infinite expanse of the skies, resplendent in a summer's night, with all the brilliance of the stars. Not only is our mind ab- sorbed, it is controlled, and the soul can never go astray with this book for its guide. Once master of our spirit, the faithful Gospel loves us. God even is our friend, our father, and truly our God. The mother has no greater care for the infant whom she nurses. " What a proof of the divinity of Christ ! With an empire so absolute, He has but one single end, the spiritual meliora- tion of individuals, the purity of conscience, the union to that which is true, the holiness of the soul. "Christ speaks, and at once generations become His by stricter, closer ties than those of blood ; by the most sacred, the most indissoluble of all unions. He lights up the flames of a love which consumes self-love, which prevails over every other love. The founders of other religions never conceived of this mystical love, which is the essence of Christianity, and is beautifully called charity. In every attempt to effect this thing, namely, to make himself beloved, man deeply feels his own impotence. So that Christ's greatest miracle undoubtedly is, the reign of charity. " I have so inspired multitudes that they would die for me. God forbid that I should form any comparison between the enthusiasm of the soldier and Christian charity, which are as unlike as their cause. 16 362 CONFIDENTIAL LETTEKS. " But, after all, my presence was necessary : the lightning of my eye, my voice, a word from me ; then the sacred fire was kindled in their hearts. I do indeed possess the secret of this magical power, which lifts the soul, hut I could never impart it to any one. None of my generals ever learned it from me. Nor have I the means of perpetuating my name and love for me, in the hearts of men, and to effect these things without physical means. " Now that I am at St. Helena ; now that I am alone, chained upon this rock, who fights and wins empires for me ? who are the courtiers of my misfortune ? who thinks of me ? who makes efforts for me in Europe ? where are my friends ? Yes, two or three, whom your fidelity immortalizes, you share, you console my exile." Here the voice of the Emperor trembled with emotion, and for a moment he was silent. He then continued : " Yes, our life once shone with all the brilliance of the dia- dem and the throne ; and yours, Bertrand, reflected that splendor, as the dome of the Invalides, gilt by us, reflects the rays of the sun. But disasters came ; the gold gradually became dim. The rain of misfortune and outrage, with which I am daily deluged, has effaced all the brightness. We are mere lead now, General Bertrand, and soon I shall be in my grave. " Such is the fate of great men ! So it was with Caesar and Alexander. And I, too, am forgotten. And the name of a conqueror and an Emperor is a college theme ! Our exploits are tasks given to pupils by their tutors, who sit in judgment upon us, awarding us censure or praise. And mark what is soon to become of me ; assassinated by the English oligarchy, I die before my time ; and my dead body, too, must return to the earth, to become food for the worms. Behold the des- tiny, near at hand, of him whom the world called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal reign of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, adored, and which is extending over all the earth. Is this to die ? Is it not rather to live ? The death of Christ ! It is the death of God." NAPOLEON TO HIS SON. 863 For a moment the Emperor was silent. As General Ber- trand made no reply, he solemnly added, " If you do not per*- ceive that Jesus Christ is God, very well, then I did wrong to make you a general." A few days before the Emperor's death, on the 17th of April, 1821, Count Montholon, at three o'clock in the after- noon, entered the dying chamber. Napoleon's cheek was flushed, and his eye beamed with peculiar luster. " My mind," said he, " has been roused in talking with Gen- eral Bertraud about what my executors should say to my son, when they see him. I wish in a few words to give you a sum- mary of the counsels which I bequeath to my son. You will thus be more easily enabled to detail my ideas to him. Write." The Emperor then rapidly dictated the following ex- traordinary letter : NAPOLEON^TO HIS EXECUTORS FOR HIS SON AT VIENNA. ST. HELENA, April 21, 1821. My son should not think of avenging my death. He should profit by it. Let the remembrance of what I have done never leave his mind. Let him always be like me, every inch a Frenchman. The aim of all his efforts should be to reign by peace. If he should recommence my wars out of pure love of imitation, and without any absolute necessity, he would be a mere ape. To do my work over again, would be to suppose that I had done nothing. To complete it, on the contrary, would be to show the solidity of the basis, and explain the whole plan of an edifice which I had only roughly sketched. The same thing is not done twice in a centurv. I was obliged to daunt Europe by my arms. In the present day, the way is to convince her. I saved the Revolution, which was about to perish. I raised it from its ruins, and showed it to the world, beaming with glory. I have implanted new ideas in France and in Europe. They can not retrograde. Let my son bring into blossom all that I have sown. Let him develop all the 364 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. elements of prosperity inclosed in the soil of France, and by these means he may yet be a great sovereign. The Bourbons will not maintain their position, after my death. A reaction in my favor will take place everywhere, even in England. This reaction will be a fine inheritance for my son. It is possible that the English, in order to efface the remembrance of their persecutions, will favor my son's return to France. But in order to live in a good understanding with England, it is necessary at any cost to favor her commercial interests. This necessity leads to one of these two conse- quences war with England, or a sharing of the commerce of the world with her. This second condition is the only one possible in the present day. The exterior question will long take precedence, in France, of the interior. I bequeath to my son sufficient strength and sympathy to euable him to continue my work, with the single aid of an elevated and conciliatory diplomacy. His position at Vienna is deplorable. Will Austria set him at liberty unconditionally ? But, after all, Francis I. was once in a more critical position, and yet his French nationality was nothing impaired by it. Let not my son ever mount the throne by the aid of foreign influence. His aim should not be to fulfill a desire to reign, but to deserve the approbation of posterity. Let him cherish an intimacy with my family whenever it shall be in his power. My mother is a woman of the old school. Joseph and Eugene are able to give him good counsel. Hortense and Catharine are superior women. If he remains in exile, let him marry one of my nieces. If France recalls him, let him seek the hand of a Princess of Russia. This court is the only one where family ties rule policy. The alliance which he may contract, should tend to increase the exterior influence of France, and not to introduce a foreign influence into its councils. The French nation, when it is not taken the wrong way, is more easily governed than any other. Its prompt an 1 easy comprehension is unequaled. It i;nm..-'li- ately discerns who labor for it and who against it. But then NAPOLEON TO HIS SON. 365 it is necessary always to speak to its senses ; otherwise, its un- easy spirit gnaws ; it ferments and explodes. My son will arrive after a time of civil troubles. He has but one party to fear, that of the Duke of Orleans. This party has been germinating for a long time. Let him despise all parties, and only see the mass of the people. Excepting those who have betrayed their country, he ought to forget the previous conduct of all men, and reward talent, merit, and service wherever he finds them. Chateaubriand, notwith- standing his libel, is a good Frenchman. France is the country where the chiefs of parties have the least influence. To rest for support on them is to build on sand. Great things can be done in France only by having the support of the mass of the people. Besides, a government should always seek for support where it is really to be found. There are moral laws as inflexible and imperious as the phys- ical ones. The Bourbons can only rely for support on the nobles and priests, whatever may be the Constitution which they are made to adopt. The water will descend to its level, in spite of the machine which has raised it for a moment. I, on the contrary, relied on the whole mass of the people, with- out exception. I set the example of a government which favored the interests of all. I did not govern by the help of, or solely for, either the nobles, the priests, the citizens, or tradesmen. I governed for the whole community, for the whole family of the French nation. My nobility will afford no support to my son. I required more than one generation to succeed in making them assume my color, and preserve by tradition the sacred deposit of my moral conquests. From the year 1815, all the grandees openly espoused the opposite party. I felt no reliance either on my marshals or my nobility, not even on my colonels ; but the whole mass of the people, and the whole army, up to the grade of a captain, were on my side. I was not deceived in feeling this confidence. They owe much to me. I was their true representative. My dictatorship was indispensable. The 306 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. proof of this is, that they always offered me more power than I desired. In the present day, there is nothing possible in France but what is necessary. It will not be the same with my son. His power will be disputed. He must anticipate every desire for liberty. It is, besides, easier in ordinary times to reign with the help of the Chambers than alone. The As- semblies take a great part of your responsibility, and nothing is more easy than always to have the majority on your side ; but care must be taken not to demoralize the country. The influence of the government of France is immense ; and if it understands the way, it has no need of employing corruption in order to find support on all sides. The aim of a sovereign is not only to reign, but to diffuse instruction, morality, and well being. Any thing false is but a bad aid. In my youth, I too entertained some illusions ; but I soon recovered from them. The great orators who rule the Assem- blies by the brilliance of their eloquence, are, in general, men of the most mediocre political talents. They should not be opposed in their own way, for they have always more noisy words at command than you. Their eloquence should be op- posed by a serious and logical argument. Their strength lies in vagueness. They should be brought back to the reality of facts. Practical arguments destroy them. In the Councils, there were men possessed of much more eloquence than I was. I always defeated them by this simple argument, two and two make four. France possesses very clever practical men. The only thing necessary is to find them, and to give them the means of reaching the proper station. Such a one is at the plow, who ought to be in the Council ; and such another is minister, who ought to be at the plow. Let not my son be astonished to hear men, the most reasonable to all appearance, propose to him the most absurd plans. From the agrarian' law to the despotism of the grand Turk, every system finds an apologist in France. Let him listen to them all ; let him take every thing at its just value, and- surround himself by all the real NAPOLEON TO HIS SON. 367 capacity of the country. The French people are influenced by two powerful passions, the love of liberty and the love of dis- tinction. These, though seemingly opposed, are derived from one and the same feeling. A government can only satisfy these two wants by the most exact justice. The law and ac- tion of the government must be equal toward all. Honors and rewards must be conferred on the men who seem, in the eyes of all, to be most worthy of them. Merit may be par- doned, but not intrigue. The order of the Legion of Honor has been an immense and powerful incitement to virtue, talent, and courage. If ill-employed, it would become a great evil, by alienating the whole army, if the spirit of court intrigue and coterie presided at its nominations as in its administration. My son will be obliged to allow the liberty of the press. This is a necessity in the present day. In order to govern, it is not necessary to pursue a more or less perfect theory, but to build with materials which are under one's hand ; to submit to necessities, and to profit by them. The liberty of the press ought to become, in the hands of the government, a powerful auxiliary in diffusing through all the most distant corners of the empire sound doctrines and good principles. To leave it to itself would be to fall asleep on the brink of a danger. On the conclusion of a general peace, I would have instituted a Directory of the press, composed of the ablest men of the country ; and I would have diffused, even to the most distant hamlet, my ideas and my intentions. In the present day, it is impossible to remain, as one might have done three hundred years ago, a quiet spectator of the transformations of society. Now one must, under the pain of death, either direct or hin- der every thing. My son ought to be a man of new ideas, and of the cause which I have made triumphant everywhere. He ought to establish institutions which shall efface all traces of the feudal law, secure the dignity of man, and develop those germs of prosperity which have been budding for centuries. He should propagate, in all those countries now uncivilized and barbarous, 38 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. the benefits of Christianity and civilization. Such should be the aim of all my son's thoughts. Such is the cause for which I die a martyr to the hatred of the oligarchs, of which I am the object. Let him consider the holiness of my cause. Look at the regicides ! They were formerly in the councils of a Bourbon. To-morrow they will return to their country, and I and mine, expiate in torture, the blessings which I de- sire to bestow on nations. My enemies are the enemies of humanity. They desire to fetter the people, whom they regard as a flock of sheep. They endeavor to oppress France, and to make the stream reascend toward its source. Let them take care that it does not burst its bounds. With my son, all opposite interests may live in peace ; new ideas be diffused and gather strength, without any violent shock, or the sacrifice of any victims, and humanity be spared dreadful misfortunes. But if the blind hatred of kings still pursues my blood after my death, I shall then be avenged, but cruelly avenged. Civilization will suffer in every way, if nations burst their bounds, and rivers of blood will be shed throughout the whole of Europe ; the lights of conscience and knowledge will be extinguished amid civil and foreign warfare. More than three hundred years of troubles will be required in order to destroy in Europe that royal authority which has, but for a day, represented the interests of all classes of men, but which struggled for several centuries before it could throw off all the restraints of the Middle Ages. If, on the other hand, the North advances against civilization, the strug- gle will be of shorter duration, but the blows more fatal. The well-being of nations, all the results which it has taken so many years to obtain, will be destroyed, and none can foresee the disastrous consequences. The accession of my son is for the interest of nations as well as of kings. Beyond the circle of ideas and principles for which we have fought, and which I have carried triumphantly through all difficulties, I see naught but slavery and confusion for France, and for the whole of Europe. NAPOLEON TO HIS SON. 369 You will publish all I have dictated or written, arid you will engage my son to read and reflect upon it. You will tell 4iim to protect all those who have served me well, and their number is large. My poor soldiers, so magnanimous, so de- voted, are now, perhaps, in want of bread. What courage, what good sense, is there in this French people ! "What bur- ied riches, which will perhaps never again see the light of day ! Europe is progressing toward an inevitable transforma- tion. To endeavor to retard this progress would be but to lose strength by a useless struggle. To favor it, is to strengthen the hopes and wishes of all. There are desires of nationality which must be satisfied sooner or later. It is toward this end that continued progress should be made. My son's position will not be exempt from immense difficulties. Let him do, by general consent, what I was compelled by circumstances to effect by force of arms. When I was victorious over Russia in 1812, the problem of a peace of a hundred years' duration was solved. I cut the Gordian knot of nations. In the present day it must be united. The remembrance of the thrones which I raised up, when it was for the interest of my general policy so to do, should be effaced. I exacted, from my brothers that they should forget their royalty, and only take the title of French princes. My son should follow this example. An opposite course would excite just alarm. It is no longer in the North, that great questions will be resolved, but in the Mediterranean. There there is enough to content all the ambition of the different powers; and the happiness of civilized nations may be purchased with frag- ments of barbarous lands. Let the kings listen to reason. Europe will no longer afford matter for maintaining interna- tional hatreds. Prejudices are dissipated and intermingled. Routes of commerce are becoming multiplied. It is no lon- ger possible for one nation to monopolize it. As a means by which my son may see whether his administration be good or the contrary; whether his laws are in accordance with the 16* 370 CONFIDENTIAL LETTERS. manners of the country, let him have an annual and particular report presented to him of the number of condemnations pro- nounced by the tribunals. If crimes and delinquencies in- crease in number, it is a proof that misery is on the Jncrease, and that society is ill-governed. Their diminution, on the other hand, is a proof of the contrary. Religious ideas have more influence than certain narrow- minded philosophers are willing to believe. They are capable of rendering great service to humanity. By standing well with the Pope, an influence is still maintained over the con- sciences of a hundred millions of men. Pius VII. will be always well disposed toward my son. He is a tolerant and enlightened old man. Fatal circumstances embroiled our cabinets. I regret this deeply. Cardinal Fesch did not under- stand me. He upheld the party of the Ultramontanes, the enemies of true religion in France. If you are permitted to return to France, you will still find many who have remained faithful to my memory. The best monuments which they could raise to me, would be to make a collection of all the ideas which I expressed in the Council of State, for the ad- ministration of the empire ; to collect all my instructions to my ministers, and to make a list of the works which I under- took, and of all the monuments which I raised in France and Italy. In what I have said in the Council of State, a distinc- tion must be made between the measures good only for the moment, and those whose application is eternally true. Let my son often read and reflect on history. This is the only true philosophy. Let him read and meditate on the wars of the greatest captains. This is the only means of rightly learning the science of war. But all that you say to him, or all that he learns, will be of little use to him, if he has not in the depth of his heart that sacred fire and love of good which alone can effect great things. I will hope, however, that he will be worthy of his destiny. . NAPOLEON. A few. days after dictating this letter, Napoleon was tossing NAPOLEON TO HIS SON. 371 in delirium upon his dying bed. " I have just seen," said he, " my good Josephine, but she would not embrace me. She disappeared at the moment when I was about to take her in my arms. She was seated there. It seemed to me that I had seen her yesterday evening. She is not changed. She is still the same, full of devotion to me. She told me that we were about to see each other again, never more to part. Do you see her ?" Ten days after this, the weeping attendants of the Emperor gathered around his bed to see him die. It was the morning of the 5th of May, 1821. " The hours of the night passed slowly away, while the ex- piring monarch, insensible and motionless upon his pillow, breathed heavily, and occasionally disturbed the solemn silence of the scene by inarticulate murmurs. ' Twice, I thought,' says Count Montholon, ' that I distinguished the unconnected words, France ! Head of the army ! Josephine /' During the rest of the day, until six o'clock in the evening, he was lying upon his back, with his right hand out of the bed, apparently absorbed in deep meditation, and without any appearance of suffering. A pleasant and peaceful expression was spread over his face. Just as the sun was sinking behind the clouds of that somber and tempestuous day, the spirit of Napoleon passed the earthly vail, and entered the vast unknown. ' Isle of Elba ! Napoleon /' were the last utterances of the loving and forgiving Josephine. ' France ! the army ! Josephine /' were the last images which lingered in the heart, and the last words which trembled upon the lips of the dying Emperor." APPENDIX. THE WILL OP NAPOLEON; HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS EXECUTORS, AND A CHRONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OP HIS CAREER. NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. UPON the authenticity of the following last Will and Testa- ment of the Emperor Napoleon, the fullest reliance may be placed, as well as in the correctness of the translation from the French text of the original. Only two days before Napoleon's death, he dictated to Count Montholon the letter to be deliv- ered to Sir Hudson Lowe, announcing his decease, leaving a space for the insertion of the day and hour of his dissolution. This 15th of April, 1815, at Longwood, Inland of St. Helena. This is my Testament, or act of my last Will. L 1. I die in the apostolical Roman religion, in the bosom of which I was born, more than fifty years since. 1 1 He (Napoleon) says O'Meara, was reading a little book, which proved to be a French New Testament. I could not help observing to him that many people vrould not believe he would read such a book, as it had been asserted and credited by some that he was an unbe- liever ; Napoleon laughed and replied, " Gependant ce rfest pas vrai. Je suis loin d'etre Athee." (" Nevertheless it is not true, I am far from being an Atheist.") In spite of all the iniquities and frauds of the teachers of religion, who are eternally preaching up that their king- dom is not of this world, yet seize every thing they can lay their hands NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 373 2. It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well. 3. I have always had reason to be pleased with my dearest wife, Maria Louisa. I retain for her to my last moment the most tender sentiments I beseech her to watcfy in order to preserve my son from the snares which yet environ his in- fancy. 4. I recommend my son never to forget that he was born a French prince, and allow himself to become an instrument in the hands of the triumvirs who oppress the nations of Eu- rope ; he ought never to fight against France, or injure her in any way, but adopt my motto "Every thing for the French people." 5. I die prematurely, assassinated by the English oligarchy and its ****. The English nation will not be slow in aveng- ing me. 6. The two unfortunate results of the invasions of France, when she had still so many resources, are to be attributed to the treasons of Marmont, Augereau, Talleyrand, and La Fay- ette. I pardon them may the posterity of France forgive them as I do. 7. I thank my good and excellent mother, the cardinal, my brothers Joseph, Lucien, Jerome, and my sisters Pauline, Car- oline, Julie, Hortense, Catharine, as well as Prince Eugene, for the interest they have continued to feel for me. I pardon Louis for the libel he published in 1820 ; it is replete with unjust assertions and falsified documents. upon, from the time I arrived at the head of government, I did every thing in my power to re-establish religion. But I wished to render it the foundation and prop of morality and good principles, and not a preudrefessor of human laws. Man has need of something wonderful; it is better for him to seek it in religion than in Mile, le Normand (a celebrated fortune-teller). Moreover religion is a great consolation and resource to those who possess it, and no man can pronounce what he will du iii hia last moments. 3*74 APPENDIX. 8. I disavow the "Manuscript of St. Helena," and other works, under the title of Maxims, Sayings, etc., which persons have been pleased to publish for the last six years. Such are not the rules which have guided my life. I caused the Due d'Enghien to be arrested and tried, because that step was es- sential to the safety, interest, and honor of the French people, when the County d'Artois was maintaining, by his own confes- sion, sixty assassins at Paris. Under similar circumstances I would again act in the same way. IT. 1. I bequeath to my son, the boxes, orders, and other arti- cles, such as my plate, field-bed, saddles, spurs, chapel plate, books, and linen, which I have been accustomed to wear and use, according to the list annexed (A). It is my wish that these slight bequests may be , dear to him, as recalling the memory of a father of whom the universe will discourse in his presence. 2. I bequeath to Lady Holland the antique cameo which Pope Pius VI. presented to me at Tolentino. 3. I bequeath to Count Montholon two millions of francs, as a proof of my satisfaction for the filial attentions he has paid me during six years, and as an indemnity for the losses his residence at St. Helena has occasioned. 4. I bequeath to Count Bertrand five hundred thousand francs. 5. I bequeath to Marchand, my first valet-de-chambre, four hundred thousand francs. The services he has rendered me are those of a friend : it is my wish he should marry the widow, sister, or daughter of an officer of my old guard. 6. Item. To St. Denis, one hundred thousand francs. 7. Item. To Novarre, one hundred thousand francs. 8. Item. To Pieron, one hundred thousand francs. 9. Item. To Archambaud, fifty thousand francs. 10. Item. To Cursor, twenty-five thousand francs. 11. Item. To Chandellier, item. NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 375 12. To the Abbe Vignali, one hundred thousand francs. It is my wish that he should build his house near the Ponte Novo di Castino. 13. Item. To Count Las Cases, one hundred thousand francs. 14. Item. To Count Lavalette, one hundred thousand francs. 15. Item. To Larrey, surgeon-in-chief, one hundred thou- sand francs. He is the most virtuous man I ever knew. 16. Item. To General Brayher, one hundred thousand francs. 17. Item. To General Le Fevre Desnouettes, one hundred thousand francs. 18. Item. To General Drouot, one hundred thousand francs. 19. Item. To General Cambrone, one hundred thousand francs. 20. Item. To the children of General Mouton Duvernet, one hundred thousand francs. 21. Item. To the children of the brave Labedoyere, one hundred thousand francs. 22. Item. To the children of General Girard, killed at Ligny, one hundred thousand francs. '. 23. Item. To the children of General Marchand, one hundred thousand francs. 24. Item. To the children of the virtuous General Travost, one hundred thousand francs. 25. Item. To General Lallemand the elder, one hundred thousand francs. 26. Item.' To Count Real, one hundred thousand francs. 27. Item. To Costa di Basilica, in Corsica, one hundred thousand francs. 28. Item. To General Clausel, one hundred thousand francs. 29. Item. To Baron de Menevalle, one hundred thousand francs. 376 APPENDIX. 30. Item. To Arnault, the author of " Marius," one hun- dred thousand francs. 31. Item. To Colonel Maricot, one hundred thousand francs. I engage him to continue writing in defense of the glory of the French armies, in order to confound their calum- niators and apostates. 32. Item. To Baron Bignon, one hundred thousand francs. I engage him to write the history of French diplomacy, from 1792 to 1815. 33. Item. To Poggi de Talavo, one hundred thousand francs. 34. Item. To Surgeon Emmery, one hundred thousand francs. 35. Those sums will be raised from the six millions which I deposited on leaving Paris in 1815 ; and the interest, at the rate of five per cent., since July, 1815. The accounts will be settled with the bankers by Counts Montholon, Bertram!, and Marchand. 36. Whatsoever that deposit may produce, beyond the sum of five millions six hundred thousand francs, which have been above disposed of, shall be distributed as a gratuity among the wounded at the battle of Waterloo, as well as the officers and soldiers of the battalion of the Isle of Elba, according to a scale that may de determined upon by Montholon, Bertrand, Dronot, Cambrone, and Surgeon Larrey. - 37. These legacies, in case of death, shall be paid to the widows and children, and in default of such, revert back to the bulk of my property. III. 1. Of my private domain, being my own personal property, of which no French law deprives me, that I am aware of, an account will be required from Baron de la Bouillerie, treasurer thereof. It ought to amount to more than two hundred mil- lions of francs ; namely, 1. The portfolio, containing the sav- ings made during fourteen years out of my civil list, which NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 377 amounted to more than twelve millions per annum, if my memory hold good. 2. The produce of that portfolio. 3. The furniture of my palaces, such as it was in 1814, including the palaces of Rome, Florence, and Turin, all which furniture was purchased with moneys accruing from the civil list. 4. Of the proceeds of my houses in the kingdom of Italy, consisting of money, plate, jewels, furniture, equipages, accounts will be rendered by Prince Eugene, and the steward of the crown, Campagnoni. NAPOLEON. 2. I bequeath my private domain : one half to the surviving officers and soldiers of the French army who fought from 1792 to 1815, for the glory and the independence of the na- tion. The distribution shall be made in proportion to their appointments upon active service. The other half to the towns and districts of Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Compte, Burgundy, the Isle of France, Champaine, Forest, and Dau- phine, which may have suffered by either of those invasions. There shall be previously deducted from such sum, one million for the town of Brienne, and the same amount for that of Men. I appoint Counts Montholon, Bertrand, and Marchand, the executors of my testament. This present will, whplly written with my own hand, is signed and sealed with my own arms. (L. s.) NAPOLEON. LIST (A.) Affixed to my Will. Longwood, Island of St. Helena, this 15th April, 1821. I. 1. The consecrated vessels which have been in use at my chapel at Longwood. 2. I enjoin the Abbe Vignali to preserve and deliver them to my son, when he shall attain the age of sixteen years. 378 APPENDIX. n. 1. My arms, that is to say, the sword I wore at Austerlitz, the saber of Sobieski, my dagger, broadsword, hanger, and two pair of Versailles pistols. 2. My gold traveling-box, which I used on the days of Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, and Friedland, on those of the island of Lobau, Moscow, and Montmirail. It is my wish that the same may be precious in- the eyes of my son. (It has been deposited with Count Bertrand since 1814.) 3. I charge Count Bertrand with the care of preserving those objects, and conveying the same to my son, when he shall attain the age of sixteen years. EL 1. Three small mahogany boxes, containing, first, thirty- three snuff-boxes or comfit-boxes ; second, twelve boxes with the Imperial arms, two small eye-glasses, and four boxes found on the table of Louis XVIH at the Tuileries, on the 20th of March, 1815 ; and the third, three snuff-boxes, ornamented with silver medals, according to the custom of the Emperor, with sundry articles for the use of the toilet, according to the lists numbered I., II., III. 2. My field boots, which I used in all my campaigns. 3. My field telescope. 4. My dressing-box, one of each of my uniforms, a dozen shirts, and a complete set of each of my dresses, and generally, of every thing used at my toilet. 5. My wash-hand stand. 6. A small clock which is in my chamber at Longwood. 7. My two watches, and the chain formed of the Empress's hair. 8. I charge Marchand, my principal valet-de-ohambre, to take care of these articles, and convey them to my son when he shall attain the age of sixteen years. NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 379 IV. ' 1. My cabinet of medals. 2. My plate and Sevres china, which I used at St. Helena. (Lists B. and C.) 3. I charge Count Montholon to take care of these articles, and convey them to my son, when he shall attain the age of sixteen years. V. 1. My three saddles and bridles, and the spurs I used at St. Helena. 2. My fowling-pieces, to the number of five. 3. I charge my huntsman, Novarre, to take care of those arti- cles, and convey them to my son, when he shall attain the age of sixteen years. VI. 1. Four hundred volumes, selected from those in my libra- ry, which I have been accustomed to use most. 2. I charge St. Denis to take care of the same, and convey them to my son, when he shall attain the age of sixteen years. LIST (A.) 1. None of the articles which have been used by me shall be sold, but the residue divided among the executors of my will and my brothers. 2. Marchand shall preserve my hair, and cause bracelets to be made of the same, with gold clasps, in order to be sent to the Empress Maria Louisa, my mother, and each of my broth- ers, sisters, nephews, nieces, the cardinal, and one of larger size for my son. 3. Marchand will send one pair of my gold shoe-buckles to Prince Joseph. 4. A small pair of gold, knee-buckles to Prince Lucien. 5. A gold collar-clasp to Prince Jerome. 380 APPENDIX. LIST (A.) Inventory of my Effects, which Marchand will take care of, and convey to my Son. 1. My silver dressing-box, which is on my table, furnished with all its utensils, razors, etc. 2. My clock : it was the alarm-clock of Frederic II., which 1 took at Potsdam (in box No. III). 3. My two watches, with a chain of the Empress's, and an- other of my own hair for the second watch. Marchand will get it made at Paris. 4. My two seals (one French, contained in box No. III). 5. The small gold clock now in my bed-chamber. 6. My wash-stand, water-jug, and foot-bath, etc. 7. My night-table which I used in France, and my* silver- gilt bidet. 8. My two iron bedsteads, mattresses, and coverlets, if they can be preserved. 9. My three silver decanters, that served to hold my eau-de- vie, which my chasseurs carried in the field. 10. My French telescope. 11. My spurs, two pair. 12. Three mahogany boxes, No. I., II., III., containing my snuff-boxes, and other articles. 13. A silver-gilt perfuming-pan. Body Linen. Six shirts ; 6 handkerchiefs ; 6 cravats ; 6 napkins ; 6 pair of silk stockings ; 6 black stocks ; 6 pair of under stockings ; 2 pair of cambric sheets ; 2 pillow-cases ; 2 dressing-gowns ; 2 pair of night drawers ; 1 pair of braces ; 4 pair of white kerseymere breeches and vests ; 6 Madras ; 6 flannel waist- coats ; 6 pair of drawers ; 6 pair of gaiters ; 1 small box filled with my snuff. Contained in the little box, No. III., 1 gold neck buckle ; 1 pair of gold knee-buckles ; 1 pair of gold shoe-buckles. NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 881 Clothes. One uniform of the Chasseurs ; 1 ditto of the Grenadiers ; 1 ditto of the National Guard ; 2 hats ; 1 green-and-gray great coat ; 1 blue cloak (that which I wore at Marengo) ; 1 sable green pelisse ; 2 pair of shoes ; 2 pair of boots ; 2 pair of slippers; 6 belts. NAPOLEON. LIST (B.) Inventory of the effects left in possession of Monsieur, the Count de Turenne. One saber of Sobieski ; 1 grand collar of the Legion of Honor ; 1 sword, of silver gilt ; 1 consular sword ; 1 sword, of steel ; 1 velvet belt ; 1 collar of the Golden Fleece ; 1 small traveling-box, of steel ; 1 ditto of silver; 1 handle of an an- tique saber ; 1 hat of Henry IV., and a cap ; the lace of the Emperor ; 1 small cabinet of medals ; 2 Turkey carpets ; 2 mantles, of crimson velvet, embroidered, with vests, and small clothes. I give to my son the saber of Sobieski ; the collar of the Legion of Honor ; the sword, silver gilt ; the consular sword ; the steel sword ; the collar of the Golden Fleece ; the hat of Henry IV., and a cap ; the golden dressiug-box for the teeth, in the hands of the dentist. 1 1 "The captive of St. Helena left his son by his will, along with the memory of a name which he will not bear, the above articles of dress and furniture, the possession and use of which will probably not be in- terdicted him. Those articles were in the possession of Marchand, who proceeded to Vienna, to deliver them into the hands of the Duke of Reichstadt, Before carrying away those precious objects, which an- nounce the state of denotement in which the man who once possessed one half of the world found himself at the moment of his death, Mar- chand permitted some friends to see. Let us now describe the inher- itance kfl by him who once thought he should have been able to be- queath to his family thrones and nations, and who has only left to his son some tattered garments three uniforms one of the National Guard, another of the Foot Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard, and the .382 APPENDIX. To the. Empress Maria Louisa, my lace. To Madame, my mother, the silver night-lamp. To Cardinal Fesch, the small steel traveling box. third of the mounted Chasseurs of the Guard, each bearing the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honor; a threadbare black coat, made out of a surtout which the Emperor sometimes wore when he wished to quit the Tuileries incog. (Napoleon, unwilling to be indebted to the En- glish for materials to replenish his wardrobe, had his old clothes re- paired and altered, and wore them until they became tattered.) A capote of green cloth, with two rows of buttons. This was the last garment the Emperor wore ; he had it on the day he was forced to take to his death-bed ; an old hood {chaperon) of a round and shallow shape, somewhat narrower at top than at bottom. A blue cloak, the" collar embroidered with gold, which Napoleon wore on the field of battle : it was this cloak also that covered him when laid out in state, and served as a pall to his coffin when borne to the foot of the willow- tree, the melancholy shade of which he loved so much. Apropos of the bed of state upon which the Emperor lay, surrounded by the courtiers of his misfortune, let us mention a fact but little known. The English garrison marched through the chamber of death; each soldier, as he passed before the body, gave the military salute, and the officers took the frozen hand of Bonaparte, and pressed it respectfully; a ser- jeant, who had with him his son, a child seven years of age, knelt down at the foot of the bed, and said, while tears stood in his eyes : " My son, there lies what was Napoleon the Great." To resume the list a three-cocked hat, lined with green silk, and padded; this, though in a very bad condition, has something extremely imposing ; it is impossible not to imagine, when you regard it, but that you behold the noble forehead of the hero under its little cockade, before which all the banners of Europe were lowered. A gray capote, the texture of which is so used that one fears to touch it. This article of Napoleon's dresses very curious ; it appears the Emperor attached a certain degree of importance to its possession ; it, in fact, recalled to him many an extraordinary circumstance. He had it on when he quitted the Island of Elba, had traversed Russia with it he had put it on at the battle of Lutzen, and also wore it at "Waterloo. A pair of silver spurs ; two silver bottles, to contain water for Napoleon's use when he went to hunt; a silver telescope, wash-hand basin, and camp dressing-case. The cordons and jewels of the Orders which the Emperor wore. Two cases, containing snuff-boxes, upon which were the portraits of the princes of Napoleon's family, and those of the house of Bourbon; NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 383 To Prince Eugene, the wax candlestick, silver gilt. To Princess Pauline, the small traveling box. To the Queen of Naples, a small Turkey carpet. To Queen Hortense, a small Turkey carpet. To Prince Jerome, the handle of an antique saber. To Prince Joseph, an embroidered mantle, vest, and small- clothes. To Prince Lucien, an embroidered mantle, vest, and small- clothes. April 16 th, 1821, Long wood. This is a Codicil to my Will 1. It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I loved so well. 2. I bequeath to Counts Bertrand, Month olon, and to Mar- chand, the money, jewels, plate, china, furniture, books, arms, among the latter were portraits of the Countess of Provence, Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and the Duchess d'Angouleme. Several of those snuff-boxes have ancient medals set in them that which the hero oftenest used had the head of Alexander the Great. A pouncet- box, filled with candied liquorice. The alarm-watch of Frederic the Great, which Napoleon procured at Berlin, and always kept in his tent when with the army. A square time-piece, in gilded bronze, the only one at Longwoood ; a singular coincidence confers particular interest on this piece of clock-work it stopped one hour previous to the death of the Emperor though it had been wound up a few hours before, and had never before stopped, or has ever gone since, and at present marks the hour at which its movements ceased. Some articles for the toi- lette-table, brushes, etc ; a few old broken boots ; as Napoleon was unwilling to wear any of English manufacture, some of the companions of his exile had endeavored to make others to replace those which were no longer fit for the sovereign's use. A piece of the blood-stained shirt that was around the body of the Emperor when opened. A locket, containing some dark chestnut hair, beginning to turn gray. Lastly, the beard and moustaches, which, during the Emperor's last illness, had grown an inch in length, and were cut off and preserved by Marchand." 384 APPEXDIX. and generally, every thing that belongs to me in the island of St. Helena. This codicil, entirely written with my own hand, is signed ; and sealed with my own arms. (L. s.) NAPOLEON. This 24th April, 1821. Long wood. This is my Codicil, or Note of my last Will. Out of the settlement of my civil list of Italy, such as money, jewels, plate, linen, equipages, of which the Viceroy is the depository, the same belonging to me, I dispose of two millions, bequeathing the same to my most faithful servants. I hope that, without acting upon the credit of any account, my son Eugene Napoleon will pay them faithfully. He can not forget the forty millions I gave him in Italy, and the dis- tribution of the inheritance of his mother. 1. Out of those two millions, I bequeath to Count Bertrand three hundred thousand francs, of which he will deposit one hundred thousand in the treasurer's chest, to be disposed of ac- cording to my dispositions in payment of legacies of conscience. 2. To Count Montholon, two hundred thousand francs, of which he will deposit one hundred thousand in the chest, for the same purpose as above mentioned. 3. To Baron Las Cases, two hundred thousand, of which he will deposit one hundred thousand in the chest, for the same purpose as above mentioned. 4. To Marchand, one hundred thousand, of which he will deposit fifty thousand in the chest, for the same purpose as above mentioned. 5. To Count La Valette, one hundred thousand. 6. To General Hogendorf, of Holland, my aide-de-camp, who has retired to the Brazils, one hundred thousand. 7. To my aide-de-camp, Corbineau, fifty thousand. 8. To my aide-de-camp, General CafFarelli, fifty thousand. 9. To my aide-de-camp, Deje.'m, fifty thousand. 10. To Percy, surgeon-in-chief at Waterloo, fifty-thousand. NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 385 11. Fifty thousand, that is to say, ten thousand to Pieron, my maitre d'hotel ; ten thousand to St. Denis, my head chas- seur ; ten thousand to Novarre ; ten thousand to Cursor, my clerk of the kitchen ; and ten thousand to Archambaud, my overseer. 12. To Baron Mainevalle, fifty thousand. 13. To the Duked'Istria, son of Bessieres, fifty thousand francs. 14. To the daughter of Duroc, fifty thousand francs. 15. To the children of Labedoyere, fifty thousand. 16. To the children of Mouton Duvernet, fifty thousand. 17. To the children of the brave and virtuous General Travost, fifty thousand. 18. To the children of Chartrand, fifty thousand. 19. To General Cambrone, fifty thousand. 20. To General Lefevre Desnouettes, fifty thousand. 21. To be distributed among such proscribed persons as wander in foreign countries, whether they may be French, Italian, Belgians, Dutch, Spanish, or inhabitants of the de- partments of the Rhine, at the disposal of my executors : one hundred thousand. 22. To be distributed among those who suffered amputa- tion, or were severely wounded at Ligny, or Waterloo, who may still be living, according to lists drawn up by my execu- tors, to whom shall be added, Cambrone, Larrey, Percy, and Emmery. The guard shall be paid double; those of the island of Elba, quadruple : two hundred thousand francs. This codicil is written entirely with my own hand, signed, and sealed with my own arms. NAPOLEON. This 24th of April, 1821, at Longwood. This is a third Codicil to my Will of the IQth of April. 1. Among the diamonds of the crown which were delivered up in 1814, there were some to the value of five or six hundred thousand francs not appertaining to the same, but forming part of my private property; repossession of which shall be obtained for the discharge of my legacies. 17 386 APPENDIX. 2. I left in the hands of the banker Torlonia, at Rome, bills of exchange to the amount of two or three hundred thousand francs, the product of my revenues of the island of Elba, since 1815. The Sieur De la Perouse, although no Ipnger my treasurer, or invested with any character, possessed himself of that sum. He must be compelled to restore it. 3. I bequeath to the Duke of Istria three hundred thousand francs, of which only one hundred thousand shall be reverti- ble to his widow, should the duke be dead, on the payment of this legacy. It is my wish, should there be no inconve- nience, that the duke may marry Duroc's daughter. 4. I bequeath to the Duchess of Frioul, daughter of Duroc, two hundred thousand francs ; should she be dead at the pay- ment of this legacy, no portion shall be given to the mother. 5.. I bequeath to General Rigaud (who was proscribed), one hundred thousand francs. 6. I bequeath to Boisnod, intendant commissary, one hun- dred thousand francs. 7. I bequeath to the children of General Letort, killed in the campaign of 1815, one hundred thousand francs. 8. These eight hundred thousand francs in legacies, shall be considered as if inserted at the end of Article 36 of my Testament, which will make the legacies disposed of by my will amount to the sum of six millions four hundred thousand francs, without comprising the donations I have made by my second codicil. This is written with my own hand ; and signed and sealed with my arms. (L. s.) NAPOLEON. [On the outside, and nearly in the center, is written :] This is the third codicil to my will, entirely written with my own hand, signed, and sealed with my arms. [The words are intermixed with the signatures of Ber- trand, Montholon, Marchand, and Vignali, accompanied by their respective seals, a piece of green silk running through the center. On the upper left corner are the following directions :] NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 387 To be opened the same day, and immediately after the opening of my will. NAPOLEON. [With some fragments of the signatures of the above- named witnesses.] This 24th April, 1821. Lvngwood. This is a fourth Codicil to my Testament. By the dispositions heretofore made, we have not fulfilled all our obligations, which has decided us to annex this fourth codicil. 1. We bequeath to the son or grandson "of Baron Dutheil, lieutenant-general of artillery, and formerly lord of St. Andre, who commanded the school of Auxonne before the Revolu- tion, the sum of one hundred thousand francs, as a memento of gratitude for the care that brave general exerted toward us when we were lieutenant and captain under his orders. 2. Item. To the son or grandson of General Dugomier, who commanded in chief the army of Toulon, the sum of one hundred thousand francs. We under his orders directed that siege, and commanded the artillery : it is a testimonial of re- membrance for the marks of esteem, affection, and friendship, which that brave and intrepid general demonstrated toward us. 3. Item. We bequeath one hundred thousand francs to the son or grandson of the deputy of the convention, Gas- parin, representative of the people at the army of Toulon, for having protected and sanctioned by his authority, the plan we had drawn out, which procured the capture of the city, being contrary to that sent by the Committee of Public Safety. Gaspariu placed us, through his protection, under shelter, from the persecution and ignorance of the general officers who commanded the army before the arrival of my friend Dugo- mier. 4. Item. We bequeath one hundred thousand francs to 388 APPENDIX. the widow, son, or grandson, of our aide-de-camp Muiron, killed at our side at Arcola, covering us with his body. 5. Item. Ten thousand francs to the subaltern officer Can- dillon, who has undergone a trial, on the charge ef having endeavored to assassinate Lord Wellington, of which he was pronounced innocent. Cantillon had as much right to assas- sinate that oligarchial as the latter had to send me to perish upon the rock of St. Helena. Wellington, who proposed this outrage, attempted to justify himself by pleading the interest of Great Britain. Cantillon, if he had really assassinated that lord, would have excused himself, and been justified from the same motives, the interest of France, to rid her of a general,- who, moreover, had violated the capitulation of Paris, and by that act rendered himself responsible for the blood of the martyrs Ney, Labedoyere, etc. ; as well as for the crime of having pillaged the museums, contrary to the text of the treaties. 6. These four hundred thousand francs shall be added to the six millions four hundred thousand of which we have dis- posed, making our legacies amount to six millions eight hun- dred and ten thousand francs. These four hundred and ten thousand are to be considered as forming part of our testa- ment, article 36 ; and to follow in every respect the same course as the other legacies. Y. The nine thousand pounds sterling which we presented to Count and Countess Montholon, should, if they have been paid, be deducted and carried to the account of the legacies we have bequeathed to them by our testament. If they have not been paid, our notes of hand shall be annulled. 8. In consideration of the legacy given by our will to Count Montholon, the pension of twenty thousand francs granted to his wife is annulled. Count Montholon is charged to pay it to her. 9. The administration of such an inheritance, until its final liquidation, requiring expenses of offices, journeys, missions, consultations, and law-suits, we expect our testamentary exec- NAPOLEON'S LAST WILL. 389 utors will retain three per cent upon all legacies, upon the six millions eight hundred thousand francs, also the sums con- tained in the codicils, as well as upon the two millions of our private domain. 10. The amount of the sums thus retained shall be depos- ited in the hands of a treasurer, and disbursed by drafts from our testamentary executors. 11. If the sums arising from the aforesaid deductions be not sufficient to defray the expenses, provision shall be made to that effect, at the expense of the three testamentary execu- tors and treasurer, each in proportion to the legacy we have bequeathed him in our will and codicils. 12. Should the sums arising from the before-mentioned subtractions be more than necessary, the surplus shall be di- vided among our three testamentary executors and treasurer, in proportion to their respective legacies. 13. We nominate Count Las Cases, in default of him, his son, and in default of the latter, General Drouot, to officiate as treasurer. This present codicil is entirely written with our hand, signed, and sealed with our arms. NAPOLEON. This 24th of April, 1821. Long-wood. This is my Codicil or Act of my last Witt. . Upon the funds remitted in gold to the Empress Maria Louisa, my very dear and well-beloved spouse, at Orleans, in 1814, she remains in my debt two millions, of which I dispose by the present codicil, for the purpose of recompensing my most faithful servants, whom moreover I recommend to the protection of my dear Maria Louisa. 1. I recommend to the Empress to cause the income of thirty thousand francs, which Count Bertrand possessed in the Duchy of Parma, and upon Mont Napoleon, at Milan, to be restored to him, as well as all arrears due. 2. 1 make tbe same recommendation to her in regard to the Duke of Istria, Duroc's daughter, and others of my servants 390 APPENDIX. who have continued faithful, and are always dear to me. She knows them. 3. Out of the above-mentioned two millions, I bequeath three hundred thousand francs to Count Bertraiid, of which he will lodge one hundred thousand in the treasurer's chest, to be employed in legacies of conscience, according to my disposi- tions. 4. I bequeath two hundred thousand francs to Count Mon- tholon, of which he will lodge one hundred thousand in the treasurer's chest, for the same purpose as above mentioned. 5. Item. Two hundred thousand francs to Count Las Cases, of which he will lodge one hundred thousand in the treasurer's chest, for the same purpose as above mentioned. 6. Item. To Marchand one hundred thousand francs, of which he will place fifty thousand in the treasurer's chest, for the same purpose as above mentioned. 7. To Jean Jerome Levie, mayor of Ajaccio at the com- mencement of the Revolution, or to his widow, children, or grandchildren, one hundred thousand francs. 8. To Duroc's daughter, one hundred thousand francs. 9. To the son of Bessieres, Duke of Istria, one hundred thousand francs. 10. To General Drouot, one hundred thousand francs. 11. To Count Lavalette, one hundred thousand francs. 12. Item. One hundred thousand francs ; that is to say, twenty-five thousand to Pieron, my maitre d'hotel ; twenty- five thousand to Novarre, my huntsman ; twenty-five thousand to St. Denis, the keeper of my books ; and twenty-five thou- sand to Santini, my former doorkeeper. 13. Item. One hundred thousand francs ; that is to say, forty thousand to Planat, my orderly officer ; twenty thousand to Hebert, lately housekeeper of Rambouillet, and who be- longed to my chamber in Egypt ; twenty thousand to La- vigne, lately keeper of one of my stables, and my jockey in Egypt ; and twenty thousand to Jeanet Dervieux, overseer of the stables, and who also served with me in Egypt. NAPOLEON S LAST WILL. 391 14. Two hundred thousand francs shall be distributed in alms to the inhabitants of Brienne-le-Chateau who suffered most. 15. The three hundred thousand francs remaining shall be distributed to such officers and soldiers of my guard at the island of Elba who may be still living, or to their widows or children, in proportion to their appointments, and according to an estimate which shall be fixed by my testamentary execu- tors. Those who have suffered amputation or been severely wounded shall receive double: the estimate to be fixed by Larrey and Emmery. This codicil is written entirely with my own hand, signed, and sealed with my arms. NAPOLEON. [On the back of the codicil is written :] This is my codicil, or act of my last will, the execution whereof I recommend to my dearest wife, the Empress Maria Louisa. (L. s.) NAPOLEON. [Attested by the following witnesses, whose seals are respect- ively affixed.] Montholon, ^ Bertrand, I A {QQQ of ^ Marchand, Vignali. J 6th Codicil. Monsieur Lafitte, I remitted to you, in 1815, at the moment of my departure from Paris, a sum of nearly six millions, for which you have given me a receipt in duplicate. I have can- celled one of the receipts, and I charge Count Montholon to present to you the other, in order that you may pay him, after my death, the said sum, with interest, at the rate of five per cent., from the 1st of July, 1815, deducting the payments you have been instructed to make by virtue of my orders. It is my wish that the settlement of your account may be agreed upon between yourself, Count Montholon, Count Ber- trand, and the Sieur Marchand ; which settlement being made, 392 APPENDIX. I give you, by these presents, a complete and absolute dis- charge from the said sum. I also, at that time, placed in your hands a box, containing rny cabinet of medals. I beg you will deliver the same to Count Montholon. This letter having no other object, I pray God, Monsieur Lafitte, to have you in His holy and good keeping. NAPOLEON. Lang wood, Island of St. Helena, the 25th April, 1821. nth Codicil. Monsieur le Baron Labouillerie, treasurer of my private do- main : I beg you to deliver the account and balance, after my death, to Count Montholon, whom I have charged with the execution of my will. This letter having no other object, I pray God, Monsieur le Baron Labouillerie, to have you in His holy and good keeping. NAPOLEON. Longwood, Island of St. Helena, the 25th April, 1821. This testament was presented, on the 10th of December, 1821, to the Prerogative Court of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, and deposited and registered, according to the affidavit, in the hands of Mr. Fox, notary and attorney of the Court. The affair of Napoleon's will came before the tribunal of the Chambers of Paris, with closed doors, at the latter end of April, 1822, when the cause was adjourned, to hear the king's attorney-general. It was then presumed that Napoleon, hav- ing been proclaimed a rebel and a traitor, could have no prop- erty to assign over or devise at the time when he placed his funds under dispute in the hands of M. Lafitte, the banker; and it was ultimately determined that the documents brought forward by the plaintiffs in proof of their right to the litigated funds, either as attorneys or executors of the Emperor, were null and void. NAPOLEON TO HIS EXECUTORS. 393 NAPOLEON'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS EXECUTORS. April 26, 1821. Longwood. 1. My legacies are to be paid in their full amount. 2. The five million two hundred and eighty thousand francs which I placed in the hands of the banker Lafitte ought to produce, on the 1st of January, 1822, the interest being reck- oned at five per cent., which I agreed upon with him, about seven millions. In case of difficulty, the account must be settled 'with the strictness of a clerk settling with his master, since superior powers have prevented me from writing and disposing of my funds : I can permit no modification on this point. 3. The following are the only sums which I am aware that Monsieur Lafitte has paid on my account : First, one hundred thousand francs to Count Las Cases ; second, twenty thousand francs to General Lallemand the elder ; third, seventy- two thousand francs to Balcombe, on a letter of credit from Count Bertrand ; fourth, three thousand francs to Gilly, my valet-de-chambre ; fifth, an authorization, sent through Prince Eugene, to furnish a monthly sum of twelve thousand francs to London since 1817, to be employed for my use. (This sura was not furnished, with the exception of a part to Mr. Parker : I am therefore indebted for considerable sums to Count Bertrand ; all these must be, in the first place, repaid to him.) Hence it results that, on the regulation of these ac- counts, the sum which I left in his hands ought to amount, capital and interest, to about six million two hundred thousand francs, disposable on the 1st of January, 1822. 4. The question relative to my private domain is one of principal importance ; it will be susceptible of much discus- sion ; but the restitution of the money left in the hands of Peyrusse, which, as I believe, has reverted to the crown ; the liquidation of my civil list of Italy, which should produce several millions ; the value of the furniture annexed to the crown, and which belonged to me before the civil list, at the 17* 394 APPENDIX. time of my Consulate, and even when I was General (in the former class is included all the furniture of St. Cloud, and a part of that of the Tuileries ; in the second, a great part of the furniture of Rambouillet) ; the presents received by me, either from other sovereigns or from the city of Paris, such as the beautiful articles of malachite from Russia, the lusters, crystals, etc., etc., the gold service presented to me by the city of Paris all these things are a separate question : these dif- ferent articles should produce several millions. 5. With regard to the furniture of the crown, which belongs to me, as having been bought with the proceeds of the,, civil list, it will be said, that by a senatus consultum, the heirs of the Emperor were declared only to be capable of inheriting any part of it in case its value exceeded thirty millions of francs ; but this was for the future ; it was a family regula- tion, and it would be an act of injustice to regard this furni- ture as not being my property. 6. Laaken was purchased from the proceeds of the extraor- dinary domain, but its furniture was paid for with the proceeds of the private domain. This latter, therefore, amounts to a sum of eight hundred thousand francs, which is to be claimed from the King of the Netherlands. 7. When the King of Sardinia and the Grand Duke of Tuscany were driven from their dominions in 1799, they took with them their plate, jewels, and other precious effects ; their private domains were even reserved for them. By what right, then, did these sovereigns presume to retain possession of my plate and furniture which I sent from Paris, and which were purchased Avith the proceeds of my civil list ? 8. The Pope took away his plate and precious effects from Rome. The plate and furniture which I sent to Rome, and which were paid for from the proceeds of my civil list, belong of right to me. 9. I had, in the Isle of Elba, a little farm called Saint Martin, estimated at two hundred thousand francs, with furniture, car- riages, etc. ; this was purchased with money belonging to the NAPOLEON TO HIS EXECUTORS. 395 Princess Pauline. If it has been refunded to her, I am satis- fied ; but if this has not been done, my executors shall take measures to effect its repayment to the Princess Pauline, if she be still living ; if not, it must revert to the mass of my prop- erty. 10. I had at Venice five million francs' worth of quicksilver, of which I believe a great portion to have been pilfered by the Austrians. It must be reclaimed, and its restitution ef- fected. 11. There are reports in circulation concerning a will of the Patriarch of Venice. They must be inquired into. 12. I left at Malmaison, independently of all my books, two millions of francs, in gold and jewels, in a concealed place. I never made a special donation of it to the Empress Josephine. I desire that this sum may be reclaimed by my executors, but only in case this is necessary to the completion of my legacies. 13. I gave the Empress Maria Louisa two millions of francs in gold, at Orleans. She is, therefore, in my debt for this sum; but I desire that it may not be reclaimed, except it shall be found necessary for the completion of my legacies. 14. I have, in the hands of Denon and D'Albe, a great number of plans, which belong to me ; because, for several years, I have paid ten thousand or twelve thousand francs per month for the making and completion of these plans and drawings. An account must be rendered of them to my ex- ecutors, who will afterward take possession of them for my son. 15. I desire that my executors may make a collection of engravings, pictures, books, and medals, which may give my son just ideas, and destroy those false ones which foreign policy may, perhaps, have desired to inculcate ; that he may, in fine, be enabled to see things as they really were. In pub- lishing my campaigns of Italy and Egypt, and such other of my manuscripts as may be published, they shall be dedicated to my son, as well as the letters addressed to me by other 396 APPENDIX. sovereigns, if they are to be found : they should be procurable in the archives, and this ought not to be difficult, since na- tional vanity would be greatly a gainer by their publication. 16. If a collection of views of my headquarters can be found, which was at Foatainebleau, as well as some views of my palaces in France and Italy, they shall be kept for my sou. 17. Constant robbed me of a great many things at Fon- tainebleau. I believe that many things may be got from him and Roustan which would be precious to my son, and to them have only a metallic value. 18. There were in my small apartments at the top of the palace at the Tuileries, a great number of chairs worked by Josephine and Maria Louisa. It may be agreeable to my son to have them. 19. Whenever my executors shall be enabled to see my son, they shall earnestly set his opinions right on facts and things, and put him in the right way. 20. Whenever my executors shall be enabled to see the Empress, which I desire may be separately, and as soon as prudence will permit, they shall do the same. 21. Though I by no means desire that my mother, if she be yet alive, should give my son advantages (in her will), since I believe him to be richer than her other children, I should, nevertheless, wish that she should distinguish him by some precious legacy, such as portraits of my mother and father, or some trinkets, which he may be able to say he has received from his grand-parents. 22. As soon as my son shall have attained years of discre- tion, I should wish my mother, my brothers, and sisters, to write to him, and unite themselves to him in affection ; any obstacle will be powerless, since my son may have his own acquaintances. 23. It would give me pleasure that those of my officers or domestics who shall be able so to do, should attach themselves to the service of my son as the children of Bertrand, or those of Montholon, NAPOLEON TO HIS EXECUTORS. 397 24. My executors shall engage my son to reassume his name of Napoleon, as soon as he shall have attained to years of dis- cretion, and shall be able conveniently so to do. 25. Many things should be found in the hands of Denon, D'Albe, Fain, Menneval, and Bourrienne, which will be highly interesting to my son. 26. In publishing the memoirs on Italy, use should be made of the plans in D' Albe's possession. I caused all the plans of battle to be drawn ; it even seems that he has printed them. At the Depot of War may be procured plans of several battles which I made. I suspect that Jomini was aware of this. 27. My executors shall write to the King of England, when they proceed to that country, insisting'that my remains shall be transported to France ; and to the .French Government, they shall write in the same manner. 28. If Las Cases fulfills the functions of treasurer, and my executors judge it necessary to have a secretary, should that office suit Drouot, he may be nominated. 29. I have a young cousin at Ajaccio, who has, I believe, landed property to the amount of three hundred thousand francs ; her name is Pallavicini ; if she is not yet married, and would suit Drouot, her mother, if informed that such is my desire, will give her to him without difficulty. 30. I desire that my family should be informed of my wish that my nephews and nieces shall marry either among them- selves, in the Roman States, in the Swiss Republic, or in the United States of America. I disapprove of a marriage with a Swede, and, unless the good fortune of France should return, desire that my family should have as little as possible to do with kingly courts. 31. In the hands of Apiani, a painter at Milan, may be found many things which will be important to my son : the remembrance of me will be the glory of his life ; let my exe- cutors collect, obtain possession of, or facilitate his acquisition of every thing which may bring such an, entourage around him. 398 APPENDIX. 32. Should good fortune again return, and my son ascend the throne, it is the duty 6f my executors to make him un- derstand all that I owe to my old officers and soldiers and to my faithful adherents. 33. My executors shall also, by letter, or personally when possible, express to the Empress Maria Louisa the esteem and sentiments which I have entertained for her, and constantly recommend to her charge my son, whose only resources must depend upon her. 34. If the Deputy Ramolino is at Paris, he may be con- sulted on the condition of my family and the means of cor- responding with them^ 35. I desire that my executors may procure the best like- nesses of me, in different costumes, and may send them to my son as soon as it shall be in their power. 36. My nurse at Ajaccio has children and grandchildren, whom the great benefits I have bestowed on her have put in a position to bring up well. I suppose she is dead ; and, besides, presume her to be very rich : if, however, it happens, from a caprice of fortune, that all that I have done for her has not turned out well, my executors shall not leave her in want. 37. I should not be displeased that the little Leo should enter the magistracy, if such should be his taste. I should 'wish Alexander Waleska to be drawn into the service of France, into the army. (Signed) NAPOLEON. IMPORTANT EVENTS. 399 CHRONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN NAPOLEON'S CAREER. 1784. Napoleon joined the military school at Paris. 1785. "Was appointed to the artillery in the regiment de la Fere. He first distinguished himself at Toulon, by his superior skill in directing the batteries, and was soon after named general of brigade. On the 5th October 1794, he commanded the conventional troops, and quelled the insurrection at Paris. 1796. In March he married Josephine de Beauharnais, widow of Count Beauharnais, who had been beheaded by order of Robespierre. Three days after, Bonaparte left his bride for Nice, to take the com- mand of an army of sixty thousand men, the great object of his ambi- tion when, after several skirmishes, he out-maneuvered the Austrians and Sardinians. In April, with troops destitute of every thing, he won the battles of Montenotte, Millesimo, Dego, and Mondovl May 10th, gained the battle of Lodi, and soon found himself master of Piedmont and the Milanese. August 3d he conquered at Lonado, and on the 5th at Castiglione. September 4. The battle of Roveredo. 8. The battle of Bassano. 13. The battle of San-Giargo. November 15. The battle of Arcola. 1797. January 13. The battle of Rivoli. 16. The battle of La Favorite. February 2. Mantua taken. March 16. Battle of Tagliamento. 20. Battle of Lavis. 23. Trieste surrendered. April 18. Preliminaries of peace with Austria signed at Leoben. May 16. Took possession of Venice. October 17. Treaty of Campo Formio. 400 APPENDIX. 1798. May 19. Sailed for Egypt. July 21. Battle of the Pyramids. 1799. February 15. Battle of El Arish. April 16. Battle of Nazareth. 15. Battle of Mount Tabor. May 21. Siege of Acre raised by Sir Sidney Smith. July 25. Battle of Aboukir. August 23. Sailed from Egypt for France. October 8. Landed at Frejus. November 9. Dissolved the Conventional Government. 10. Declared First Consul. 1800. February 1 5. Made peace with the Chouans. May 15. Crossed Mount St. Bernard. 26. Battle of Romano. June 9. Battle of Montebello. 14. Battle of Marengo. Preliminaries of peace with Austria signed at Paris. December 24. Explosion of the infernal machine. 1801. February 9. Treaty of Luneville with Austria. October 1. Preliminaries of peace with England. 1802. January 26. The Cisalpine republic placed under Napoleon. March 27. Definitive treaty with England. May 19. Legion of Honor instituted. August 2. Declared Consul for life. February 5. Moreau arrested. March 21. The Duke d'Enghein shot. May 18. Made Emperor. November 19. Crowned by the Pope. IMPORTANT J2VENT8. 401 1805. February 19. Wrote a pacific Letter to the King of England. May 26. Declared King of Italy. September 24. Headed his army against Austria. October 8. "Won the battle of Wertinghen. 9. Won the battle of Guntzburg. 14. Won the battle of Memingen. 15. Won the battle of Elchingen. 20. Mack surrendered at Ulm. November 13. Vienna taken. 21. Battle of Diernestein. December 2. Battle of Austerlitz. 15. Treaty at Presburg with Prussia. 26. Treaty at Vienna, with Austria. 1806. June 5. Louis Bonaparte declared King of Holland. July 26. Convocation of the Jews. 27. Confederation of the Rhine published. October 10. Battle of Saalfield. 13. Battle of Weimar. 14. Battle of Jena, 18. Battle of Halle. 26. Battle of Zebdernich. 28. Battle of Prentzlow. November 2. Battle of Jabel. 26. Berlin decree. December 23. Battle of Zarnova. 25. Battle of Pulstuck. 1807. January 26. Battle of Mobringen. 27. Battle of Bergfried. February 8. Battle of Eylau. 19. Battle of Ostrolenka. April 15. Battle of Weiskelmonde. June 14. Battle of Friedland. July 1. Treaty of Tilsit. 1808. July 7. Joseph Bonaparte declared King of Spain. September 8. Battle of Valmaceda. 402 APPENDIX. September 10. Battle of Gamenal. 16. Battle of Burgos. 27. Conference at Erfurth. November 5. Napoleon arrived at Vittoria. 18. Battle of St. Ander. December 4. Surrender of Madrid. 8. Surrender of Santa Cruz. 1809. January 22. Napoleon returned to Paris. April 6. "War declared by Austria. 13. Napoleon headed his army against Austria. 21. Battle of Landshut 22. Battle of Eckmiihl. 25. Battle of Ratisbonne. 26. Battle of Newmark. May 10. Entered Vienna. 11. Battle of the Danube. 18. Battle of Gorpick. 22. Battle of Essling. June 14. Battle of Raab. July 5. Battle of Enzersdorf. 6. Battle of "Wagram. October 14. Treaty of Vienna. December 15. Marriage wibh Josephine dissolved. 1810. March 11. Napoleon married Maria Louisa, daughter of Francis II., of Austria. July 9. Holland and the Hanse Towns annexed to France. August 21. Bernadotte elected Crown-Prince of Sweden. 1811. January 1. Hamburg annexed to the Empire. March 20. The Empress, Maria Louisa, delivered of a son, styled King of Rome. 1812. May 2. Napoleon headed the army against Russia. June 11. Arrived at Konigsberg. 28. Entered "Wilna. July 24. Battle of Ostrowno. 27. Battle of Witepsk. IMPORTANT EVENTS. 408 August 16. Battle of Smolensk August 18. Battle of Polotsk. September 5. Battle of Mojaisk. 7. Battle of Moskwa. 14. Enters Moscow. October 22. Evacuates the same. 24. Battle of Malojaroslavetz. November 3. Battle of Viazma. 8. Battle of "Wop. 16. Battle of Krasnoe. 27. Passage of the Beresina. December 5. Leaves the army for Paris. 18. Arrives in Paris, and raises new levies. 1813. April 18. Took the command of the army on the Elbe. May 1. Battle of Lutzen. 20. Battle of Bautzen. 26. Battle of Wurchen. June 4. Armistice agreed on. August 17. Hostilities recommenced. 28. Battle of Dresden Moreau killed. September 28. Dresden evacuated. October 18. Battle of Leipsic. December 1. Declaration of the Allies at Frankfort. 1814. January 4, Allies crossed the Rhine. 27. Battle of St. Dizier. 29. Battle of Brienne. February 10. Battle of Champ Aubert. 11. Battle of MontmiraiL 14. Battle of Yauchamp. 17. Battle of Nangis. 18. Battle of Montereau. 27. Battle of Croane. 31. Allies entered Paris. April 11. Napoleon abdicated the throne. May 28. Sailed for Elba. 1815. March 1. Landed in France from Elba. 20. Arrived at Paris, and reascended the throne. 404 APPENDIX. March 25. Declared an outlaw by the allied sovereigns. April 25. Called a new House of Peers and Chamber of Rep- resentatives of the people. 25. Assembly of the Champ de Mai. June 14. Battle of Fleurus. 16. Battle of Ligny. 18. Battle of Waterloo. 21. Abdicated the throne in favor of his son. July 15. Surrendered himself to the English. August 11. Sailed from England for St. Helena. 1821. May 5. Died at St. Helena, after an imprisonment of five years, eight months, and twenty-five days. THE END. THE R AG-P I CKE R; OR, BOUND AND FREE. I Vol., izmo. 442 pp. Price $1.25. " This is a most stirring and pathetic story, illustrating the terrible power of human depravity on the one hand, and the importance of using the most efficient means to counter, act it on the other. The author assures us that his statements are throughout nothing but Bober verity ; and that many of the persons whose character and experience are here de- scribed are still living in various parts of the United States. If this be really so (and we have no right to dispute the author's word), we can only say that they form the most remarkable group of personages which have ever come within our knowledge. 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" The story is, In truth, one of realities too sadly real, and, as such, impresses the reader with more profound sympathies for the unfortunate of our race." Dayton Gazette. " A most readable and interesting book." PoUscille Register. RUTH HALL: A Domestic Tale of the Present Time. BY 'FANNY FERN. I Vol. izmo. pp. 400. Price $1.25. " Every chapter has the touch of genius 5n it." Worcester Palladium. "It is a thrilling life sketch, with passages of great power and pathos." Maymillc Eagle. "Flashes of gayest humor alternate with bursts of deep pathos ; so that the volume is re- lieved of all peril of monotony." N. T. Tribune. " This is a remarkable book a book to create a sensation."^. Y. Mirror. "Wherever the English language is read, Kuth Hall will be eagerly read." New York Picayune. " No one will fail to read the book through who reads the first chapter." N. Y. Sunday Courier. " Never did a tale abound in so many beautiful images. "Philadelphia Mercury. 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" A real sketch of human life, amid clouds, storm and sunshine." Lawrence Sentinel. " All the characters are portraits every body has seen theii prototypes." Watervillt Journal. " Never have we read a book so true to nature." Keystone City. " A live book ; it is a tale of real life ; the story is powerfully told." Burlingtm Hawk Eye. " Abounds with gems." Nashville Banner. " It is an evergreen, fresh as are all the emanations of mind, ' not bora to die.' '-'LocTe fort Democrat. " A book of extraordinary interest." Monongahela Republican. MUSICAL LITERATURE. MUSICAL LETTERS FROM ABROAD, Including Detailed Accounts of the Birmingham, Norwich, and Dusseldorf Music Festivals of 1852. By LOWELL MASON, i Vol., I2mo. 312 pp. Price $i. This volume can not bat prove most acceptable to all lovers of music. Devoted almost entirely to musical subjects, it claims the attention of all those persons who feel an interest in musical matters. Its pages are devoted more particularly to church music, or to the service of song in religious worship ; but all who entertain the desire of acquiring a deeper insight into the mysteries and subtle intricacies of the art of music, will derive benefit ami entertainment from the perusal of its pages. DISSERTATION ON MUSICAL TASTE. By THOMAS HASTINGS, i Vol., I2mo. Price Si. In this volume the author aims not only to give his reader an insight Into the element of music, but endeavors to instruct his taste and judgment in the selection and performance of music of every character. THE HISTORY OF FORTY CHOIRS. By THOMAS HASTINGS, Author of " Dissertation on Musical Taste." This book contains the actual history of forty choirs. The leading object has been to afford useful instruction in such a manner as to avoid unpleasant personalities. While no individual will recognize his own likeness in the book, multitudes, it is supposed, may discover features not unworthy of their contemplation. A HISTORY OF THE OLD HUNDREDTH PSALM TUNE, With Specimens. By Rev. W. H. HAVERGAL, M.A., Rector of St. Nicholas and Honorary Canon, Worcester. With a Prefatory Note by the Right Rev. J. M. WAIN- WRIGHT, D.D., Bishop of New York. I Vol., 8vo. Cloth. Price 75 cents. " The history of such a composition," writes the late lamented Dr. Walnwright, " must be a matter of interest not only to the musician, but to all who have the slightest taste for musical art, and especially to those who take delight in the service of song in the houie of the Lord." GLEE BOOKS. THE NEW YORK GLEE AND CHORUS BOOK. A collection of new and admired glees a'hd choruses, for singing-schools, choir practice, Musical conven- tions, and the social circle. By WK. B. BRADBURY and LOWELL MASON. (In press.) $1. THE NEW ODEON. A collection of Secular Melodies, arranged and harmonized in four parts. By LOWELL MASON and G. J. WEBB. $1. A revised edition of the most popular collection of secular music ever published in Amer- ica, but which has for some time been out of the market. New Elements of Music have been prepared for it, and the places of such pieces as proved least attractive in former edi- tions are occupied by arrangements of popular melodies, especially prepared for this new edition. It is the largest collection of secular music published. THE GLEE HIVE. A collection of glees and part songs. By LOWELL MASON and G. J. WEBB. Kevised and enlarged edition. 50 cents. In the revised edition a few of the heavier and more difficult pieces have been laid aside, and their place, and a number of additional pages, are filled by lighter and more pleasing compositions. THE VOCALIST. Consisting of short and easy glees, or songs, arranged for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices. By L. MASON and G. J. WBBB, Professors in the Boston Academy of Music. fL THE BOSTON GLEE BOOK. By LOWELL MASON and GEO. J. WEBB. Containing the choicest of the Standard English Glees. This work has been most admired of any similar publication, and has retained its popularity unabated. $1 25. TWENTY-ONE MADRIGALS. Selected mostly from old and distin- guished composers. By L. MASON and G. J. WEBB. 50 cents. THE MELODIST. A collection of glees and part songs. By G. J. WEBB and WM. MASON. $1. THE SOCIAL GLEE BOOK. A collection of classic glees, mostly from the German. By W* . MASON and S:LAS A. BANCROFT. For skillful singers who are able to sing music of some difficulty with taste, this book is a treasure. It is filled with gems of the first water, which will not lose their luster by once wearing. The more these gems are sung, the better they will be liked. New edition. Price reduced to $1. FIRESIDE HARMONY. A collection of glees and part songs. By WM MASON. $1. FOR MEN'S VOICES. THE YOUNG MEN'S SINGING BOOK. A collection of music for male voices, intended for use in Colleges, Theological Seminaries, and the social circle, cousUts Of, Part I. The Singing School. II. Glees and part Songs. III. Choir Tunes. IV. Congregational Tunes. V. Anthems, Chants, etc. By GEORGE F. ROOT, assisted by L. MASON. SI. THE GENTLEMEN'S GLEE BOOK. A selection of glees for men's voices, from the most admired German composers. By L. MASON. This is the only work of the kind published in this country. It contains a very choice selection of the very best of the German glees for men's voices. $1 University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. 2 i A 000036754 o