THE COURT OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE

BY

IMBERT DE SAINT-AMAND

TRANSLATED BY THOMAS SERGEANT PERRY

ILLUSTRATED

1900

CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER

 I. THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE

 II. THE JOURNEY TO THE BANKS OF THE RHINE

 III. THE POPE'S ARRIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAU

 IV. THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION

 V. THE CORONATION

 VI. THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLAGS

 VII. THE FESTIVITIES

 VIII. THE ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE

 IX. THE HOUSEHOLD OF THE EMPRESS

 X. NAPOLEON'S GALLANTRIES

 XI. THE POPE AT THE TUILERIES

 XII. THE JOURNEY IN ITALY

 XIII. THE CORONATION AT MILAN

 XIV. THE FESTIVITIES AT GENOA

 XV. DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTERLITZ

 XVI. THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE

 XVII. PARIS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1806

XVIII. THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN

 XIX. THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND

 XX. THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE

 XXI. THE RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS

 XXII. THE DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEON

XXIII. THE END OF THE WAR

 XXIV. THE EMPEROR'S RETURN

 XXV. THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU

 XXVI. THE END OF THE YEAR 1807

I. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE EMPIRE. 

"Two-thirds of my life is passed, why should I so distress myself aboutwhat remains? The most brilliant fortune does not deserve all the troubleI take, the pettiness I detect in myself, or the humiliations and shame Iendure; thirty years will destroy those giants of power which can be seenonly by raising the head; we shall disappear, I who am so petty, and thosewhom I regard so eagerly, from whom I expected all my greatness. The mostdesirable of all blessings is repose, seclusion, a little spot we can callour own. " When La Bruyère expressed himself so bitterly, when he spoke ofthe court "which satisfies no one, " but "prevents one from being satisfiedanywhere else, " of the court, "that country where the joys are visible butfalse, and the sorrows hidden, but real, " he had before him the brilliantPalace of Versailles, the unrivalled glory of the Sun King, a monarchywhich thought itself immovable and eternal. What would he say in thiscentury when dynasties fail like autumn leaves, and it takes much lessthan thirty years to destroy the giants of power; when the exile of to-dayrepeats to the exile of the morrow the motto of the churchyard: _Hodiemihi, eras tibi?_ What would this Christian philosopher say at a time whenroyal and imperial palaces have been like caravansaries through whichsovereigns have passed like travellers, when their brief resting-placeshave been consumed by the blaze of petroleum and are now but a heap ofashes?

The study of any court is sure to teach wisdom and indifference to humanglories. In our France of the nineteenth century, fickle as it has been, inconstant, fertile in revolutions, recantations, and changes of everysort, this lesson is more impressive than it has been at any period of ourhistory. Never has Providence shown more clearly the nothingness of thisworld's grandeur and magnificence. Never has the saying of Ecclesiastesbeen more exactly verified: "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!" We havebefore us the task of describing one of the most sumptuous courts that hasever existed, and of reviewing splendors all the more brilliant for theirbrevity. To this court of Napoleon and Josephine, to this majestic court, resplendent with glory, wealth, and fame, may well be applied Corneille'slines:--

 "All your happiness Subject to instability In a moment falls to the ground, And as it has the brilliancy of glass It also has its fragility. "

We shall evoke the memory of the dead to revive this vanished court, andwe shall consult, one after another, the persons who were eye-witnesses ofthese short-lived wonders. A prefect of the palace, M. De Bausset, wrote:"When I recall the memorable times of which I have just given a faintidea, I feel, after so many years, as if I had been taking part in thegorgeous scenes of the _Arabian Tales_ or of the _Thousand and OneNights_. The magic picture of all those splendors and glories hasdisappeared, and with it all the prestige of ambition and power. " One ofthe ladies of the palace of the Empress Josephine, Madame de Rémusat, hasexpressed the same thought: "I seem to be recalling a dream, but a dreamresembling an Oriental tale, when I describe the lavish luxury of thatperiod, the disputes for precedence, the claims of rank, the demands ofevery one. " Yes, in all that there was something dreamlike, and the actorsin that fairy spectacle which is called the Empire, that great show piece, with its scenery, now brilliant, now terrible, but ever changing, musthave been even more astonished than the spectators. Aix-la-Chapelle andthe court of Charlemagne, the castle of Fontainebleau and the Pope, NotreDame and the coronation, the Champ de Mars and the distribution of eagles, the Cathedral of Milan and the Iron Crown, Genoa the superb and its navalfestival, Austerlitz and the three emperors, --what a setting! whataccessories! what personages! The peal of organs, the intoning of priests, the applause of the multitude and of the soldiers, the groans of thedying, the trumpet call, the roll of the drum, ball music, military bands, the cannon's roar, were the joyful and mournful harmonies heard while theplay went on. What we shall study amid this tumult and agitation is onewoman. We have already studied her as the Viscountess of Beauharnais, asCitizeness Bonaparte, and as the wife of the First Consul. We shall nowstudy her in her new part, that of Empress. 

Let us go back to May 18, 1804, to the Palace of Saint Cloud. The Emperorhad just been proclaimed by the Senate before the _plébiscite_ which wasto ratify the new state of things. The curtain has risen, the play begins, and no drama is fuller of contrasts, of incidents, of movement. Theleading actor, Napoleon, was already as familiar with his part as if hehad played it since his childhood. Josephine is also at home in hers. As awoman of the world, she had learned, by practice in the drawing-room, towin even greater victories. For a fashionable beauty there is no greatdifference between an armchair and a throne. The minor actors are not soaccustomed to their new position. Nothing is more amusing than theembarrassment of the courtiers when they have to answer the Emperor'squestions. They begin with a blunder; then, in correcting themselves, theyfall into still worse confusion; ten times a minute was repeated, Sire, General, Your Majesty, Citizen, First Consul. Constant, the Emperor'svalet de chambre, has given us a description of this 18th of May, 1804, aday devoted to receptions, presentations, interviews, and congratulations:"Every one, " he says, "was filled with joy in the Palace of Saint Cloud;every one imagined that he had risen a step, like General Bonaparte, who, from First Consul, had become a monarch. Men were embracing andcomplimenting one another; confiding their share of hopes and plans forthe future; there was no official so humble that he was not fired withambition. " In a word, the ante-chamber, barring the difference of persons, presented an exact imitation of what was going on in the drawing-room. Itseemed like a first performance which had long been eagerly expected, arousing the same eager excitement among the players and the public. Theday which had started bright grew dark; for a long time there werethreatenings of a thunder-storm; but none looked on this as an evil omen. All were inclined to cheery views. The courtiers displayed their zeal withall the ardor, the passion, the _furia francese_, which is a nationalcharacteristic, and appears on the battle-field as well as in the ante-chamber. The French fight and flatter with equal enthusiasm. 

Amid all these manifestations of devotion and delight, the members of theImperial family alone, who should have been the most satisfied, andcertainly the most astonished by their greatness, wore an anxious, almosta grieved look. They alone appeared discontented with their master. Theirpride knew no bounds; their irritability was extreme. Nothing seemed goodenough, for them. In the way of honors privileges, and when we recalltheir father's modest at Ajaccio, it is hard to keep from smiling at thevanity of these new Princes of the blood. Of Napoleon's four brothers, twowere absent and on bad terms with him: Lucien, on account of his marriagewith Madame Jouberton; Jerome, on account of his marriage with MissPaterson. His mother, Madame Letitia Bonaparte, an able woman, whocombined great courage with uncommon good sense, had not lost her headover the wonderful good fortune of the modern Caesar. Having apresentiment that all this could not last, she economized from motives ofprudence, not of avarice. While the courtiers were celebrating theEmperor's new triumphs, she lingered in Rome with her son Lucien, whom shehad followed in his voluntary exile, having pronounced in his favor in hisquarrel with Napoleon. As for Joseph and Louis, who, with their wives, hadbeen raised to the dignity of Grand Elector and Constable, respectively, one might think that they were overburdened with wealth and honors, andwould be perfectly satisfied. But not at all! They were indignant thatthey were not personally mentioned, in the _plébiscite_, by which theirposterity was appointed to succeed to the French crown. This _plébiscite_ran thus: "The French people desire the Inheritance of the Imperialdignity in the direct, natural, or adoptive line of descent from NapoleonBonaparte, and in the direct, natural, legitimate line of descent fromJoseph Bonaparte and from Louis Bonaparte, as is determined by the organic_senatus-consultum_ of the twenty-eighth Floréal, year XII. " For theEmperor's family, these stipulations were the cause of incessant squabblesand recriminations. Lucien and Jerome regarded their exclusion as an actof injustice. Joseph and Louis asked indignantly why their descendantswere mentioned when they themselves were excluded. They were very jealousof Josephine, and of her son, Eugene de Beauharnais, and much annoyed bythe Emperor's reservation of the right of adoption, which threatened themand held out hopes for Eugene. Louis Bonaparte, indignant with theslanderous story, according to which his wife, Hortense, had beenNapoleon's mistress, treated her ill, and conceived a dislike for his ownson, who was reported to be that of the Emperor. As for Elisa Bacciochi, Caroline Murat, and Pauline Borghese, they could not endure themortification of being placed below the Empress, their sister-in-law, andthe thought that they had not yet been given the title of Princesses ofthe blood, which had been granted to the wife of Joseph and the wife ofLouis, filled them with actual despair. 

Madame de Rémusat, who was present at the first Imperial dinner at St. Cloud, May 18, 1804, describes this curious repast. General Duroc, GrandMarshal of the Palace, told all the guests in succession of the titles ofPrince and Princess to be given to Joseph and Louis, and their wives, butnot to the Emperor's sisters, or to their husbands. This fatal newsprostrated Elisa, Caroline, and Pauline. When they sat down at table, Napoleon was good-humored and merry, possibly at heart enjoying the slightconstraint that this novel formality enforced upon his guests. MadameMurat, when she heard the Emperor saying frequently _Princess_ Louis, could not hide her mortification or her tears. Every one was embarrassed, while Napoleon smiled maliciously. 

The next day the Emperor went to Paris to hold a grand reception at theTuileries, for he was not a man to postpone the enjoyment of the splendorwhich his satisfied ambition could draw from his new title. In thispalace, where had ruled the Committee of Public Safety, where theConvention had sat, whence Robespierre had departed in triumph to presideover the festival in honor of the Supreme Being, nothing was heard but thetitles of Emperor, Empress, My Lord, Prince, Princess, Imperial Highness, Most Serene Highness. It was asserted that Bonaparte had cut up the redcaps to make the ribbons of the Legions of Honor. The most fanaticalRevolutionists had become conservative as soon as they had anything topreserve. The Empire was but a few hours old, and already the new-borncourt was alive with the same rivalries, jealousies, and vanities thatfill the courts of the oldest monarchies. It was like Versailles, in thereign of Louis XIV. , in the Gallery of Mirrors, or in the drawing-room ofthe Oeil de Boeuf. It would have taken a Dangeau to record, hour by hour, the minute points of etiquette. The Emperor walked, spoke, thought, acted, like a monarch of an old line. To nothing does a man so readily adapthimself as to power. One who has been invested with the highest rank issure to imagine himself eternal; to think that he has always held it andwill always keep it. Indeed, how is it possible to escape intoxication bythe fumes of perpetual incense? How can a man tell the truth to himselfwhen there is no one about him courageous enough to tell it to him? Whenthe press is muzzled, and public power rests only on general approval, when there is no slave even to remind the triumphant hero, as in theancient ovations, that he is only a man, how is it possible to avoid beinginfatuated by one's greatness and not to imagine one's self the absolutemaster of one's destiny? The new Caesar met with no resistance. He was topublish scornfully in the _Moniteur_ the protest of Louis XVIII. Againsthis accession. He was to be adored both by fierce Revolutionists and bygreat lords, by regicides and by Royalists and ecclesiastics. It seemed asif with him everything began, or rather started anew. "The old world wassubmerged, " says Chateaubriand; "when the flood of anarchy withdrew, Napoleon appeared at the beginning of a new world, like those giantsdescribed by profane and sacred history at the beginning of society, appearing on earth after the Deluge. "

The former general of the Revolution enjoyed his situation as absolutesovereign. He studied the laws of etiquette as closely as he studied thecondition of his troops. He saw that the men of the old régime were moreconversant in the art of flattery, more eager than the new men. As Madamede Staël says: "Whenever a gentleman of the old court recalled the ancientetiquette, suggested an additional bow, a certain way at knocking at thedoor of an ante-chamber, a ceremonious method of presenting a despatch, offolding a letter, of concluding it with this or that formula, he greetedas if he had helped on the happiness of the human race. " Napoleonattached, or pretended to attach, great importance to the thousandnothings which up the life of courts. He established in the palace thesame discipline as in the camps. Everything became a matter of rule. Courtiers studied formalities as officers studied the art of war. Regulations were as closely observed in the drawing-rooms as in the tents. At the end of a few months Napoleon was to have the most brilliant, themost rigid court of Europe. At times the whirl of vanities surrounded himfilled with impatience the great central sun, without whom his satelliteswould have been nothing. At other times, however, his pride was gratifiedby the thought that it was his will, his fancy, which evoked from nothingall the grandees of the earth. He was not pained at seeing such eagernessin behalf of trifles that he had invented. He liked to fill his courtierswith raptures or with despair, by a smile or a frown. He thought hissisters' ambition childish, but it amused him; and if they had to cry alittle at first, he finally granted them what they wanted. 

May 19, after the family dinner, Madame Murat was more and more distressedat not being a Princess, when she was a Bonaparte by birth, while MadameJoseph and Madame Louis, one of whom was a Clary, the other a Beauharnais, bore that title, and burst out into complaints and reproaches. "Why, " sheasked of her all-powerful brother, "why condemn me and my sisters toobscurity, to contempt, while covering strangers with honors anddignities?" At first these words annoyed Napoleon. "In fact, " heexclaimed, "judging from your pretensions, one would suppose that weinherited the crown from the late King our father. " At the end of theinterview, Madame Murat, not satisfied with crying, fainted away. Napoleonsoftened at once, and a few days later there appeared a notification inthe _Moniteur_ that henceforth the Emperor's sisters should be calledPrincesses and Imperial Highnesses. 

The Empress's Maid of Honor was Madame de La Rochefoucauld; her Lady ofthe Bedchamber was Madame de Lavalette. Her Ladies of the Palace, whosenumber was soon raised to twelve, and later still more augmented, were atfirst only four: Madame de Talhouët, Madame de Luçay, Madame de Lauriston, and Madame de Rémusat. These ladies, too, aroused the hottest jealousies, and soon they gave rise to a sort of parody of the questions of vanitythat agitated the Emperor's family. The women who were admitted to theEmpress's intimacy could never console themselves for the privilegesaccorded to the Ladies of the Palace. 

In essentials all courts are alike. On a greater or smaller scale they arerank with the same pettinesses, the same chattering gossip, the sametrivial squabbles as the porter's lodge, ante-chambers, and servants'quarters. If we examine these things from the standpoint of a philosopher, we shall find but little difference between a steward and a chamberlain, between a chambermaid and a lady of the palace. We may go further and saythat as soon as they have places and money at their disposal, republicanshave courtesies, as much as monarchs, and everywhere and always there areto be found people ready to bow low if there is anything on the groundthat they can pick up. Revolutions alter the forms of government, but notthe human heart; afterwards, as before, there exist the same pretensions, the same prejudices, the same flatteries. The incense may be burned beforea tribune, a dictator, or a Caesar, there are always the same flatteringgenuflections, the same cringing. 

The new Empire began most brilliantly, but there was no lack of morosecriticism. The Faubourg Saint Germain was for the most part hostile andscornful. It looked upon the high dignitaries of the Empire and on theEmperor himself as upstarts, and all the men of the old régime who wentover to him they branded as renegades. The title of "Citizen" wassuppressed and that of "Monsieur" restored, after having been abandoned inconversation and writing for twelve years. Miot de Mélito tells us in hisMemoirs that at first public opinion was opposed to this change; eventhose who at the beginning had shown the greatest repugnance to beingaddressed as Citizen, disliked conferring the title of Monsieur uponRevolutionists and the rabble, and they pretended to address as Citizenthose whom they saw fit to include in this class. Many turned the newstate of affairs to ridicule. The Parisians, always of a malicious humor, made perpetual puns and epigrams in abundance. 

The Faubourg Saint Germain, in spite of a few adhesions from personalmotives, preserved an ironical attitude. General de Ségur, then a captainunder the orders of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, observed that in1804, with the exception of several obscure nobles, either poor or ruined, and others already attached to Napoleon's civil and military fortune, manynegotiations and various temptations were required to persuade well-knownpersons to appear at the court as it was at first constituted. He goes on:"As a spectator and confidant of the means employed, I witnessed in thoseearly days many refusals, and some I had to announce myself. I even heardmany bitter complaints on this subject. I remember that in reply Imentioned to the Empress my own case, and told her what it had cost me toenlist under the tricolor, and then to enter the First Consul's militaryhousehold. The Empress understood me so well that she made to me a similarconfidence, confessing her own struggles, her almost invinciblerepugnance, at the end of 1795, in spite of her feeling for Bonaparte, before she could make up her mind to marry the man whom at that time sheherself used to call General Vendémiaire. "

Although Josephine had become Empress, she remained a Legitimist, and sawclearly the weak points in the Empire. At the Tuileries, in the chamber ofMarie Antoinette, she felt out of place; she was surprised to have forLady of Honor a duchess of an old family, and her sole ambition was to bepardoned by the Royalists for her elevation, to the highest rank. Napoleon, too, was much concerned about the Bourbons, in whom he foresawhis successors, "One of his keenest regrets, " wrote Prince Metternich, "was his inability to invoke legitimacy as the foundation of his power. Few men have felt more deeply than he the precariousness and fragility ofpower when it lacks this foundation, its susceptibility to attack. "

After recalling the Emperor's attempt to induce Louis XVIII. To abandonhis claims to the throne, Prince Metternich goes on: "In speaking to me ofthis matter, Napoleon said: 'His reply was noble, full of nobletraditions. In those Legitimists there is something outside of mereintellectual force. '" The Emperor, who, at the beginning of his career, displayed such intense Republican enthusiasm, was by nature essentially alover of authority and of the monarchy. He would have liked to be asovereign of the old stamp. His pleasure in surrounding himself withmembers of the old aristocracy attests the aristocratic instincts of theso-called crowned apostle of democracy. The few Republicans who remainedfaithful to the principles were indignant with these tendencies; it waswith grief that they saw the reappearance of the throne; and thus, fromdifferent motives the unreconciled Jacobins and the men of Coblentz whohad not joined the court, showed the same feeling of bitterness and ofhostility to the Empire. 

The trial of General Moreau made clear the germs of opposition whichexisted in a latent condition. It is difficult to form an idea of theenormous throng that blocked all the approaches to the Palace of Justicethe day the trial opened, and continued to crowd them during the twelvedays that the trial lasted, which was as interesting to Royalists as toRepublicans. The most fashionable people of Paris made a point of beingpresent. Sentence was pronounced June 10. Georges Cadoudal and nineteen ofthe accused, among whom were M. Armand de Polignac, and M. De Rivière, were condemned to death. 

To the Emperor's great surprise, Moreau was sentenced to only two years ofprison. This penalty was remitted, and he was allowed to betake himself tothe United States. To facilitate his establishing himself there, theEmperor bought his house in the rue d'Anjou Saint Honoré, paying for iteight hundred thousand francs, much more than it was worth, and then hegave it to Bernadotte, who did not scruple to accept it. The sum was paidto Moreau out of the secret fund of the police before he left for Cadiz. Josephine's urgent solicitations saved the life of the Duke Armand dePolignac, whose death-sentence was commuted to four years' imprisonmentbefore being transported. Madame Murat secured a modification of thesentence of the Marquis de Rivière; and these two acts of leniency, towhich great publicity was given, were of great service in diminishing theirritation of the Royalists. After Moreau's trial, the opposition, havingbecome discouraged, and conscious of its weakness, laid down its arms, atleast for a time. Napoleon was everywhere master. 

The Republic was forgotten. Its name still appeared on the coins: "FrenchRepublic, Napoleon, Emperor"; but it survived as a mere ghost. Nevertheless, the Emperor was anxious to celebrate in 1804 the Republicanfestival of July 14; but the object of this festival was so modified thatit would have been hard to see in it the anniversary of the taking of theBastille and of the first federation. In the celebration, not a singleword was said about these two events. The official eulogy of theRevolution was replaced by a formal distribution of crosses of the Legionof Honor. 

This was the first time that the Emperor and Empress appeared in public infull pomp. It was also the first time that they availed themselves of theprivilege of driving through the broad road of the garden of theTuileries. Accompanied by a magnificent procession, they went in greatsplendor to the Invalides, which the Revolution had turned into a Templeof Mars, and the Empire had turned again to a Catholic Church. At the doorthey were received by the Governor and M. De Ségur, Grand Master ofCeremonies, and at the entrance to the church by the Cardinal du Belloy atthe head of numerous priests. Napoleon and Josephine listened attentivelyto the mass; then, after a speech was uttered by the Grand Chancellor ofthe Legion of Honor, M. De Lacépède, the Emperor recited the form of theoath; at the end of which all the members of the Legion shouted "I swear. "This sight aroused the enthusiasm of the crowd, and the applause was loud. In the middle of the ceremony, Napoleon called up to him Cardinal Caprara, who had taken a very important part in the negotiations concerning theConcordat, and was soon to help to persuade the Pope to come to Paris forthe coronation. The Emperor took from his own neck the ribbon of theLegion of Honor, and gave it to the worthy and aged prelate. Then theknights of the new order passed in line before the Imperial throne, whilea man of the people, wearing a blouse, took his station on the steps ofthe throne. This excited some surprise, and he was asked what he wanted;he took out his appointment to the Legion. The Emperor at once called himup, and gave him the cross with the usual kiss. 

The Empress's beauty made a great impression, as we learn from Madame deRémusat, who generally prejudiced against her, but on this occasion wasforced to recognize that Josephine, by her tasteful and careful dressing, succeeded in appearing young and charming amid the many young and prettywomen by whom she was for the first time surrounded. "She stood there, "Madame de Rémusat goes on, "in the full light of the setting sun, wearinga dress of pink tulle, adorned with silver stars, cut very low after thefashion of the time, and crowned by a great many diamond clusters; andthis fresh and brilliant dress, her graceful bearing, her delightfulsmile, her gentle expression produced such an effect that I heard a numberof persons who had been present at the ceremony say that she effaced allher suite. " Three days later the Emperor started for the camp at Boulogne. 

In spite of the enthusiasm of the people and the army, one thing becameclear to every thoughtful observer, and that was that the new régime, lacking strength to resist misfortunes, must have perpetual success inorder to live. Napoleon was condemned, by the form of his government, notmerely to succeed, but to dazzle, to astonish, to subjugate. His Empirerequired extraordinary magnificence, prodigious effects, Babylonianfestivities, gigantic adventures, colossal victories. His Imperialescutcheon, to escape contempt, needed rich coats of gilding, and demandedglory to make up for the lack of antiquity. In order to make himselfacceptable to the European, monarchs, his new brothers, and to remove thememory of the venerable titles of the Bourbons, this former officer of thearmies of Louis XVI. , the former second-lieutenant of artillery, who hadsuddenly become a Caesar, a Charlemagne, could make this sudden andstrange transformation comprehensible only through unprecedented fame andsplendor. He desired to have a feudal, majestic court, surrounded by allthe pomp and ceremony of the Middle Ages. He saw how hard was the part hehad to play, and he knew very well how much a nation needs glory to makeit forget liberty. Hence a perpetual effort to make every day outshine theone before, and first to equal, then to surpass, the splendors of theoldest and most famous dynasties. This insatiable thirst for action andfor renown was to be the source of Napoleon's strength and also of hisweakness. But only a few clear-sighted men made these reflections when theEmpire began. The masses, with their easy optimism, looked upon the newEmperor as an infallibly impeccable being, and thought that since he hadnot yet been beaten, he was invincible. Josephine indulged in no suchillusions; she knew the defects in her husband's character, and dreadedthe future for him as well as for herself. Singularly enough for one sosurrounded by flatteries, in her whole life her head was never for amoment turned by pride or infatuation. 

II. 

JOURNEY TO THE BANKS OF THE RHINE

Before having himself crowned by the Pope, after the example ofCharlemagne, Napoleon was anxious to go to meditate at the tomb of thegreat Carlovingian Emperor, of whom he regarded himself as the worthysuccessor. A journey on the banks of the Rhine, a triumphal tour in thefamous German cities which the France of the Revolution had been so proudto conquer, seemed to the new sovereign a fitting prologue to the pomp ofthe coronation. Napoleon was desirous of impressing the imaginations ofpeople in his new Empire and in the old Empire of Germany. He wished thetrumpets of fame to sound in his honor on both banks of the famous anddisputed river. 

The Empress, who had gone to Aix-la-Chapelle to take the waters, arrivedthere a few days before her husband. Napoleon wrote to her, August 6, 1804:--

"MY DEAR: I have been here at Calais since midnight; I am thinking ofleaving this evening for Dunkirk. I am satisfied with what I see, and I amtolerably well. I hope that you will get as much good from the waters as Iget from going about and from seeing the camps and the sea. Eugene hasleft for Blois. Hortense is well. Louis is at Plombières. I am veryanxious to see you. You are always essential to my happiness. A thousandkind messages. "

The Emperor wrote again from Ostend, August 14, 1804:--

"MY DEAR: I have not heard from you for several days, though I should havebeen glad to hear that the waters have done you good and how you pass yourtime. I have been here a week. Day after to-morrow I shall be at Boulognefor a tolerably brilliant festival. Send me word by the messenger what youmean to do, and when you shall have finished your baths. I am muchsatisfied with the army and the fleet. Eugene is still at Blois. I hear nomore about Hortense than if she were at the Congo. I am writing to scoldher. Many kind wishes for all. "

Napoleon reached Aix-la-Chapelle September 3. The Emperor Francis had, onthe 10th of August, assumed the Imperial title accorded to his house, ofEmperor-elect of Germany, Hereditary Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemiaand Hungary. He had then given orders to M. De Cobentzel to go to Aix-la-Chapelle to present his credentials to Napoleon. Napoleon received theAustrian diplomatist very kindly, and was soon surrounded by a multitudeof foreign ambassadors who came to pay their respects. He re-establishedthe annual honors long before paid to the memory of Charlemagne, went downinto the vault, and gave the priests of the Cathedral convincing proofs ofhis munificence. The Empress was shown a piece of the true cross which theCarlovingian Emperor had long worn on his breast as a talisman. She wasoffered a holy relic, almost the whole arm of that hero, but she declinedit, saying that she did not wish to deprive Aix-la-Chapelle of so preciousa memorial, especially when she had the arm of a man as great asCharlemagne to support her. 

From Aix-la-Chapelle, Napoleon and Josephine went to Cologne, then toCoblentz, then to Mayence, travelling separately. The Emperor left CologneSeptember 16 at four in the afternoon, and reached Bonn a little beforenightfall, to start again the next morning. The town pleased her verymuch, and she was sorry she could not remain there longer. She stayed at afine house with a garden opening on a terrace that looked out over theRhine. After supper she walked on the terrace. The delight of the peopleassembled below, the peacefulness of the night, and the beauty of theriver in the moonlight, made the evening most enjoyable. At four the nextmorning the Empress started off again in her travelling carriage, and atten she entered Coblentz. The Emperor did not get there until six in theevening, having left Cologne the same day. At Bonn he got on horseback toexamine for himself everything that demanded close inspection. FromCoblentz, where a ball was given them, Napoleon and Josephine went toMayence, each by a different route. The Emperor followed the highway onthe edge of the Rhine; the Empress ascended the river in a yacht which thePrince of Nassau Weilburg had placed at her disposal. It was a picturesquevoyage. 

The morning mist soon cleared away. Josephine, who had breakfast served ondeck, admired the many charming scenes between Boppard and Bacharach, thefertile fields, the towns perched on the steep banks; in the distance, themountains covered with forests; then the narrowing river, the boundedview, the cliffs crowded together, where nothing can be seen but theriver, the sky, and the crags crowned by the mirrored towns of mediaevalcastles. The light boat, as it glided smoothly over the stream, with itsgilded Neptune at the bow, recalled Cleopatra's barge. At times thesilence was profound, then the church-bells would be heard, as well as thecheers of the peasants on the river-banks. The pettiest villages had sentguards of honor, had hoisted flags, and raised triumphal arches. Curiouslyenough, the right bank, which did not belong to France, seemed to displayquite as much zeal and enthusiasm as the left bank, the French one; onboth sides were the same shouts of welcome, the same demonstrations, thesame salutes. When she reached Saint Goar, on the left bank, the Empresssaw the authorities of the town coming out to meet her, with militarymusic, in boats decorated with branches of trees; and on the other side ofthe river, on the terrace of the castle of Hesse Rheinfels, the Hessiangarrison was presenting arms, and their salutes joined with those of theinhabitants of Saint Goar, Further on, they shouted through a speaking-trumpet to hear the famous echo of the Lorelei, with its wonderfullydistinct and frequent repetitions. Then they passed the fantastic castleof the Palatinate, built in the middle of the stream, and in old times therefuge of the Countesses Palatine, where their children were born and keptin security during their babyhood. The Empress landed at Bingen, where shespent the night, starting again the next morning. Towards three in theafternoon she reached Mayence, where twelve young girls belonging to thebest families of the city were awaiting her. Almost simultaneously, thecannon at the other gate announced the Emperor's arrival. 

On his way, Napoleon had noticed on an island in the Rhine, at the veryextremity of the French Empire, the convent of Rolandswerth. He was toldthat the nuns who lived there had refused to leave it during the last war, that very often the cannon-balls of the contending armies had often fallenon the island without damaging the convent where those holy women werepraying. The Emperor became interested in their fate, and made over tothem the forty or fifty acres of which the little island consisted. 

On their arrival at Mayence, September 21, Napoleon Josephine were mostwarmly greeted. In the evening all the streets and public buildings wereilluminated. The Prince Archchancellor of the Germanic Empire, who owed tothe French sovereign the preservation of his wealth and of his title, desired to pay his respects. The Emperor was surrounded by a real court ofGerman Princes. The Princess of the House of Hesse, the Duke and Duchessof Bavaria, the Elector of Baden, who was more than seventy-five yearsold, and had come with his son and grandson, appeared as if vassals of thenew Charlemagne, the second Théâtre Français had been summoned from Paris, and played before this public of Highnesses. Every one was struck by thecelerity with which this crowned soldier had acquired the appearance of asovereign belonging to an old line, while he still preserved the languageand appearance of a soldier. One day he asked the hereditary Prince ofBaden: "What did you do yesterday?" The young Prince replied with someembarrassment that he had strolled about the streets. "You did verywrong, " said Napoleon. "What you ought to have done was to visit thefortifications and inspect them carefully. How can you tell? Perhaps someday you will have to besiege Mayence. Who would have told me when I was asimple artillery officer walking about Toulon that I should be destined totake that city?" It was at Mayence that the treasures unjustly extortedfrom the German Princes were restored to them. It was at Mayence thatGutenberg's name for the first time received formal homage. 

General de Ségur, In his Memoirs, narrates an anecdote about Napoleon'sstay in this old German city. The Emperor had gone incognito and withoutescort to an island in the Rhine, not far from the town. As he was walkingin this almost deserted island, he noticed a wretched hut in which a poorwoman was lamenting that her son had been drafted. "Console yourself, "said Napoleon, without letting her know who he was, and giving her anassumed name: "Come to Mayence to-morrow and ask for me; I have someinfluence with the ministers and I will try to help you. " The poor womanappeared punctually. With delight and surprise she saw that the strangerwas the Emperor of the French. Napoleon delighted to tell her that herhouse which had been destroyed by the war should be rebuilt, that he wouldgive her a little herd and several acres of land, and that her son shouldbe restored to her. 

A letter in the _Moniteur_ thus described the departure of Napoleon andJosephine: "Mayence, 11 Vendémiaire (October 3). The Empress leftyesterday for Paris, by way of Saverne and Nancy. The Emperor is justleaving; he means to visit Frankenthal, Kaiserslanten, and Kreutznach;then he will take the road to Trèves. The stay of Their Majesties has beenfor us a source of lasting pleasure and advantage. The most importantinterests of our department have been favorably regulated. We have nothingnow to wish for except an opportunity to show our gratitude, our devotion, and our fidelity, and the sincerity of the good wishes our citizensexpressed by their unanimous cheers. The Electors, the Princes, and themany distinguished strangers who have given our city the appearance of agreat capital, are now taking their departure. "

This journey on the banks of the Rhine made a deep impression in Franceand throughout Europe. It must be confessed that no one has ever equalledthe Emperor in the art of keeping himself picturesquely before the public. Napoleon in the crypt at Aix-la-Chapelle, face to face with the shade ofCharlemagne is a subject to inspire a painter or a poet! At Brussels, inthe church of Saint Gudule, Napoleon evoked the memory of Charles V. ; atAix-la-Chapelle in the Cathedral vault he questioned the shade ofCharlemagne. And as he meditated on the tomb of the Carlovingian hero, sonow do monarchs on their way through Paris meditate in their turn over histomb beneath the gilded dome of the Invalides. They go down into thecrypt, look at the porch upheld by twelve great statues of white marble, each one commemorating a victory, at the mosaic pavement representing ahuge crown with fillets, the sarcophagus of red granite from Finland, placed on a foundation of green granite from the Vosges. Then they enterthe subterranean chamber, the black marble sanctuary, which contains, among numerous relics, the sword that Napoleon carried at Austerlitz, thedecorations he wore on his uniform, the gold crown voted him by the cityof Cherbourg, and finally sixty flags won in his victories. The church ofthe Invalides Inspires the same thoughts as the Cathedral ofAix-la-Chapelle. In the two temples kings and great men may make the samereflection about glory, about death, about the handful of dust which isall that is left of heroes. 

III. 

THE POPE'S ARRIVAL AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 

The time for the coronation was drawing near. Napoleon, who had alreadyreceived the official recognition of foreign powers, was anxious to havehis Imperial title consecrated by a great religious ceremony, the fame ofwhich should resound throughout the whole Catholic world. The first dateproposed for the solemnity was the 26th Messidor, Year XII. (July 14, 1804), then that of the 18th Brumaire, Year XIII. (Nov. 9, 1804). But thechoice in each case was unfortunate. It was hard to combine the memory ofthe taking of the Bastille with the coronation of a sovereign, and the18th Brumaire would have recalled the regrets of Republicans and theservices of Lucien Bonaparte, who, after being the main aid of hisbrother's fortune, was living at Rome, in disgrace and exile. On the otherhand, the Pope's hesitation, for it was with the greatest difficulty thathe could make up his mind to go to Paris, had further postponed the date, which was at last fixed for the beginning of December. 

Josephine awaited with impatience and fear an event on which, she felt, her future fate depended. The Pope, that mysterious and holy person, hadstarted. Was he to prove her saviour? Was she to be a repudiated wife or acrowned Empress? The clergy were untiring in their laudations ofNapoleon's glory. Bishops, in their charges, spoke of him as God's elect. One prelate, speaking of the Empire, had said: "One God and one monarch!As the God of the Christians is the only one deserving to be adored andobeyed, you, Napoleon, are the only man worthy to rule the French!"Another had said: "Napoleon, whom God called from the deserts of Egypt, like another Moses, will bring peace between the wise Empire of France andthe divine Empire of Christ. The finger of God is here. Let us pray theMost High to protect with his powerful hand the man he has chosen. May thenew Augustus live and rule forever! Submission is his due because he isordered by Providence!" Yet in spite of these extravagant outbursts whichcame from every pulpit in the whole French Empire, this restorer of thealtars, this saviour of religion was married only by civil right! From theecclesiastic point of view, he was living in concubinage. He had had hisbrother Louis's marriage with Hortense de Beauharnais, and his sisterCaroline's with Murat blessed by Cardinal Caprara, but in spite ofJosephine's entreaties, he had denied her this pious satisfaction. It wason the Pope that the Empress put all her hope; she thought that he wouldtake pity on her, and by bringing her into conformity with the rules ofthe church, would put an end to a condition of things humiliating to heras a sovereign, and painful to her as a Catholic. 

At the same time Josephine was anxiously wondering whether she was to becrowned. Her brothers-in-law became more venomous in their intriguesagainst her, and desired not only that she be excluded from any part inthe coronation, but also that she should be condemned to divorce on thepretext of barrenness. Joseph Bonaparte was never tired of saying thatNapoleon ought to marry some foreign Princess, or at least some daughterof an old French family, and he skilfully laid stress on his ownunselfishness in urging a plan which would necessarily remove himself andhis descendants from the line of inheritance. The Emperor's sisters showedthe same hostility towards Josephine, whom they hated, although she welldeserved their love. Since Napoleon maintained an absolute silence abouthis intentions concerning the coronation, the Bonapartes already imaginedthat she was going to be divorced, and hence exhibited an untimely delightwhich displeased the Emperor and brought him closer to his wife. At last, tired with family bickerings, he suddenly put an end to them and filledJosephine with joy by telling her that she was to be crowned at NotreDame. 

The reader should turn to the curious account in Miot de Mélito's Memoirsof the council held at Saint Cloud, November 17, 1804, to arrange theformalities of the coronation. Of Napoleon's four brothers, two were indisgrace, Lucien and Jerome, and they were not to be present at theceremony. As for Joseph and Louis, it was decided that they should appear, not as Princes of the blood, but only as high dignitaries of the Empire. Joseph, it will be remembered, was Grand Elector, and Louis was Constable. 

This decision once taken, Joseph said in the council of November 17:"Since it has been recognized that, with the exception of the Head of theState, no one else, whatever his rank, can be regarded as partaking thehonors of sovereignty, and that we especially are not treated as Princes, but only as high dignitaries, it would not be right that our wives, whohenceforth are only wives of high dignitaries, should as Princesses carrythe train of the Empress's robe, which consequently must be carried byLadies of Honor or of the Palace. " This remark displeased the Emperor, andmany members of the council cited many examples to refute it, notably thatof Maria de' Medici. Joseph, who had foreseen their arguments, displayedunexpected erudition: "Maria de' Medici, " he said, "was accompanied onlyby Queen Margaret, the first wife of Henri IV. , and by Madame (Catherineof Bourbon), the King's sister. The train was carried by a very distantrelative. Queen Margaret had, indeed, offered a fine example of generosityby being present at the coronation of the woman who took her place andwho, more fortunate than herself, had borne heirs to Henri IV. But she wasnot asked to carry the train of Maria de' Medici, and yet Maria de' Medicihad a right to every honor, because she was a mother. " This verytransparent allusion to Josephine's barrenness so exasperated Napoleonthat he arose suddenly from his chair and addressed his brother with theintensest bitterness and violence. After the meeting Joseph proposed tohis brother retiring to Germany. Napoleon relented and, November 27, hesaid to his brother: "I have given a great deal of thought to thedifference that has arisen between you and me, and I will confess thatduring the six days that this quarrel has lasted, I have not had amoment's peace. I have even lost my sleep over it, and you are the onlyperson who has this power over me; I know nothing that disturbs me to thisdegree. This influence comes from my old affection for you and from myrecollection of what you did for me in my boyhood, and I am much moredependent than you think on feelings of that sort.... Take your positionin an hereditary monarchy and be the first of my subjects. That is a fineenough position, to be the second man in France, perhaps in Europe.... Comply with my wishes; follow my ideas; do not flatter the patriots when Idrive them away; do not oppose the nobles when I summon them; form yourhousehold according to the principles that have guided me. In a word, be aPrince, and do not disturb yourself about the importance of the title. "

Joseph at last yielded, and promised that his wife should conform withouta murmur to the ceremonies established for the coronation. Only thisconcession was made to their susceptibilities: that in the rules thephrase, _bear the cloak_ was substituted for _carry the train_, "for, " asMiot de Mélito says, "Vanity will clutch at a straw. "

As for Madame Bonaparte, Napoleon's mother, she persisted in remaining atRome with Lucien. In spite of frequent messages from Paris, she was not toget there until some days after the coronation, a fact which did notprevent her appearing in the great picture commemorating the event, painted by David, who was successively Jacobin and Imperialist, andbeginning with the apotheosis of Marat, celebrated that of Napoleon. 

Pope Pius VII. , then sixty-two years old, had left Rome November 2, afterpraying for a long time at the altar of Saint Peter's, The populace hadfollowed his carriage for a long distance, weeping with terror at hisundertaking a journey to revolutionary France. At Florence he had beenreceived by the Queen of Etruria, then a widow and her son's Regent. AtLyons he became less anxious; a number of the inhabitants crowded abouthim, and fell on their knees, asking for the blessing of the Vicar ofChrist. Meanwhile, Napoleon was putting the last touches to the repairs behad commenced at the Palace of Fontainebleau, to put it in a suitablecondition to receive the Sovereign Pontiff. In less than twenty days thefurnishing of the palace had been completed, and the castle had, as if bymagic, resumed its old-time splendor. 

Every one wondered how the first meeting between the Pope and the Emperorwould take place. Many points of etiquette arose which Napoleon managed toelude. Pius VII. Was to arrive through the forest of Fontainebleau, andthe Emperor was to go to meet him through the forest of Nemours. Toprevent all formality, Napoleon made an excuse of a hunting party. All thehuntsmen, with their carriages, met in the forest. Napoleon was onhorseback, in hunting dress. When he knew that the Pope and his suite weredue at the cross of Saint Hérene--at noon, Sunday, November 25, 1804--heturned his horse in that direction, and as soon as he reached the half-moon at the top of the hill, he saw the Pope's carriage arriving. 

According to the account given in the Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo, thecarriage of Pius VII. Stopped, and the pontiff in his white robes got outby the left-hand door. The road was muddy, and he was averse to steppinginto it with his white silk slippers; but there was nothing to be done. Napoleon got off his horse to receive him, and sprang cordially into hisarms. These two famous men, who, although they were entire strangers, hadalready thought so often of each other, and were to exercise such greatinfluence over each other's destiny, now met with deep emotion. As theywere embracing, one of the Emperor's carriages, which had been ordered todrive up, pushed on a few steps as if by an oversight of the coachman; thefootmen held both doors open; the Emperor took that on the right; a courtofficial pointed to that on the left for the Pope, so that the twosovereigns entered the same carriage simultaneously by the two doors. TheEmperor sat down naturally on the right-hand side, and this first stepestablished the etiquette for the whole time of the Pope's stay, withoutdiscussion. 

At the entrance of the Palace of Fontainebleau, the Empress, the highdignitaries of the Empire, the generals, were formed in a circle toreceive and salute Pius VII. He was welcomed with the utmost reverence. His fine, noble face, his air of angelic kindness, his soft, yet sonorousvoice, produced a deep impression. Josephine was especially moved by thepresence of the Vicar of Christ. After resting a few moments in hisprivate apartment, to which he had been conducted by M. De Talleyrand, High Chamberlain, by General Duroc, Grand Marshal of the Palace, and by M. De Ségur, Grand Master of Ceremonies, the Pope paid a visit to Napoleon, who, after an interview of about half an hour, conducted him back to thehall that was at that time called that of the High Officers. The twosovereigns dined together, and the Pope went early to bed, to rest himselfafter the fatigues of his long journey. The next evening some singers hadbeen summoned to the Empress's apartment, but Pius VII. Withdrew just asthe concert was about to begin. 

In the course of the day Josephine had had a private interview with thePope, and had confided to him the secret which so distressed her. She whowas reigning over the greatest of Catholic nations, the consort of thesuccessor of the very Christian Kings, the wife of a ruler about to becrowned by the Pope, was married only by civil rite! She entreated PiusVII. To use all his influence with Napoleon to put an end to a situationwhich was a continual torture and reproach to her as a wife and as aChristian. The Pope appeared touched by the confidence of his deardaughter, as he always called the Empress, and promised to demand, and, ifnecessary, to insist, upon the celebration of the Emperor's religiousmarriage, as a condition of the coronation, and this promise filledJosephine with joy. 

The presence of the Pope and the Emperor, the throng of prelates, generals, courtiers, and beautiful women, the combination of religious andImperial pomp gave to the Castle of the Valois, a few days beforedilapidated and abandoned, new splendor and magnificence. Never in themost brilliant days of the reign of Francis I. , or Henri II. , or of LouisXIV. , had this sumptuous residence appeared in greater state. Thiswonderful palace is renowned for its superb and picturesque architecture, its majestic façades, its five courts: that of the White Horse, of theFountain, of the Dungeon, of the Princes, of Henri IV. The Festival Hallis very beautiful, with its rich and abundant ornamentation, its walnutfloor, divided into octagonal panels richly outlined with inlaid gold andsilver, its monumental mantelpiece, with its figures, emblems, andfantastic frescoes, the brilliant masterpieces of Primaticcio, and ofNicolo d'Abati. 

Alas! this splendid Fontainebleau, the gorgeous palace where Pope andEmperor were then living in triumph, was later to be to both an accursedspot. The Pope was to return to it a prisoner, maltreated though old, though a priest, though the Vicar of Christ, and there the Emperor was todrink the cup of humiliation, of despair, to the dregs. It was there that, conquered, broken, betrayed by fortune, he was to sign his abdication. Itwas there that he was to utter those heart-rending words: "It is right; Ireceive what I have deserved. I wanted no statues, for I knew that therewas no safety in receiving them at any other hands than those ofposterity. A man to keep them while he lives, needs constant good fortune. I think of France, which it is terrible to leave in this state, withoutfrontiers when it had such wide ones!--that is the bitterest of thehumiliations that overwhelm me. To leave France so small when I wished tomake it so great!" It was there that, overcome by immeasurable grief, theconqueror of so many battles wished to seek in suicide a refuge from thetortures of thought, and that he was to fail to find death, he who on thebattle-field had squandered so many lives. O mortals, ignorant of your ownfates, how happy you are not to have foreknowledge of them!

IV. 

THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. 

The Empress left Fontainebleau, Thursday, November 29, 1804, in companywith Madame de La Rochefoucauld, Maid of Honor, and Madame d'Arberg, Ladyof the Palace, and reached Paris the same day, a few hours before theEmperor and the Pope, who left Fontainebleau in the same carriage andentered the Tuileries at eight in the evening. A platoon of Mamelukesescorted the Imperial carriage, and it was a singular sight to see theMussulman escorting the Vicar of Christ. The Pope was installed at theTuileries in the Pavilion of Flora. There were attached to his person M. De Viry, the Emperor's Chamberlain; M. De Luçay, Prefect of the Palace, and Colonel Durosnel, Equerry. 

All Paris was excited by the approach of the great event. The hotels werecrowded; the population of the capital was nearly doubled, so vast was thethrong of provincials and foreigners. Tradesmen were working night and dayto prepare the dresses and uniforms. In every workshop there wasunparalleled activity. Leroy, who previously had been only a milliner, haddecided for this occasion to undertake dressmaking, and had made MadameRaimbault, a celebrated dressmaker of the time, his partner. From theirshop came the magnificent robes to be worn by the Empress on CoronationDay. Her jewels, consisting of a crown, a diadem, and a girdle, were thework of the jeweller Margueritte. The crown was formed of eight branchesmeeting under a gold globe surmounted by a cross. The branches were setwith diamonds, four in the shape of a palm leaf, four in the shape of amyrtle leaf. Around the curve was a ribbon, inlaid with eight enormousemeralds. The frontlet was bright with amethysts. The diadem was formed offour rows of pearls interlaced with diamond leaves, with many largebrilliants, one alone weighing one hundred and forty-nine grains. Thegirdle was a gold band, enriched with thirty-nine pink gems. The Emperor'ssceptre had been made by Odiot; it was of solid silver, enlaced by a goldserpent, and surmounted by a globe on which was a miniature figure ofCharlemagne seated. The hand of justice, the crown, and the sword camefrom the workshops of Biennais. The dress of the courtiers was to be verymagnificent; it consisted of a French coat of different colors accordingto the duties of the wearer under the Grand Marshal, the High Chamberlain, and the Grand Equerry, with silver embroidery for all; a cloak worn overone shoulder, of velvet, lined with satin: a scarf, a lace band, and thehat caught up in front, and adorned with a feather. The women were toappear in ball dress, with a train, with a collar of blond-lace, called a_chérusque_, which was fastened on both shoulders and rose high behind thehead, recalling the fashions of the time of Catherine de' Medici. 

There were rehearsals of the coronation as if it were a spectacular play. Every one, from the principal actors to the most insignificant assistants, studied his part most conscientiously; the Masters of Ceremonies were toact as prompters to those who might forget. The Imperial carriages andthose of the Princes and Princesses one morning were all driven empty tothe neighborhood of Notre Dame, that coachman, postilions, and groomsmight know the route they were to take, and when they were to draw up. Thecarriages were superb, the horses magnificent, the liveries sumptuous. Never in the most extravagant days of the monarchy had such luxury beenseen. 

M. De Bausset says that a week before the coronation the Emperor commandedof the artist Isabey seven drawings representing the seven principalceremonies to take place at Notre Dame, which, however, could not berehearsed in the Cathedral on account of the number of workmen busy dayand night in decorating it. To ask at once for seven drawings eachcontaining more than a hundred persons in action, was asking for theimpossible. Isabey skilfully eluded the difficulty. He bought at the toyshops all the little dolls he could find, dressed them up as Pope, Emperor, Empress, Princes, high dignitaries, Chamberlains, Equerries, Ladies of Honor, Ladies of the Palace, These dolls thus arrayed hearranged on a plan in relief of the Interior of Notre Dame, and carryingit to the Emperor, said: "Sire, I bring Your Majesty something better thanthe drawings. " Napoleon thought the idea ingenious, and used the dolls andthe plan to make every official understand his place and his duty. 

The _Moniteur_ of the 9th Brumaire, Year XIII, (November 30, 1804), published in advance all the details of the ceremony, which the Emperorhad fixed with as much care as if it had been the plan of a battle. Adifficulty arose on this occasion. The Pope had wished Napoleon to receivethe holy communion in public on the day of the coronation, and Napoleonhad given the matter thought. The Grand Master of Ceremonies, M. De Ségur, brought up against the proposition the necessity of a preliminaryconfession and the possibility that absolution might be denied him. "That's not the difficulty, " said the Emperor, "the Holy Father knows howto distinguish between the sins of Caesar and those of the man, " Then headded: "I know that I ought to give an example of respect for religion andits ministers; so you see that I treat the priests well, go regularly tomass, and listen to it with all due seriousness and solemnity. But everyone knows me, and how would it be for me, and for others, if I should gotoo far? Would not that be setting an example of hypocrisy, and committinga sacrilege?" The Pope did not insist upon it. This dread of committingsacrilege Napoleon referred to again at Saint Helena, in 1816: "Everythingwas done, " he said then, "to persuade me to go in great pomp to communionat Notre Dame, after the fashion of our kings; I absolutely refused; I didnot believe enough, I said, to get any good from it, and yet I believedtoo much to consent to be guilty of sacrilege. "

Another difficulty which gave the Pope much anxiety, and was not settledin the formalities of the coronation, was whether the Emperor shouldreceive the crown from the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff. Pius VII. Hadbrought up the question before leaving Rome, and Cardinal Consalvi hadwritten on this matter, to which the Vatican attached great importance, asfollows: "All the French Emperors, all those of Germany, who have beencrowned by the Popes, have accepted the crown from them. The Holy Father, before undertaking this journey, requires to receive from Paris theassurance that there will be no innovation made in the present case, inthe way of a diminution of the honor and dignity of the SovereignPontiff. " At Rome only vague and dilatory answers had been received. InParis the Emperor, leaving the matter to be decided on the spur of themoment, had only said: "I will arrange that myself. "

The preparations at Notre Dame had come to an end. They had been veryconsiderable. Several houses that hid the north façade had been destroyed. Before the great entrance, still scarred by the ravages of theRevolutionists, there had been set up a decoration of painted wood, representing a vast Gothic porch with three arches upholding the statuesof the thirty-six good cities, the mayors of which were to be present atthe coronation. To the right and the left stood images of Clovis andCharlemagne, sceptre in hand. Above, between two golden eagles, appearedthe Imperial coat-of-arms. This was intended for the sole entrance of thePope and the Emperor. It was connected with the Archbishop's palace bylarge, covered, wooden galleries, adorned within by gobelin tapestry. Thispalace, to which Pius VII. And Napoleon were to go before they entered theCathedral, no longer exists; it was destroyed, February 14, 1831, in aninsurrection. It used to stand just by the side of the church. It wasbuilt in 1161 by Maurice de Sully, rebuilt in 1697 by the Cardinal ofNoailles, embellished in 1750 by the Archbishop de Beaumont, and was themeeting-place of the Constituent Assembly from October 19 to November 9, 1789. There the Pope and the Emperor were to alight on their way from theTuileries and put on their grand coronation robes before entering theCathedral. 

The whole church of Notre Dame had been hung with crimson stuffs adornedwith gold fringe, with the arms of the Empire embroidered on the corners. On each side of the nave and around the choir had been built three rows ofgalleries, decorated alike with silk and velvet stuffs fringed with gold, and flags had been arranged like a trophy about each pillar. Above thetrophies were winged and gilded victories, holding candelabra with a vastnumber of candles. There were, besides, twenty-four chandeliers hangingfrom the roof. The galleries kept out the light, especially at the seasonwhen the days were short; consequently it had been decided that theCathedral should be artificially lit during the ceremony, thus augmentingthe pomp and beauty of the spectacle. The choir, shut off by a railing, was reserved for the clergy. To the right of the high altar, on a platformwith eleven steps, had been raised the pontifical throne, above which wasa golden dome adorned with the arms of the Catholic, Apostolic, and RomanChurch. In front and on each side of the pontifical throne were bencheswith backs for the cardinals and prelates. For the Emperor and the Empresshad been prepared what was called the great and the little throne. Thelittle throne was formed of two armchairs, one for Napoleon, the other forJosephine. These two chairs stood on a platform with four steps, oppositethe high altar. The Emperor and Empress were to occupy them during thefirst part of the ceremony. The grand throne was at the other end of thechurch, with its back against the great door, which was thus closed. Thisgreat throne stood on a large semicircular platform, and was reached bytwenty-four steps. It stood under a canopy in the shape of a triumphalarch, upheld by eight columns, and it overlooked the whole church. TheEmperor and the Empress were not to ascend this throne till after thecoronation. 

For the coronation Napoleon had given to the Cathedral a number of holyvessels in silver-gilt, enriched with diamonds, and very valuable lacealbs, a processional cross, chandeliers, and incense-burners. At the sametime he restored to the Cathedral a great number of relics with which thepiety of Saint Louis had endowed the Sainte Chapelle. In 1791 they hadbeen deposited in the treasury of Saint Denis, by order of Louis XVI. , thence in 1793 they had been transferred to the cabinet of curiosities inthe National Library, and had been exposed under the Directory, in theHall of Antiquities. The Emperor restored them to the worship of thefaithful. 

The preparations were completed, and the ceremony promised to bemagnificent. Madame Junot, afterwards the Duchess of Abrantès, breakfastedwith the Empress at the Tuileries, December 1, 1804, the day before thecoronation. Josephine was much excited and radiantly happy. At breakfastshe told how amiably the Emperor had talked with her that morning and howhe had tried on her head the crown which she was to put on the next day atNotre Dame. As she said that she shed tears of gratitude. She spoke thenof her pain when Napoleon had refused her request for Lucien's return. "Iwanted to plead this great day, " she said, "but Bonaparte spoke so harshlythat I had to keep silent. I wanted to show Lucien that I could returngood for evil; if you have a chance, let him know it. "

In the evening the Senate came to the Tuileries to announce to the Emperorthe result of the _plébiscite_ which approved of the Empire and the matterof inheritance; 3, 521, 660 citizens having voted for, and 2, 579 against. Napoleon replied to the President of the Senate with the infatuation thatsprings from success and the consciousness of strength: "I ascend thethrone to which I have been called by the unanimous voices of the Senate, the people, and the army, with my heart full of feeling of the greatdestinies of this people whom, from the midst of camps, I first salutedwith the name of great. Since my youth all my thoughts have been devotedto it, and I must say here, my pleasures and my pains now are nothing butthe pleasures and the pains of my people. My descendants will long fillthis throne. They will never forget that contempt of laws and theoverthrow of the social order are only the results of the weakness andindecision of rulers. "

The hour of disaster was approaching, but it had not yet struck; themorrow was to be radiant. Salvos of artillery were fixed every hour fromsix in the evening till midnight; at each salvo, the towers, spires, andpublic buildings were illuminated for a few minutes by Bengal lights. Imperial insignia, among others the sword of Charlemagne, were already inthe Church of Notre Dame. General de Ségur, then a captain under thecommand of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, was charged to watch thatprecious relic during the night. He records one thing about it whichclearly shows the bellicose spirit of the men of the time. One of theofficers guarding the Imperial sword conceived the mad idea of using itagainst one of his comrades, who defended himself with his own sabre, andconsoled himself for his defeat and for a slight wound with the thoughtthat he was beaten by so glorious a weapon. 

That same night, the one before the coronation, Josephine's wishes weregranted. Her union with Napoleon was blessed by the church. An altar wasmysteriously raised in the Tuileries, and there, in the presence of M. DeTalleyrand and the Marshal Berthier, who were the only witnesses, CardinalFesch celebrated, in the profoundest secrecy, the religious marriage ofthe Emperor and Empress. The scruples of Pius VII. Were thus allayed. Josephine could be crowned the next day. 

V. 

THE CORONATION. 

It was December 2, 1804. Since early morning all Paris had been alive. Itwas very cold; the sky was covered, but no one thought of the unpleasantweather. All the streets through which the procession was to pass had beencarefully swept and sprinkled with sand. The inhabitants had decorated thefronts of their houses according to their tastes and means, withdraperies, tapestry, artificial flowers, and branches of evergreens. Twolines of infantry were drawn up for a space of about half a league. Longbefore the hour of the departure of the Pope and the Emperor from theTuileries, a vast throng had gathered in the streets, was crowding everywindow, and assembling on every roof. Marshal Murat, Governor of Paris, offered at an early hour a sumptuous breakfast to the Princes of Germanywho had come to Paris for the coronation--the Elector Archchancellor ofthe German Empire, the Princes of Nassau, of Hesse, and of Baden. Afterthe breakfast they drove to Notre Dame in four superb carriages, drawn bysix horses each, with an escort under the command of one of his aides-de-camp, and he himself mounted his horse to take his place at the head ofthe twenty squadrons of cavalry which were to go in front of the Emperor'scarriage. 

At the Tuileries Napoleon put on what was called the undress attire; thishe was to wear on his way from the palace to the Archbishop's. He was notto put on full dress, that is to say, the Imperial robes and cloak, untilhe was to enter the church. The undress is thus described by Constant, theEmperor's valet: silk stockings embroidered with gold; low boots of whitevelvet, embroidered with gold on the seams; with diamond buttons andbuckles on his garters; a coat of crimson velvet faced with white velvet:a short cloak of crimson lined with white satin, covering the leftshoulder and fastened on the right-hand side by a double clasp ofdiamonds; a black velvet cap, surmounted by two aigrets, a diamond loop, and for button, the most celebrated of the crown jewels, the Regent. 

The Empress's costume was no less magnificent. She wore a dress, with atrain, of silver brocade covered with gold bees; her shoulders were bare, but on her arms were tight sleeves embroidered with gold, the upper partadorned, with diamonds, and fastened to them was a lace ruff worked withgold which rose behind half up her head. The tight-fitting dress had nowaist, after the fashion of the time, but she wore a gold ribbon as agirdle, set with thirty-nine pink gems. Her bracelets, ear-rings, andnecklace were formed of precious stones and antique cameos. Her diademconsisted of four rows of pearls interlaced with clusters of diamonds. TheEmpress, whose hair was curled, after the fashion of the reign of LouisXIV. , although forty-one years old, looked, according to Madame deRémusat, no more than twenty-five. The Emperor was much struck byJosephine's beauty in this sumptuous attire; all this luxury impressedhim. He recalled the days of his childhood, and turning to his favoritebrother, he said: "Joseph, if father could see us!"

Nine o'clock sounded, the hour set for the departure of the Pope, who wasto reach Notre Dame before the Emperor. The Sovereign Pontiff, clad inwhite, went down the staircase of the Pavilion of Flora and entered hiscarriage, which was drawn by eight horses; above it was a large tiara. AtRome it was the custom that when the Pope went forth to officiate at oneof the great churches, --for instance, to Saint John Lateran, --for one ofhis chamberlains to start a moment before him, mounted on a mule, andcarrying a great processional cross. Pius VII. Asked that the same thingmight be done at Paris; consequently the pontifical procession was headedby a chamberlain whose mule did not fail to amuse the vast crowd thatlined the quays; yet when the Pope passed, all knelt down and received hisblessing with due respect. With cavalry in front and behind, the Pope'scarriage and the eight carriages in which were the cardinals, Italianprelates and officers who had come from Rome with him, drove slowly alongthe quays to the Archbishop's Palace. There were awaiting him all theFrench cardinals, archbishops, and bishops, and he was received by theCardinal du Belloy, the Archbishop of Paris, as he entered to put on hispontifical robes. The pontifical procession entered Notre Dame in thefollowing order; a priest, carrying the apostolic cross; seven acolytes, carrying the seven golden candlesticks; more than a hundred bishops, archbishops or cardinals, in cope and mitre, marching two by two; and lastof all the Holy Father, his tiara on his head, under a canopy between twocardinals who held up the ends of his golden cope. The clergy intoned thehymn _Tu es Petrus_, which was very impressive, and the Sovereign Pontiff, after kneeling for a few moments before the high altar, took his seat inthe middle of the choir on the pontifical throne, above which was a domeadorned with the coat-of-arms of the church. 

The Emperor and the Empress, who were to leave the Tuileries at ten, didnot start till half past ten. They got into the magnificent coronationcarriage which excited the hearty admiration of the crowd, always fond ofshow. It was drawn by eight superb horses, splendidly harnessed; upon itwas a golden crown upheld by four eagles with outstretched wings. The foursides of the coach were of glass, set in slender carved uprights, so thatthere was an unobstructed view of Napoleon and Josephine on the back seat, with Joseph and Louis Bonaparte opposite them. Salvos of artilleryannounced the Emperor's departure from the Tuileries. Twenty squadrons ofcavalry, with Marshal Murat at their head, led the procession. Eighteencarriages, with six horses each, followed, conveying the high dignitariesand the courtiers. Bands played triumphal marches, and all along the way avast crowd saluted this sovereign. The procession starting from theTuileries by the Carrousel went along the rue Saint Honoré as far as therue de Lombards, crossed the Pont au Change, and then along the quay tothe rue du Parvis Notre Dame and the Archbishop's Palace. Just as theEmperor and the Empress were entering the palace courtyard, the mist, which had been thick all the morning, cleared away, and the sun came outglistening on the gilded decorations of the Imperial coach. The_Moniteur_, with its official enthusiasm, spoke of "the orb of dayescaping, against every expectation, from the rigid rule of a stormyseason to light up the festal day. "

At the Archbishop's Palace, Napoleon changed his dress, putting on hiscoronation robes. This differed entirely from the costume he had worn fromthe Tuileries to the palace, and consisted of a tight-fitting gown ofwhite satin, embroidered with gold on every seam, and of an Imperialmantle of crimson velvet, all over which were golden bees; it was borderedby worked branches of olive-tree, laurels, and oak, in circles enclosingthe letter N, with a crown above each one; the lining, the border, and thecape were of ermine. This cloak, fastened on the right shoulder, whileleaving the arm free, reacted to just above the knee, and weighed no lessthan eighty pounds, and though it was held by four persons, Prince Joseph, Prince Louis, the Archchancellor Cambacérès, the Archtreasurer Lebrun, wasfor the Emperor, who was a short man, a sumptuous, but heavy load. Hecarried it, however, with fitting majesty. On his head he had put a crownof golden laurel, the laurel of Caesar; around his neck he wore thediamond necklace of the Legion of Honor; on his left side he carried asword with a large handle--the scabbard was of blue enamel adorned withgold eagles and bees. At the same time Josephine completed her dressing, putting on a long red velvet cloak, sprinkled with gold bees, and linedwith ermine; its skirts were upheld by Princesses Joseph, Louis, Elisa, Pauline, and Charlotte. 

The Imperial procession proceeded from the Archbishop's Palace to NotreDame through the wooden gallery, and entered the church, not through themiddle entrance, which was blocked by the great throne, but through one ofthe side-doors. They advanced in the following order, with an interval often paces between each group: the ushers, four abreast, the heralds atarms, two abreast; the Chief Herald at Arms; the pages, four abreast; theaides of the masters of ceremonies; the masters of ceremonies; the GrandMaster of Ceremonies, M. De Ségur; Marshal Sérurier, carrying on a cushionthe Empress's ring; Marshal Moncey, carrying the basket which was toreceive her cloak; Marshal Murat, carrying her crown on a cushion; theEmpress, with her First Equerry on her right, and her First Chamberlain onher left; she wore the Imperial cloak, which was supported by the fivePrincesses, the cloak of each one of these being supported by an officerof her household; Madame de La Rochefoucauld, Maid of Honor, and Madame deLavalette, the Empress's Lady of the Bedchamber; Marshal Kellermann, carrying the crown of Charlemagne, a diadem with six branches adorned withvaluable cameos; Marshal Perignon, carrying Charlemagne's sceptre, at theend of which was a ball representing the world, with a small figure of thegreat Carlovingian Emperor; Marshal Lefebvre, carrying Charlemagne'ssword; Marshal Bernadotte, carrying Napoleon's necklace; Colonel GeneralEugene de Beauharnais, the Emperor's ring; Marshal Berthier, the Imperialglobe; M. De Talleyrand, the basket destined to receive the Emperor'scloak. Then came the Emperor, the crown of golden laurel on his head, holding in one hand his silver sceptre, topped by an eagle, and encircledby a golden serpent, and in the other his hand of justice. His cloak wassupported by his two brothers, Joseph, Grand Elector, and Louis, Constable, as well as by the Archchancellor Cambacérès and theArchtreasurer Lebrun. Then followed the Grand Equerry, the Colonel Generalof the Guard, and the Grand Marshal of the Palace, the three abreast, theministers, four abreast, and the high officers of the army. 

As Napoleon entered the church, the twenty thousand spectators shouted, "Long live the Emperor!" A cardinal gave holy water to Josephine; theCardinal, the Archbishop of Paris, presented it to Napoleon; and the twoprelates, after complimenting the Emperor and the Empress, conducted themin a procession, under a canopy held by canons, to the smaller throne inthe middle of the choir. There they were to sit during the first part ofthe ceremony, near the high altar, on a platform with four steps. As theEmperor and the Empress entered the choir, the Pope came down from thepontifical chair, and intoned the _Veni Creator_. The Emperor handed tothe Archchancellor his hand of justice; to the Archtreasurer, his sceptre;to Prince Joseph, his crown; to Prince Louis, his sword; to the GrandChamberlain, his Imperial cloak; to Colonel General Eugene de Beauharnais, his ring. The six objects formed what were called "the Emperor'sornaments. " They were placed on the altar by the representativedignitaries, and were to be handed again to the Emperor by the Pope in thecourse of the ceremony. The same was true of the "Empress's ornaments, "her ring, cloak, and crown, which, were placed on the altar; the ring, byMarshal Sérurier; the cloak, by Marshal Moncey; the crown, by MarshalMurat. Charlemagne's insignia, his crown, sceptre, and sword, remainedduring the whole ceremony in the hands of Marshals Kellermann, Perignon, and Lefebvre, who stood at the right of the small throne in the choir. 

As soon as the ornaments of the Emperor and Empress had been placed on thealtar, the Pope asked the Emperor in Latin if he promised to use everyeffort to have law, justice, and peace rule in the church and among hispeople; Napoleon touched the gospels with both hands, as it was held outto him by the Grand Almoner, and answered _Profiteor_. Then the Pope, thebishops, archbishops, and cardinals knelt before the altar and began thelitany. When they reached the three verses used only at coronations, theEmperor and Empress also knelt. 

After the litany, the Grand Almoner, another cardinal, and two bishopsadvanced towards the small throne, and bowed low before Napoleon andJosephine, and conducted them to the foot of the altar to receive sacredunction. The Emperor and Empress knelt on blue velvet cushions placed onthe first step of the altar. The Pope anointed Napoleon on the head andhis two hands, uttering the prayer of consecration: "Mighty and EternalGod, who didst appoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu to be kingover Israel, making known thy wishes through the prophet Elijah; and whodidst pour holy oil of kings upon the head of Saul and of David, throughthe prophet Samuel, send down through my hands, the treasures of thy graceand of thy blessings upon thy servant Napoleon, whom, in spite of ourunworthiness, we consecrate to-day as Emperor, in thy name. "

Then the Pope anointed the Empress in the same way, reciting this prayer:"May the Father of eternal glory be thy aid; and may the Omnipotent blessthee; may he hear thy prayers, and give thee a long life, ever confirmingthis blessing and maintaining it forever with all thy people; may heconfound thy enemies; may the sanctification of Christ and the anointingof this oil ever aid thee, so that he who on earth has given thee hisblessing may give thee in heaven the happiness of the angels, and thatthou mayst be blessed and guarded for eternal life by Jesus Christ, ourSaviour, who lives and reigns forever and ever. "

The Emperor and Empress were then conducted to the small throne, that isto say, to their two chairs; before each one was a praying-stand. Thenhigh mass began; it was said by the Pope; the music had been composed byPaesiello, the Abbé Rose, and Lesueur. There were three hundredperformers, singers, and musicians; among the soloists were the greatsinger Laïs, and two famous violinists, Kreutzer and Baillot. At the_Gradual_ the mass was interrupted for the blessing of the ornaments whichthe Emperor and Empress then put on. 

Napoleon, followed by the Archchancellor, the Archtreasurer, the GrandChamberlain, the Grand Equerry, and two chamberlains, and Josephine, accompanied by her Lady of Honor, her Lady of the Bedchamber, her FirstChamberlain, and her First Equerry, advanced towards the altar, andascended the steps at the same time; the Sovereign Pontiff, with his backto the altar, was sitting on a sort of folding-chair. He blessed theImperial ornaments, reciting a special prayer for each one. His Holinessthen handed them to the Emperor in the following order: first the ring, which Napoleon placed on his finger; then the sword, which he put in itsscabbard; the cloak, which his chamberlains fastened on his shoulders, then the hand of justice and the sceptre which he handed to theArchchancellor and the Archtreasurer. 

The only ornament left to be given to the Emperor was the crown. It willbe remembered that there had been a long negotiation at Rome to ascertainwhether the Emperor would be crowned by the Pope or would crown himself. The question was left uncertain, and Napoleon had said that he wouldsettle it himself at Notre Dame when the time came. Still Pius VII. Wasconvinced that he was going to place the crown on the sovereign's head. Hehad just handed him the ring, the sword, the cloak, the hand of justice, and the sceptre, and was preparing to do the same thing with the crown. But the Emperor, who had ascended the last step of the altar, and wasfollowing every motion of the Pope, grasped from his hands the sign ofsovereign power and proudly placed it on his own head. Pius VII. , outwitted and surprised, made no attempt at resistance. 

After thus crowning himself, Napoleon proceeded to crown the Empress. Thiswas the most solemn moment in Josephine's life; the moment which dispelledall her incessant dread of divorce, the brilliant verification of herfondest hopes, the completion of her triumph. Napoleon advanced withemotion to this companion of his happiest days, to the woman who hadbrought him happiness; she was kneeling before him, shedding tears of joyand gratitude, with her hands clasped and trembling. He recalled all thathe owed her: his happiness, for, thanks to her, he had been blessed with arequited love; his glory, for it was she who, in 1796, had secured for himthe command of the Army of Italy, the origin of all his triumphs. He musthave been glad at this moment that he had not followed his brother'smalicious suggestions and had not separated from his dear Josephine! Theaffection of the young General Bonaparte revived in the heart of thesovereign. He thought Josephine more gracious, more touching, more lovablethan ever, and it was with an outburst of happiness that he placed theImperial diadem on her charming and cherished head. 

The Emperor and Empress, once crowned, proceeded to the great throne, atthe entrance of the church, by the great door, being solemnly led there bythe Pope and the Cardinals. The Imperial procession then formed again inthe order in which it had come to Notre Dame, the Empress going before theEmperor. At this moment the Princesses seemed to hesitate about carryingthe skirt of the Empress's cloak; Napoleon noticed this, and said a fewsevere, firm words to his sisters, and all was smoothed. The processionreached the foot of the great throne; the Emperor ascended the twenty-foursteps and sat down in full majesty, wearing his crown and Imperial cloak, holding the hand of justice and the sceptre. At his right, on a seat likehis, but one step lower, the Empress placed herself. Another step lower, sat the Princesses on simple seats. At the Emperor's left, two steps belowhim, were the Princes and high dignitaries. On each side of the platformthe marshals, high officers, and ladies of the court took their places. The sight was most impressive. The Pope in his turn ascended the twenty-four steps, and thus commanding the whole Cathedral, extended his handsover the Emperor and the Empress, and uttered these Latin words, theformula used for taking the throne: "_In hoc solio confirmare vos Deus, etin regno aeterno secum regnare faciat Christus!_"--"May God establish youon your throne, and may Christ cause you to reign with him in his eternalkingdom!" Then he kissed the Emperor on the cheek, and turning towards theassembled multitude, said: "_Vivat Imperator in aeternum!_"--"May theEmperor live forever!" This was what had been said ten centuries before atSaint Peter's in Rome when the ruler of the same people, Charlemagne, hadbeen proclaimed Emperor of the West. 

Applause broke forth and three hundred musicians intoned the _VivatImperator_, a hymn composed by the Abbé Rose. The pontifical processionand the Imperial procession returned to the choir; the Emperor and Empressresumed their places on the chairs, and the Pope began, the _Te Deum_. After this, which was sung by four choirs and two orchestras, the mass, which had been interrupted by the ceremony with the ornaments and thetaking possession of the throne, went on. At the offertory, Napoleon andJosephine, followed by the two Princes and the five Princesses, went tolay their offerings before the Pope; these consisted of a silver-giltvase, a lump of gold, a lump of silver, and a candle about which wereinlaid thirteen pieces of money. At the elevation Prince Joseph removedthe Emperor's crown, and Madame de La Rochefoucauld, Maid of Honor, thatof the Empress. Napoleon and Josephine knelt before the Host, and whenthey rose, put their crowns on again. 

When mass was over, the Emperor took the political oath prescribed by theconstitution, which had aroused much opposition in Rome. The presidents ofthe great bodies of the state brought him the formula, and with one handheld over the gospels, the Emperor swore to maintain, the principles ofthe Revolution, to preserve the integrity of the territory, and to rulewith an eye to the interest, happiness, and glory of the French people. The First Herald-at-Arms then called forth in a loud voice: "The mostglorious and most august Emperor Napoleon, Emperor of the French, iscrowned and enthroned: Long live the Emperor!" That was the end of theceremony. Salvos of artillery mingled with the applause. 

The solemnity had been most successful, and Napoleon could say with truthto his brother Joseph: "For me it is a battle won; by my art and themeasures I took, I have succeeded beyond my expectations. " Had he notprophesied accurately when he said to his secretary at the signing of theConcordat: "Bourrienne, you will see what use I shall make of thepriests!" The golden chasubles had made a brilliant spectacle by the sideof the uniforms; the crosses and the tiara by the side of the swords andthe sceptre. Napoleon, always a master of theatrical effect, had known howto lend antiquity to his newborn glory by borrowing from the past all itsmajesty and pomp, and by skilfully decking himself with what was mostbrilliant in the chronicles of remote centuries. From Charlemagne he tookhis insignia; from Caesar his golden laurel. The head of a nation that hadgrown great by the cross and the sword, he desired to make his coronationthe festival of the church and of the army. 

The Imperial and the pontifical processions returned to the Archbishop'sPalace, and half an hour later proceeded to the Tuileries, through the NewMarket, the Place du Châtelet, the rue Saint Denis, the boulevards, therue and the Place de la Concorde, the Pont Tournant, and the grand roadwayof the castle. Night had fallen; the houses were illuminated. Five hundredtorches cast their light on the two processions, and by their imposing andstrange brilliancy, the crowd gazed with interest on the new Charlemagneand the Vicar of Christ. 

Napoleon and Josephine re-entered the Tuileries at half past six; the Popeat about seven. The Emperor, who was somewhat tired by all this ceremony, gladly resumed his modest uniform of Colonel of the Chasseurs of theGuard. He dined alone with Josephine, asking her to keep on her head thebecoming diadem which she wore so gracefully. That evening he chattedpleasantly with the ladies-in-waiting, and praised the rich dresses theyhad worn in such splendor at Notre Dame; he said to them, laughing: "It'sI who deserve the credit for your charming appearance. " Then they lookedout of the windows on the illuminated garden, the large flower-gardensurrounded with porches covered with lights, the long alley adorned withshining colonnades, on the terraces of orange-trees all aglow, with anumber of glasses of various colors on every tree, and finally on thePlace de la Concorde, one blazing star. It was like a sea of flame. 

It was the painter who had been a member of the Convention, the_montagnard_, the regicide who had insulted Louis XVI. , who had paintedthe apotheosis of Marat, and with a malicious hand had drawn the featuresof Marie Antoinette on her way to the scaffold; it was this artist, thisfierce demagogue, the ardent Revolutionist, who was commissioned withpainting the official representation of the coronation. He carried hisgallantry so far as to choose for his subject, not the moment whenNapoleon crowned himself, but that of the coronation of the Empress; andwhen a critic accused him of making Josephine too young, he said: "Go andsay that to her!" When the picture was finished, the Emperor and the courtwent to see it in the artist's studio. Napoleon walked up and down forhalf an hour, bareheaded, before the canvas, which is about twenty feethigh, about thirty long, and contains one hundred portraits. (It is now atVersailles in the Hall of the Guards, at the top of the marble staircase. )The Emperor examined it with the closest attention, while David and allwho were present maintained a respectful silence. This long waiting madethe artist very anxious. At last Napoleon turned towards him and said:"It's good, David, very good. You have divined all my thought; you havemade me a French knight. I thank you for transmitting to ages to come theproof of affection I wanted to give to her who shares with me the pains ofgovernment. " Then taking two steps towards the artist, he raised his hatand said, in a loud voice: "David, I salute you. "

Sometimes at Notre Dame in Holy Week, at evening service, when theCathedral is lit up as at the coronation, I recall the various ceremoniesof this church: the royal baptisms and marriages there celebrated; thebanners hung from its roof; the _Te Deums_ and _De Profundis_ so oftensung there; Bossuet uttering the funeral oration of the Prince of Condé;the shameless goddess of Reason profaning the sanctuary. I close my eyesin meditation, and seem to be present at the coronation, to see Pius VII. On his pontifical throne, and, before the altar, Napoleon crowningJosephine with his own hands, I hear the echo of distant litanies, of thetrumpets, of the organ, and of the applause. Then I think of thenothingness of all human glory and grandeur. Of all the illustriouspersons who have knelt in this old basilica, what is left? Scarcely a fewhandfuls of dust. I open my eyes. The days are silent; the crowd hasquietly withdrawn. The lights are out, and at the end of the church, inthe shadow, like a timid star in a cloudy day, burns a solitary lamp. 

VI. 

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FLAGS. 

The coronation was the signal for a succession of festivities. Napoleonwas anxious that all classes of society should take part in therejoicings; that commerce should be benefited; that luxury should dowonders; and that Paris should take the position of the first city in theworld, the capital of capitals. The day after the coronation was to be thepopular holiday, and the day when the flags were distributed was to be thefestival of the army. Monday, December 3, booths were open on every sidefor the entertainment of the crowd. Adulation assumed every guise, eventhe humblest; and every form of language, even that of the markets, wasemployed to flatter the new sovereign. There was sung, "The joyous roundon the lottery of thirteen thousand fowls, with an accompaniment offountains of wine. " It was a description of the food distributed to thepoor people of Paris. This song was sung in every street and place, as the_Ça ira_ was sung in '93. 

The compliment of the marketmen and of their ladies ran thus: "I havereasoned it out with my wife that a house a thousand times as large asNotre Dame would not be able to hold all those who have reason to blessyou. " In the way of incense, nothing was too gross for the sovereign. Onedistrict said of Napoleon:--

 "He received for us when God formed him, The arm of Romulus, the mind of Numa. "

The Empress too was praised:--

 "Spouse of the hero whom the universe regards, The Graces accompany you to the temple, Every one sees in your face the bounty Of which you distribute the gifts. "

In allusion to her love of flowers this quatrain was composed:--

 "Josephiniana! this is the new flower Whose beauty catches my eye. To join the laurels of Caesar Nothing less is needed than an immortal flower. "

The Emperor was sung, too, in mythological language, for his flattererstried to exhaust all sorts of adulation. On Coronation Day the Prefect ofPolice had distributed a poem entitled _The Crown of Napoleon brought fromOlympus command of Jupiter_:--

 "Mounting one of the coursers of the proud Bellona, Mercury brings a crown from Olympus; The king of the gods sends it to the hero of the French As the reward of his success. Ye whom he guided a hundred times in the fields of glory, Phalanx of warriors, children of victory, Braving the impotent fury of the English, Sing Napoleon, sing your Emperor. "

December 3 the public rejoicings organized by the government extended fromthe Place de la Concorde to the Arsenal. Heralds-at-arms walked throughthe city, distributing medals struck to commemorate the coronation. Thesemedals bore on one side the head of the Emperor, his brow wearing thecrown of the Caesars; on the other, the image of a magistrate, and of anancient warrior, supporting on a buckler a crowned hero, wearing anImperial mantle. Beneath was the inscription: "The Senate and the People. "

As soon as the heralds-at-arms had passed by, the merry-making began, continuing till late in the night. There was a distribution of food, aswell as sports of all kinds, reminding one of the times of the RomanEmperors: _panem et circenses_. On the Place de la Concorde had been builtfour large wooden halls for public balls. The cold was severe; there was ahard frost, but this did not check the universal enjoyment. On theboulevards there were at every step puppet shows, wandering singers, ropedancers, greased poles, bands of music. From the Place de la Concorde tothe end of the boulevard Saint Antoine sparkled a double row of coloredlights arrayed like garlands. The Garde Meuble and the Palace of theLegislative Body were ablaze with lights. The arches of Saint Denis and ofSaint Martin were all covered with lights; the crowd was enraptured withthe fireworks, which had never been so fine. 

The people of Paris had been invited to illuminate the fronts of theirhouses, and moved either by enthusiasm or self-interest, they had spentlarge sums for this purpose. Among the notable illuminations was that ofthe engineer Chevalier, on the Pont Neuf. There was a transparency inwhich, amid encircling laurels and myrtles, was to be seen an opticianturning his glass up to the sky towards a bright star, around which wasthis inscription: "_In hoc signo salus_!"--"In this sign is safety!"

December 3 was the first day of the coronation festivities. The third daywas devoted to what the _Moniteur_ called, "arms, valor, fidelity. " Thiswas the day when Napoleon formally presented to the army and to theNational Guard of the Empire the eagles, "which they were always to findon the field of honor. " This ceremony took place on the Champ de Mars. Toquote once more from the _Moniteur_: "This vast field, crowded withdeputations representing France and the army, bore the aspect of a bravefamily assembled under the eyes of its chief. " The main front of theMilitary School had been decorated with a huge gallery, with several tentsas high as the apartments on the first floor. The middle one, resting onfour columns which supported winged victories, covered the thrones of theEmperor and the Empress. The Princes, the high dignitaries, the ministers, the marshals of the Empire, the high officers of the crown, the civilofficers, the ladies of the court, were to take their places at the rightof the throne. The gallery, in the middle of which was the Imperial tent, was in front of the Military School, and was divided into sixteen parts, eight on each side, representing the sixteen cohorts of the Legion ofHonor. A broad staircase led from this gallery to the Champ de Mars; thefirst step was for the presidents of cantons, the prefects, sub-prefects, and the members of the municipal councils. On the other steps, therestationed themselves colonels of regiments and presidents of the electoralcolleges of the departments, holding flags surmounted with eagles. On eachside of the staircase were colossal figures of France, one at war, theother at peace. Twenty-five thousand soldiers, in faultless trim, had beenunder arms since six in the morning. 

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible; a thaw had begun and it wasraining in torrents. The Champ de Mars was a sea of mud. The courtierswho, on the 2d of December, had so belauded the sun, representing it as asharer in the festival, a docile slave of the Emperor, were obliged toacknowledge that it was raining. Madame de Rémusat made a very true remarkabout this; she said with truth that one of the commonest, though one ofthe absurdest, flatteries of every time, was that of pretending that asovereign's need of fine weather was sure to bring it. "At the Tuileries, "she said, "I noticed the opinion that the Emperor needed only to appoint areview or a hunt for a certain day, and that day would be pleasant. Whenever that happened, a great deal was said about it, while silence waskept about rainy or foggy weather. This is exactly what used to happenunder Louis XIV. For the honor of sovereigns I should prefer that theyaccepted this childish flattery with indifference or disgust, and that noone would think of offering it. It was impossible to deny that it rainedduring the distribution of the eagles at the Champ de Mars; but how manypeople I met the next day, who assured me that the rain had not wet them!"

In spite of the bad weather, an enormous crowd lined the road throughwhich the Imperial procession was to pass. The terraces of the Tuileries, the Place de la Concorde, the _quais_ were thronged. Numberless spectatorscovered the slopes of the Champ de Mars. The ever obsequious _Moniteur_, in its official account of the ceremony, said; "If the spectators wereuncomfortable, there was not one who was not consoled by the feeling thatheld him there, and by the expression of his wishes which the applausemade very clear. "

At noon the Emperor and the Empress, followed by their suite, left theTuileries in the order observed at the coronation, passed down the broadroad, over the Pont Tournant, through the Place de la Concorde, to theChamp de Mars. Before their carriage rode the Chasseurs of the Guard and asquadron of Mamelukes; behind it came the mounted grenadiers and thechosen Legion. On reaching the Military School, Napoleon and Josephinereceived the compliments of the Diplomatic Body; then they put on theircoronation robes, and took their place in the gallery in front of thebuilding. As soon as the Emperor had seated himself on the throne, cannonwere fired, drums beat, bands played. The deputations from the army, whowere assembled in the Champ de Mars, formed in close columns and cameforward. Then Napoleon arose and said in a loud voice: "Soldiers! Theseare your flags; these eagles will always be your rallying point; they willbe wherever your Emperor may think necessary for the defence of his throneand of his people. You will swear to offer your life in their defence, andby your courage to keep them always on the path to victory. You swear it?"Officers and men replied: "We swear it!"

Alas! these flags were to be always on the path of honor, but not alwayson the path of victory, for victory is a female goddess and a fickle one. Against how many enemies these flags were to be defended, beneathscorching suns, under avalanches of ice and snow! What heroism, whatmiracles of bravery, were to be witnessed by these standards on many abattle-field! What fatigue, what suffering, what sacrifices, dangers, wounds, how many glorious deaths, what seas of blood, to come at last tothe most lamentable disasters I Had the future been seen, those drumswould have been draped in black. But the army imagined itself invincible. The thought of defeat would have called forth a smile of pity. Proud ofitself, of its commander, it shouted with joy and pride as it passedbefore the throne. 

A single incident disturbed this martial ceremony. Suddenly an unknownyoung man approached the Imperial gallery, and shouted: "Down with theEmperor! Liberty or death!" This ardent Republican was at once arrested. His voice had been lost in the music and clatter of arms. 

The rain continued, and soon soaked through the canvas and stuffssheltering the throne, The Empress was obliged to leave, with herdaughter, who had recently given birth to a child. The other Princessesfollowed this example, with the exception of Madame Murat, who, althoughlightly clad, remained exposed to the showers. She said that she waslearning how to endure the inevitable discomforts of the highest rank. 

At five o'clock Napoleon and Josephine were once more at the Tuilerieswhere a state dinner was given in the Gallery of Diana. In the middle ofthis gallery the table of the Emperor and the Empress was placed beneath amagnificent canopy, on a platform. The Empress sat there with the Emperoron the right and the Pope on her left. The high officers of the crown, aswell as a colonel-general of the Guard and a prefect of the palace, remained standing near the Imperial table. 

Pages waited on the tables. The Archchancellor of the German Empire tookhis place at that of the Emperor. In the same gallery were set othertables for the French Princes and for the hereditary Prince of Baden, forthe ministers, for the ladies and officers of the Imperial household. After the dinner was a concert, at which the Pope consented to be present. When that was over Pius VII. Withdrew, and the evening ended with a balletdanced by the dancers of the opera in the great hall called since theEmpire the Hall of the Marshals. 

VII. 

THE FESTIVITIES. 

The winter of 1804-5 was very brilliant. Napoleon was anxious to give thebeginning of his reign an air of splendor. He allowed his officialsgenerous salaries, but he insisted on their spending all they received insumptuous living, in entertaining freely, and receiving distinguishedforeigners. Luxury became compulsory, and trade flourished beyond allexpectations. Paris had never, even in the grandest days of the oldmonarchy, known greater social animation. This martial generation, accustomed to desire a short but merry life, aware that the festivities ofday would be interrupted by the battles of the next, were as eager in theball-room as on the battlefield. They hastened to enjoy their presentprosperity as if they foresaw the disasters to come. French gallantry, which had been forgotten during the Revolution, resumed its sway. Thewomen were like the fair mistresses of castles in the Middle Ages who gavetheir hearts to the bravest knights. Love and glory both became thefashion. The former Lady of the Bedchamber to Marie Antoinette, MadameCampan, who taught most of the young women of the court in her school atSaint Germain, had formed a group of beauties, trained in aristocraticmanners, at the head of whom was her ablest, most intelligent pupil, Hortense de Beauharnais, who had been married to Prince Louis Bonaparte. The Grand Chamberlain, M. De Talleyrand, a poor bishop but an excellentspecimen of a grand lord, and the Grand Master of Ceremonies, M. De Ségur, whose success as ambassador of Louis XVI. At the court of Catherine wasvery great, set the tone in the households of the Emperor and the Empress. 

Napoleon set an example of luxury and elegance. Grand dinners, concerts, official entertainments succeeded one another with startling rapidity. Josephine, who was wildly fond of dress, was glad of an excuse to indulgeher extravagant tastes. The Emperor's three sisters lived like realprincesses, rivalling one another in magnificence. Princes Joseph andLouis displayed the pomp of future kings. 

Almost all the women of the court were young and pretty. It would havebeen hard to confer on any one, to the exclusion of the rest, the palm ofbeauty. There were three who were especially distinguished: Madame Maret(later the Duchess of Bassano); Madame Savary (later the Duchess ofRovigo); and Madame de Canisy (later the Duchess of Vicenza). The lastnamed had married M. De Canisy, the Emperor's equerry. Later, she got adivorce and married M. De Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza and Grand Equerry. 

At Saint Helena Napoleon thus recounted the origin of this famous beauty:"Madame de Loméne, the Cardinal's niece, before being put to death in theRevolution, entrusted to Father Patrault her two young daughters. When theterror was over, Madame de Brienne, their aunt, who had weathered thestorm and still possessed a large fortune, demanded them of FatherPatrault, who refused to give them up for a long time, on the ground thattheir mother had urged him to bring them up as peasants. " And Napoleonwent on: "I was then General of the Army of the Interior; and was able tosecure the return of the two children, though with some difficulty, forPatrault resisted in every way in his power. They were the women whom youafterwards knew as Madame de Marnésia, and as the beautiful Madame deCanisy. "

The Duchess of Abrantès, in recalling the brilliant winter of 1804-5, says, in her Memoirs: "One especially impressive beauty, particularly inthe ball-room, was Madame de Canisy, I have often compared her to a muse. It would be impossible for a single face to present a fuller combinationof charms than hers: she possessed regular features, a delightfulexpression, an attractive smile; her hair was silky and glossy. Seldomhave I seen anything more charming than Madames de Canisy, Maret, andSavary in entering a ball-room together, "

There was no lack of entertainments at which these beauties shone. The onegiven at the Hotel de Ville, December 16, 1804, to the Emperor and theEmpress, was so costly that it kept the city of Paris for many years indebt. Napoleon, Josephine, Princes Joseph and Louis drove to it in thecoronation coach. Batteries of artillery, stationed on the Pont Neuf, announced the moment of their arrival, while tables covered with poultry, and fountains of wine, attracted an enormous crowd to the place; almostevery one had a share in this distribution of food, thanks to theprecautions taken by the authorities of delivering it only to those whopresented a ticket. The front of the Hotel de Ville was illuminated withcolored lanterns. When the Empress entered the apartments reserved forher, she found there a complete and magnificent gold toilet-service: itwas a present from the City Council. The President of the Council thusaddressed her: "Madame: How could the Parisians, who are so capable ofdistinguishing what is good, delicate, and noble, let slip thisopportunity of paying their homage to the profound tenderness, thetouching grace, the true dignity that characterize Your Majesty? The happyinfluence of these rare qualities already makes itself felt in all classesof society, and while your august spouse elevates France in glory, youinspire it to resume the first rank among the races most renowned forurbanity. " The hall in which the Imperial banquet was to be given wascalled the Hall of Victories. On the door was the inscription _FastiNapoleoni_, and at intervals, separated by military trophies andstandards, were Latin inscriptions in honor of Napoleon. Before dinner hewas presented with a table-service of silver-gilt by the city of Paris. Then he took his seat, with the Empress, on a platform beneath a canopy, and the meal began. During dinner, a band, hidden behind green foliage, played a symphony of Haydn's, and then was sung a cantata full of flatteryfor the Emperor and the Empress. 

After the dinner there were magnificent fireworks. As the first rocketsrose, a second cantata was sung. One of the pieces of fireworksrepresented a man-of-war with eighty guns: its decks, masts, sails, andrigging were represented by glowing lights. Another, which the Emperorhimself set off, represented Mount Saint Bernard sending forth a volcaniceruption from snow-covered rocks. In the centre appeared the image ofNapoleon at the head of his army, riding up the steep slope of themountain. 

This entertainment, which closed with a ball at which seven hundredpersons were present, was a real apotheosis. Madame de Rémusat, speakingof the extravagant adulation devised for this occasion, says: "A greatdeal has been said about the fulsome flatteries of Louis XIV. During hisreign; I am sure that altogether they would not amount to a tenth part ofthose that Bonaparte received. I remember that at another festivity givenby the city to the Emperor a few years later, since all inscription hadbeen exhausted, there were placed above the throne on which he was to sit, these words from Scripture, in gold letters: _Ego sum qui sum_, --and noone was shocked. "

The Senate and the Legislative Body also gave grand entertainments inhonor of the coronation. That of the Legislative Body was particularlybrilliant. This assembly, which rivalled the Senate in obsequiousness, haddecided that a marble statue should be raised to the Emperor in the roomwhere it sat, in honor of the drawing up of the civil code. The day whenthis statue was to be inaugurated was chosen for the festivity. TheEmpress, followed by a magnificent suite, reached the Palace of theLegislative Body at about seven in the evening. As she entered, musiciansintoned Glück's famous chorus, which used to be sung on formal occasionsin the reign of Louis XVI. , in honor of Marie Antoinette:--

 "What charms! What majesty!"

Unanimous applause emphasized the allusions. Then on the President'sinvitation, Marshals Murat and Masséna raised the veils that covered thestatue, and all eyes beheld the figure of Napoleon, wearing on his brow alaurel wreath, in which were mingled oak and olive leaves. Later, at thetime of his abdication at Fontainebleau, Napoleon expressed a regret thathe had permitted his statue to be made during his lifetime. 

Then M. De Vaublanc ascended the tribune, and made a speech full ofextravagant praise; it ended thus: "You live, all of you, threatened bythe perils of the times; you live, and you owe your life to him whosestatue you behold. You return unfortunate exiles; you breathe once morethe delicious air of your own country; you embrace your fathers, yourchildren, your wives, your friends; all this you owe to him whose statueyou behold. There is no longer any question of his glory; I say nothingabout it; I invoke humanity on one side, gratitude on the other; I ask youto whom you are indebted for this great, extraordinary, unexpected goodfortune. You all answer with me, It is to the great man whose statue youbehold. " Throughout the whole speech, a perfect masterpiece of officialcomposition, adulation came in like a chorus. The President in his turnuttered a similar eulogy: "Very few at the time, " says Constant, whodescribes this occasion, "found this praise extravagant; possibly theiropinions have changed since then. "

After the speeches, dinner was served to three hundred guests, followed bya magnificent ball. Though, in the middle of the winter, there was a greatshow of shrubs and flowers. The Halls of Lucretia and of the Reunion, inwhich there was dancing, were like one large bed of roses, laurels, lilacs, jonquils, lilies, and jasmine. 

Perhaps the finest of all the entertainments was that given to the Emperorand Empress by the marshals of the Empire in the Opera House. It costeach, marshal ten thousand francs. The Opera House at that time was in therue de Richelieu, where it had been since 1794. (It was the one torn downduring the Restoration, on account of the murder of the Duke of Berry, whowas killed on the threshold. ) By means of a floor placed level with thestage over the orchestra and the pit, there was made a magnificent ball-room. Twenty-four chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and candelabra wereset on each side of every box. The decorations consisted of silver gauze, and wreaths of flowers. The uniforms of the men and the dresses of thewomen were almost equally magnificent. The eyes of the spectators weredazzled by dresses trimmed with precious stones. Never had there been seensuch profusion of light, flowers, perfumes, and diamonds. In this magicalsetting, fashionable beauties, with their dresses worked with silver andgold foil, their turbans of Eastern stuffs, their jewels and ancientcameos, appeared like sultanas. It was a most sumptuous and fairy-likeshow. 

The marshals arrived at eight in the evening, the Empress at ten, theEmperor at eleven; as he entered the ball-room, the applause was soviolent that it was feared that the candles would be put out. A militarymarch was played, and then there was a concert, closing with the AbbéRose's _Vivat Imperator_, which had made such an impression on theCoronation Day. After the concert, Prince Louis Bonaparte, Marshal Murat, Eugene de Beauharnais, and Marshal Berthier opened the ball with thePrincesses. The Emperor walked twice around the hall, as if he werereviewing troops. Then he sat down by the side of the Empress on a raisedplatform, and withdrew before the end of the ball. 

Besides all these entertainments there were the grand levees and concertsat the Tuileries. The Hall of the Marshals was an impressive sight onthose evenings, filled, as it was, with young and pretty women, ingorgeous dresses, and with men resplendent with stars, epaulettes, feathered hats, and sword-belts set with diamonds. After the concert thecompany would go to the Gallery of Diana, where the supper-tables wereset: that of the Empress, those of the Princesses, of the Lady of Honor, of the Lady of the Bedchamber, of the Ladles of the Palace. "All thesetables, " says the Duchess of Abrantès, "were occupied by women with roseson their heads, and smiles on their lips, and often with tears in theireyes; for vanity, everywhere triumphant, holds its court especially atcourt. There, favor is everything, disgrace is everything. A chance wordor glance of the Emperor or Empress is a blow and a serious one. What, then, must be the result of an invitation sent or withheld?"

During the concert the Empress made up the supper-table; that is to say, chose the women who were to sit at her table, commissioning herchamberlain to notify those she had selected. The Princesses did the same, and the officers of their households likewise informed the women whom theyhad chosen. There were but twelve places at the Empress's table; eight orten at those of the Princesses. When the chamberlains came to bring thesemost welcome invitations, there fluttered through the eight hundred orthousand women present at the concerts and grand levees an anxious emotionwhich amused observers. The aspect of the Gallery of Diana was mostimpressive. On the Empress's table shone a golden service amid glass andSèvres ware. During the supper the men strolled up and down the gallery, but as soon as the Emperor appeared, awe and fear appeared on every face. It seemed as if the times of Louis XIV. Had returned, of which La Bruyèresaid: "Nothing so disfigures certain courtiers as the presence of theirPrince; I can sometimes scarcely recognize them, so altered are theirfeatures, so degraded their faces. The proud and haughty ones are the mostdisturbed, for they change the most; and the upright and modest man comesout best; he has nothing to change. " The Duchess of Abrantès, recallingthe intimidation caused by Napoleon's approach, wrote: "Even those whonowadays talk about the Corsican with a great show of scorn, those veryones (I have seen them, and I am not the only one, ) were the most timidbefore the very shadow of his hat. " The women trembled even more. Theydreaded the questions the Emperor might put to them, and, according toMadame de Rémusat, there was not one who would not gladly have beenanywhere else. During the First Empire, everything, even the festivities, wore a military air. The sovereign always had the air of a commandinggeneral. Discipline prevailed, at a ball as well as in a camp, and theyoung men took part in those pleasures only to return with renewed zealand courage to the battle-field. 

VIII. 

THE ETIQUETTE OF THE IMPERIAL PALACE. 

By the beginning of 1805 the court was definitely formed. After laboriousstudies on the part of a special commission, and long discussions in whichNapoleon took as interested a part as he did in the preparation of thecivil code, all the wheels of etiquette had been arranged, and themachinery worked with perfect regularity. The Emperor attached greatimportance to the subject, from both a political and a social point ofview. In his eyes, etiquette had the great advantage of drawing betweenhim and those who had recently been his superiors, a distinct line ofseparation. He looked upon it as a useful tool of government, as anaccompaniment of glory absolutely essential for a sovereign, especiallyfor one of recent origin. He was very proud of his court, of the wealth itdisplayed, and of the vast results he obtained at a comparatively smallexpense, and at Saint Helena he liked to recall its agreeable memory. 

"The Emperor's court, " we read in the _Memorial_, "was in every respectmuch more magnificent than anything that had been seen up to that time, and cost infinitely less. The suppression of abuses, order and regularityin the accounts, made the great difference. His hunting, with theexception of a few useless or absurd particulars, such as the use offalcons, was as splendid and as crowded as that of Louis XIV. , and it costonly four hundred thousand francs a year, while the King's cost sevenmillions. It was the same way with the table; Duroc's order and severitywrought wonders. Under the kings, the palaces were not permanentlyfurnished; the same furniture was transported from one palace to another;there were no accommodations for the people of the court; every one had toprovide for himself. Under him, however, there was no one in attendance, who, in the room allotted him, was not as comfortable as at home, or evenmore comfortable, so far as what was essential and proper was concerned. "

The court moved as smoothly as a well-drilled regiment. Napoleon wouldhave shown no mercy to the slightest disregard of the rules he had himselfdrawn up after long meditation. The courtiers were expected to be asfamiliar with the code of etiquette as were the officers with the manualof arms. The Emperor noticed the minutest details, busied himself witheverything, saw everything. There had been much more latitude at courtunder the old monarchy, and those of the old régime who entered theEmperor's court were soon wearied by the inflexible severity of itsdiscipline. The court, moreover, was very splendid. The Faubourg SaintGermain brought to it its politeness and conversational charm. For hispart, Napoleon speedily assumed the manners of a European sovereign, whilepreserving his martial character. He was at the same time Emperor andcommander-in-chief. Yet the military element did not control his court;the civil element was more powerful there than in other European courts, the Russian, for example. Napoleon would never have suffered in hispresence the faintest sign of the familiarity of the camp; every one whocrossed the threshold of the Tuileries was compelled to preserve themanners, the bearing, the language of a courtier. 

The levees and couchees of the sovereign were restored as in the time ofthe Bourbons; though under the monarchy they were real things, and a mereimitation under the Empire. These moments were not devoted to the pettydetails of toilette, but rather to receiving, morning and evening, thosemembers of the civil and military household who had to receive his directorders or enjoyed the right of "paying their court at these privilegedhours. " At Saint Helena, Napoleon boasted that at the Tuileries he hadsuppressed in the matter of etiquette "all that was real and commonplace, and had substituted what was merely nominal and decorative. " "A king, " hesaid, "is not a natural product; he is a result of civilization. He doesnot exist nakedly, but only when dressed. "

Let us try to retrace the lines of etiquette as they existed in 1805, atthe same time indicating the principal members of the Emperor's householdand the nature of their duties. There were many separate duties, eachunder the control of a high officer of the Crown, with their provincescarefully defined and sedulously distinguished from one another. Therewere six high officers of the Crown; the Grand Almoner (Cardinal Fesch);the Grand Marshal of the Palace (General Duroc); the Grand Equerry(General de Caulaincourt); the Grand Chamberlain (M. De Talleyrand); theGrand Master of Ceremonies (M. De Ségur). 

The colonels-general were: Marshal Davout, commanding the foot grenadiers;Marshal Soult, commanding the chasseurs-à-pieds; Marshal Bessières, commanding the cavalry; Marshal Mortier, commanding the artillery andsailors. These colonels-general of the Imperial Guard formed part of theEmperor's household, and enjoyed the prerogatives as the high officers ofthe Crown. 

The Grand Almoner was the bishop of the court, wherever that might be. Hegave the Emperor and his court a dispensation from fasting. He accompaniedhim to church ceremonies and gave him his prayer-book. At grand dinners hesaid grace. He set free the prisoners whom the Emperor pardoned on certainholy days. 

The Grand Marshal of the palace had charge of the military command in theImperial residences; of their maintenance, decoration, and furnishing; ofthe assignment of rooms, the supply of food, the heating, lights, silver, and livery. He commanded the detachments of the Imperial Guard on duty inthe Imperial palaces. He gave orders to beat the reveillé and the tattoo, to open and shut the palace gates. When the Emperor was with the army, ortravelling, he had to find him quarters. In 1805 the Grand Marshal'sbudget amounted to 2, 338, 167 francs. In 1806 it reached the sum of2, 770, 841 francs. There were four tables in the palace, --that of theofficers and ladies-in-waiting, that of the officers of the guard and thepages, that of the ladies who read to the Empress and introduced visitors. 

The Grand Marshal had under his orders the prefects of the palace: M. DeLuçay, M. De Bausset, and M. De Saint Didier. They had charge of theprovisions, lighting, heating, the silver, and the liveries. Theyinspected the kitchens, pantries, cellars, and linen-closet to see thateverything was in order. There was always one prefect of the palace onduty for a week at a time. He also carried word to the Emperor and theEmpress when a meal was ready, conducted them to the table, and back totheir rooms afterwards. 

The Grand Marshal had also under his orders the governor of the palacesand the marshals; these last were charged with choosing apartments for theEmperor and the Empress, and quarters for their suite in the Imperialresidences and on journeys. They had for assistants the quartermasters ofthe palace. 

The Master of the Hounds had charge of all the coursing and hunting in thewoods and forests belonging to the Crown. 

The Grand Equerry looked after the stables, the pages, the couriers, andthe Emperor's arms; he also had the supervision of the horses at SaintCloud. He walked just before the Emperor when he came forth from his roomsto ride, gave him his whip, held his reins and the left stirrup. He wasresponsible for the good condition of the carriages, the intelligence andskill of the huntsmen, coachman, and the postilions, the safety and thetraining of the horses. In a procession, or on a journey, he was in thecarriage just before the Emperor's. He accompanied the Emperor to thearmy, if the sovereign's horse was killed or disabled, it was his duty topick the Emperor up and to offer him his own horse. 

The Grand Equerry had four equerries under his orders: Colonels Durosnel, Defrance, Lefebvre, Vatier, and two equerries in ordinary, M. De Canisyand M. De Villoutrey. An equerry on duty always accompanied the Emperor, whether he was driving or riding. If the Emperor drove, the equerry onduty rode by the right-hand door of the carriage, unless the colonel-general on duty happened to be on horseback, in which case the equerryrode on the other side. The equerry on duty walked before the Emperor whenhe left or returned to his apartment; he never left the waiting-roomduring the day, and slept in the palace. 

The pages, whose governor was General Gardane, were also under the ordersof the Grand Equerry. They were appointed when between fourteen andsixteen, and held the position until they were eighteen. At grand dinnersand in the apartments of honor, they waited on the Emperor and Empress, and on the Princes and Princesses. When the Emperor rode out, one followedon horseback; if he drove, the page got up behind the carriage. When thesovereign went forth in his state-coach, as many pages as possibleclambered up behind it and upon the box by the side of the coachman. Atreceptions, and on days when mass was said, there were eight pages onduty. They stood in a row when the Emperor returned to his apartment, andwalked before him when he left it. If the Emperor had not returned to thepalace by nightfall, the pages would wait at the entrance-door to walkbefore him, carrying lights. The pages, too, served as messengers, andwhen they carried letters of the Emperor, the doors were thrown wide openbefore them. 

The impression produced by the pages, when they were first on duty at theTuileries in 1804, is thus described by a contemporary: "They have beenmuch noticed, especially in the evening, by the ladies. The fact is, theyare all good-looking boys, particularly the oldest; they have good figuresand wear a new and becoming uniform, and since they are in the service ofa severe master, and of a most kind and indulgent mistress, they have tobe very attentive and considerate. Their full dress differs from liveryonly by the lace of their coat which imitates embroidery, by the knot ontheir left shoulder, and by the lace frill above their waistcoat, Besides, in full dress they wear, like footmen, a green coat with all the seamslaced with gold, gold shoe-buckles, a hat with a white feather, but theyhave no sword. Perhaps this is well, for they would be playing with it. They have all been chosen among the sons of generals of divisions and ofhigh dignitaries of the Empire. "

At Saint Helena Napoleon said, speaking of the pages and the Imperialstables: "The Emperor's stables cost him three million francs; the horsescost three thousand francs apiece per year. A page, from six to eightthousand francs; this last was perhaps the heaviest expense of the palace;but there was every reason to be satisfied with the education theyreceived, and with the care taken with them. All the first families of theEmpire sought to get the places for their sons; and they were right. "

The Grand Chamberlain had charge of all the honors of the palace, theregular audiences, the oaths taken in the Emperor's study, the admissions, the levees and couchees, the festivities, receptions, theatricalperformances, the music, the boxes of the Emperor and Empress at thedifferent theatres, the Emperor's wardrobe, his library; he also lookedafter the ushers and valets de chambre. 

The Grand Chamberlain had under his orders (this refers to 1805), a FirstChamberlain, M. De Rémusat, and thirteen chamberlains: MM. D'Arberg, A. DeTalleyrand, de Laturbie, de Brigode, de Viry, de Thiard, Garnier deLariboisière, d'Hédouville, de Croy, de Mercy-Argenteau, de Zuidwyck, deTournon, de Bondy. In the Imperial Almanack of 1805, these men are notnamed with their titles, even the _de_ is in all cases omitted or joinedwith the name, thus: M. Rémusat, M. Darberg, A. Talleyrand, Laturbie, Tournon, Dethiard, Deviry, Hédouville, etc. , etc. 

The chamberlain on duty was called the chamberlain of the day. At thepalace there were always two chamberlains of the day, one for the grandapartment, the other for the Emperor's apartment of honor. They wererelieved every week. The principal duties of the chamberlains were to havecharge of introductions to the Emperor, to give orders to the ushers andvalets de chambre, to see that the orders about the receptions werecarried out, and to attend upon the sovereign's levees and couchees. 

Either a chamberlain or one of the Emperor's aides-de-camp served asMaster of the Wardrobe. He had charge of the clothes, the linen, the lace, the boots and shoes, and of the ribbons of the Legion of Honor. If heassisted at the Emperor's toilet, he had to hand him his coat, fasten hisribbon or collar, give him his sword, hat, and gloves, in the GrandChamberlain's absence. 

The Grand Master of Ceremonies determined questions of rank andprecedence, drew up and enforced the rules for public, formal ceremonies, for the reception of sovereigns and hereditary princes, and, foreignambassadors and ministers. 

The colonels-general of the Imperial Guard and the Emperor's aides alsomade part of the household. 

At ceremonies when the Emperor was in his state-coach, there were twocolonels-general of the Guard at the left door. When he rode, all fourfollowed close behind. The Grand Equerry, or his substitute, had a placeamong them. 

The colonel-general on duty received directly the Emperor's ordersrelative to the different requirements of the Imperial Guard, andtransmitted them directly to the other colonels-general. He was quarteredin the palace, in preference to any other officer of the Crown, and asnear as possible to the Emperor's apartment, whether at the residence orwhen travelling. In the field he slept in the Emperor's tent. 

Napoleon had twelve aides-de-camp. The one on duty was called the aide-de-camp of the day, He always had a horse saddled or a carriage harnessedready in the stable, to carry any messages the Emperor might give. As soonas the Emperor had gone to bed, the aide-de-camp on duty was especiallyentrusted with guarding him, and he slept in an adjoining room. In thefield the Emperor's aides served as chamberlains. 

There were two distinct elements in the Emperor's household: the military, and the aristocratic. Some men owed their position entirely to theirmerit; others entirely to their birth; these were both patriots of 1792and émigrés, but it must be confessed the Imperial Almanack shows that thearistocratic element was the more prominent. Napoleon, though certainwriters persist in representing him as the crowned champion of democracyand the emperor of the lower classes, had a more aristocratic court thanLouis XVIII. He was more impressed by great manners than were the oldkings. Even after he had been betrayed, abandoned, denied, insulted by thearistocracy, he had a weakness for it. In 1816 he said: "The democracy maybecome furious; it has a heart; it can be moved. The aristocracy alwaysremains cold and never pardons. " Yet even after this, he blamed himselffor not having done enough for the French nobility. "I see clearly, " hewent on, "that I did either too much or too little for the Faubourg SaintGermain. I did enough to make the opposition dissatisfied, and not enoughto win it to my side. I ought to have secured the émigrés when theyreturned. The aristocracy would have soon adored me; and I needed it; itis the true, the only support of a monarchy, its moderator, its lever, itsresisting point; without it, the state is like a ship without a rudder, aballoon in mid-air. Now, the strength, the charm of the aristocracy liesin its antiquity, the only thing I could not create. " It must be confessedthat from an old Republican general, for the man who had sent Augereau toexecute the coup d'état of the 18th Fructidor, and who the 13thVendémiaire, from the steps of the Church of Saint Roch had crushed theParis conservatives, this was a very aristocratic way of talking, reminding one of the old régime. In 1816 Napoleon said again: "Old andcorrupt nations cannot be governed like the virtuous peoples of antiquity. For one man nowadays who would sacrifice everything for the publicwelfare, there are thousands who take no thought of anything except theirown interests, pleasures, and vanity. Now to pretend to regenerate apeople off-hand would be madness. The workman's genius is shown by hisknowing how to make use of the materials under his hand, and that is thesecret of the restoration of all the forms of the monarchy, of the returnof titles, crosses, and ribbons. "

The old Republicans of 1796, who used to denounce kings, "drunk with bloodand pride, " would not have readily recognized their old general under thegolden canopies of the Tuileries, where he dined in state. His table stoodon a platform, beneath a canopy, and there were two chairs, one forhimself, the other for the Empress. As he entered the banquet-hall, he waspreceded by a swarm of pages, masters-of-ceremonies, and prefects of thepalace; he was followed by the colonel-general on duty, the GrandChamberlain, the Grand Equerry, and the Grand Almoner. The Grand Almoneradvanced to the table and blessed the dinner. A general of division, theGrand Equerry Caulaincourt, offered a chair to Bonaparte. Another generalof division, Duroc, the Grand Marshal of the Palace, handed him his napkinand poured out his wine. Not merely high dignitaries, but the Princes ofthe Empire themselves, deemed it an honor to wait upon him as servants. Ifa Prince of the Imperial family happened to be in the Emperor's room, anyarticle of dress that he asked for was given by the chamberlain-in-waitingto the Prince, and by the Prince to the Emperor. The time of the Sun Kingseemed to have returned. 

The Imperial apartment at the Tuileries consisted of two distinct parts, the grand state apartments and the Emperor's private apartment. The stateapartment contained the following rooms: 1, a concert hall (the Hall ofthe Marshals); 2, a first drawing-room (under Napoleon III. Called theDrawing-room of the First Consul); 3, a second drawing-room (that ofApollo); 4, a throne room; 5, a drawing-room of the Emperor (afterwardscalled that of Louis XIV. ); 6, a gallery (of Diana). The private apartmentwas itself composed of the apartment of honor, containing a hall of theguards and a first and second drawing-room, and an interior apartmentcontaining a bedroom, a study, an office, and topographic bureau. Theushers had charge of the apartment of honor; the valets de chambre of theother. A rigid etiquette determined the right of entrance into thedifferent rooms composing the state apartment, according to a carefullystudied system. The pages were authorized to enter the Hall of theMarshals; members of the household of the Emperor and Empress could enterthe first and second drawing-rooms; the Princes and Princesses of theImperial family, the high officers of the Crown, the presidents of thegreat bodies of the state, had admission to the throne room. Men and womenhad to bow to the throne whenever they passed it. The Emperor and theEmpress alone had the right of entering the Emperor's drawing-room. No oneelse could go in except by the Emperor's summons. 

An absurd importance was attached to these trivialities, to these emptynothings, to the right of entering this room or that, of walking beforethis or that person, of handing the Emperor this or that article of dress. "An honest, reasonable man, " said Madame de Rémusat, "is often overcomewith shame at the pleasures and pains of a courtier's life, and yet it ishard to escape from them. A ribbon, a slight difference of dress, theright of way through a door, the entrance into such and such a drawing-room, are the occasion, contemptible in appearance, of a host of ever newemotions. Vain is the struggle to acquire indifference to them.... Invain, do the mind and the reason revolt against such an employment ofhuman faculties; however dissatisfied one is with one's self, it isnecessary to humiliate one's self before every one and to desert thecourt, or else to consent to take seriously all the nonsense that fillsthe air and breathes there. "

Vanity of human events! What has become of these drawing-rooms of theTuileries, which it was such an honor to enter, which were trod with suchrespectful awe? Look at the lamentable ruins of this ill-fated palace. There may still be seen, blackened with petroleum and stained by the rain, some of those drawing-rooms, once so brilliant, once thronged with aneager and showy crowd. What an instructive spectacle! When is one moreurgently reminded of the emptiness of human glory and greatness? Thisnothingness fills the soul with melancholy when one thinks that soon thesecrumbling fragments will be razed and that soon one can say with the poet:The ruins themselves have perished, _Etiam periere ruinae_! [Footnote: Theruins have since been removed. --TR. ]

IX. 

HOUSEHOLD OP THE EMPRESS. 

We have just studied the civil and the military household of the Emperorin 1805; let us now study the Empress's household at the same period. 

The Empress's First Almoner was a bishop, a great lord, Ferdinand deRohan. Her Maid of Honor was a relative of her first husband, the Duchessde La Rochefoucauld, called in the Imperial Almanack of 1805 simply MadameChastulé de La Rochefoucauld. She was short and deformed, butdistinguished, for her intelligence, tact, and wit, void of ambition, withno taste for intrigue, who only reluctantly accepted the position of Maidof Honor, and often wanted to hand in her resignation. The Lady of theBedchamber was Madame de Lavalette, a Beauharnais, an able andaffectionate woman, who immortalized herself, in the early days of theRestoration, by saving her husband's life by her heroism. 

To the four Ladies of the Palace at the beginning of the Empire, Madame deLuçay, Madame de Rémusat, Madame de Talhouët, Madame de Lauriston, wereadded thirteen other ladies: Madame Duchâtel, Madame de Séran, Madame deColbert, Madame Savary, Madame Octave de Ségur, Madame de Turenne, Madamede Montalivet, Madame de Bouillé, Madame de Vaux, Madame de Marescot. 

The Maid of Honor was for the Empress what the Grand Chamberlain was forthe Emperor. The Lady of the Bedchamber's duties corresponded to those ofthe Keeper of the Wardrobe. The Ladies of the Palace were, so to speak, female chamberlains. 

"We were all, " said the Duchess of Abrantès, "at that time radiant with asort of glory which women seek as eagerly as men do theirs, that ofelegance and beauty. Among the young women composing the court of theEmpress and that of the Princesses it would have been hard to find asingle ill-favored woman, and there were very many whose beauty made, withno exaggeration, the greatest ornament of the festivities held every dayin that fairy-like time. "

All the Ladies of the Palace were young, and almost all were remarkablefor their beauty. Among the most conspicuous was Madame Ney, a niece ofMadame Campan; Madame Lannes, whose face recalled the most charmingpictures of Raphael, and above all, the wife of an already aged Councillorof State, Madame Duchâtel (whose son was Minister of the Interior in thereign of Louis Philippe, and whose grandson was Ambassador of the Republicat Vienna). The Duchess of Abrantès thus describes this famous beauty:"There is one woman in the Imperial court who made her appearance insociety shortly before the coronation, whose portrait is drawn in all thecontemporary memoirs, especially in those written by a woman, and that isMadame Duchâtel. Madame Duchâtel would not serve as a model for asculptor, because her features lack the regularity which his art requires. The indefinable charm of her face, a charm which words are unable toconvey, lay in dark blue eyes, with long, silken, lashes, in a delicate, gracious, refined smile, which, disclosed teeth of ivory whiteness, and, moreover, beautiful light hair, small hands and feet, a general elegancewhich matched a really remarkable mind. All these things formed acombination which first attracted and then attached every one to her. "

Josephine's First Chamberlain, in 1805, was the General of DivisionNansouty; the chamberlain who introduced the ambassadors was M. DeBeaumont; there were four ordinary chamberlains, MM. D'Aubusson-Lafeuillade, de Galard-Béarn. De Coutomer; de Gavre; a First Equerry, Senator de Harville; two equerries, Colonel Fowler and General Bonardy deSaint Sulpice; a private secretary, M. Deschamps. The Council of theEmpress's household was composed of the Maid of Honor, the Lady of theBedchamber, the First Chamberlain, and the First Equerry. The privatesecretary was also the secretary of the Council. The Chief Steward of thehousehold was also a member. 

The Lady of the Bedchamber had under her orders a first woman of thebedchamber, Madame Aubert, who had whole charge of the wardrobe. MadameSaint-Hilaire held this place under Josephine, as Madame Campan had doneunder Marie Antoinette. Madame Saint-Hilaire's duties consisted insupervising the chamberwork, in receiving the Empress's orders about thehours of her rising, and of her morning and evening toilet. The firstwoman of the Bedchamber had what were called the honors of the servicewhen the Maid of Honor and the Lady of the Bedchamber were absent. TheEmpress had also ushers and women who discharged the same duties, sixordinary chambermaids, a reader, the beautiful Madame Gazani; fourordinary valets de chambre, and two footmen, trusted men always in theante-chamber. The ushers, who remained without the drawing-room where theEmpress was, never opened both the doors to their full width except forthe Princes and Princesses of the Imperial family; and they could notleave their posts except to ask the Maid of Honor the names of those whowere waiting to be presented. There were two pages in the Empress'sservice; the older carried the train of her dress when she left herapartments, and got in or out of a carriage; the other walked before her. 

The Empress's apartment consisted of an apartment of honor and an innerapartment. The first consisted of an ante-chamber, the first drawing-room, the second drawing-room, the dining-room, the music-room, the other, ofthe bedroom, the library, dressing-room, boudoir, bath-room. The entranceto the Empress's apartment was controlled by etiquette like that to theEmperor's. 

Josephine played her part as sovereign as easily as if she had been bornon the steps of the throne. "One of her charms, " says the Duchess ofAbrantès, "was not merely her graceful figure, but the way she held herhead, and the gracious dignity with which she walked and turned. I havehad the honor of being presented to many real princesses, as they arecalled, in the Faubourg Saint Germain, and I can truly say that I havenever seen one more imposing than Josephine. She combined elegance andmajesty. Never did any queen so grace a throne without having been trainedto it. "

Josephine had all the qualities that are attractive in a sovereign:affability, gentleness, kindliness, generosity. She had a way ofconvincing every one of her personal interest. She had an excellentmemory, and surprised those with whom she talked by the exactness withwhich she recalled the past, even to details they had themselves nearlyforgotten. The sound of her gentle, penetrating, and sympathetic voiceadded to the courtesy and charm of her words. Every one listened to herwith pleasure; she spoke with grace and listened courteously. She wantedno one to go away from her annoyed. She always appeared to be doing akindness, and thus inspired affection and gratitude. Her courtiers and hersuite were her friends. Madame de Rémusat, who was never too favorable, was forced to recognize the charm which Josephine exercised over the courtby her tact, intelligence, and dignity. "The Empress, " she says, "isenchanted to be surrounded by a large suite, and it gratifies her vanity. Her success in attaching Madame de La Rochefoucauld to her person, herpleasure in counting MM. D'Aubusson, de Lafeuillade among herchamberlains, Madame d'Arbry, Madame de Ségur, and the wives of themarshals among the ladies of the palace, turned her head a little, buteven this feminine joy did not lessen her usual graciousness; she alwayssucceeded in maintaining her rank, even when most deferential to those menand women who lent it a new lustre by their brilliant names. " She was verykind, extremely soft-hearted, and always overwhelming her companions withattentions and regards. Mademoiselle Avrillon, her reader, says: "I do notbelieve that there ever lived a woman with a better character, or with aless changeable disposition. " She never dared to utter a word of blame orreproach. "If one of her ladies, " said Constant, the Emperor's valet dechambre, "ever gave her cause for dissatisfaction, the only punishment sheinflicted was to maintain absolute silence for one, two, three days, aweek, more or less, according to the seriousness of the case. Well! thispunishment, apparently so slight, was for most of them very severe. TheEmpress knew so well how to make herself beloved!"

Her only fault was extravagance. She had an unbounded love of luxury anddress. The jewel-case which had belonged to Marie Antoinette was too smallfor Josephine. One day when she wanted to show some ladies all her jewels, a great table had to be arranged to hold the cases, and, since that wasnot enough, much more of the furniture was covered by them. Josephine hadthe fault that accompanies this quality, for generous persons are commonlylavish. Her extravagant expenditures came from her kindliness. She had notthe heart to dismiss a tradesman without buying something of him, and itnever entered her head to try to beat him down. Often she bought for vastsums things she did not want, simply to oblige the dealers. There was nolimit to her liberality. She would have liked to own all the treasures ofthe earth in order to give them all away. She sought for opportunities foralms-giving. Many of the émigrés lived entirely on her bounty. She wasalways in active correspondence with the sisters of charity. She was theProvidence of the poor, and did good with delicacy, tact, and discretion. Giving is not all; the art lies in knowing how to give. She seemed to bethe debtor of those to whom she made gifts. Naturally, with thisdisposition, she got into debt. But Napoleon was there to help her; andsince he was economical by nature, he grew angry and scolded hisextravagant wife, and ended by paying. 

In fact, Napoleon could refuse Josephine nothing, and she was really theonly woman who had any influence over him. If he opposed her, she had aninfallible resource in her tears. She knew thoroughly her husband'scharacter. She knew how to speak to that mind and heart. She busiedherself with seeking what could please, with divining his wishes, withanticipating his slightest desires. If he was the least ailing or annoyedshe was literally at his feet, and then he could not live without her. Hefelt that when misfortune came Josephine alone would be able to consolehim. She had brought him happiness with her gentleness, her tenderness, her devotion; she had well deserved to receive the crown from his hands. 

X. 

NAPOLEON'S GALLANTRIES. 

Josephine appeared to have every wish, satisfied; her good fortuneexceeded her wildest dreams; never had a more wonderful romance actuallyhappened, and yet the Empress of the French, the Queen of Italy, was nothappy. A cruel passion which brings no pleasures, but only cruelsufferings, disturbed her happiness and tormented her heart. This passion, jealousy, which had tortured Napoleon in the early days of his weddedlife, now Josephine in her turn had to endure with all its keen anguish. She felt that for her, a woman of forty-one, to hold fast the affectionsof a man of thirty-five, covered with glory and full of charm, was adifficult task; but this reflection, far from consoling her, onlydisturbed her the more, and she made desperate efforts to triumph in analmost hopeless contest. As was said by Mademoiselle Avrillon, her reader, she seemed not to understand that if the highest rank is a safeguard for awoman, because few men are bold enough to pursue her, the same is not trueof a sovereign whose glory dazzles the inexperience of the young, andwhose slightest attention arouses coquetry and flatters vanity. 

Josephine had not a moment's peace. In the hope of pleasing her, manywomen of the court, who were, so to speak, on the watch for the Emperor'sattentions, hastened to torture her with their interested revelations. Forseveral years now her beauty had been fading. Napoleon, on the other hand, had never been better looking. His health, which formerly had beendelicate, had much improved. He had grown stouter, and this was verybecoming. His head was like that of a Caesar. Full of self-confidence, fortunate, flattered on every side, at the height of power, he imaginedthat in love, as in war, he had but to appear to say, _veni, vidi, vici_, "I came, I saw, I conquered. " Many of the beauties of the time did theirbest to confirm him in this good opinion of himself, and as Madame deRémusat says of him, he in his court was not unlike the Grand Turk in hisharem. 

"The Emperor, " we read in Constant's Memoirs, "used to say that a good manwas to be known by the way he treated his wife, his children, and hisservants. He added that immorality was the most dangerous vice a sovereigncould have, because it established a precedent for his subjects. What hemeant by immorality, was giving scandalous publicity to relations whichshould have been kept secret; these relations he was by no means disposedto refuse when they presented themselves before him. " The faithful valetde chambre goes on in an attempt to defend his master: "Others perhapswould have succumbed oftener. Heaven forbid that I should undertake toapologize for him; I will even acknowledge that he did not always practisewhat he preached, but it was none the less a good deal for a sovereign tohide his distractions from the public, to prevent scandal, and, what isworse imitation; and from his wife, to save her pain. "

Napoleon was by no means so indifferent to women as he professed to be. Hewas averse to being ruled by them, but he was far from being insensible totheir charms. Opposition exasperated him; all his caprices found manyobsequious allies ready to further his suit, and more than one woman madea deep, if brief, impression upon him. His disdain of woman has, we aresure, been much exaggerated. At Saint Helena he declaimed against women, but his remarks were mere paradoxes, not meant to be taken seriously. 

Count Las Cases, in the _Memorial_, reports these remarks of the Emperorto the ladies who shared, his captivity. "We Occidentals, " he said, with asmile full of malice, "have spoiled women by treating them too well. Wehave made the mistake of raising them almost to an equality withourselves. The Orientals showed more intelligence and justice: theydeclared they were men's property; and, in fact, nature has made them ourslaves, and it is only by our whimsicalness that they presume to be oursovereigns; they abuse their advantages to mislead and control us. For onewho inspires us to our good there are a hundred who make us do stupidthings. " Then he went on to praise polygamy in a very unchivalrous andunsentimental way, saying ironically: "What cause of complaint do youhave, after all? Have we not acknowledged that you have a soul? You knowthat there are philosophers who have weighed it. Do you claim equality?But that is absurd; women are our property, we are not theirs; for shegives us children, men give them none. So she is his property, as a fruit-tree is a gardener's property. Nothing but a lack of judgment, of commonsense, and a defective education, can make a woman think that she is herhusband's equal. And there is nothing degrading in the difference; eachsex has its qualities and its duties: your qualities are beauty, grace, charm; your duties are dependence and submission. "

Napoleon was often malicious with women; often he teased them; but atheart he honored faithful wives and good mothers. His ideas were far moremoral than those of the men of the Directory, and his court was far purerthan that of the kings of France. We will add that Josephine was the onlywoman he ever loved for a long time and seriously. The others appealed tohis senses, not to his heart. 

Fortunately for herself, Josephine had a shallow character; herimpressions were keen, but evanescent. The pleasures of sovereigntyoutweighed the griefs. She felt that the crown was heavy at times, but itadorned her and kept her young; and in spite of the jealousy it gave riseto, the court satisfied her vanity and brought her sufficient consolation. To the satisfaction of her pride she found another purer and more lastingemotion, which she valued more, in the opportunity of doing good. She had, besides, passed through so many vicissitudes in her life that nothingcould surprise her, and her soul, accustomed to suffering, was preparedfor the most violent emotions, the most terrible anguish. She weptreadily, but her tears were soon dried; the rainbow followed close uponthe storm, and Josephine would smile through her tears. 

XI. 

THE POPE AT THE TUILERIES. 

While Napoleon, proud in the possession of his new empire, was exhibitingat the Tuileries his vast power and grandeur, the same palace wasinhabited by a holy old man, whose humility presented a marked contrastwith the conqueror's haughty spirit. Pius VII. , who was quartered in thePavilion of Flora, led the life of an anchorite, with all the modesty andpiety of an old monk, fasting every day as in his convent, and edifyingeven the impious by the nimbus that shone around his pale and mystic face. It was impossible to approach this worthy Vicar of Christ without a filialfeeling of tenderness. The crimes of the French Revolution--the massacreor the execution of the priests, the profanation of the altars, thepersecutions and blasphemies--had imprinted the stamp of melancholy on hisface. It was easy to see that he lamented the barbarities of the times, and that his life had been full of anguish. He embodied all the sufferingsof the Church. With his ascetic air, his deep-set eye, his complexion aspallid as ivory, his white robes tinged with red, the Sovereign Pontiffhad in his whole person something strange and imposing. He occupied theapartment on the first floor of the Pavilion of Flora, where MadameElisabeth had lived from October, 1789, to August 10, 1792. The AbbéProyart, the author of the letter to the prisoner of the Temple, came tooffer the Pope a copy of this same life of Madame Louise of France, whichhe had long since offered to the sister of Louis XVI. 

"I am living here, " said Pius VII. , "in the apartments of another saint. "What singular vicissitudes! The same place occupied in turn by MadameElisabeth, the members of the Committee of Public Safety, and by the Vicarof Christ!

The Pope had been very anxious before he started for Paris. His fears wereso great that just as he was leaving Rome, with a presentiment of thecaptivity that awaited him, he had left his abdication in the hands ofCardinal Consalvi, in case he should suffer any violence during hisjourney. It was only with trembling and prayer that he had set foot on thevolcanic soil of France, which, from a distance, seemed alive with impietyand terror. The unfailing respect with which he had been treated hadcomforted him somewhat. Whenever he visited a church, the Parisiansfollowed him with mingled curiosity, sympathy, and veneration: they kneltto him as he passed them, and received with all decorum his apostolicbenediction. Every day a large crowd gathered under his windows. He hadfound his rooms arranged and furnished like those he occupied at theVatican, and he had been very grateful for this, which he called a reallyfilial attention. 

General de Ségur, at that time captain and aide of the Grand Marshal ofthe Palace, was entrusted with guarding the Pope's person. He says in hisMemoirs: "The same attention and respect was shown to the Pope as to theEmperor himself. His rooms had been so arranged and furnished as to recallRome so far as possible, and to suit his tastes. As for Napoleon, we allnoticed his ever gentle and grateful gaiety, and his filial andaffectionate deference to his guest. When the Holy Father gave hisblessing from his window, and more especially at his audiences in thegallery of the Louvre, which were always crowded, precautions were takenagainst any outbreak of the indiscretion or levity to which the French areprone. We saw the atheist Lalande himself fall at the Pontiff's feet andkiss his slipper. In the public buildings which the Pope honored with hispresence he was received as a sovereign. No one dared to betray morecuriosity than piety; and it often happened to me to see this real saint, the successor of the Apostles, whose venerable face bore the stamp of theserenest gentleness, so frugal, simple, and austere for himself alone, andso kindly indulgent to others, deeply moved by the intense and holyimpression he made. "

Every day the long gallery of the Louvre was filled with two rows of menand women who had come to ask his blessing. Preceded by the governor ofthe Louvre, and followed by the Italian cardinals and nobles of hishousehold, Pius VII. Advanced slowly between the two lines of thefaithful, often stopping to place his hand on some child's head, to saysome kind words to its mother, and to offer his ring to be kissed. Oneday, when he was surrounded by a crowd of prostrate and respectful people, he saw a man whose worn face bore traces of irreligious passion, who wasmoving away as if to escape the apostolic benediction. The Holy Fatherapproached him, and said gently, "Do not run away; an old man's blessinghas never done any one any harm. " This remark spread through Paris andmade a most favorable impression. Pius VII. Was not only respected, but, if we may use the worldly phrase, he became the fashion. Dealers inrosaries and chaplets made much money all that winter. In January alone ashopkeeper in the rue Saint Denis who sold those articles is said to havecleared forty thousand francs. All who approached the Pope had chapletsblessed for themselves, their relatives, and friends in Paris and theprovinces. "The prolonged stay of the Holy Father, " says Bourrienne, "wasnot without influence in the return to religious ideas, so great was therespect inspired by the Pope's gentle appearance and kindly manners. When, the time came for him to be persecuted, it would have been desirable thatPius VII. Had never come to Paris, for it was impossible to look upon himotherwise than as a man whose holy gentleness was a matter of notoriety. "

At Saint Helena, Napoleon spoke thus of this venerable Pope: "He wasreally a lamb, a thoroughly good and upright man, whom I greatly esteemand love, and who, I am sure, does not wholly hate me. "

It has been asserted that the Pope made such an impression in Paris thatthe Emperor felt for the august old man a sort of secret jealousy. Buteven granting, what is by no means certain, that he suffered from this, hehad at least skill to conceal it. Always the Pope was overwhelmed withflattering attentions. The President of the Legislative Body, M. DeFontanes, said to him November 30, 1804: "Everything else has changed;religion alone knows no change. It sees the families of kings, and thoseof subjects, perish; but resting on the ruins of thrones, it ever admiresthe successive manifestations of the eternal designs and obeys them withconfidence. Never has the universe beheld a more imposing sight, neverhave its people received more important lessons. This is no longer thetime of rivalry between the priesthood and the Empire. They have joinedhands to repel the fatal doctrines which threatened Europe with totaloverthrow. May they yield forever to the double influence of politics andreligion combined! Doubtless this wish will not be disappointed; never inFrance has there been so great a genius to control its policy, and neverhas the pontifical throne presented to the Christian world a more worthyand more touching model. " The _Moniteur_, in its report of the coronation, spoke with the same official enthusiasm "of the most venerable apostolicvirtues and of the most astounding political genius crowned by the highestdestinies. " David, the artist, once a member of the Convention and aregicide, then an Imperialist, painted the portrait of Pius VII. , and the_Moniteur_ in the number of March 30, 1805, thus praised the picture andthe sitter. "A large crowd gathered in the gallery of the Senate, to seethe portrait of His Holiness by M. David, member of the Institute andfirst painter to the Emperor. This portrait is in every way worthy of themaster's reputation. If the first essential in a portrait is an exactlikeness, this one possesses it to a very high degree. The head, which isadmirably painted, expresses the indulgent and wise character, thegentleness and reasonableness, that are so conspicuous in the model; theeyes an expression, affectionate and paternal; the expression of the mouthis most striking; one feels that it can utter only words of peace, consolation, and truth. "

Josephine had for Pius VII. A feeling of veneration full of gratitude. Shewas most grateful to him for having persuaded Napoleon, to have thereligious marriage for which she had long yearned. She, who had preservedher faith, in the midst of an irreligious society, was happy to inhabitthe same palace, to live under the same roof, with the Vicar of Christ, and firmly hoped thereby to secure good fortune for herself and herhusband. For his part, Pius VII. Appreciated Josephine's good qualities, especially her charity: he treated her as an indulgent father treats hischild. 

The second son of Louis Bonaparte and Hortense de Beauharnais was baptizedby the Pope himself at Saint Cloud, March 27, 1805. The ceremony was mostimpressive. Eight Imperial carriages conveyed thither Pius VII. And hissuite. The gallery of the palace had been turned into a chapel. In one ofthe Empress's drawing-rooms had been placed, on a platform, beneath acanopy, a bed without posts. On the foot of the bed had been spread alarge cloak lined with ermine, to cover the child. In the same room weretwo tables on which were placed what were called the child's _honors_;that is to say, the candle, the chrisom-cap, and the salt-cellar, and the_honors_ of the godfather and godmother, --the basin, the ewer, and thenapkin. The towel was placed on a square of golden brocade, and all theother things, except the candle, on a gold tray. Preceded by the GrandMaster of Ceremonies, and followed by a colonel-general of the Guard, bythe Grand Almoner, the Grand Chamberlain, and the Master of the Hounds, the Emperor, who was godfather, and the godmother, Madame Bonaparte, hismother, went to the room where the ceremony was to be performed. The childwas uncovered by Madame de Villeneuve, Maid of Honor to Princess LouisBonaparte, and by Madame de Boubers, who was serving as governess. Thefirst one lifted up the baby and handed him to the godfather, who gave himto Madame de Boubers to carry to the font. The Grand Master of Ceremonieshanded the salt-cellar to Madame de Bouillé, the chrisom-cap to Madame deMontalivet, the candle to Madame Lannes, the towel to Madame de Sérant, the ewer to Madame Savary, the basin to Madame de Talhouët. Then, theywent to the gallery, which had been turned into a chapel. MesdamesBernadotte, Bessières, Davout, and Mortier held the corners of theEmpress's cloak. The godmother was at the Emperor's left. After thebaptism the child was carried back to his room with the same procession. 

That evening _Athalie_ was given, with choruses, at the court theatre. Thecompany on their way thither passed through the orange house, which wasaglow with colored lanterns. 

All day the park of Saint Cloud had been open to the public; the fountainshad been playing; shows of all sorts amused the crowd; the road to Pariswas crowded with carriages and foot-passengers. In the evening there werefireworks: the palace and gardens were illuminated; there were bandsplaying, and rustic balls. 

The Pope, who had reached Paris November 28, 1804, left April 4, 1805, just when the Emperor was starting for Italy, there to be crowned atMilan. Pius VII. Had received some magnificent presents from the Emperor:a gold altar with chandeliers, and the sacred vessels of rich workmanship, a superb tiara, some gobelin tapestries, carpets from the Savonnerie, anda statue of Napoleon in Sèvres ware. The Empress had given him a valuablevase decorated by the best artists. The _Moniteur_ thus announced thePope's departure: "To-day, April 4, at half-past twelve, His Holiness leftParis with the prelates and others of his suite. A crowd of both sexes andall ages assembled on the way he was to pass through, and received theSovereign Pontiff's blessing; once more he was the object of expressionsof the deepest veneration, and plainly manifested the emotions which theseexpressions called forth. "

Yet Pius VII. Was not wholly satisfied with his journey. He had receivedmuch homage, but he had not secured any real political concessions of anyimportance. He had been unable to settle the important matter of theorganic statutes, and nothing had been done about the restoration of thelegation on which he was so warmly set. Besides, he was much annoyed thathe had not himself crowned Napoleon, as the Popes, his predecessors, hadcrowned emperors and kings. He, who later was to be a prisoner atFontainebleau, went away distressed about the present, anxious for thefuture, and wondering whether his host might not say, with Voltaire, "Itis all very well to kiss the Popes' feet, but it is better to have theirhands tied first. "

XII. 

THE JOURNEY IN ITALY. 

The Pope had left Paris to return to Rome April 4, 1805. At almost thesame time the Emperor and Empress had started from Fontainebleau to go toMilan, where Napoleon was to be crowned King of Italy. The code ofetiquette that prevailed at the Tuileries was observed on journeys. Thehouse in which the Emperor lodged at any stopping-place was the placewhere all who accompanied him were to meet. A great placard on which werewritten all the names, and where they were to be quartered, was pasted onthe front door. In the villages where Napoleon spent but one night hereceived the local authorities, either before or after dinner. In thetowns where he spent more than one day, after he had eaten his breakfastand held his receptions, he rode out to visit the fortifications andmonuments. The evenings were generally taken up by the entertainmentsoffered him. 

The Emperor and Empress reached Troyes April 2. A letter dated the 3d wasprinted in the _Moniteur_. It said: "Everywhere the presence of theEmperor has evoked the liveliest applause; the people seem astonished tosee him wearing such a modest uniform, and conspicuous, in the midst ofhis court, by the plainness of his dress. The people of this departmentexhibit this joy all the more because it is here that was brought up theman who was destined to raise France to the highest glory and prosperity. It is at Brienne that the Emperor received his earliest instruction. HisMajesty, being anxious to revisit the places that recall these agreeablememories, started at two o'clock to-day for Brienne. "

On the steps of the castle in this town Napoleon found Madame de Brienneand Madame de Loménie, who had been the guardians of his childhood. Hetreated them with the greatest respect, and took pleasure in recallinghappy and touching memories of the past. He recalled many anecdotes, andtold them in his usual vivid, picturesque way. He accepted theirinvitation to dinner, played cards with them, and having found out theirusual time of going to bed, asked to be shown at that hour to the roomwhich had been prepared for him at his request. At dawn the next morninghe went alone, without escort, to see some of his old walks in theneighborhood. He remembered a hut where he and his companions used tolunch, and recognizing the wood in which it was, he rode through the shadypath that led to it. 

It belonged to a woman who in old times used to serve nuts, cheese, andbrown bread to the schoolboy of Brienne, the future Emperor. He wasdelighted to see her once more, and asked her for the same repast whichhad formerly been his delight. At first the poor woman did not recognizethe stranger; but gradually he refreshed her memory by recalling manyincidents of the past. Then she understood that she was in the presence ofthe all-powerful Emperor, and flung herself at his feet. Napoleon liftedher, and left her a purse of gold, promising as he left to provide for herold age. 

The Emperor and Empress arrived at Lyons April 10. A quarter of a leaguefrom the city, on the Boucle road, stood a triumphal arch, on the top ofwhich, as in the reign of Augustus, was perched an eagle supporting theconqueror's bust. On the two side doors were two bas-reliefs, onerepresenting the union of the Empire and Liberty; the other, Wisdom, inthe figure of Minerva distributing crosses of honor to soldiers, artists, and scholars. On these two bas-reliefs were statues of the Rhone and theSeine. At the top of the arch was a flattering inscription in verse. 

April 12, the Empress held a reception. The _Bulletin of Lyons_ thusdescribed it: "The assembly was most brilliant. As our sovereign hasexhibited in his audiences profundity, affability, exact and variedlearning, and true greatness, so his august wife has shone with grace, courtesy, and gentleness. Thus we witness a revival of that old Frenchurbanity and politeness of manners which have always distinguished ourcourt, and have made it an example and an object of admiration for allforeign courts. "

The city offered Napoleon and Josephine an entertainment at the GrandTheatre. The back-scene represented the Emperor, seated, clad in a longtriumphal robe. Two allegoric figures, representing, one, France, theother, Italy, with their feet resting on clouds, held in their hands aroll bearing this inscription: _Sublimi feriam sidera vertice_, "I shallstrike the stars with my lofty head"; with the other, they each offered acrown to Napoleon. Thus did flattery renew the apotheoses of the Caesarsof ancient Rome. 

There was sung a cantata entitled _Ossian's Dream_. The young men of theNational Guard of Lyons and the leading ladies of the city waltzed beforethe throne. Two young girls held each a basket into which the dancersthrew flowers as they passed by; out of these flowers the girls wove twocrowns which, after the dance, they presented to the Emperor and Empress. 

April 29, Napoleon and Josephine were present at a grand performance atthe Grand Theatre in Turin. They stayed at the castle of Stupinizi, justoutside of the city, where they bade farewell to Pius VII. , who hadcelebrated the Easter festival at Lyons, and was on his way to Rome. 

The Emperor and the Empress reached Alessandria May 2, at ten in themorning, amid the roar of cannon and the ringing of church-bells. Napoleonspent the day in revisiting the battle-field of Marengo, where he gave theEmpress a mimic representation of the battle he had won five years before. From a throne he watched the manoeuvres executed under the command ofMurat, Lannes, and Bessières. He had had the coat and hat he wore on theday of the battle brought from Paris. The coat was somewhat moth-eaten, and the odd hat would have seemed very much out of date if it had notrecalled such precious memories. But Napoleon liked to recall thateventful day when he had managed to grasp victory when apparently beaten. After the manoeuvres he solemnly laid the corner-stone of a monument tothe memory of Desaix and the other brave men who fell at Marengo. 

At Alessandria, the next day, he had an interview with his brother Jerome, which in fact was a reconciliation. In 1808, after the breaking of thePeace of Amiens, Jerome Bonaparte, who then, a young man of twenty, was inthe naval service, happened to be forced by an English cruiser to land inthe United States. There he had fallen in love with the young and charmingdaughter of a rich merchant of Baltimore, Miss Elisabeth Paterson, and hemarried her. Napoleon was unwilling to recognize this marriage. No soonerhad he ascended the throne than he at once exhibited all the feeling andprejudices of a monarch who belonged to a dynasty of the most venerableantiquity. He really believed that his brothers could marry onlyprincesses, and that any other marriage was an unpardonable mésalliance. 

If, possibly, Napoleon was able to condemn Lucien's wife for her pastconduct, no such criticism could apply to the wife of Jerome, who was ayoung woman of conspicuous morality, intelligence, and amiability. But shewas the daughter of a ship-owner, a merchant, and thus was not a propermatch, he thought, for the brother of the powerful monarch who was alreadydreaming of restoring the vassal kingdoms and the whole vast imperialedifice of Charlemagne. He, the Emperor of the French, the King of Italy, did not like to remember that he had wedded a simple subject, and that hehad been very proud of his marriage. He could not pardon his brotherJerome for making a love-match. He would not even listen to his defence ofhis young wife, soon to be a mother, and who deserved only respect andpity, and who, humiliated, abandoned, and brokenhearted, was about to betreated as a concubine, and driven away forever. Ambition had destroyedNapoleon's natural kindliness. Yet, if he had seen Jerome's wife, adevoted and interesting woman, warmly attached to her husband, and aliveto her duties, probably he would have taken pity on her. Possibly he washimself aware of this, for he forbade the unhappy young woman to enter anypart of the Empire, and compelled this innocent victim of politicalconsiderations to take refuge in England, as if she were a criminal. 

February 22, 1805, Napoleon had compelled his mother, Madame Letitia, toplace in the hands of a notary, Raguideau, a protest against Jerome'smarriage, on the pretext that he, having been born November 15, 1784, wasnot yet twenty at the date of his marriage, and according to the law ofSeptember 20, 1792, a marriage contracted by any one under twenty withoutthe consent of his father and mother was null and void. The _Moniteur_ ofthe 13th Ventôse, Year XIII. (March 4, 1805), had contained the followinglines: "11th Ventôse. By an act dated to-day, all the civil officers ofthe Empire are forbidden to receive on their registers a copy of thecertificate of an alleged marriage contracted by M. Jerome Bonaparte in aforeign country, when under age, and without his mother's consent, andwithout previous publication in the place where he is domiciled. " A fewdays later this appeared in the _Moniteur_: "M. Jerome Bonaparte hasarrived at Lisbon in an American ship; in the passenger list were thenames of Mr. And Miss Paterson, M. Jerome at once took port for Madrid, Mr. And Miss Paterson have re-embarked. They are supposed to be returningto America. "

Jerome, in obedience to the Emperor's orders, started from Portugal forItaly, posting day and night at full speed, through Badajoz, Madrid, Perpignan, and Grenoble, He says in his Memoirs: "Amid the mountains ofEstremadura, his modest carriage encountered the almost royal train of theFrench Ambassador to Portugal. It was Junot whom he had left a simpleaide-de-camp of the First Consul, and saw again one of the firstpersonages of the Empire. Madame Junot, an old friend from childhood ofJerome, was with her husband. This interview was a most interesting one, partly from the deserted spot where they met, and partly from the greatevents that had occurred since their separation. "

Junot and his wife found Jerome much improved. He had become more serious;a certain gravity had taken the place of his youthful bubbling highspirits. He spoke with emotion, respect, and affection of his young wifewhose pathetic situation was made even more disturbing by the state of herhealth. He proposed to throw himself at his brother's feet, and by prayersand supplications to wring from him the consent he desired. "No one candoubt, " he says in his Memoirs, "that his heart was torn by the keenestagitations, to say nothing of the anxiety about his wife; themortification at two years of inactivity, during which his comrades, friends, and relatives had worked, fought, and become great; the regretfor the lofty position he had lost; the hope of regaining it; his fear ofhis brother's wrath which he had ventured to arouse, and which made kingstremble on their thrones. "

Napoleon was to be inflexible; he refused to admit that his brothers couldbe anything but members of the dynasty, future sovereigns. It was thenthat according to Miot de Mélito, he said: "What I have accomplished sofar is nothing. There will be no peace in Europe until it is under asingle head, an Emperor, who shall have his officers for kings and dividethe kingdoms among his lieutenants; who shall make one King of Italy, another King of Bavaria, one Landemann of Switzerland, another Stadtholderof Holland, and all with high positions in the Imperial household, withtitles as Grand Cupbearer, Grand Master of the Pantry, Grand Equerry, Grand Master of the Hounds, etc. It will be said that this plan is only animitation of that on which the German Empire is established, and thatthese ideas are not new; but nothing is absolutely new; politicalinstitutions only revolve in a circle, and what has happened necessarilyrecurs. " A man with such aspirations and so near to realizing them, couldnot endure the idea of being the brother-in-law of a simple ship-owner. 

Jerome arrived at Turin, April 24, 1805. Napoleon was then at Alessandria. Eleven days passed before the brothers met. The Emperor had announced hisdecision. He was absolutely determined not to meet Jerome until he hadmade perfect submission. The unhappy youth still ventured to hope againsthope, but soon he had to recognize his mistake. Then his heart and soulwere torn by a hot conflict: on one side were his love for his wife, family feeling, the thought of the child that was soon to be born, hisrespect for marriage and for his vows; on the other, ambition, love ofpower, the visions of the kingdoms that he might rule; on one side, thesmiles and tears of the woman he loved; on the other, the influence andglory of the genius who filled the earth with his fame, and alwaysexercised a powerful fascination. Jerome, who was less sentimental andless proud than Lucien, at last yielded to his terrible brother, andcondemned himself out of ambition never to see again the woman whom heloved and cherished. May 6th he went to Alessandria, having first sent aletter of submission to the Emperor. Napoleon before receiving him, replied to it in these terms:--

"Alessandria, May 6, 1805. MY BROTHER: Your letter of this morning informsme of your arrival at Alessandria. There is no fault which cannot beeffaced in my eyes by repentance. Your marriage with Miss Paterson is nullin the eyes of both religion and law. Write to Miss Paterson to return toAmerica. I will grant her a pension of sixty thousand francs for life, oncondition that she shall never bear my name, a right which does not belongto her in the non-existence of the marriage. You must tell her that youcould not and cannot change the nature of things. When your marriage isthus annulled by your own will, I will restore to you my friendship, andresume the feelings I have had for you since your infancy, hoping that youwill show yourself worthy of them by the efforts you will make to win mygratitude and to acquire distinction in the army. "

A few days later Napoleon wrote to the Minister of the Navy: "M. Décrès, M. Jerome has arrived. He has confessed his errors and disavows thisperson as his wife. He promises to do wonders. Meanwhile I have sent himto Genoa for some time. "

After his reconciliation with Jerome, Napoleon went to Pavia, where themagistrates presented to him the homage of his new capital, and he enteredthat city, with the Empress, May 8, amid the roar of cannon and theringing of bells. 

XIII. 

THE CORONATION AT MILAN. 

By descent, by his physical, moral, and intellectual nature, by hisimagination and genius, Napoleon was much more an Italian than aFrenchman. His father and mother were Italians, his ancestors wereItalian, and Italian was his mother-tongue. His family and Christian nameswere Italian. His mother spoke French with the strongest Italian accent. He had loved Corsica before he loved France. As a child, he had felt thegreatest enthusiasm for Paoli, the Corsican patriot, and had then lookedupon the French as foreigners and oppressors. His face not only resembledthat of an Italian, but that of an ancient Roman. By a singularcoincidence, he had the head of a Caesar. Italy was not only the home ofhis family, it was there that he laid the foundations of his glory. Thatunrivalled country, as one of our poets calls it, had brought him goodfortune. There he wrote the famous bulletins of his first victories; therehe began to impress the popular imagination; and it was through Italy thathe subjugated France. There he felt at home. The people of that peninsulagreeted him as a fellow-countryman. He liked to speak their language tothem, charmed by its harmony and sincerity. His Southern genius rejoicedin its bright skies which lent everything such lustre, and well suited theconqueror's thoughts. He perhaps preferred Milan to Paris as a place tolive in. 

His formal entrance into the capital of his kingdom of Italy had beenskilfully arranged. Cardinal Caprara, the Archbishop of that city, hadgreat influence there, and he was never tired of speaking to his flockabout the services Napoleon had rendered to the Catholic religion. TheGrand Master of Ceremonies, M. De Ségur, who reached Milan a few daysbefore the Emperor, charmed the best society of Lombardy by his pleasantwit and delightful manners, and induced the most illustrious families tosolicit the honor of figuring among the ladies and officers in waiting atthe palace of the King and Queen of Italy, as Napoleon and Josephine werecalled at Milan. 

The first visit which the King and Queen made in this capital was to thefamous Cathedral. There they fell on their knees, and the Milanese weremuch touched by the spectacle. The _Italian Journal_, in its officialaccount of Napoleon's entrance into Milan, uttered these dithyrambics: "Itis impossible to imagine a more brilliant day than that which yesterdayadorned our capital, when Bonaparte, the hero of the age, our adoredmonarch, entered within our walls. This day will be forever memorable inthe chronicles of our history. Milan saw entering its gates, bearing theproud name of King, the same hero who had already been proclaimedconqueror, liberator, peace-maker, and legislator, and who to-day, underhis august Empire, assures that greatness to which his victories and hisgenius permit us to aspire. The Emperor entered by the gate named afterhis most glorious triumph, the Marengo Gate. "

On reaching Milan, Napoleon exchanged the decorations of the Legion ofHonor for the oldest orders of chivalry in Europe. He received from theMinister of Prussia the Black and the Red Eagle; from the SpanishAmbassador, the Golden Fleece; from the Ministers of Bavaria and Portugal, the Orders of Saint Hubert and Christ respectively; and he gave them thebroad ribbon of the Legion of Honor. When he had received besides foreigndecorations for the principal men of the Empire, he granted an equalnumber of his own. May 12, wearing the broad ribbon of the Black Eagle, hewent with the Empress to the theatre of La Scala and saw the opera of_Castor and Pollux_. The theatre, which was brilliantly lit, was crowdedwith the fair ladies of Milan, resplendent in full dress and jewels. Theelegance and splendor of these deservedly famous beauties, the brilliantdiversity of the uniforms, the sumptuousness of the Imperial box, and onthe stage the magnificence of the dresses and the scenery, the skill ofthe singers, all combined to make the performance most memorable. Thatday, after mass, Napoleon had ridden out, and had inspected the troops whoparaded on the Place of the Cathedral. 

The Empress's grace and affability aroused general admiration. At thereception of the upper clergy of Italy, May 25, she was thus complimentedby the Archbishop of Bergamo: "Madame, If charity were to descend fromheaven to relieve the woes of humanity, it would seek no other asylum thanthe heart of a Queen, adored by her subjects. The feelings of love, gratitude, and respect which animate all your subjects are the same thatlead to your feet all the bishops of the kingdom of Italy. Happy to findin your august spouse sublimity, glory, and genius, and in you all thecharm of kindness, nothing is left for them but to pray for the happinessof your reign, and to offer thanks to heaven for having united in thesouls of their sovereigns everything which can make supreme power lovedand respected. " This speech will suffice to show to what pitch theofficial flatteries were tuned. 

The coronation took place May 26, in the Milan. Cathedral, which is thelargest church in Italy, with the single exception of Saint Peter's inRome. The weather was magnificent. From early morning a numberless throngcrowded the Place of the Cathedral, the court-yards of the palace, and theadjacent streets. Just as in Paris at the coronation, a wooden gallery hadbeen built, connecting the Archbishop's Palace with Notre Dame, so here atMilan, a similar gallery led from the palace to the Cathedral. Theinterior of the church was decorated with crimson silk stuffs. As at NotreDame, a large throne had been built at the entrance to the nave, approached by twenty-five steps. Four gilded statues, representingvictories, upheld like caryatides the canopy above the throne. The fourfigures held in one hand palms; in the other, the green velvet mantlefalling from the royal crown above the canopy. The Cathedral wasbrilliantly lit by forty chandeliers hanging from the roof, and as manycandelabra fastened on the columns. 

Josephine, who had been crowned as Empress in Paris, was not to be crownedat Milan, although she bore the title of Queen of Italy. She watched theceremony from a gallery. At half-past eleven she went to the Cathedral, preceded by her sister-in-law, the Princess Bacciocchi, and was conductedbeneath a canopy to her gallery, amid loud applause. At noon the Emperorand King left his palace, and reached the Cathedral through the woodengallery. On his arrival there incense was burned, and he was welcomed byan address from Cardinal Caprara, Archbishop of Milan, at the head of allhis clergy. Preceded by the ushers, the heralds-at-arms, the pages, theGrand Master and the masters of ceremonies, by the seven ladies carryingofferings, and by the honors of Charlemagne, of the Empire, and of Italy, he appeared in most impressive pomp. On his head he wore the crown; hecarried in his hands the sceptre, and the hand of justice of the kingdom;on his back he wore the royal cloak, the skirts of which were carried bythe two First Equerries of France and Italy. As he entered the Cathedral amarch of triumph was played. He took his seat on the small throne in thechoir, having on his right the honors of Italy, on his left, those ofFrance. The Archbishop of Bologna, who held a place at the coronation ofthe King very like that of the Pope at the crowning of the Emperor, carried to the altar the iron crown of the old Lombard kings, and beganthe mass. After the gradual, he blessed the royal ornaments in thefollowing order: the sword, the cloak, the ring, the crown. Napoleonreceived from the Archbishop's hands the sword, the cloak, and the ring, but he took himself the iron crown from the altar, and proudly placing iton his head, exclaimed, in a voice that thrilled all present: "_Dio me ladiede, guai a chi la tocca!_"--"God has given it to me; woe to him whotouches it!" Then, having replaced the iron crown on the altar, he tookthe crown of Italy and placed it on his head, amid unanimous applause. Preceded by the same officials who had conducted him to the chair, hewalked down the nave and took his place on the great throne at the otherend by the entrance. The first herald-at-arms shouted, "Napoleon, Emperorof the French and King of Italy, is crowned and enthroned. Long live theEmperor and King. "

The same day, at half-past four in the afternoon, the King and the Queendrove in a state carriage, with a brilliant escort, to the church of SaintAmbrose, one of the most revered sanctuaries of Italy, and there theyheard a _Te Deum_ of thanksgiving. 

Mademoiselle Avrillon, Josephine's reader, tells us that Napoleon, when hehad returned to the palace, was full of the wildest gaiety. He rubbed hishands, and in his good humor said to the reader: "Well! Did you see theceremony? Did you hear what I said when I placed the crown on my head?"Then he repeated, almost in the same tone that he had used in theCathedral: "God has given it to me! Woe to him that touches it!" "I toldhim, " says Mademoiselle Avrillon, "that nothing that had happened hadescaped me. He was very kind to me, and I often noticed that when therewas nothing to annoy the Emperor, he talked cheerfully and freely with us, as if we were his equals; but whenever he spoke to us he used to askquestions, and in order to avoid displeasing him, it was necessary toanswer him without showing too much embarrassment. Sometimes he gave us apat on the cheek, or pinched our ears; these were favors not accordedevery one, and we could judge of his good humor by the way they hurtus.... Often he treated the Empress in the same way, with little patspreferably on the shoulders; it was no use her saying: 'Come, stop, Bonaparte!' he went on as long as he pleased. "

The Emperor greatly enjoyed his stay in Milan, and breathed with rapturethe incense burned in abundance before him. The _Italian Journal_ in itsaccount of the coronation reached lyric heights:

"The most brilliant day has lit up Milan; it has had no equal in the past, and it offers the happiest auguries for the future.... Old men themselves, accustomed as they are to praise the past, have exhibited the liveliestenthusiasm. It was in vain that night struggled to draw its veil over ourcity, it had to yield before the general and magnificent illuminationwhich brought out in lines of fire the shape and admirable form of theDuomo. Most of the palaces and private houses were covered with devicesand inscriptions. The first one of the days consecrated to the liveliestnational rejoicing was ended by a vast exhibition of fireworks, which wereset off on the spot where so many have perished at the stake. "

The next day games were celebrated, in the manner of the ancients, in acircus rivalling the Roman amphitheatres in size. This was the occasion ofa dithyrambic outburst inserted in the _Moniteur_: "The Italians have justoffered Napoleon the same spectacle that their ancestors offered MarcusAurelius and Trajan; but the presence of Napoleon has called forth morejoy and admiration, because it has aroused greater admiration and higherhopes. They were but the preservers of Italian greatness; he is itscreator and its father. In the pomp of the games, amid the tumultuousapplause, the immense mass of people were to be seen turning their eyestowards him alone, as if they were saying to him: 'These festivities arebut feeble expressions of the gratitude that all Italy vows to you for allthe good you have done her; and since you deign to accept it, since youlike to sit among us as our Prince and our father, these festivitiesbecome an augury to us of still greater benefit. The day will perhaps comewhen Italy, restored to this new life, may be able to adorn its circuswith the monuments of its own bravery which will also be the monuments ofyour glory; and Italy, being never doomed to perish, whatever great deedsmay be wrought by Italians in the course of centuries will be due to thehero who has recalled them to life. '" After the races there was a balloonascension. The courageous wife of the aeronaut Garnerin accompanied himand threw down flowers to Napoleon and Josephine. "Thus, " the _Moniteur_goes on, "in a single day, at one show, the Italians have combined theproudest pomp of the ancients and the boldest invention of modern science, together with the presence of a hero who excels both ancients andmoderns. "

The 29th of May was devoted to popular festivities. All the afternoon thepublic gardens were crowded with musicians, singers, mountebanks, andpedlars. In the evening the via della Riconoscenza, as far as the EastGate, was lit by lampstands, and at the end of a long row there was aneagle of fire holding on his breast an iron crown. 

Nothing was neglected to touch the national pride of Italy. An article inthe _Moniteur_, speaking of a poem of Vincenzo Monti's, said: "Whatinterest the poet has aroused, in recalling the glorious titles of ancientItaly, the disasters and degradation which followed this period of glory, in evoking the shades of those remote days, and after them, the shade ofDante who, by the wisdom of his maxims, is superior to the poets of othernations; of Dante, the most enthusiastic admirer of the former glory ofthe Italians, the severest censor of the corruption into which Italy hadfallen in his time; of Dante, whose sole ambition was to prepare the newbirth of Italy! And how did he prepare it? By preaching union to theinhabitants of the different countries of Italy, and to the publicauthorities the consecration of power modified by the laws. "

June 3 Napoleon and Josephine went to visit an industrial and artisticexhibition at the Brera. There they saw Canova's Hebe, and his colossalstatue of Clement XIII. "The desire of seeing and approaching thesovereign, " says the _Moniteur_, "had made the crowd larger. Anoctogenarian who had in vain struggled to get to a staircase before him, was hustled and knocked down on the steps by the eager multitude. TheEmpress, who was following, ran to his aid. The Emperor turned back, questioned the old man, who was more disturbed by his joy than by hisfall, asked him his name and a memorandum, and promised to look out forhim. This scene produced a deep impression, and Their Majesties were ledback amid universal applause and thanksgivings. "

At Milan, Josephine, who had become Queen of Italy, inhabited, with theEmperor, the magnificent Monza Palace. But, perhaps, in all the splendorof the highest point of her good fortune, she regretted the SerbelloniPalace, where, nine years before, she exercised so beneficent an influenceon her husband's destiny, and had protected him with her affection, aswith a talisman. Doubtless the Empress and Queen would have returnedgladly to the time when she was called simply Citizeness Bonaparte. Then, instead of the imperial and royal diadem, she possessed youth, which isbetter than any crown, and her husband gave her something preferable toany throne--his love! There the generals used to wear less showy uniforms, more moderate salaries, but they were more enthusiastic, and unselfish. Then Bonaparte's glory was less famous, but purer. When she saw Milanagain, after many years' absence, Josephine recalled all the happiness andall the misery that had occurred meanwhile, all the grandeur and thetragedy that had filled this period so brief, but so crowded withmarvellous events. 

There were many happy memories, but also many shadows! This look backwardwas not without melancholy. When she saw the approach of the autumn of heramazing career, Josephine could not think without secret sadness of thesplendor of its summer. While her husband proudly enjoyed his satisfiedambition, she dreamed and pondered seriously. She desired once more to seethe places which recalled the pleasantest memories of her first journey:the lake of Como, with the Villa Julia and Pliny's house; the LagoMaggiore and Borromean Islands; the palaces of the Isola Bella and theIsola Madre; all the enchanting spots which recalled the gracious memoriesof youth and love. 

June 7 Napoleon appointed Eugene de Beauharnais Viceroy of the Kingdom ofItaly, and three days later left Milan with Josephine. In all theprincipal cities of the Empire his coronation had been celebrated bypublic rejoicings. Murat had given a ball at his castle of Neuilly, aboutwhich the _Journal des Débats_ had said: "At the same moment when the artsof ingenious Italy were displaying all their marvels under the eyes ofTheir Majesties, French gallantry and gaiety were rendering similar homageto the happy reign which had recalled them from a long exile. "Aix-la-Chapelle inaugurated the statue of the great Carlovingian Emperoramid salvos of artillery and the applause of the Germanic populace, whosaluted at the same time the names of Charlemagne and of Napoleon. 

XIV. 

THE FESTIVITIES AT GENOA. 

The Italian journey closed as brilliantly as it began. After leavingMilan, Napoleon approached the frontiers of Austria, against which he wasto fight before the end of the year, visiting the celebratedquadrilateral, consisting of the four fortified towns: Mantua, Peschiera, Verona, and Legnago. He was present at a mimic representation of thebattle of Castiglione, in which twenty-five thousand men took part on thefield upon which that battle had been fought; then he went to Bologna, where the charms of his conversation were highly appreciated by thelearned professors of its university. While he was there a deputation fromLucca visited him, asking him to take that little country under hisprotection. He gave it for Prince and Princess, his brother-in-law, FelixBacciocchi, and his sister Elisa, to whom he had already entrusted theDuchy of Piombino. Lucca was thus elevated to a hereditary principality, adependent of the French Empire, which should revert to the French crown incase the male line of the Bacciocchi should become extinct. It was a sortof revival of the old Germanic fiefs. Evidently the memory of Charlemagnecontinually filled Napoleon's thoughts. Elisa thenceforth bore the titleof Princess of Lucca and of Piombino. She was a well educated and ablewoman, of marked intelligence and strong will. M. De Talleyrand used tocall her "the Semiramis of Lucca. " After Bologna, Napoleon visited Modena, Parma, and Piacenza. The cities he passed through rivalled one another inflattery. They voted him medals, statues, and even a temple, which, however, the demi-god declined. 

June 30 Napoleon and Josephine arrived at Genoa, where they were to staytill July 7, amid unprecedented festivities celebrating the incorporationof the old Republic with the French Empire. It was a singular sight, thisenthusiastic reception of a Corsican by the Genoese. While at Milan, theEmperor had received M. Durazzo, the last Doge of Genoa, who had come tobeg him to permit the illustrious Republic, famous for its historicalsplendor, to exchange its independence for the honor of becoming a plainFrench department. The offer was accepted. The home of Andrea Doria, thecity of marble palaces, that municipality once called "the superb" hadbegged as a favor to be stricken from the list of independent states. Itcontented itself with being the principal town in the twenty-seventhmilitary division, and its doge, dispossessed by his own desire, went toswell the number of the Senators of the Empire. Napoleon took formalpossession of his peaceful conquest, and slept in the palace, and in thebed of Charles V. 

The night festivity, given in the harbor, July 2, was, in the way ofpicturesqueness, one of the most original and most beautiful ever seen. The sky was clear, the sea calm, the crowd of spectators enormous. Napoleon and Josephine, going down from the terrace in the garden of thePalazzo Doria, entered a large round temple, magnificently decorated, which was at once set in motion as if by magic, and transported by manyoars to the middle of the harbor. Four rafts, covered with shrubbery, resembling floating islands, then drew up to the temple. The sovereignswere thus, in open sea, enclosed in a vast garden with trees, flowers, statues, and fountains. About this garden of Armida, thus radiant upon thewaves, were a multitude of boats, under sail or propelled by oars, movingabout, and their lights resembled the swarms of fireflies that in summerflutter above the fields of Lombardy. The mild temperature favored thisjoyous festival. The whole city, all the buildings, every vessel, wereablaze with a thousand lights, and the glassy sea reflected numberlessflames. The darkness of night gave the signal for the illuminations. Magnificent fireworks were set off from the mole, the jetty, and the shipslining the entrance of the harbor. Music mingled with the joyous cries ofthe multitude. The temple in which were Napoleon and Josephine was rowedback to the terrace of the Palazzo Doria amid the applause of the crowdlining the shore. 

The next day the Emperor and Empress were at a ball given in the old DucalPalace. "The presence of Their Majesties in this superb building, " saysthe _Moniteur_, "the kindness with which they deigned to speak to everyone, gave this festivity a touching character. All who saw and heard oursovereigns, rejoiced in their new destinies. The concert was followed by aball, and Their Majesties stayed through the several dances, leaving aboutmidnight. Their path was lit by numberless candles. On their way they meta multitude, delighted even at that hour, to be able to discern some ofour monarch's features. "

In spite of all these splendid ceremonies Josephine, though idolized, wasnot happy. "In general, " Mademoiselle Avrillon says with justice, "thepublic has a very faint knowledge of the real feelings of those in thehighest station. Being often on show, they are obliged to assume afictitious character, just as they dress themselves for great ceremonies. I have seen the Empress's sufferings, whom nothing could console for herseparation from her children, whom she loved above everything. Ambitionswere less to her than maternal love, her strongest feeling. The thought ofleaving her son in Italy, the fear of never seeing him again, or thecertainty of seeing him seldom, made her shed tears. " One day when she wasin more distress than usual, Napoleon said to her: "You are crying, Josephine; that's absurd; you are crying because you are going to beseparated from your son. If the absence of your children gives you so muchpain, judge what I must suffer. The affection you show them makes me feelmost acutely my unhappiness in having none. " These words sounded inJosephine's ears like a funeral knell. She saw the spectre of divorcerising before her, and turned pale. From Genoa they went to Turin. Napoleon heard there of the coalition preparing against him, and leftsuddenly for France with Josephine. Non-commissioned officers of theGrenadiers and the Chasseurs of the Guard served as escort, but they wereunable to keep up with the carriages, so the Emperor thanked them fortheir zeal and pushed on without them. He did not stop once for twenty-four hours. Josephine, who never tormented her husband by complaining, didnot say a word about the fatigues of this quick journey. After an absenceof a hundred days, they reached Fontainebleau, July 11. No one expectedthem and no preparations had been made for their reception. Theirdeparture from Turin had been so recent, and it resembled a flight. TheEmperor did not wish to be recognized on the way, and burst intoFontainebleau like a bombshell. The palace porter was an old servant, named Guillot, who had been Napoleon's cook in Egypt. "Well, " the Emperorsaid to him, "you must go back to your old business and cook us somesupper. " Fortunately the porter had in his sideboard some mutton-chops andeggs. He set to work, and Napoleon ate this improvised meal with greatrelish. Josephine borrowed some linen from one of her old chambermaids. The Emperor asked for a full account of everything that had happened inParis during his absence, and began to draw up the plans which were to beaccomplished at Austerlitz before the end of the year. July 18, at one inthe afternoon, he arrived at Saint Cloud, accompanied by the Empress, amidthe roar of the cannon at the Invalides. That evening they went into thecity, called on Napoleon's mother, and went to the opera, where the_Prétendus_ was given; the audience greeted them most warmly. After allthe splendor of the Italian festivities the time had come for militarypreparations and warlike thoughts. 

XV. 

DURING THE CAMPAIGN OF AUSTERLITZ. 

Austerlitz was to be for the Empire what Marengo had been for theConsulate: a consolidation. In spite of the pomps of the doublecoronation, Napoleon did not feel firmly established on his Imperial andRoyal throne. Opinions varied with regard to the stability of the newregime. The Liberals missed the Republic, and the Royalists the Bourbons. If the army and the people showed confidence in the Emperor's star, theParisian middle class was always cool, and business men observed withanxiety the hostility of England, Austria, Russia, and possibly Prussia. Paris was gloomy; business was dull; the absence of the court depressedthe shop-keepers; the theatres were empty; in short, the winter wasinfinitely less gay than the one before. There was general uneasiness;wives feared for their husbands; mothers for their sons. Every one hadbecome used to the peace which had lasted five years, and the renewal ofwar inspired the greatest anxiety. 

As for Napoleon, he felt the need of some great stroke that shouldastonish and fascinate the world. He understood that to maintain his famehe was condemned to work miracles. September 23, 1805, he had exposed tothe Senate the hostile conduct of Austria, and had announced his speedydeparture to carry aid to the Elector of Bavaria, the ally of France, whomthe Austrians had just driven from Munich. Five days later he had started, confident of success, and certain that he would find his people at hisfeet on his return. The Empress accompanied him as far as Strassburg, andestablished herself there to be near the scene of war and to receiveearlier news than was possible at Paris. 

Napoleon's letters to Josephine during the Austerlitz campaign have beenpreserved; unfortunately, we have not hers to him. The Emperor writes verydifferently from General Bonaparte. His letters are not the ardent, passionate, romantic epistles recalling the fervid style and thought ofthe _Nouvelle Héloïse_. They are substantial letters, concise andinteresting, such as a good husband might write after ten years ofmarriage, but not at all a lover's letters. Josephine, who was quiteobservant, must have noticed the difference, but she had enough tact andprudence to avoid complaint. 1805 was not 1796; Napoleon still lovedJosephine, but from habit, gratitude, and a sense of duty, not with madpassion. He paid her much attention, held her in high regard, feltsympathy with her, deference, and friendship, but scarcely love. Beneaththe vaulted roof of Notre Dame Napoleon had given to Josephine theImperial diadem, but he had not given her the true crown, --love. 

October 1 the Emperor took command of his army, which had assembled withwonderful promptness on the Rhine. The next day he wrote to the Empressfrom Marenheims: "I am still very well, and leaving for Strassburg, whereI shall arrive this evening. The advance has begun. The armies ofWürtemberg and of Baden are joining mine. I have a good position and loveyou. " October 4 he wrote to her: "I am at Ludwigsberg, and leave to-night. There is no news. All the Bavarians have joined me. I am well. I hope in afew days to have something interesting to tell you. Keep well and believethat I love you. There is a very fine court here, a pretty bride, and thepeople are pleasant, even the Elector's wife, who seems very good, although she is a daughter of the King of England. "

October 5 Napoleon sent another letter to Josephine from Ludwigsberg: "Ihave at once to continue my march. You will be five or six days withoutnews of me; don't be anxious; it is on account of the operations weundertake. Are you as well as I could hope? Yesterday I was at the weddingof the son of the Elector of Würtemberg with a niece of the King ofPrussia. I want to give her a present of from thirty-six to forty thousandfrancs. Have it made and send it by one of my chamberlains to the bridewhen the chamberlains are coming to me. Do this at once. Good by; I loveand kiss you. "

These five or six days of silence were taken up by the opening ofhostilities on the road from Stuttgart to Ulm, the crossing of the Danube, and the occupation of Augsburg. From this city Napoleon wrote to JosephineOctober 10: "I spent last night with the former Elector of Trèves, who hascomfortable quarters. I have been on the move for a week. The campaignopens with noteworthy successes. I am very well though it rains nearlyevery day. Things have moved very quickly. I have sent to France fourthousand prisoners, eight flags, and have captured fourteen cannon. Goodby, my dear; I kiss you. " Two days later the French army entered Munich intriumph, the Austrians having been driven out of Bavaria. The Emperorwrote to the Empress, October 12: "My army has entered Munich. The enemyis partly on the other side of the Inn; the other army of sixty thousandmen I have blockaded on the Iller between Ulm and Memmingen. The enemy islost, has completely lost its head, and everything promises the luckiest, shortest, and most brilliant campaign ever known. I leave in an hour forBurgau on the Iller. I am well: the weather is frightful. It rains so thatI have to change my clothes twice a day. I love you. "

The first successes of the campaign caused great excitement in Paris, asis shown by the letters of Madame de Rémusat, no great lover of militaryglory, to her husband, who had accompanied the Empress to Strassburg;every day this lady would jot down what had happened, and her interestingcorrespondence brings the period vividly before us. October 12, she wrote, the absence of the Empress leaving her time heavy on her hands: "Howgloomy and ill we are in this odious Paris! Please tell M. De Talleyrandthat it is really something pitiable. Not even a word of gossip! In short, we are as bored as we are virtuous. I don't know which is the cause andwhich the effect, but I do know that I am horribly bored. The solitude ofthis great city is really remarkable; the theatres are empty; I hardlyever go to them. "

In two days there was a complete change. Paris woke up as if to a joyoustrumpet-call, and Madame de Rémusat was full of happiness: "My dear, whatgood news!" she wrote October 14, "... This morning the cannon announcedthe victory to the city of Paris; it produced a great effect. Every onewas inquiring about it in the street, and congratulating himself; inshort, I send the Empress word, the Parisians were French. I have alreadywritten twenty notes, and received all the visits of congratulation.... But what a great victory! How proud I am of being a Frenchwoman! Icouldn't sleep for joy. Perhaps by this time you have heard of others, andwhen we are rejoicing over the first victory, you have forgotten it withanother. May Heaven continue to protect this noble army and its gloriousleader!" This enthusiastic letter ends with these somewhat harshcriticising of the Parisians: "This victory was necessary, for these sadParisians had begun to complain. The emptiness of Paris, its quiet, thelack of money which continues to make itself felt, gave to the malevolenta good opportunity to excite dissatisfaction, and they did their best tospread it. I was wondering this very morning why in a nation so devoid ofnational feeling there should be in the army such unity of action andthought. It seems to me that honor has a good deal to do with thisdifference, and that it takes the place of public spirit in many who inordinary times are too happy, too rich, and too careless to care foranything beyond their own belongings. "

Napoleon went from one victory to another, October 18, just before thecapitulation of Ulm, he wrote to Josephine from Elchingen: "I have beenmore tired than I should have been; for a week getting wet through everyday, and cold feet, have done me a little harm, but staying in to-day hasrested me. I have carried out my plan and have destroyed the Austrian armyby simple marches. I have taken sixty thousand prisoners, one hundred andtwenty cannon, more than ninety flags, and more than thirty generals. I amgoing to attack the Russians; they are lost. I am satisfied with my army. I have lost only fifteen hundred men, and two-thirds of these are butslightly wounded. Good by. Remember me to every one. Prince Charles iscoming to cover Vienna. I think Masséna ought to be at Vienna at thistime. As soon as I am easy about Italy I shall make Eugene fight. My loveto Hortense. "

The capitulation of Ulm was arranged by Napoleon with Prince Lichtenstein, Major-General of the Austrian army. A heavy rain fell without cessation, and the prisoners were amazed to see the Emperor, who had not taken offhis boots for a week, wet through, covered with mud, and more tired thanthe humblest drummer. When some one spoke of it, he said to PrinceLichtenstein: "Your Emperor wanted to remind me that I was a soldier. Ihope he will acknowledge that the throne and the Imperial purple have notmade me forget my old trade. " October 21, the day after the capitulation, Napoleon wrote to Josephine: "I am very well, my dear. I leave at once forAugsburg. I have made an army of thirty-three thousand men surrender. Ihave taken from sixty to seventy thousand prisoners, more than ninetyflags, and more than two hundred cannon. In the military annals there isno such defeat. Keep well. I am a little worried. For three days theweather has been pleasant. The first column of prisoners starts for Franceto-day. Each column contains six thousand men. " Never had war been foughtwith such art. An army of eighty-five thousand men had been destroyedalmost without firing a gun; its adversaries had lost only three thousandmen. After this great victory Napoleon's soldiers said, "The Emperor beatthe enemy with our legs, not with our bayonets. "

These chronicles of war have a sad side even when they commemorate themost brilliant victories. Even while he counts the trophies the historiancannot avoid melancholy reflections. What capitulations awaited Francesixty-five years after this capitulation of Ulm! But in this intoxicationof victory, people have eyes only for their success. Were they reasonable, they would then reflect on the calamities of war. Hortense, who was askind as her mother, Josephine, had this wisdom and pity. She said, "When Iread these accounts I am surprised to find myself ready to weep even whenI am happy at the victories. " At the time Madame de Rémusat wrote to herhusband: "Poor creatures that we are, how restless we are on thissandhill, and too often only to hasten our end! A good subject for thephilosopher is this glory, with which we adorn our eagerness in killingone another. " The triumphal music should not drown the sobs and cries ofthe mothers; we should think of the dead and wounded. But nations are likeindividuals: they never reflect. 

Napoleon pushed on the war with real delight. He felt about war as a goodworkman feels about his work, as a great artist about his art. To war itwas that he owed his power and glory. Without it, he said, he would havebeen nothing; by it, he was everything. Hence he felt for it not merelylove, but gratitude; loving it both by instinct and calculation. Hepreferred the bivouac to the Tuileries. Just as the snipe-shooter prefersa marsh to a drawing-room, he was more at home under a tent than in apalace. To men who like the battle-field, war is the most intense ofpleasures. They love it as the gamester loves play, with a real frenzy. They defeat the enemy, not merely without feeling, but with a fierce joy, as if it were their prey. They feel the same emotions as the Romans in acircus, or the Spaniards at a bull-fight. The rattle of drums, the blareof trumpets, shouts of soldiers, are what they hear; their ears are deafto the cries of the wounded and dying. The varying chances of the combat, the uncertainties of fear and hope produce in them emotions that theyprefer to all others, however poetic and charming. It is with a sort ofintoxication that they inhale the smell of gunpowder, perhaps even that ofblood. A hotly contested victory is more agreeable to them than one tooeasily gained. Fortune is, in their eyes, a difficult mistress, whosefavors seem the dearer, the harder they are of attainment. What asatisfaction for a proud man to be absolute commander of an army which, before the fight, shouts like the ancient gladiators: _Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant!_ "Hail, Caesar, those about to die salute you!" anarmy in which even dying men shout applause, with their last breath, totheir sovereign, their idol! And yet how petty is all this glory! Bossuetwas right when he said: "What could you find on earth strong and dignifiedenough to bear the name of power? Open your eyes, pierce the dusk. All thepower in the world can but take a man's life: is it then such a greatthing to shorten by a few moments a life which is already hastening to itsend?"

Josephine did not in the least share her husband's warlike tastes. Gentle, kindly, affectionate, full of pity for human woes, she would have liked toreconcile all parties, all nations, --to have universal peace. This woman, who had all the graces and charms of her sex, never inspired Napoleon withambitious or haughty thoughts. While the war lasted, she was anxious, unhappy; waiting anxiously with bated breath for news, scarcely living. 

Napoleon, wrote to her from Augsburg, October 28: "The last two nightshave rested me completely, and I leave for Munich to-morrow; I amsummoning to me M. De Talleyrand and M. Maret; I shall see them for ashort time, and then leave for the Inn, where I mean to attack Austria inits hereditary states. I should have been glad to see you, but don'texpect me to summon you unless there should be an armistice, or we shouldgo into winter quarters. Good by, my dear; a thousand kisses. Remember meto all the ladies. " From Munich the Emperor wrote the following letter, dated October 27; "I have received your letter from Lamarois. I am sorryto see that you have been over-anxious. I have heard many details of youraffection for me, but you should have more strength, and confidence. Besides, I had told you I should not write for six days. To-morrow Iexpect the Elector. At noon I start to strengthen my movement on the Inn. My health is very fair. You mustn't think of crossing the Rhine in lessthan two or three weeks. You must be cheerful, and amuse yourself in thehope of our meeting before the end of the month (Brumaire). I am advancingon the Russian army. In a few days I shall have crossed the Inn. Good by, my dear; much love to Hortense, to Eugene, and to the two Napoleons. Keepthe wedding present for some time yet. Yesterday I gave a concert to theladies of this court. The leader is a worthy man. I have shot pheasantswith the Elector; you see I am not worn out. M. De Talleyrand has come. "Again, from Haag, November 3, 1805: "I am advancing rapidly; the weatheris very cold; the snow is a foot deep. This is not pleasant. Fortunately, we have an abundance of wood; we are continually in the forests. I amfairly well. Everything goes on satisfactorily; the enemy has more causefor anxiety than I. I am eager to hear from you, and to know that yourmind is easy. Good by, my dear; I am going to bed. "

Napoleon continued his operations with startling rapidity. He wrote toJosephine November 5: "I am at Linz. The weather is fine. We are withintwenty-eight leagues of Vienna. The Russians are retreating without makinga stand. The house of Austria is much embarrassed; all the belongings ofthe court have been removed from Vienna. You will probably have some newsin five or six days. I am very anxious to see you. My health is good. " TheEmperor of Austria, compelled to leave Vienna, had sought refuge at Brunn, where he joined the Czar and the second Russian army; and Napoleon enteredthe capital whence the Emperor Francis had fled. He wrote to JosephineNovember 15: "I have been for two days in Vienna, a little tired. I havenot yet seen the city by daylight, but have only passed through it bynight. To-morrow I receive the authorities. Almost all my troops arebeyond the Danube in pursuit of the Russians. Good by, dear Josephine; assoon as possible I shall arrange for you to come. I send much love. " Thenext day he wrote again to the Empress from Vienna: "I am writing to M. DeNarville to arrange for you to go to Baden, thence to Stuttgart, andthence to Munich. At Stuttgart you will give the present to the PrincessPaul. Fifteen or twenty thousand francs will be enough for it; the restwill be enough for a present to the daughter of the Elector of Bavaria atMunich. All that you heard from Madame de Sérent is definitely arranged. Bring presents for the ladies and officers in waiting on you. Be pleasant, but receive all their homages; they owe you everything, and you owe themnothing, except in the way of politeness. The Electress of Würtemberg is adaughter of the King of England; you should treat her well, and especiallywithout affectation. I shall be glad to see you as soon as business willpermit. I am leaving for the front. The weather is admirable; there ismuch snow, but everything is in good condition. Good by, my dear one. " Onthe receipt of this letter, Josephine, who was most anxious to see herhusband, hastened away from Strassburg to go to Munich through Baden andWürtemberg. At the same time Napoleon set off to meet the Austrian andRussian armies, commanded by their respective Emperors, in Moravia. 

We have in the Memoirs of General de Ségur, an eye-witness, an interestingaccount of the eve of Austerlitz. Late in the afternoon Napoleon entered ahut, and took his place at table in the best of spirits, along with Murat, Caulaincourt, Junot, Ségur, Rapp, and a few other guests. They thoughtthat he would talk about the next day's battle. Not at all: he discussedliterature with Junot, who was familiar with all the new tragedies; he hada good deal to say about Raynouard's _Templars_, about Racine, Corneille, and the fate of the ancient drama. Then, by a singular transition, hebegan to talk about his Egyptian campaign. "If I had captured Acre, " hesaid, "I should have put my army into long trousers, and have made it mysacred battalion, my Immortals, and have finished my war against the Turkswith Arabians, Greeks, and Armenians. Instead of fighting here in Moravia, I should be winning a battle of Issus, and be making myself Emperor of theWest, returning to Paris through Constantinople. "

After dinner Napoleon wished to make a final reconnoissance of the enemy'sposition by their bivouac fires; he mounted his horse and rode out betweenthe lines. One moment he came near paying dear for his imprudence; he wenttoo far forward and suddenly fell on a post of Cossacks, and had it notbeen for the devotion of the chasseurs who escorted him, he would havebeen killed or captured, and he was scarcely able to escape at fullgallop. After crossing the stream which covered the front of the Frencharmy, he dismounted and returned to his bivouac, from one watch-fire toanother, on foot. On his way he stumbled over the stump of a tree and fellto the ground. Then a grenadier took some straw, rolled it up to somethinglike a torch, and lit it; other soldiers did the same thing; the camp wasilluminated, and the face of the great conqueror was plainly to be seen. The next day was December 2, the anniversary of his coronation. "Emperor, "shouted an old soldier, "I promise you in the name of the grenadiers ofthe army that you will have to fight only with your eyes, and that to-morrow we shall bring you the flags and artillery of the Russian army tocelebrate the anniversary of your coronation. " Every one shouted applause. Napoleon in vain tried to stop them. "Silence, " he commanded, "until to-morrow! think of nothing but sharpening your bayonets!" Shouts of "Longlive the Emperor!" were repeated. Along a line of two leagues blazedthousands of fires and flames. The Russians wondered what was the cause ofthis unusual brilliancy, and thought the French were retreating. Napoleonwas at first annoyed by this rapturous demonstration, but at last he wastouched by it, and passing through a number of bivouacs, all brightly lit, he expressed his gratitude to his soldiers, saying it was the happiestevening of his life. Then he went to his tent, snatched a little sleep, and when he rose in the morning, said, "Now, gentlemen, we are beginning agreat day. "

A moment later, the commanders of the different army corps, Murat, Lannes, Bernadotte, Soult, Davout, came galloping up the little mound which thesoldiers called the Emperor's hill, to receive his final orders. It was asolemn, impressive moment. "If I were to live, " says General de Ségur, "aslong as the world shall last, I shall never forget that scene.... Timeshave changed quickly since then. Heavens! how great everything was then, how brave the men, how glorious the time, how imposing the appearance offate!" Never was there a more brilliant triumph. "I have fought thirtybattles like that, " said the conqueror, "but I have never seen so decisivea victory, or one where the chances were so unevenly balanced. " And thenfull of admiration for his soldiers, he exclaimed; "I am satisfied withyou; you have covered your eagles with undying glory. "

From a military point of view Austerlitz was Napoleon's greatest triumph. War, which he loved with all its risks and emotions, then showed him itsmost tempting side. He was always tempting fate, and fate had alwaysfavored him. The hour had not yet struck when he was to ask more offortune than it could give. As Sainte-Beuve truly says, it was not till inthe icy plain of Eylau, from the cemetery covered with blood-stained snow, that receiving the first warning of Providence, he had a sort of terriblevision of what the future held in store for him. Then he had before hiseyes a sort of rehearsal of the horrors awaiting him in Russia, and at thesight of so many corpses, and the awful scene, he said with deepmelancholy, "This sight is one to fill kings with love of peace and horrorof war. " But at Austerlitz it was very different. The shrieks of theRussians sinking through the holes torn in the ice by cannon-balls weredrowned in the shouts of the victors. The bright sunlight of that day oftriumph dispelled, all traces of gloom in the conqueror's heart. 

December 3. Napoleon wrote thus to Josephine about his victory: "Idespatched Lebrun to you from the battle-field. I have beaten the Russianand Austrian armies commanded by the two Emperors. I am a little tired. Ihave bivouacked for a week in the open air, and the nights have been cool. To-night I am going to sleep in the castle of Prince Kaunitz, where Ishall get two or three hours' rest. The Russian army is not merelydefeated, but destroyed. Much love. " December 3, he had an interview inhis bivouac with the Emperor of Austria; and as if to apologize for thewretched quarters in which he received him, he said, "This is the palacewhich Your Majesty has compelled me to inhabit these three months. " TheEmperor of Austria replied, "You make such good use of it, that youcertainly can't blame me on that account. " And then the two Emperorsembraced. 

The day Napoleon wrote to Josephine: "I have made a truce. The Russianswithdraw. The battle of Austerlitz is the greatest I have won: forty-fiveflags, more than one hundred and fifty cannon, the standards of theRussian guards, twenty generals, more than twenty thousand killed, --ahorrid sight! The Emperor Alexander is in despair, and is leaving forRussia. Yesterday I saw the Emperor of Germany in my bivouac; we talkedfor two hours, and agreed on a speedy peace. The weather is not yet verybad. Now that the continent is at peace, we may hope for it everywhere;the English will be unable to face us. I shall see with pleasure the timethat will restore me to you. For two days a little trouble with the eyeshas been prevalent in the army. I have not yet been attacked. Good by, mydear. I am fairly well, and very anxious to see you. " December 3, therewas another letter, also from Austerlitz: "I have concluded an armistice, and peace will be made within a week. I am anxious to hear that you havereached Munich in good health. The Russians are going back after sufferingimmense losses: more than twenty thousand killed and thirty thousandcaptured; they have lost three-quarters of their army. Buxhövden, theircommander-in-chief, is killed. I have three thousand wounded and seven oreight hundred killed. I have a little trouble with my eyes: an epidemic;it amounts to nothing. Good by; I am anxious to see you once more. To-night I sleep in Vienna. "

Cambacérès said that the news of the victory of Austerlitz filled thepopulace with the wildest joy, which expressed itself in the mostextravagant flattery. The Emperor was treated like a god, and naturally asovereign so flattered did not control his love of war. It was only on hisdeathbed that Louis XIV. Said, "I have been overfond of war!" He saidnothing of the sort when the gates of Saint Martin and of Saint Denis werebuilt in his honor, when his statue was put up in the Place des Victoires, when Lebrun painted the proud frescoes in the gallery at Versailles. LikeLouis XIV. , Napoleon reproached himself with excessive love of war; but itwas not after Austerlitz, but after Waterloo. No man is worthy ofadoration; it belongs to God alone. Woe to the princes who are fed onflattery! Extravagant laudation brings its punishment; even in this worldpride has its fall. 

The enthusiasm was universal; the victorious French could not containthemselves for joy, and wholly lost their heads. Thus even Madame deRémusat, who, after the defeat, had shown herself so severe, one mightalmost say so cruel, towards Napoleon, wrote thus to her husband, December18, 1805, after the news of Austerlitz: "You cannot imagine how excitedevery one is. Praise of the Emperor is on every one's lips; the mostrecalcitrant are obliged to lay down their arms, and to say with theEmperor of Russia, 'He is the man of destiny!' Day before yesterday I wentto the theatre with Princess Louis to hear the different bulletins read. The crowd was enormous because the cannon in the morning had announced thearrival of news; every thing was listened to, and then applauded withcries such as I had never imagined. I wept copiously all the time. I wasso moved that I believe if the Emperor had been present, I should haveflung my arms about his neck, to beg for pardon afterwards at his feet. After this I supped out: every one plied me with questions. I knew thewhole bulletin by heart, and kept repeating it; and was glad to be able totell the news to so many people, to repeat those simple impressive words, with a feeling of owning them, which you can understand better than I candefine. I missed you much in all my joy, which I should have gladly sharedwith you; but in your absence I tried to communicate my admiration to ourson. Instead of making him finish the life of Alexander, which he has beenreading for two days, it occurred to me to have him read aloud the_Moniteur_, and he was so much pleased that he said he thought it all muchgreater than Alexander. "

Alas! thoughtful people should never forget how much greater is virtuethan success. In this low world no one takes a lofty enough view ofthings. Not after defeat, but after victory, is the time to speak of warseriously and sadly. If Napoleon in the hour of triumph had not beenflattered to excess, if at the proper moment the lessons of history, philosophy, and religion had been enforced upon him, he would not haverushed blindly into the gulf that finally swallowed him. Nothing is lesshumane, less Christian, than the extravagant praise lavished on theconquerors of the earth. Laymen and priests are equally to blame, for theflatterers of conquerors bear perhaps a heavier responsibility than theconquerors themselves. In the ancient triumphs, at least there was a slavecharged with reminding the hero that he was but a man; in modern times, there is nothing of the sort; the hero can imagine himself more thanmortal. Why does not the clergy, instead of intoning a _Te Deum_, take thepart of that slave? Is it well to forget that those nations who are mostmodest in success are bravest and most resigned in misfortune? Those whoseheads are turned by prosperity cannot endure reverses. For society, as forindividuals, nothing is more baneful than outbursts of joy and pride. Thevaster a monarch's power, the greater his need to meditate on thefickleness of fate; but the lessons of wisdom are never recalled till theyare useless; they are whispered into his ears only when they can but add asting to defeat. 

XVI. 

THE MARRIAGE OF PRINCE EUGENE. 

Both before and after the battle of Austerlitz a great part of Germany wasat Napoleon's feet. The Electors of Baden, Würtemberg, and Bavaria thelast two of whom were to become kings by the consent of the newCharlemagne, testified an enthusiastic admiration for him, and were all toprofit by his victory. The petty princes who were about to enter theConfederation of the Rhine were his humble vassals, and paid obsequiouscourt to his Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. De Talleyrand. The archivesof our Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have to be consulted for an exactunderstanding of their servility and flattery. Moreover, the populaceitself shared the feelings of their princes. The Bavarians regardedNapoleon as their liberator. French manners and ideas were more than everprevalent on the banks of the Rhine, and Germanic patriotism pardonedFrance the possession of the left bank of this river. If Napoleon had notabused fortune, what grand and pacific things might he not haveaccomplished in concert with Germany, and what progress might not havebeen made for the harmony of nations, for civilization and humanity!

We quote a letter written before the battle of Austerlitz, November 26, 1805, by the Elector of Bavaria to M. De Talleyrand, then in Vienna: "Youare the most amiable of men, my dear Talleyrand. Your two letters which Ireceived last evening have given me the greatest pleasure. How grateful Iam that you should have thought of me and of Munich when you are in themost beautiful city in Germany, and hearing every day the famousCrescentini! I do as much for you, Your Excellency, but the merit is notthe same. Every evening I express my regret that you are not here. M. DeCanisy has announced the arrival of the Emperor in a week. Six days havepassed, and I am hoping to see him in three days at the outside, and theEmpress, Saturday next. My wife arrived day before yesterday, veryanxious, as is her chaste spouse, to pay our court to Their ImperialMajesties, and to offer them all the honors of Munich. Lay me before thefeet of the hero to whom I owe my present and future existence, and speakto him often of my respect, of my enthusiasm for his virtues, and of myheartiest and incessant gratitude. I hope that the coalition will soongrow tired of war; in any event, the lessons the Emperor has given it thelast two months are of a nature to inspire disgust with it. "

November 10, 1805, Napoleon had written to Josephine to leave Strassburgfor Munich, stopping at Carlsruhe and Stuttgart. In this letter he hadsaid:

"Be pleasant, but receive all their homages; they owe you everything, andyou owe them nothing, except in the way of politeness. " He was notmistaken. This trip of the Empress's through Germany was to be one seriesof festivities and ovations. Before she left Strassburg she received avisit from the Elector of Baden, whose grandson, the hereditary prince, was, the next year, to marry Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauharnais, inspite of the opposition of his mother, the Margravine. M. Massias, chargéd'affaires of France at Baden, wrote to M. De Talleyrand, November 13: "MyLord, His Most Serene Highness the Elector, has returned with his familyfrom Strassburg, where he was most kindly received by Her Majesty theEmpress and Queen. He invited her to honor Carlsruhe with her presence, and to accept quarters in his castle when she should go to join HisMajesty the Emperor and King. Her Majesty the Empress seemed pleased withthe invitation and promised to accept it if circumstances should permit. Before his departure, the Elector sent the Prince Electoral to theMargravine his mother, to beg her to come to Strassburg to pay herrespects to Her Majesty the Empress. She replied that when the Empress ofAustria was at Frankfort and the Queen of Prussia at Darmstadt, she hadnot left Carlsruhe to visit them, and that if the Empress of the Frenchshould pass through that town, she should gladly pay her all the respectand honor due her rank and character. "

Charles Frederick, Elector of Baden, was then seventy-seven years old. Hehad lost his son, and his heir was his grandson, Charles Frederick Louis, Prince Electoral, then twenty years old. The mother of this young Prince, the Margravine of Baden, entertained no friendly feelings towards France;and he was the brother-in-law of the Emperor of Russia, who had marriedhis sister, and was at war with Napoleon. His other sister, FredericaCaroline, had married the Elector of Bavaria, and he was betrothed to thestep-daughter of this Electress, the young Princess Augusta. They weresaid to be much attached to each other, but their plans of happiness weredestined to be sacrificed to Napoleon's imperious will, for he proposed toarrange the matches of the German Princes as he did those of his ownbrothers. The Electoral Prince of Baden and the old Elector, hisgrandfather, far from complaining, only showed to the Emperor mostunbounded devotion. 

We may judge of their attitude and their respect by this despatch of M. Massias, chargé d'affaires at Carlsruhe, addressed to Talleyrand, underdate of November 23, 1805: "My Lord M. De Canisy reached here fromheadquarters at four o'clock this morning, and asked me to inform His MostSerene Highness the Elector that he had been sent by Her Majesty theEmpress, who meant to come to Carlsruhe within two or three days. Ipromised to do this as soon as possible, and told him that greatpreparations had been made to receive Her Majesty in a suitable manner. The Elector, to whom I communicated this news at seven in the morning, expressed the greatest satisfaction, and he has sent me word that in orderto carry out his desire to give Her Majesty a proper reception, he wishesme to send a message to Strassburg to find out, 1, the exact day when shewill arrive; 2, the number of persons in her suite, and how many horsesshe will need; 3, whether she desires to eat alone or with the principalpersons of her own and the Electoral court; 4, to ask to have at once sentan official of the court to arrange the quarters and the ceremoniesaccording to the Empress's wishes. At Kehl, Her Majesty will find acarriage and eight horses from the Elector's stables. Similar relays willbe placed as far as the frontiers of Würtemberg. Her Majesty will beescorted by the Electoral cavalry. She herself will determine theetiquette to be observed at the court of Carlsruhe during her entire stay. 

"His Most Serene Highness, the Prince Electoral, will go as far as Rastadtto meet Her Majesty. The Margrave Louis will meet her outside of Carlsruheat the head of his body-guard. Bells will be rung wherever Her Majestypasses. The city will be brilliantly illuminated. "

November 28, at six in the evening, the Empress formally enteredCarlsruhe, which was amid a general illumination. At the Mühburger gatestood an arch of triumph under which she passed. In front of the arch wasthis inscription: _Pro Imperatrice Josephina_; on the other, _Votivalumina ardent_. At the entrance of the castle gate stood a little templebearing this inscription: _Salve_. In the middle of the garden was alarger temple, in which was to be seen on a pedestal the Emperor's bust, crowned with laurels and surrounded with palms. The inscription ran:_Maximis triumphis sacrum_, --"Consecrated to the greatest triumphs. " Ontwo pyramids was to be read this motto: "Love leads to glory. " November29, there was a grand reception and concert in her honor at the court, Atnine o'clock in the morning of the 30th, she left Carlsruhe for Stuttgart, after an affectionate farewell to the Electoral family. 

At seven that evening she made a similar formal entrance into the capitalof Würtemberg, passing under an arch of triumph bearing her namesurmounted by an Imperial crown. Soldiers lined the way from the gate tothe Elector's castle. The main street was decorated with Egyptian altars, and was brilliantly illuminated, as was the castle also. The Elector, hiswife, a daughter of the King of England, and all the court received theEmpress at the castle door and escorted her to her rooms, where shesupped. The next day she sat on a platform at a state dinner in the whitehall. Afterwards the company went to the Opera House, where _Achilles_ wasgiven. After they had returned to the castle there were some finefireworks. These festivities continued until December 2, when _Romeo andJuliet_ was given for the first time, and the 3d, at seven in the morning, Josephine, after bidding the family farewell, pushed on towards Munich, while the troops presented arms and cannon were fired. 

The Empress was not to stop between Stuttgart and Munich, but on her wayshe saw many places that had just become famous in the war. As she drewnear them she looked at the plain where, a few days before, the enemy'sarmy had marched out before Napoleon and laid down its arms. From Augsburgto Munich, everything made her journey most brilliant; arches of triumph, bands of music so numerous that often their notes mingled with oneanother, wreaths of leaves, successive guards of honor who joined her, composed of the Royal Guard of Italy, at nearly every parting station. Asa letter in the _Moniteur_ says, "Enthusiasm succeeded to fear, the whirlof festivities to the lamentation of battle; all that had been said of theEmpress's benevolence seemed still to make part of her suite, and it wasas if the Angel of Peace had come to visit these countries. "

The Empress reached Munich December 5, eight days after leavingStrassburg. A salute of a hundred guns welcomed her. In almost everystreet even houses were draped, windows adorned with transparent andcomplimentary figures; the illuminations of private houses rivalled inexpense and splendor those of the public buildings. State carriages weresent out to the city gates for the Empress and her suite, but Josephinedid not get into any of them; she kept on her travelling dress. This didnot mar the brilliancy of the entrance, which was conspicuous foruniversal joy. December 7, she went to the theatre, where Mozart's _DonJuan_ was given, and she was greeted with sound of trumpets and theapplause of the audience. 

The Empress had scarcely reached Munich before people began to talk aboutan early marriage between her son, Eugene de Beauharnais, and the PrincessAugusta, the daughter of the Elector, but it was still merely a faintrumor. The French minister, M. Otto, wrote December 16, 1805, thefollowing despatch on the subject to M. De Talleyrand: "My Lord, --Immediately after the arrival of Her Majesty the Empress, the rumor spreadthat His Most Serene Highness Prince Eugene was likewise on his way toMunich, there to conclude a marriage with Princess Augusta of Bavaria. Therumor has taken such shape in the last few days that a foreign lady, whohas been most kindly received by the Electoral family, ventured to ask theElector if she might congratulate him on so desirable a marriage. ThisPrince replied that he knew nothing about it; that his daughter waspromised to the Prince of Baden; that the two young people had thestrongest attachment for each other; and that only day before yesterdaythe Electress had received from Baden a most affectionate letter on thesubject; and that he loved his daughter too much to wish to oppose herinclinations. This is the first time that mention has been made at courtof a matter which the public supposed settled quite differently. TheElectress was present at this conversation, and corroborated everythingthat was said concerning her brother's attachment to the Princess. Thisanecdote, which comes to me straight from the castle, proves that theBaden marriage is not broken, as has been said at Carlsruhe, unless theElector wished to conceal the truth from the lady who questioned him onthis subject. Inquisitive people have tried to make out the true state ofthings by watching the conduct of Her Majesty the Empress and the personsof her suite. The relations of the two courts are confined to politenesson each side, to social attentions, in which Her Majesty exhibits all hernatural amiability, which wins every heart. Beyond that, there prevailsthe greatest reserve. "

Maximilian Joseph, Elector of Bavaria, was born in 1756, and was thenfifty years old. He had lost his first wife, who had borne him onedaughter, the Princess Augusta Louisa, who was born in 1788. His secondwife, Caroline, a Princess of Baden, sister of the hereditary Prince ofBaden, to whom the Princess Augusta was betrothed, was then thirty yearsold. Though not handsome, she was not devoid of charm, her figure wasgood, her manners were amiable and dignified. The young Princess Augustawas the ornament of the Munich court. She had all the freshness, brilliancy, and charm of a young German girl of eighteen. As for theElector, he was an attractive, sympathetic man, who combined frankjoviality with tact, wit, and delicacy. He was tall; his face was nobleand regular. He liked the French, and they liked him; it was in Francethat he had spent many years of his youth. As a younger prince of thehouse of Deux Ponts he became Elector only by the extinction of the branchof his family that reigned in Bavaria, In his early life he had nofortune. In the reign of Louis XVI. He served in the French armies, commanding the regiment of Alsace. At the court of Versailles, as in thegarrison at Strassburg, he had left behind him a reputation of goodmanners and chivalrous gallantry. His soldiers, who adored him, called himPrince Max. At that time he might have married a daughter of the Prince ofCondé, but his father and his uncle objected to this match, because, sincehe was not rich, he would doubtless have been compelled to make some ofhis daughters canonesses, and certain chapters would have been unwillingto receive them on account of their illegitimate descent from Louis XIV. And Madame de Montespan. He was fond of recalling the last years of theold régime in France, and spoke most affectionately of that country, inwhich he had been very happy. He was worshipped by his family, hisservants, and his subjects. There was never a kinder, more amiable prince. Often he would stroll unaccompanied through the streets of Munich, goingto the markets, bargain over grain, enter the shops, talking to every one, especially to the children, whom he urged to go to their schools. He wasat once familiar and full of dignity, and he was as much respected asloved. There were many points of resemblance between his character andthat of the Empress Josephine, and they had a very strong sympathy foreach other. 

The Empress was ailing during a good part of her stay in Munich, andwhether for this reason or because Napoleon, who was always moving fromplace to place, did not get his letters regularly, he was for some timewithout news from his wife. He wrote to her from Brunn, December 10, 1805:"It is a long time since I have heard from you. Have the grand festivitiesof Baden, Stuttgart, and Munich made you forget the poor soldier who livescovered with mud, rain, and blood? I am going to leave soon for Vienna. They are trying to make peace. The Russians have left and are fleeing farfrom here, going back to Russia badly beaten and sorely humiliated. I amanxious to be with you once more. Good by, my dear; my eyes are wellagain. "

Napoleon wrote again December 19, renewing his complaint: "Great Empress, not a letter from you since I left Strassburg. You have passed throughBaden, Stuttgart, Munich, without writing us a word. That is not very kindor very affectionate! I am still at Brunn. The Russians are gone; we havea truce. In a few days I shall see what is to become of me. Deign from thegiddy height of your grandeur to interest yourself a little in yourslaves. "

From Schönbrunn he wrote to Josephine, December 20, 1805 (29th Frimaire, Year XIV. ): "I have your letter of the 25th [Frimaire]. I am sorry to hearthat you are not well; that is not a good preparation for a journey of ahundred leagues at this time of year. I don't know what I shall do; thatdepends on what happens. I have no will of my own; I am waiting to see howmatters settle themselves. Stay at Munich, amuse yourself; that is nothard, amid so many pleasant people, in such a charming country. I amtolerably busy. In a few days I shall have made up my mind. Good by, mydear. "

December 26, peace was signed at Pressburg between France and Austria. Thetreaty gave to the Kingdom of Italy, Istria, Dalmatia, and Friuli; to theElector of Würtemberg, the title of King and the Suabian territory; to theElector of Baden, the Breisgau, Ortenau, and the town of Constanz; to theElector of Bavaria, the title of King, the Vorarlburg, and the Tyrol. ButNapoleon had determined that these indemnifications should be paid for bythree marriages, --that of his step-son, Prince Eugene, with the daughterof the King of Bavaria; that of a relative of his wife, MademoiselleStéphanie de Beauharnais, with the hereditary Prince of Baden; that of hisbrother Jerome with the daughter of the King of Würtemberg. 

Napoleon, accompanied by Murat, entered Munich beneath an arch of triumph, December 31, 1805, at a quarter to two in the morning. This entrance inthe night, lit up by torches, was very impressive. The next day, January1, 1806, a herald-at-arms, escorted by numerous horsemen, passed throughthe different quarters of the city, and read the following proclamation, after a flourish of drums and trumpets, while an immense crowd gatheringin every street and crossway loudly applauded: "By the grace of God, thedignity of the sovereign of Bavaria having recovered its old-timesplendor, and this State having resumed the rank it formerly held for thehappiness of its subjects and the glory of the country, be it known thatHis Most Serene Highness the powerful Prince and Lord Maximilian Josephis, by these presents, solemnly proclaimed King of Bavaria and of all thecountries on it dependent. Long live and happily Maximilian Joseph, ourvery gracious King! Long live, and happily, Caroline, our very graciousQueen!" That evening the whole city was full of joy, and the next day wascelebrated as a national festivity. 

Napoleon, having recaptured the twenty-nine cannon and the twenty-oneBavarian flags that had fallen into the hands of the Austrians by thechances of war and the occupation of the country, had decided to restoreto his faithful allies the trophies which they had valiantly defended andwhose loss they mourned. In the morning of January 2, all citizen soldierywas under arms, lining the streets through which was to pass theprocession and their precious burden. The cannon were placed on cartsadorned with festoons and garlands, each cart was drawn by two horsesbelonging to the citizens; the houses were also decorated with differentcolored ribbons. All the young people in the city accompanied these carts. The students of the Royal College of Cadets carried the flags. When theprocession reached the grand square, a large chorus, accompanied by alarge band, sang a song of thanksgiving and victory. The populace and thesoldiers mingled their cheers with this song. The procession then made itsway to the Church of Our Lady, where a _Te Deum_ was sung with greatsolemnity. 

January 4, Napoleon wrote to Prince Eugene: "My Cousin, --Within twelvehours at the most, after the receipt of this letter, you will start withall speed for Munich. Try to get here as soon as possible, so that you maybe sure to see me. Leave your command in the hands of the general ofdivision whom you judge to be most capable and upright. You need not bringa large suite. Start at once, and _incognito_, and so avoid both dangersand delays. Send me a messenger to give me twenty-four hours' notice ofyour arrival. " The Emperor had decreed the marriage of his step-son withPrincess Augusta of Bavaria, but he had to go through certain formalitiesto overcome the objections of the Queen of Bavaria, who wanted herbrother, the hereditary Prince of Baden, to marry the young Princess. Herfamily pride and her inmost feelings revolted against the admission intoher family of a young man whom she looked on as an upstart. She sought forpretexts and devices to delay, if not to prevent, this alliance. No onewould have dared to say at Munich that the Emperor's step-son was notgreat enough to marry a king's daughter, but she found fictitious excuses:it was said that the young Princess was ailing, and at another time thatshe was suffering from a sprain. Napoleon, who sometimes played thediplomatist, feigned to believe in these alleged ailments, and said thathe would send his own surgeon to heal her. He would gladly have returnedspeedily to Paris, where he deemed that his presence was necessary, buthis Chamberlain, M. De Thiard, whom his previous negotiations had madefamiliar with the secrets of the Bavarian court, advised him to stay inMunich until the marriage was absolutely settled. "Very well, " said theEmperor; "but do you know that while I am here, your Faubourg SaintGermain is making a run on my bank, and that my stay in Munich costs mefifteen hundred thousand francs a day?" M. De Thiard insisted, and daredto show Napoleon the Queen of Bavaria's ever-present recollection of theDuke of Enghien, which was the secret cause of her aversion to theprojected alliance. But this opposition could hold out for only a fewhours; no one then dared to brave the Imperial wrath. The Queen, fearingthat Napoleon's surgeon would discover that the Princess's allegedsufferings were only an excuse, yielded to the wishes of the hero ofAusterlitz. The marriage was announced even before the couple had met. Everything was done in military fashion. Orders were issued that theyshould love, and they loved. 

There is this to be said in behalf of Napoleon; that in the whole matterhe made no use of harsh words or rough manners. He appeared in anattractive, not in a threatening light, and by dint of appearing smittenwith the Queen of Bavaria, even aroused Josephine's jealousy. 

Prince Eugene arrived, as commanded, January 10. He had the good fortuneto please; but even if he had not pleased it would have made nodifference. As soon as he reached Munich, after travelling day and night, the Emperor took possession of him and never left him. The Empress wasstill in bed when her son's arrival was announced. She was much moved, andbegan to cry at the thought that his first visit was not to her. A momentlater, while she was still agitated, she saw the Emperor burst into herroom, holding the young Prince by the hand, and pushing him forward as heexclaimed: "Here, Madame, is your great booby of a son whom I'm bringingto you. " Josephine burst into tears, and pressed her son to her heart. 

Eugene de Beauharnais, a French Prince, and Viceroy of Italy, was thentwenty-four years old. Mademoiselle Avrillon, reader to the Empress, thusdraws his portrait: "Prince Eugene's face, although in no way remarkable, was rather well than ill favored; he was of medium height, wellproportioned, and stoutly made. He excelled in all sorts of corporealexercises, and was an accomplished dancer. Kind, frank, simple in hismanners, without haughtiness or reserve, he was courteous to every one;and although he was not devoid of deep feelings, his most striking traitwas persistent good spirits. He was very fond of music, and sang verywell, especially Italian songs, which all his family preferred. As he wasyoung, he naturally paid many women attention, as I have often seen, buthe always treated them with great respect. " Napoleon was very fond of him, and looked upon him as his pupil, as his own child. He was delighted withthe way Eugene discharged his duties as Viceroy, and when he received hisdespatches he exclaimed in the presence of several marshals, "I knew verywell to whom I had entrusted my sword in Italy. " He often gratifiedJosephine by saying, "Eugene may serve as a model to all the young men ofhis age. "

The young Prince showed great tact and intelligence in his first meetingswith his future wife. He sought every means of pleasing her, paid herassiduous court, as if their marriage was still undetermined. He was ableto overcome the Princess's prejudices, for she had given her consent onlyat the last moment, as a victim sacrificed for reasons of state. Herfather, the King, dreading the excitement of an interview, had written toher a letter, in which he set out all the advantages of the match desiredby the Emperor, vaunted the good qualities of the young and dashingViceroy of Italy, an to prove that it was a brilliant match, revealed toher what was then unknown, that at Pressburg the Austrian Minister hadoffered to Napoleon for his step-son the hand of one of theirArchduchesses. "Consider, dear Augusta, that a refusal would make theEmperor as much the enemy as he has been hitherto the friend of ourhouse. " And he ended his letter with a last appeal to his daughter'spatriotic devotion. The young Princess replied by writing: "I place myfate in your hands; however cruel it may be, it will be softened by theknowledge that I am sacrificed for my father, my family, and my country. On her knees your daughter prays for your blessing; it will aid me to bearmy sad lot with resignation. " The girl's unhappiness soon gave way to joy. The Empress had spoken to her most warmly of Eugene's qualities, hisbravery, loyalty, and gallantry, and the Princess found out that Josephinewas right. She forgot her cousin, the Prince of Baden, fellinstantaneously in love with Eugene, and this marriage for reasons ofstate turned out to be a love match. It was celebrated with great pomp inthe Royal Chapel, January 14, four days after the bridegroom's arrival atMunich. The Emperor adopted Prince Eugene, and gave in the marriagecontract the name of Napoleon Eugene of France. This adoption wrought agreat change in their correspondence; previously the Emperor when he wroteto the Viceroy addressed him as, "My Cousin"; henceforth he always wrote, "My Son. " Madame Murat, who was then at Munich, was pained to see that thenew Vice-Queen, as wife of the Emperor's adopted son, took precedence ofher at all ceremonies, and she feigned an illness to avoid what seemed toher an affront. 

On her wedding day the Princess charmed every one by her grace. She wastall, well shaped, with the figure of a nymph, and a face in whichsweetness was blended with dignity. Moreover, she was very well educated, was pious and modest, and the possessor of all the family virtues. Inshort, she was a model wife and mother. She wrote to the Emperor a letterof thanks that touched him. He answered it, January 27: "My Daughter, --Your letter is as amiable as you are yourself. My feelings for you willonly grow from day to day; this I know from my pleasure in recalling yourfine qualities, and from the need I feel for your frequent assurance thatyou are satisfied with every one and happy with your husband. Amid all Ihave to do, nothing will be dearer to me than the chance to assure mychildren's happiness. Be sure, Augusta, that I love you like a father, andthat I count on a daughter's affection for me. Travel slowly, and becareful in the new climate when you get there, and take plenty of rest. "

January 21, Prince Eugene left Munich with his young wife for Milan. Thenext day M. Otto, the French Minister, wrote to M. De Talleyrand: "HisImperial Highness Prince Eugene left yesterday morning with his youngwife. The King escorted them to their carriage with every indication ofaffection. It was noticed that in taking leave of the Prince he embracedhim several times. The separation cost the Princess some tears. Theirdeparture was announced by firing a hundred guns. The best wishes of allgood Bavarians accompanied the pair. The stay of the French court atMunich has left the deepest and most lasting impression. The Emperor'sgreatness and power were known, but the effect of his extreme kindness andmagnificence had to be seen at a closer view to be appreciated. I feelable to assure His Majesty that the Bavarian nation will always be hisfaithful and devoted allies. So many happy memories are attached to thisperiod of our history that His Majesty can flatter himself that he hasaccomplished the most difficult of all conquests, --that of the love of thepeople who have witnessed his successes. "

While the Viceroy and Vice-Queen of Italy were proceeding towards Milan, the Emperor and the Empress were on their way to France, stopping atStuttgart and Carlsruhe, where they were warmly greeted. January 20, 1806, they found an arch of triumph built on a Roman model at Entzberg, inBaden. It bore this inscription: _Imperatori Napoleoni triumphatoriaugusto_. The bas-relief represented the capture of Ulm and the deliveryof the keys of Vienna. Columns and obelisks had been erected at Carlsruhewith these inscriptions: _Hostium victori. --Patriam servavit. --Pacemrestituit_. In front of the castle had been built a temple of Peace. Atthe French frontier stood an arch of triumph with this inscription: _Heroireduci Galliae plaudunt_, --"Gaul applauds the returning hero. " The bas-reliefs represented the battle of Austerlitz and the interview between thetwo Emperors. In the night of January 26, Napoleon and Josephine were backat the Tuileries. Prince Eugene's marriage put a happy ending to thecampaign just finished. To create a king and to give to his step-son thehand of this king's daughter was a stroke of imagination on Napoleon'spart that did honor to his omnipotence. The accounts of the triumphalfestivities in Munich, Stuttgart, and Carlsruhe followed close upon thebulletins announcing the victories of the Grand Army, and produced a greatimpression in both Germany and France. 

XVII. 

PARIS IN THE BEGINNING OF 1806. 

Napoleon arranged his return with the utmost skill. His prolonged stay atMunich kept alive the impatience of the Parisians for his return, andmeanwhile there was a constant stream of flattery and enthusiasm. January1, 1806, had just put an end to the Republican calendar, which had existedfor thirteen years, three months, and a few days. The Year XIV. Founditself suddenly interrupted by the return to the Gregorian calendar. Thusvanished the last trace of the Republic. The same day the new year wasinaugurated with a patriotic ceremony. The Tribune carried with greatsolemnity to the Senate the forty-four Russian and Austrian flags whichthe hero of Austerlitz had entrusted to its care. All the houses in thestreets through which the procession was to pass were decorated. In frontof many of them were to be seen the Emperor's bust crowned with laurels. The ever lyrical _Moniteur_ said: "At the sight of these noble spoils, these startling proofs of the heroism of the French army, all heartsseemed to meet in a common feeling of admiration and gratitude which wasbut faintly expressed by the shouts issuing from the crowd and from everywindow, of 'Long live the Emperor!' 'Hurrah for the Grand Army!' 'Victory, victory!' 'Long live the Emperor!' It was in this way that the people ofParis, of all classes, of both sexes, of all ages, manifested in the mostvivid and unanimous way their devotion and gratitude to His Majesty andhis victorious armies. "

One Tribune, M. Joubert, exclaimed: "Is not Napoleon the man of history, the man of all ages? May we not say that there is something supernaturalin him, since it is true that God disposes of the fate of empires, andthat Napoleon the Great gladly submits everything to Providence andascribes everything to religion?" In their official enthusiasm theTribunes, as accomplished courtiers, made one motion after another. Oneproposed that the Emperor on his return should receive triumphal honors, like those of ancient Rome, and the city of Paris should go to meet him. Another suggested that the sword which he wore at the battle of Austerlitzshould be solemnly consecrated and placed in some public monument. Anotherexpressed a desire that on one of the principal places in the city acolumn should be set up, bearing the Emperor's statue, with thisinscription: "To Napoleon the Great, the grateful country. " The Senate, with similar zeal, hastened to carry out the plan by a decree. 

The Parisians, who always worship success of monarches, generals, orartists, then felt the wildest admiration for the victorious Napoleon. The_Moniteur_ was full of dithyrambic eulogies, in prose and verse. Flatteryappeared as it had never appeared before. Bishops became conspicuous fortheir ardent praise; some phrases from their charges may be quoted. Thusthe Bishop of Versailles said: "God says: 'No one shall resist him, whom Ihave clothed with a special mission to re-establish my worship, to lead mychosen people; no one will resist him because I am with him, and he iswith me. _Dem cum eo_. '"

The Bishop of Bayonne; "Behold our enemies ones more defeated. Letincredulity be silent and the atheist confounded. Our annals will be thestory of the wonders of Providence... Widows, cease to bemoan the loss ofa loved husband; you are not left alone; you belong to the country. Orphans, you have found another father; Napoleon has adopted you. "

The Bishop of Rennes: "Did not those kings know, or did they forget intheir delirium, that the French nation is now the first nation in theworld? Did they not know that the man who governs it is the mostastounding man in the world, and the greatest warrior history has everknown?"

The Bishop of Coutances: "The Almighty wishes Napoleon to attain this newglory and hence impresses upon him a sort of divine character. He wisheshim to attain it on the day and at the same hour that the SovereignPontiff, one year ago, poured on his brow the holy oil. "

The Bishop of Montpellier: "Let the earth be shaken, and the mountainscast into the bosom of the seas; our God blesses the views, the wisdom, the talents, and the courage of our august monarch. "

The Emperor, in dividing the flags which he had captured from Russia andAustria, had given fifty-four to the Senate, eight to the Tribunes, eightto the city of Paris, and fifty to the church of Notre Dame, which hewished to adorn with his trophies as the Marshal of Luxembourg had done inthe reign of Louis XIV. The day when these fifty flags were given to theCathedral the Cardinal Archbishop of France said, "O Posterity, when youread our history you will imagine that you are reading anew the fall ofthe walls of Jericho, and listening to the miraculous deeds of Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus. _Benedictus Dominus qui facit mirabiliasolus_.... God of Marengo, you declare yourself the God of Austerlitz; andthe German eagle, the Russian eagle, abandoned by you, became the prey ofthe French eagle, which you never cease to protect. " A singular piece offlattery this, to call the Creator of the universe--of which this earth isnot a millionth part--the God of a village, because near this village aman has wrought the death of many other men!

Paris seemed to have recovered its ardor of the first days of theRevolution in order to salute the triumphant hero. The day of his arrival, January 27, 1806, the managers of the bank, anxious that his presenceshould be the signal for public prosperity, ordered the resumption ofspecie payments. The Opera celebrated his return and that of the Empressby a grand performance which took place February 4. The bills announcedthe _Prétendus_ and a divertisement, The public knew that thisdivertisement was to be a sort of apotheosis in honor of the Imperialglories. The house was crowded, and the passages themselves were crammedby the enthusiastic crowd. During the second act of the _Prétendus_ therewas great excitement over the arrival of Napoleon and Josephine. Applauseresounded from every side. Ladies distributed laurel branches, which allthe spectators waved, shouting, "Long live the Emperor!" Musicians playedthe chorus of the _Caravan_. Meanwhile, the scenery of the _Prétendus_disappeared, and applause began over the magnificent decorations that tookits place. It was a semicircular enclosure with trophies forming acolonnade showing the course of the Seine from the Pont Neuf to thewestern limit of Paris, showing the Louvre, which Napoleon had promised tocomplete, the Pont des Arts, the Palais de la Monnaie, the Tuileries, andin the misty distance the Champs Elysées overlooking this fine view. Theinterior of the enclosure was adorned with garlands and crowded withpeople, awaiting the return of the Grand Army. This appeared with amilitary march: the sappers in front with their axes and white aprons; thegrenadiers of the Guard with their high fur caps; the artillerymen withtheir black caps; the dragoons with their double armor; the Mamelukes withtheir scimetars. Then came the Bavarians, worthy comrades of Napoleon'ssoldiers. The people applauded their defenders. Pupils of the militaryschools sprang into the ranks to welcome their fathers, while old menembraced their children. A general chorus was heard. Then a warrior cameto the front of the stage and celebrated in a hymn the marvels of thecampaign of Austerlitz. This was followed by a ballet of foreign nations, in which joined French peasants and girls in the dress of their provinces, from Caux and Alsace, Provence, Béarn, Auvergne, and the Alps. After thedances came songs, --the words by Esménard, author of the _Navigation_, themusic by Stobelt. The marches, evolutions, and ballet were arranged byGardel. The principal stanzas were sung by the most distinguished artists, Lainez, Laïs, Madame Armand, Madame Branchu. When it was all over, theEmperor and the Empress withdrew amid applause, and there was sung the_Vivat_ of Abbé Rose which had made such a success at Notre Dame onCoronation Day, and was as warmly applauded at the Opera as it had been inthe Cathedral. 

XVIII. 

THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF BADEN. 

If anything is capable of proving the admiration, terror, and fascinationthat the hero of Austerlitz exercised over Europe, and especially overGermany, in 1806, it is certainly the marriage of the hereditary Prince ofBaden with Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauharnais. It was a curious sight!A Prince belonging to one of the oldest and most illustrious families inthe world, whose three sisters had married, one, the Emperor of Russia;another, the King of Sweden; the third, the King of Bavaria; a Prince whomight have allied himself with the oldest reigning houses had come toregard as an honor a marriage with, the plain daughter of a Frenchsenator, --a girl not united by any ties of blood with Napoleon, but onlyby adoption; that is to say, by a whim. One might have supposed that theEmpire of the new Charlemagne was centuries old, and the German Princesbowed before it like devoted vassals before their suzerain. What a vastpower he had attained, and how easily he could have kept it, if he hadlimited his ambition, and put bounds to his power, and had not asked ofdocile Germany more than it could give him!

The marriage of Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauharnais with the hereditaryPrince of Baden was at first warmly opposed by the Margravine, thisPrince's mother. M. Massias, French chargé d'affaires at Baden, hadwritten on this matter to M. De Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, January 6, 1806: "My Lord, --For some days there has been a rumor quietlycirculating among the principal persons of the court of Carlsruhe that theobject of M. De Thiard's last journey was to arrange the marriage of theElectoral Prince of Baden with the daughter of Senator Beauharnais. Lastevening arrived a messenger from the Electress of Bavaria for theMargravine, the mother of this Prince. I have learned by chance thecontents of this missive to his mother. She says substantially that shehas had a talk of more than an hour with the Emperor Napoleon; that HisMajesty promised that the marriage of the Electoral Prince of Baden withMademoiselle Beauharnais should never take place without the consent ofthe Margravine; and in case of her refusal of this consent, he would onlyreserve to himself the right of being consulted on the choice of the wifeto be given to this young Prince.... The Electoral Prince called on hismother after she had received this despatch, and was with her alone fortwo hours; he came away in great dejection. When he got to hisgrandfather's, he exclaimed, involuntarily, 'That woman is lost; she wantsto ruin herself!'"

The chargé d'affaires ended his letter with this sketch of the Margravine:"I have known the Margravine for six years, and I think I can say that ifshe judges the match in question opposed to the pride inspired by thefirst ideas of her education, no persuasion can move her. She possesses toa very marked degree the confident obstinacy of feeble and timid spirits. She does not dare to dismiss an incompetent footman; and when she has oncemade up her mind, which is only possible in matters about which heropinions are rigidly formed, neither force nor persuasion can modify her. That is my reading of her character, and I think it the true one. "

The more the Margravine opposed this match which the Emperor hadsuggested, the more the young Prince of Baden and his grandfather, theElector, desired it. M. Massias wrote again to M. De Talleyrand, January9, 1806: "His Most Serene Highness, the Prince Electoral of Baden, is toleave tomorrow for Ulm and Augsburg, to invite, in his grandfather's name, His Majesty the Emperor and King to honor Carlsruhe with his presence, andto stay at the castle on his way back to France. But, he tells me himself, the main object of his journey is to convince His Majesty that themarriage of which I had the honor to speak to Your Excellency in my lastletter, is far from opposing his desires; and he hopes to dissipatewithout difficulty the doubts which it has been sought to raise regardingthis in the mind of His Majesty, for whom he always manifested a profounddevotion and a sincere attachment. "

What was the origin of this young girl whose hand was thus sought by thehereditary Prince of Baden? The Marquis of Beauharnais, the father of theViscount of Beauharnais, the first husband of the Empress Josephine, had abrother, Count Claude de Beauharnais, who was a commodore, and marriedMademoiselle Fanny Mouchard. Countess Fanny, a friend of Dorat andCubières, took much interest in literature and wrote many novels. She wasa blue-stocking, and it was about her that Lebrun wrote the maliciousepigram:--

 "Eglé, fair and a poetess, has then two slight faults: She makes her face and does not make her verses. "

By her marriage with Count Claude de Beauharnais, the Countess Fanny (bornin 1738, died in 1813) had one son, named Claude after his father, whomarried the daughter of the Count of Lezay-Marnésia. They had a daughter, Stéphanie de Beauharnais, born August 28, 1789, who was adopted byNapoleon, married the hereditary Prince of Baden, became the grandduchessof this country, and died in 1860, much loved by her family and the peopleof Baden. Her father, Claude de Beauharnais, was a senator in the Empire, a peer of France at the Restoration, and died in 1819. 

During the childhood of Mademoiselle Stéphanie de Beauharnais no one wouldhave predicted the lofty destiny that awaited her. Her father, having losthis wife, entrusted her to a pious old aunt, who lived at Montauban, andthere she remained in obscurity until it occurred to her uncle, M. DeLezay-Marnésia, to take her to Paris, and present her to the wife of theFirst Consul. Josephine, her cousin once removed, thought her pretty andbright, became very fond of her, and sent her to finish her education atMadame Campan's boarding-school at Saint Germain. Madame Campan wrote toMadame Louis about her young pupil as follows: "I am certainly surprisedat the way Mademoiselle Stéphanie has turned out since she returned fromSaint Leu. She may become a very charming woman, but not if she stays atSaint Cloud. Royal palaces have never been good schools; pleasures, thetaste for excitement and flattery, corrupt not merely those who are young, but even those who go there already matured, unless they are protected bythe highest principles. If you have the power, do try to let me keepStéphanie until she marries; you will thereby render her a great service, and to me, too; for the result will condemn me in the eyes of the Emperor, who will say, with a sharp glance, 'That's very bad'; and will not havetime to ascertain the real reason. I can assure you that in a year shewill be very charming, if I can only keep my hand on her. "

In the letter Madame Campan thus describes her pupil's character: "It is acurious compound of ease at learning, self-love, emulation, idleness, amiability, clear-mindedness, levity, haughtiness, and piety. There are agood many qualities to dispose of, and on this proper arrangement dependsher happiness or unhappiness, and my success or failure. " In personalappearance Mademoiselle de Beauharnais was very charming; she had a goodfigure, an expressive countenance, a brilliant complexion, bright blueeyes, light hair, and an agreeable voice. Moreover, her manners were good, she had keen mother wit, much gaiety and enthusiasm, and was, in short, avery attractive young person. 

The Emperor had a sort of infatuation for her, and treated her withexceptional kindness that did not fail to excite comment. Although herfather was still living, he decided to adopt her, and this was thought asingular thing to do. The young Stéphanie became an Imperial Highness andtook precedence of the Emperor's sisters, while her father was merely oneof the herd of senators. In the decree of March 3, 1806, it was said: "Ourintention being that our daughter the Princess Stéphanie Napoleon, shallenjoy all the prerogatives due to her rank; at receptions, festivities, and at table she shall sit at our side, and in our absence she shall takeher place at the right of Her Majesty the Empress. " Josephine possiblythought that her young relative was a little too well treated by theEmperor, and that his feelings for her were not wholly paternal. Eviltongues asserted that Napoleon was in love with his adopted daughter, butin spite of those malicious insinuations, no serious charge can be broughtagainst her innocence. Her betrothed, the Prince of Baden, was madly inlove with her, and showed by his conduct that it was he who was making afine marriage. Mademoiselle de Beauharnais from the moment that sheassumed the name of Napoleon imagined that nothing was too good for her. It was only by condescension that she married the son of an elector, forshe was never tired of saying, to her adopted father's great delight, thatan emperor's daughter could marry either a king or a king's son. 

The marriage was celebrated with great pomp in the chapel of the Palace ofthe Tuileries, April 8, 1806, at eight in the evening. The witnesses forthe bridegroom were the Crown Prince of Bavaria, Baron de Gueusau, and M. De Dalberg; those of the bride were M. De Talleyrand, M. De Champagny, andM. De Ségur. The procession went from the grand apartments to the chapelin the following order: the Empress, preceded by the officers of thePrincesses, accompanied by the Prince of Baden, the Princesses, and theCrown Prince of Bavaria, and followed by the ladies of her household andof those of the Princesses; the Emperor, conducting the bride, andpreceded by the officers of the Princes, his own officers, the GrandDignitaries of the Empire, the Ministers, the High Officers of the Crown, and followed by the colonel-general of the guard on duty. At the chapeldoor the clergy received Napoleon and Josephine beneath a canopy, and theytook their places on two small thrones in front of the altar, while thePrince of Baden and the bride took their places on two stools at the footof its steps. The ceremony began with the blessing of thirteen pieces ofgold which the Cardinal Caprara, Legate _a latere_, gave to the Prince ofBaden, who presented them to his bride. The Cardinal gave them the nuptialblessing. Meanwhile Monsignor Charier-Lavoche, Bishop of Versailles, theEmperor's First Almoner, and Monsignor de Broglie, Bishop of Acqui, hisAlmoner in Ordinary, were holding a canopy of silver brocade over the headof the kneeling Prince and Princess. These two prelates wore a camail androchet. Cardinal Caprara and his assistant, Monsignor de Rohan, theEmpress's Almoner, wore the golden cape. 

During the ceremony, which lasted about an hour, the front of theTuileries and the garden were illuminated. At nine o'clock there werefireworks on the Place de la Concorde, which the Emperor and Empresswatched from the balcony of the Hall of the Marshals. As they appeared onthe balcony with the young people, they were greeted with warm applausefrom the dense crowd in the garden. The Empress, who was clad in a dressembroidered with gold, wore on her head, besides the Imperial crown, amillion francs' worth of pearls. Princess Stéphanie was charming in herwhite tulle dress, with silver stars, trimmed with orange flowers, and herdiamond frontlet. After the fireworks came a concert and ballet in theHall of the Marshals. But little attention was paid to the concert, although silence prevailed; the ballet, which was rendered by the bestdancers from the Opera, was very successful. Then the company went to theGallery of Diana, where tables had been set for two hundred ladies, and amagnificent supper was served. The grace and distinction of the bridearoused general admiration. Her father, Senator Beauharnais, kept silenceand wept for joy. 

Never had the court been more dazzling with its glittering uniforms, gorgeous dresses, and sumptuous pomp. The Emperor in his gala dress, theEmpress in her Imperial splendor, the Princesses vying in luxury, the newQueen of Naples staggering under her load of precious stones, the PrincessLouis covered with turquoises set in diamonds. Princess Caroline Muratdecked with a thousand rubies, Princess Pauline with all the Borghesediamonds besides her own, the ambassadors, grand dignitaries, marshals, generals, with their coats covered with gold and decorations, thechamberlains in red, the master of ceremonies in violet, the masters ofthe hounds in green, the equerries in blue, all the ladies in dresses withlong trains; the two fashionable women, Madame Maret and Madame Savary, who each spent fifty thousand francs a year in dress; Madame de Canisy, tall, black-haired, bright-eyed, with her aquiline nose and her impressiveair; Madame Lannes, with her gentle face like one of Raphael's Madonnas;Madame Duchâtel, fair, with blue eyes; and that proud duchess of theFaubourg Saint Germain, a lady of the palace in spite of herself, theDuchess of Chevreuse, who, if not the most beautiful woman there, hadperhaps the grandest air. It was a most animated festivity, with itsflowers, lights, and splendor. The Hall of the Marshals was radiant withits military portraits, its chandeliers, and air of triumph.... Nowconsider the ruins of this palace of Caesar, this Olympus of Jupiter, thissanctuary of glory, majesty, and dominion. See and reflect! Nothing isleft of all that pomp and grandeur! The proudest buildings have vanished!Such is the end of human splendor!

XIX. 

THE NEW QUEEN OF HOLLAND. 

At the beginning of 1804, Napoleon regarded himself the absolute master offortune. His twofold title of Emperor of the French and King of Italy nolonger sufficed him; he yearned for that of Emperor of the West. Hecreated kings, grand dukes, sovereign princes. He made his brother JosephKing of the Two Sicilies; his brother-in-law Murat Grand Duke of Berg andCleves; his sister Pauline Princess of Guastalla; he conferred theprincipality of Massa upon his sister Elisa, who was already in possessionof the Duchy of Lucca; his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand, becamePrince of Benevento; his Major-General, Berthier, Prince of Neufchâtel;and his brother Joseph's brother-in-law, Bernadotte, Prince of PonteCorvo. He also elevated members of his wife's family as well as of his ownto high positions. Josephine's son was Viceroy and son-in-law of a king. Josephine's daughter was about to become a queen. 

France, which, fourteen years before, had wanted to convert every monarchyinto a republic, was now endeavoring to turn the oldest republics intomonarchies. The illustrious republics of Genoa and Venice had become anintegral part, the one of the French Empire, the other of the Kingdom ofItaly. The Batavian Republic was about to be transformed into the Kingdomof Holland. When it became known in Paris that this new kingdom was to becreated by the Emperor's will, people wondered who was to fill the throne;some were betting on Louis Bonaparte; others on his brother Jerome; stillothers on Murat. The Emperor, however, had settled the question, andwithout even consulting him, had decided that Louis was to be King ofHolland. 

This new monarch, who was born September 2, 1778, was then twenty-sevenyears old. Four years before he had married Josephine's daughter, Hortensede Beauharnais, but the marriage had been an unhappy one. As he himselfwrote, his marriage was celebrated in sadness. The author of a veryremarkable study, _Holland and King Louis_, M. Albert Réville, says withgreat truth: "Like Hortense, Louis had literary tastes; but there theresemblance ceases. It was not that there was nothing romantic inHortense's character; she was among the first to become interested in theMiddle Ages, the Gothic revival, the imitation of the troubadours; but herromanticism was wholly different from that of her husband. Her ideal was, perhaps, a young and handsome soldier, pensive when away from the lady ofhis thoughts, but not when in her company. " M. Réville goes on: "Such acharacter could not understand the sensitiveness, the shrinking, morbidmelancholy of the husband thrust upon her. Her gaiety, her devotion topleasure, the frivolity of her talk, could only pain more and more a manof a gloomy temperament, who took the greatest care of his health, whofretted himself over the most trivial details, and whose distrust amountedto injustice. "

Hortense was expansive, merry, ardent, enthusiastic, young in heart andmind, a thoroughly open nature. Her husband, on the other hand, was of amorose, sombre, melancholy, reserved nature. In spite of her superiorintelligence Hortense had a sort of childlike air; but Louis, though youngin years, had the character and appearance of an old man. As much asHortense loved liberty, her suspicious husband wished to hold firmly thereins of conjugal authority. He was prematurely afflicted with variousinfirmities, almost always morbidly nervous and impressionable, disposedto take a dark view of everything, and bore no resemblance to the type ofhero which Hortense had imagined. Moreover, the unhappy husband endured ahidden anguish which he had to conceal from every one and which torturedhis heart; he imagined that his rival with his wife was his own brother, Napoleon. Thiers says in discussing this delicate subject: "Louis, ill, puffed-up with pride, assuming virtue and really upright, pretended thathe was sacrificed to the infamous necessity of covering, by his marriage, the weakness of Hortense de Beauharnais for Napoleon, --an odious calumny, invented by the émigrés, spread abroad in a thousand pamphlets, aboutwhich Louis did wrong to betray such anxiety that he seemed to believe ithimself. "

In a word, there existed between husband and wife a real incompatibilityof temper, and the constraint of their position only added to the mutualrepulsion which they felt for each other in private, though they did notdare confess it through fear of Napoleon's reproaches. They were marriedJanuary 4, 1802, and had a son born the next October, whom their enemiesasserted was the son of the Emperor, and the greater the interest andaffection the Emperor showed to this child, the more freely were calumniescirculated. Louis Bonaparte imagined his honor tainted, and sufferedtortures. 

As for Hortense, she was unhappy, but she had consolations. Her mother'slove, the society of her old schoolmates, her interest in art, worldlysuccesses, the distractions of Paris life, made her forget some of herdomestic troubles. The thought of leaving that congenial spot to livealone with her husband in the cold dampness of Holland filled her withgloom. She did not care for a throne, for she felt that a royal palacewould be for her nothing but a prison. 

Louis, too, seemed devoid of ambition for the crown that was held beforehim. Annoyed at not being consulted in the negotiations on which dependedhis call to the throne, he maintained a passive attitude. But as he wasaccustomed to comply with every wish of a brother who had taken charge ofhis education, and thereby acquired special authority over him, heinvariably obeyed his orders. The Batavian deputation, of which the mostimportant member was Admiral Verhuel, had just arrived in Paris, and withit the Emperor was settling the fate of Holland. Baron Ducasse, in aninteresting paper In the _Revue Historique_ for February, 1880, hasrecounted all the unfortunate Louis Bonaparte's attempts to escape havingroyalty forced upon him. He gave as a pretext, for his reluctance, therights of the old Stadtholder. The Batavian deputation in reply announcedto him the death of that official, "The hereditary Prince, " they said, "has received in compensation Fulda; hence you can have no reasonableobjection. We come, in accordance with the votes of nine-tenths of thenation, to beg of you to ally your fate with ours, and to prevent ourfalling into other hands. " Napoleon used even plainer language. Hedeclared to his brother without beating the bush that he had accepted forhim, and that, even if he had not consulted him, a subject could notrefuse obedience. 

A few days later, Talleyrand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, went toSaint Cloud and read to Louis and Hortense the treaty with Holland, andthe constitution of that country. It was of no use for the King to saythat he could not judge such important documents from a simple reading, hewas not granted a moment's reflection. In vain he pleaded his health, which could not fail to suffer from the damp climate of Holland. Napoleonwas inflexible, and said, "It is better to die on a throne than to live aFrench Prince. " There was nothing for him to do but to give his consent. 

The new King's proclamation was delivered at the Palace of the Tuileriesin the Throne Room, June 5, 1806. Early in the same day, the Emperor hadformally received Mahib Effendi, Ambassador of the Sultan Selim. TheOriental diplomatist had greeted him as "the first and greatest ofChristian monarchs, the bright star of glory of the western nations, theone who held in a firm hand the sword of valor and the sceptre ofjustice. " Napoleon had replied: "Whatever good or bad fortune may befallthe Ottomans will be fortunate or unfortunate for France. Report, I beg ofyou, my words to the Sultan Selim. Bid him never to forget that myenemies, who are also his, would like to get at him. He has nothing tofear from me; united with me, he need not fear the power of any of hisenemies. " When the audience was over, the Ambassador made three deep bowsand withdrew, but stopped in the next room, where the presents of theGrand Porte were set out on a table; they consisted of an aigret ofdiamonds, and a costly box set with gems and adorned with the monogram ofthe Sultan. Mahib Effendi, after offering the presents to the Emperor, showed him those sent to the Empress. They were a pearl necklace, perfumes, and Oriental stuffs. Napoleon examined them, and then went tothe window to see some superbly harnessed Arabian horses, presented to himin the name of the Sultan. 

The proclamation of the King of Holland was read a few moments later. Admiral Verhuel took the floor and began to speak of the happiness assuredto his country when it should have made fast the ties that bound it to the"immense and immortal Empire. " The Emperor said to the Dutchrepresentatives: "France has been so generous as to renounce all therights over you which were given it by the events of the war, but I cannotconfide the fortresses that guard my northern frontiers to any unfaithfulor even uncertain hands. Representatives of the Batavian people, I grantthe prayer you present to me, and proclaim Prince Louis King of Holland. "Then turning to his brother, he said: "You, Prince, reign over thispeople; their fathers acquired their independence only by the constant aidof France. Since then Holland was the ally of England; it was conquered;and still owes its existence to us. She will owe to us the kings whoprotect its laws, its liberties, its religion! But do not ever cease to bea Frenchman. The dignity of Constable of the Empire will ever belong toyou and to your descendants; it will define for you your duties towards meand the importance I attach to the guard of the fortresses protecting thenorth of my states, which I confide to you. Prince, maintain among yourtroops that spirit which I have seen in them on the field of battle. Encourage in your new subjects the feelings of union and love which theyought always to have for France. Be the terror of evil-doers and thefather of the upright; that is the character of a great king. "

The vassalage of the new monarch was thus definitely established; heremained Constable of the Empire; he was ordered to be French and notDutch. His first duties were to the Emperor, his brother and suzerain. Herespectfully approached the throne, and said with evident emotion: "Sire, I have made it my highest ambition to sacrifice my life to Your Majesty'sservice. I have made my happiness consist in admiring all those qualitieswhich make you so dear to those who, like me, have so often witnessed thepower and the effects of your genius; I may then be permitted to expressmy regrets in leaving, but my life and my wishes belong to you. I shall goto reign over Holland, since that nation desires it and Your Majestycommands it. I shall be proud to reign over it; but, however glorious maybe the career thus opened to me, the assurance of Your Majesty's constantprotection, the love and patriotism of my new subjects, can alone inspireme with the hope of healing the wounds of the many wars and events thathave crowded into a few years. " After the royal speech the usher threwopen the door, and as in the time of Louis XIV. , at the acceptation of theSpanish accession, the new King was announced to the assembled crowd. 

As M. Albert Réville says, no one in France regretted the BatavianRepublic when it was stricken from the roll of history by the will of adespot; or, rather, the Parisians, in their occasionally exaggeratedinfatuation, fancied that the Dutch would be overjoyed to have a Frenchcourt. 

The next day, after breakfast, the Emperor was playing with the new King'soldest son, the little Napoleon, who was only three years and a half old, but was very bright for his age, and already knew by heart La Fontaine'sfables. The Emperor made him recite the fable about the frogs who wanted aking, and listened to it, laughing loudly. He pinched the Queen's ear, andasked her, "What do you say to that, Hortense?" The allusions to the poorking and to his poor people were only too clear. The melancholy monarch, or rather, the crowned monarch, was to be, according to the Emperor'splan, a mere tool in the hands of his powerful brother. He was condemnedto discharge the functions of receiver of dues and of recruiting officerin the Emperor's service. He had a presentiment of this degraded position, and took his departure with much anxiety. 

For Hortense, leaving was sadder. No exile ever turned towards foreignparts with heavier sorrow. Her diadem was a crown of thorns. Her mother'sgrief augmented her own. Without her children, Josephine, naturallyunambitious, found no consolation in the thought that her son was aViceroy, her daughter a Queen. Before she left Paris Hortense, in terrorbefore the thought that the Emperor would no longer be near to defend her, told her all her domestic unhappiness, and said that if her husbandtreated her too ill, she would abandon her throne for a convent. 

Nevertheless she had to obey. June 15, 1806, Louis started from Saint Leuto go to his kingdom. He was accompanied by his wife and his two sons, theelder, Charles Napoleon, who died in Holland the 5th of the next May, andthe other, Louis Napoleon, who died at Forte, in 1831, in the insurrectionof the States of the Church against the Pope. His third son, laterNapoleon III. , was born in 1808. The new King entered The Hague June 23, 1806. He countermanded a body of French troops which the Emperor haddesigned for his escort at his entrance into the capital, being unwillingto appear before his subjects as a sovereign imposed upon them by actualforce. "You may be sure, " he said to them, "that from the moment I setfoot on the soil of this kingdom, I became a Dutchman. " The same dayGeneral Dupont Chaumont, French Minister at The Hague, wrote to PrinceTalleyrand: "To-day, June 23, His Majesty made his formal entrance intohis capital. He went to the Assembly where he received the oath of therepresentatives of the people and made a speech which was much applauded. The French camp obtained permission from the Governor of the Palace tosurprise Their Majesties by fireworks and military music. Thesefestivities naturally put a stop to all business, except for His Majesty, who finds time to examine and decide the most urgent matters, the easewith which he works greatly surprising a nation unaccustomed to suchactivity. Already the King and Queen are spoken of most enthusiasticallyby those who have had the honor to be presented to Their Majesties. Thesatisfaction will be general, when many shall have had the opportunity toapproach the throne. "

In spite of the optimisms of this despatch, the new King was to have anunhappy reign. His loyal and upright intentions were to be shatteredagainst the inflexible will of his formidable brother. Louis was a justman and sincerely devoted to his people. He was called, and is stillcalled, "the good King Louis": but the Emperor, who ironically reproachedhim with trying to win the affection of shopkeepers, was to write to himin 1807: "A monarch who is called a good king, is a king that's ruined. "As for Queen Hortense, more and more tormented by her husband'ssuspicions, with her health impaired by the moist climate, and her ever-growing melancholy, she was to feel like a condemned exile in her kingdom. No woman ever gave a complete lie to the expression, "As happy as aqueen. "

XX. 

THE EMPRESS AT MAYENCE. 

In spite of all the honors that encompassed her, the Empress was ever moreand more unhappy. The departure of her daughter Hortense left a void inher life that nothing could fill. She wrote to the new Queen from SaintCloud, July 15, 1806: "Since you left I have been ill, sad, and unhappy; Ihave even been feverish and have had to keep my bed. I am now well again, but my sorrow remains. How could it be otherwise when I am separated froma daughter like you, loving, gentle, and amiable, who was the charm of mylife?... How is your husband? Are my grandchildren well? Heavens, how sadit makes me not to see them! and how is your health, dear Hortense? If youare ever ill, let me know, and I will hasten to you at once.... Good by, my dear Hortense, think often of your mother, and be sure that never was adaughter more loved than you are. Many kind messages to your husband; kissthe children for me. It would be very kind of you to send me some of yoursongs. "

Josephine was about to have another cause for grief. A new war wasimminent, but the Empress hid her uneasiness in order not to distanceHortense. "All your letters, " she wrote to her, "are charming, and you arekind to write so often. I have heard from Eugene and his wife; they areevidently very happy, and so am I, for I am going with the Emperor, and amalready packing. I assure you, that even if this war breaks out, I have nofear; the nearer I am to the Emperor, the less I shall care, and I feelthat I should die if I stayed here. Another joy to me is our meeting atMayence. The Emperor has bidden me tell you that he has just given to theKing of Holland an army of eighty thousand men, and his command willextend to Mayence. He thinks that you can come then and stay with me. Isnot that an agreeable bit of news for a mother who loves you so dearly?Every day we shall have news of the Emperor and your husband; we will behappy together. The Grand Duke of Berg spoke to me about you and thechildren; kiss them for me till I can kiss them for myself, as well as mydaughter; this will be soon, I hope. My best regards to the King. "

Napoleon was about to begin a gigantic war against Prussia and Russia. Inspite of his confidence in his star, he was not without someapprehensions, and he left reluctantly. A cloud seemed to hang over SaintCloud. "Why are you so gloomy?" the Emperor asked Madame de Rémusat, whosehusband, the First Chamberlain, had just been sent to Mayence to preparethe Emperor's quarters. "I am gloomy, " she replied, "because my husbandhas left me. " And as Napoleon sneered at her conjugal devotion, she added:"Sire, I take no part in heroic joys, and for my part, I had placed myglory in happiness. " Then the Emperor burst out laughing and said:"Happiness? Oh yes, happiness has a great deal to do with this century!"

The Empress hoped to accompany her husband as far as Mayence, and remainthere during the war, with her daughter. At the last moment she came nearmissing even this. Napoleon wanted to go off alone, but she wept so much, besought him so earnestly, that he took pity on her and gave her leave toenter his carriage; she had but a single chambermaid with her. Herhousehold was to join her some days later. 

Napoleon and Josephine left Saint Cloud in the night of September 24, 1806. After stopping for some hours at Metz, they reached Mayence the28th. The Emperor started again, October 2, at nine in the evening, forthe head of the army. At this moment he had an access of affection and arevival of his old tenderness for the woman who long since had inspiredhim with much love. Seeing that she was weeping bitterly, he, too, shedtears, and was even attacked by convulsions. They made him sit down andgave him a few drops of orange-flower water. In a few moments hecontrolled his emotion, gave Josephine a farewell kiss, and said: "Thecarriages are ready, are they not? Tell those gentlemen and let us beoff. "

The Empress remained at Mayence. Napoleon wrote to her October 5, 1806:"There is no reason why the Princess of Baden should not go to Mayence. Idon't know why you are so distressed; it is wrong of you to grieve somuch. Hortense is inclined to pedantry; she is liberal with advice. Shewrote to me, and I answered her. She should be happy and gay. Courage andgaiety, that is the recipe. " It is plain that the Emperor's gloom had beenof brief duration. When he was once more at war, in his element, he hadquickly resumed his customary eagerness. He wrote to his wife fromBamberg, October 7: "I leave this evening for Kronach. The whole army isin motion. All goes on well; my health is perfect. I have not yet receivedany letters from you, but I have heard from Eugene and Hortense. Stephanieought to be with you. Her husband [the Prince of Baden] wishes to takepart in the war; he is with me. Good by. A thousand kisses and goodhealth!" Again, October 18: "Today I am at Gera. Everything goes on aswell as I could hope. With God's aid, the poor King of Prussia will be ina lamentable state, I think. I am personally sorry for him, because he isa good man. The Queen is at Erfurt with the King. If she wants to see abattle, she will have that cruel pleasure. I am wonderfully well, and havegained flesh since I left; and yet I go twenty or twenty-five leaguesevery day, on horseback or in a carriage, --in every possible way. I go tobed at eight and get up at midnight, sometimes, I think, before you havegone to bed. Ever yours. "

In these campaigns Napoleon was not yet surrounded by the comforts whichlater made war less fatiguing for him, perhaps too easy. He endured allthe toil and privation of a private soldier. In five minutes his table, his coffee, his bed were prepared. Often in less time than that the bodiesof men and horses had to be removed to make room for his tent. His longestmeal lasted no more than eight or ten minutes. The Emperor would then callfor horses and leave in company with Berthier, one or two riders, andRoustan, his faithful Mameluke. At night, when lying on his little ironbed, he took but little rest. Hardly had he fallen asleep when he wouldcall his valet de chambre who slept in the same tent: "Constant!" "Sire. ""See what aide-de-camp is on duty. " "Sire, it is so-and-so. " "Tell him tocome and speak to me. " The aide-de-camp would arrive: "You must go to sucha corps, commanded by Marshal so-and-so; you will tell him to place such aregiment in such a position; you will ascertain the position of the enemy, then you will report to me. " The Emperor seemed to fall asleep again, butin a few moments he was calling again: "Constant!" "Sire. " "Summon thePrince of Neufchâtel. " The Major-General would appear in a great hurry, and Napoleon would dictate some orders to him. That is the way his nightswere passed. 

The night before the battle of Jena was an exception, and the Emperorslept soundly, "Yet, " says General de Ségur, "our position was so perilousthat some of us said the enemy could have thrown a bullet across all ourlines with the hand. This was so true that the first cannon-ball fired thenext day passed over our heads and killed a cook at his canteen far behindus. " At about five o'clock Napoleon asked of Marshal Soult: "Shall we beatthem?" "Yes, if they are there. " answered the Marshal; "I am only afraidthey have left. " At that moment, the first musketry fire was heard, "Therethey are!" said the Emperor, joyfully; "there they are! the business isbeginning. " Then he went to address the infantry, encouraging them tocrush the famous Prussian cavalry. "This cavalry, " he said, "must bedestroyed here, before our squares, as we crushed the Russian infantry atAusterlitz. " The victory was overwhelming. Napoleon thus recounted it in aletter to the Empress, dated Jena, October 15, at three in the morning:"My dear, I have done some good manoeuvring against the Prussians. Yesterday I gained a great victory. They were one hundred and fiftythousand men; I have made twenty thousand prisoners, captured one hundredcannon and flags. I was facing the King of Prussia and very near him; Ijust missed capturing him and the Queen. I have been bivouacking for twodays. I am wonderfully well. Good by, my dear, keep well and love me. IfHortense is at Mayence, give her a kiss as well as Napoleon and the littleone. " And again from Weimar, October 16: "M. Talleyrand will have shownyou the bulletin and you will have seen our success. Everything has turnedout as I planned, and never was an army more thoroughly beaten anddestroyed. I will only add that I am well; that fatigue, watching, and thebivouac have made me stouter. Good by, my dear, much love to Hortense andthe great Napoleon. "

Hortense had joined her mother at Mayence with her two sons, meeting thereher relative, Princess Stéphanie of Baden, the Princess of Nassau and herdaughters, many generals' wives, who had desired to be near the scene ofwar to get early news. With what impatience tidings were awaited! Withwhat curiosity and respect were read and discussed the two or three wordsscrawled by the hand of the Emperor or of his lieutenants! A lookout hadbeen placed a league away on the high-road, who announced the coming of amessenger by blowing on a horn. At the same time the files of prisonerswere seen passing on their way to France. Josephine, ever kind andpitiful, tried to soften their lot and gave aid and comfort to officersand soldiers. 

Meanwhile Napoleon continued his triumphal march. From Wittenberg he wroteto his wife, October 23: "I have received a number of letters from you. Iwrite but a word: everything goes on well. To-morrow I shall be atPotsdam, the 25th at Berlin. I am perfectly well; fatigue agrees with me. I am glad to hear of you in company together with Hortense and Stéphanie. The weather has so far been very pleasant. Much love to Stéphanie and toevery one, including M. Napoleon. Good by, my dear. Ever yours. "

At Potsdam the Emperor visited the celebrated palace of Sans Souci andfound the room of Frederick the Great as it had been in his lifetime, andguarded by one of his old servants. He then went to the Protestant churchwhich contained the hero's tomb. "The door of the monument was open, " saysGeneral de Ségur. "Napoleon paused at the entrance, in a grave andrespectful attitude. He gazed into the shadow enclosing the hero's ashes, and stood thus for nearly ten minutes, motionless, silent, as if buried indeep thought. There were five or six of us with him: Duroc, Caulaincourt, an aide-de-camp, and I. We gazed at this solemn and extraordinary scene, imagining the two great men face to face, identifying ourselves with thethoughts we ascribed to our Emperor before that other genius whose glorysurvived the overthrow of his work, who was as great in extreme adversityas in success. " The eighteenth bulletin said of this tomb: "The greatman's remains are enclosed in a wooden coffin covered with copper, and areplaced in a vault, with no ornaments, trophies, or other distinctionrecalling his great actions. " The Emperor presented to the Invalides inParis Frederick's sword, his ribbon of the Black Eagle, his general'ssash, as well as the flags carried by his guard in the Seven Years' War. The old veterans of the army of Hanover received with religious respecteverything which had belonged to one of the first captains whose memory isrecorded in history. When he saw that the Prussian court had not thoughtof making those relics safe from invasion, the hero of Jena, who on thisoccasion abused his victory, exclaimed as he pointed to the famous sword:"I prefer that to twenty millions. " In his letters to Josephine, Napoleonmade no mention of his impressions in the house of Frederick. He simplywrote, October 24: "I have been at Potsdam since yesterday, and shallspend to-day here. I continue to be satisfied with everything. My healthis good; the weather is fine. I find Sans Souci very agreeable. Good by, my dear. Much love to Hortense and M. Napoleon. "

October 27, 1806, the Emperor made his formal entrance into Berlin, surrounded by his guard and followed by the cuirassiers of the divisionsof Hautpoul and Nansouty. He proceeded in triumph from theCharlottenburger gate to the King's Palace, of which he was to takepossession. The populace crowded the streets, but uttered no cries of hateor flattery for the conqueror. "Prussia was happy, " says Thiers, "at notbeing divided, and at retaining its dignity in its disasters. The enemy'sentrance was not first the overthrow of one party and the triumph ofanother; it contained no unworthy faction, indulging in odious joy andapplauding the presence of foreign soldiers! We Frenchmen, unhappier inour defeats, have known this abominable joy; for we have seen everythingin this century: the extremes of victory and of defeat, of grandeur and ofabasement, of the purest devotion and of the blackest treachery!" Alas!What Frenchman could have foretold in 1806 the disasters of 1814 and 1815?The army deemed itself invincible and was wild with joyful pride. Davout, whose men the Emperor had just congratulated, wrote to him in greatenthusiasm: "Sire, we are your tenth legion. Everywhere and at all timesthe third corps will be for you what that legion was for Caesar. " Neverdid soldiers have greater enthusiasm or more confidence in their leader. 

One might have said that Josephine, amid all these triumphs, had apresentiment of the future. Victories could not dispel her sadness. Herhusband wrote to her November 1: "Talleyrand has come, and tells me thatyou do nothing but cry. But what do you want? You have your daughters, your grandchildren, and good news; certainly you have the materials forhappiness and content. The weather here is superb; not a drop of rain hasfallen in the whole campaign, I am in good health, and everything isprogressing favorably. Good by. I have received a letter from M. Napoleon;I don't think it is from him but from Hortense. Love to all. "

Napoleon was not modest in his triumph. He pursued with sarcasms thenobility of Prussia and Queen Louise who had warmly counselled war. Thisfair sovereign, the mother of the late Emperor William, was then thirtyyears old; she was the daughter of a Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and of aPrincess of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was a most thorough German, hated France, and especially the French Revolution. She was a fearless horsewoman, andhad been seen facing great dangers at the battle of Jena. When she rodebefore her troops in her helmet of polished steel, shaded by a plume, inher glittering golden cuirass, her tunic of silver stuff, her red bootswith gold spurs, she resembled Tasso's heroines. The soldiers burst intocries of enthusiasm, as they saw their warlike Queen; before her werebowed the flags she had embroidered with her own hands, and the old, torn, and battle-stained standards of Frederick the Great. After the battle shewas obliged to take flight, at full gallop, to avoid being captured by theFrench hussars. 

In his bulletins the Emperor had made the serious blunder of speaking ofQueen Louise in a manner wanting in proper respect for a woman, andespecially for a woman in misfortune. Josephine, who was full of tact, wasmuch pained by this lack of generosity, and reproached her husband for it. Napoleon sought to excuse himself, writing, November 6: "I have receivedyour letter in which you seem pained by the evil I say of women. It istrue that I hate, more than anything, intriguing women. I am used tokindly, gentle, conciliating women; those are the ones I love. If theyhave spoiled me, it is not my fault, but yours. Now I will show you that Ihave been very good for one who has shown herself sensible and kind, Madame Hatzfeld. When I showed her her husband's letter, bursting intotears, she said to me with, great emotion, and simplicity: 'It iscertainly his hand-writing!' As she read it, her accent touched my heartand gave me real distress, I said to her: 'Well, Madame, throw that letterinto the fire, I shall not be strong enough to punish your husband, ' Sheburned the letter and seemed to be very happy, Her husband has ever sincebeen very calm; two hours more, and he would have been a ruined man. Yousee then that I love kind, simple, gentle women; but it's because they arelike you. Good by, my dear, I am well. "

The kingdom of Prussia was conquered, but the war was not over, Afterfighting the Prussians he had to fight the Russians; the war in Poland wasbeginning. Napoleon wrote to the King of Prussia: "Your Majesty hasannounced to me that you have thrown yourself into the arms of theRussians. The future will decide whether this is the best and wisestchoice. You have taken the dice-box and thrown the dice; the dice willdecide it. " At Paris, in spite of the splendors of the Imperial glory, there existed a vague uneasiness. Peace had been expected after Jena, andsome apprehension was felt about the renewal of the struggle in thenorthern steppes. Madame de Rémusat wrote, November 9, to her husband, whowas at Mayence with the Empress, "There is something in the Emperor'scareer which confounds ordinary calculations, and, so to speak, goesbeyond them. It is most impressive, and, I might say, alarming, and yet heseems so far above customary conditions that there is no need of fearabout the points to which he exposes himself, and still less, draw theline at which he shall stop. But I shudder to think how far he is from usat this moment. May God be with him, I am ever praying, and preserve him!While this great part of the French nation which is under his orders, ismarching to great victories, we are vegetating here in complete dulness. There is very little society, and no houses are open. "

Josephine was very anxious to join her husband who held it before her as apossibility, but never permitted it. He had written to her, November 16:"I am glad to see that my views please you. You were wrong to think I wasflattering; I spoke of you as you seem to me. I am sorry to think that youare bored at Mayence. If the journey was not so long you might come here, for the enemy has left, and is beyond the Vistula; that is to say, onehundred and twenty leagues from here. I will await your decision. I shallbe glad to see M. Napoleon. Good by, my dear. Ever yours. " And November22: "Be satisfied and happy in my friendship, in all I feel for you. In afew days I shall decide to summon you or to send you to Paris. Good by. You may go now, if you wish, to Darmstadt and Frankfort; that will amuseyou. Much love to Hortense. " After signing the decree establishing thecontinental blockade, Napoleon had left Berlin November 25. The next dayhe again held before Josephine the prospect of a speedy meeting. "I am atCustrin, " he said in his letter, "to make some reconnoissances; I shallsee you in two days if you are to come. You can hold yourself inreadiness. I shall be glad to have the Queen of Holland come too. TheGrand Duchess of Baden must write to her husband about coming. It is twoo'clock in the morning; I have just got up. That is the way at war. Muchlove to you and every one. " A letter from Meseritz, March 27, was stillmore explicit: "I am going to make a trip through Poland; this is the mostimportant city here. I shall be at Posen this evening, after which Isummon you to Berlin, that you may arrive there the same day. My health isgood, the weather rather bad; it has been raining for three days. Mattersare in a good condition. The Russians are in flight. " Josephine, who hadtrembled with joy at the thought of seeing her husband, fell into greatgloom when she saw that she had been deceived by a vain hope. The torturesof, alas! too well-founded jealousy were to be added to her sufferings!

Napoleon reached Posen November 28, and wrote the next day to his wife: "Iam at Posen, the capital of Great Poland, The cold is beginning; I amwell. I am going to make a trip in Poland. My troops are at the gates ofWarsaw. Good by, my dear, much love. I kiss you with all my heart. To-dayis the anniversary of Austerlitz. I have been at a ball given by the city. It is raining. I am well. I love you and long for you. My troops are atWarsaw. It has not yet been cold. All the Polish women are Frenchwomen, but there is only one woman for me. Do you know her? I should draw herportrait for you; but I should have to flatter it too much for you torecognize it; nevertheless, to tell the truth, my heart would have onlygood things to tell you. I find the nights long in my solitude. Everyours. " Perhaps Napoleon would not have been so amiable to Josephine hadit not been that he was going to be very unfaithful to her in Poland, andin a movement of pity wanted to console her in advance. From there he senther, December 3, two letters, one at noon, the other at six in theevening. This is the first: "I have your letter of November 26. I noticetwo things: you say, don't read your letters; that is unjust. I am sorryfor your bad opinion. You tell me you are not jealous. I have longobserved that people who are angry always say that they are not angry, that people who are afraid say they are not afraid; so you are convictedof jealousy; I am delighted! Besides, you are mistaken, and in the desertsof fair Poland one thinks but little about pretty women. Yesterday I wasat a ball of the nobility of the province; rather pretty women, ratherrich, rather ill dressed, although in the Paris fashion. " Perhaps Napoleonsaid that to reassure the Empress; I imagine that the Polish women, withall their elegance and grace, were scarcely so ill-dressed as hepretended. 

This is the second letter, dated December 3, 6 P. M. : "I have your letterof November 27, and I see that your little head is much excited. Iremember the line: 'A woman's wish is a devouring flame, ' and I must calmyou. I wrote to you that I was in Poland, that when we should have gotinto winter-quarters you might come; so you must wait a few days. Thegreater one becomes, the less will one must have; one depends on eventsand circumstances. You may go to Frankfort or Darmstadt, I hope to summonyou in a few days, but events must decide. The warmth of your letterconvinces me that you pretty women take no account of obstacles; what youwant must be; but I must say that I am the greatest slave that lives; mymaster has no heart, and this master is the nature of things. " Napoleonshould have said: Providence. Man proposes, but God disposes. 

Napoleon again spoke a little of having Josephine come. He wrote to herDecember 10: "An officer has brought me a rug from you; it is a littleshort and narrow, but I am no less grateful to you for it. I am fairlywell. The weather is very changeable. Everything is in good condition. Ilove you and am very anxious to see you. Good by, my dear: I shall writeto you to come with more pleasure than you will come. "

December 12 he spoke once more of this projected journey which became evermore and more remote, like a mirage in the desert: "My health is good, theweather very mild; the bad season has not begun, but the roads are bad ina country where there are no highways. So Hortense will come withNapoleon; I am delighted. I am impatient to have things settle themselvesso that you can come. I have made peace with Saxony. The Elector is Kingand belongs to the confederation. Good by, my dearest Josephine. Yoursever. A kiss to Hortense, to Napoleon, and to Stéphanie. Paër, the famousmusician, his wife, whom you saw at Milan twelve years ago, and Brizzi, are here; they give me some music every evening. " Napoleon left Posen inthe middle of December. The evening before his departure he wrote a letterto his wife which showed the unlikelihood of her joining him, as she hopedto do; "I am leaving for Warsaw, and shall be back in a fortnight. I hopethen to have you here. Still, if that is too long I should be glad to haveyou return to Paris where you are needed. You know that I have to dependon events. " The unhappy Josephine already had a foreboding of his devotionto a great Polish lady. 

Napoleon reached Warsaw December 18, 1806. He was to stay there till the23d, return there January 2, 1807, and not to go away till the 31st ofthat month. He was greeted there with enthusiasm. He had said to hissoldiers in his proclamation on entering Poland: "The French eagle issoaring above the Vistula. The brave and unfortunate Pole, when he seesyou, imagines that he sees the legions of Sobieski returning from theirmemorable expedition. " No one understood better than the Emperor how toimpress the imagination of a people. At sight of him the inhabitants ofWarsaw were thrilled with patriotic joy. It seemed to them that theirgrand nation was rising from the tomb. The Polish women, with theirlively, poetic, ardent nature, regarded Napoleon as a sort of Messiah. Inthe intoxication of their ecstatic admiration, the most beautiful ofthem--and Poland is the country of beauty--turned towards him, likesirens, their most seductive smiles. This coquetry they regarded as apatriotic duty. Josephine had good grounds for jealousy. 

Napoleon was in the field during the last days of December. War at thattime was particularly fatiguing. The dampness, worse than any cold, saddened the eyes and wearied the body. The temperature was foreverchanging between frost and thaw. Fighting took place in the mostunfavorable conditions. But the Emperor, pitiless for himself and everyone else, uttered no complaint. He wrote from Golimin to the Empress, December 29, at five in the morning: "I write but a word, from a wretchedbarn. I have beaten the Russians, captured thirty cannon, their baggage, and six thousand prisoners; but the weather is frightful; it pours, and weare knee deep in mud. " And from Pultusk, December 31: "I have laughed agood deal over your last two letters. You have formed a very inaccuratenotion of the beautiful Polish women. Two or three days I have had greatpleasure in hearing Paër and two women who have given me some very goodmusic. I received your letter in a wretched barn, with mud, wind, andstraw for my only bed. " In spite of what her husband said, Josephine wasright about the charm of the Polish ladies, and Napoleon, on his return toWarsaw, January 2, 1807, was to become seriously interested in one ofthem. 

Soon there was no question of sending for the Empress, who would only havebeen in the way. Napoleon wrote to her, January 3: "I have received yourletter. Your regret touches me, but we must submit to events. It is toolong a journey from Mayence to Warsaw; we must wait till events permit mygoing to Berlin before I can write for you to come. Meanwhile, the enemyis withdrawing, defeated, but I have a good many things to settle here. Ishould advise your returning to Paris, where you are needed. Send backthose ladies who have anything to do there; you will be better for gettingrid of people who tire you. I am well; the weather is bad. I love youmuch. " The Emperor, utterly taken up by his love for the Polish lady, wasanxious that Josephine, instead of coming to him, should at once returnpromptly to France. "My dear, " he wrote to her, January 7, "I am touchedby all you say, but the cold season, the bad, unsafe roads prevent mygiving my consent to your facing so many fatigues. Return to Paris for thewinter. Go to the Tuileries, hold your receptions, and live as you do whenI am there: that is my wish. Perhaps I shall join you there without delay;but you must give up the plan of travelling three hundred leagues at thisseason, through hostile countries, in the rear of the army. Be sure thatit is more painful to me than to you to postpone for a few weeks thepleasure of seeing you; but this is commanded by events and the state ofaffairs. Good by, my dear, be happy and brave. " The next day he wroteagain on the same subject: "I have yours of the 27th, with those ofHortense and M. Napoleon enclosed. I have asked you to go back to Paris;the season is too bad, the roads too insecure and detestable, the distancetoo great for me to allow you to come so far to me when my affairs detainme. It would take you at least a month to get here. You. Would be sickwhen you got here, and then, perhaps, you would have to start back; itwould be madness. Your sojourn at Mayence is too dull. Paris calls foryou; go there; that is my desire. I am more disappointed than you; but wemust bow to circumstances. " In a letter of January 11, he says; "I seevery few people here. " But he saw the Polish lady, and that was enough. 

Josephine, who suspected a rival, was in despair. Her husband wrote toconsole her, January 16: "I have received yours of January 5. All that yousay of your disappointment saddens me. Why these tears and lamentations?Have you not more courage? I shall soon see you; do not doubt my feelings, and if you wish to be still dearer to me, show character and strength ofsoul. I am humiliated to think that my wife can doubt my destinies. Goodby, my dear, I love you and long to see you, and want to hear that you arecontented and happy. " In another letter, January 18, Napoleon tried tocheer up Josephine, who was even more anxious and uneasy: "I fear you areunhappy about our separation which must last some weeks yet, and aboutreturning to Paris. I beg of you to have more courage. I hear that you arealways crying. Fie, that is very bad! Your letter of January 7 gives memuch pain. Be worthy of me and show more character. Make a properappearance at Paris, and above all, be contented. I am very well, and Ilove you much; but if you are always in tears, I shall think you have nocourage and no character. I do not love cowards; an Empress ought to havesome spirit. "

Napoleon's will was not to be altered. Josephine was forced to leave herdaughter and to return to Paris. Her husband wrote to her from Warsaw: "Ihave your letter of January 15. It is impossible for me to let womenundertake such a journey: bad roads, unsafe, and a slough of mud. Go backto Paris; be happy and contented there; perhaps I shall be there soon. Ilaugh at what you say, that you married to be with your husband. I hadthought in my ignorance that the wife was created for the husband, thehusband for the country, the family, and glory. Forgive my ignorance. Goodby, my dear, believe that I regret that I cannot have you come. Say toyourself, 'It is a proof how dear I am to him. '" All these fine wordscould not console Josephine, who knew from experience that Napoleon, likemany unfaithful husbands, had a smooth, tongue when he needed forgiveness. In vain she had waited four months at Mayence for permission to rejoin herhusband. She at last, found herself obliged to leave this town where shehad no other pleasure than the sight of her daughter and hergrandchildren, from whom she parted with pain. January 27 she was atStrassburg, and the 31st. At Paris. 

XXI. 

THE RETURN OF THE EMPRESS TO PARIS. 

The Empress Josephine was much loved in France, and especially in Paris, where her gentleness, amiability, and great kindliness had won for her allsympathies, even those of people who were hostile to the Emperor. Herreturn to the capital was greeted with pleasure, and her presence awakenedit from its previous gloom. The _Moniteur_ thus describes her passagethrough the chief town of the department of the Lower Rhine. "Strassburg, January 23, 1807. Her Majesty the Empress and Queen arrived within ourwalls yesterday, the 27th, on her way from Mayence to Paris. Her Majestyhaving consented to notify the Counsellor of State, Prefect Shée, that shewould accept a modest entertainment, this news spread lively joythroughout this city. This proof of the Empress's kindness, accompanied bythe gracious memory she wished to testify for the people of Strassburg, made the preparations for this impromptu event easy, and in spite of thebrief time between the announcement and the arrival of Her Majesty, anumerous and brilliant company was soon assembled at the Prefecture. Thehall was elegantly decorated; the emblems and mottoes recalled the objectof the festivity. After a square dance and a waltz. Her Majesty passedthrough the company, addressing a kind word to every lady present. " Thenext day, January 28, at seven in the morning, the Empress started, amidcries of "Long live Josephine!" She reached the Tuileries January 31, ateight in the evening. The next day, at noon, guns were fired at theInvalides, to announce her return. The great bodies of the state solicitedthe honor of offering her their homages. She was a little tired by herjourney, and was unable to receive them till February 5. 

At this reception she was the object of almost as much flattery as was theEmperor. We quote a few of the phrases:--

_M. Monge, President of the Senate_: "Madame, the Senate lays at the feetof Your Imperial and Royal Majesty the tribute of its profound respect andthe homage of the administration with which it is animated for all yourvirtues.... It congratulates itself on seeing again, in the capital, theaugust spouse to whom our adored ruler has given all his confidence andwho deserves it in so many ways. "

_M. De Fontanes, President of the Legislative Body_: "Half of our wishesare granted. The presence of Your Majesty will make us attend lessimpatiently another return that the French desire with you. ... Parisconsoles itself for not seeing him who gives such glory to the throne, byfinding in you her who has always lent to Sovereignty so much charm, somuch gentleness and kindness. "

_M. Fabre, President of the Tribunal_: "Madame, your return has arousedthe keenest joy. The memory of that delicate kindness which knew how totemper so many woes; of that active beneficence which repaired so manymisfortunes, is imprinted on every heart. Every one says: 'Providence ingiving to us the hero, whose vast designs are crowned with the mostconstant and prompt success, desired to complete his kindness, by placingnear him her to whom every stricken heart turns, who is the most agreeableobject of gratitude, and who, moreover, throughout France is called thefriend of misfortune. '"

_M. Lejean, First Vicar-General of the Chapter of Notre Dame_ (speaking inthe place of the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, who was ill): "Madame, HisEminence the Archbishop, our worthy prelate, has commanded me to convey toYour Imperial and Royal Majesty his regrets at not being able himself topresent to you the chapter and clergy of Paris. 'Go, ' that venerable oldman said to me, 'and assure the benevolent Empress from me that Ithoroughly share the joy which every one feels at her return. Tell herthat never a moment passes that I do not address to Heaven the mostfervent prayers for the happiness of France and of our invincible Emperor, and for the success of his arms. The Lord has deigned to grant my prayers;in a very short time astounding prodigies have been wrought by Napoleon, and I offer my thanks. ' The chapter and the clergy of Paris pray for YourMajesty to be sure that their feelings for your sacred person and for thatof your august husband are like those of His Eminence. "

_The Prefect of the Seine_: "You are far from the Emperor, Madame, butParis, too, is far from him. Well, to mitigate this separation, equallypainful for Paris and for Your Majesty, Paris and Your Majesty will talkto one another much about the Emperor. You will take pleasure in hearingthat his subjects of the good city of Paris are ever faithful to him; thatthey are prepared for every act of devotion which may be demanded by hisglory, the honor of the Empire, and the resolution he has formed of notlaying down his arms until he has assured the peace of nations. You willtake pleasure in seeing us follow in thought, even to the most distantclimes, his ever victorious eagles. In short, Madame, at every exploit ofthe Grand Army, you will be glad to hear the loud applause which we haveoften wished could reach you, even in the camps of the founder of theEmpire, and then touched by the sincerity of our prayers, you will deignto listen to them, and sometimes even to be their interpreter. "

In spite of these official flatteries, and more or less interestedcompliments, the Empress was far from happy. Possibly she imagined thatsoon, even in her lifetime, the same homage would be addressed by the samepersons, in the same palace, to another woman. Besides this, however, shehad many causes for distress. She suffered from the absence of herchildren, from her daughter's domestic unhappiness, from the Emperor'sremoteness, his infidelities in Poland, from the dangers threatening himin this relentless and distant war. She wrote to her daughter February 3:"I got here, dear Hortense, the evening of the 31st, as I expected. Myjourney was pleasant, if I can call it so when it separated me furtherfrom the Emperor. I have received five letters from him since mydeparture. I need to hear from you now that you are no longer with me toconsole me. Tell me how you are; write to me about your husband andchildren. Although I see more people here than at Mayence, I am quite aslonely, and you will seem to be with me if you write. Good by, my dear, Ilove you tenderly. " Josephine yearned all the more eagerly for happinessas a mother, because as wife she suffered cruelly, and the torments ofjealousy were added to her grief at the Emperor's absence. 

To one of the last letters his wife had written from Mayence Napoleonanswered in an undated letter which she received in Paris: "My dear, yourletter of January 20, has pained me much; it is too sad. That is theresult of excessive piety! You tell me that your happiness makes yourglory. That is ungenerous; you ought to say, the happiness of others makesmy glory. It is not like a mother; you ought to say, the happiness of mychildren is my glory. It is not like a wife; you ought to say, myhusband's happiness makes my glory. Now, since the nation, your husband, your children cannot be happy without a little glory, you should notdespise it. Josephine, you have a good heart, but a weak head; yourfeelings are most admirable; you reason less well. But that is enoughsquabbling; I want you to be merry, content with your lot, and to obey, not grumbling and crying, but cheerfully and happily. Good by, my dear. I'm off to-night, to inspect my outposts. " It must be confessed that to beas merry as the Emperor demanded, Josephine would have needed a veryexceptional character. Her husband was at the other end of Europe, neverinterrupting the intense emotions and great risks of a colossal struggleexcept for brief distractions, which, however, could not be agreeable, sosuspicious and jealous as she was. 

Constant, the Emperor's valet de chambre, has recounted in his Memoirs, the passion with which a beautiful Polish lady inspired his master, earlyin 1807. Napoleon spent the whole month of January at Warsaw in a greatpalace. The Polish nobility gave him magnificent balls, and at one of themhe noticed a young woman of twenty-two, Madame V. , who had recentlymarried an old nobleman, a most worthy man of stern principles and severenature. By the side of her aged husband, this young woman, whose sadnessand melancholy only added to her beauty, was like a victim in waiting fora consoler. She was a charming person, with light hair, blue eyes, abrilliant complexion, a graceful figure, and dignified carriage. TheEmperor went up to her, addressed her, and was soon delighted by herconversation. He imagined that she was unhappily married and he at onceconceived a warm love for her, intenser and far more serious than any hehad ever felt for one of his favorites. The next day he was noticeablyrestless. He would get up and walk about, then sit down only to get on hisfeet again. "I thought, " Constant goes on, "that I should never get himdressed that day. Immediately after breakfast he despatched a greatpersonage, whose name I shall not give, to pay a visit to Madame V. , andcarry his regards and entreaties. She proudly refused to listen to hispropositions, possibly on account of their suddenness, or, it may be, bynatural coquetry. The hero had pleased her; the thought of having a loverresplendent with power and glory fascinated her, but she had no idea ofyielding without a struggle. The grand personage returned in greatsurprise and compassion at the failure of his negotiation. "

Constant says that he found his master the next morning very busy. TheEmperor had written many letters the previous evening to the Polish lady, who had made no reply. His pride was wounded by a resistance to which hehad not been accustomed since he had become great. At last, however, hehad written so many, and such ardent and touching letters, that sheconsented to visit him one evening between ten and eleven. The grandpersonage who had tried to make the negotiations, was ordered to go to aremote spot and receive the lady in a carriage. Napoleon paced the roomwhile awaiting her, betraying emotion and impatience. "At last Madame V. Arrived, " says Constant, whose master kept asking him what time it was. "She was in a most pitiable condition, pale, silent, her eyes full oftears. As soon as she appeared, I led her to the Emperor's room. She couldscarcely stand and she was trembling as she leaned on my arm. Then Iwithdrew with the great personage who had brought her. During herinterview with the Emperor, Madame V. Wept and sobbed so that I couldoverhear her even at a great distance. At about two in the morning, theEmperor called me. I went to him and saw Madame V. Going away, with herhandkerchief at her eyes, weeping freely. The same personage carried heraway. I thought she would never come back. " But, contrary to hisexpectations, Madame V. Came back two or three days later at about thesame hour; she seemed calmer, her eyes were less red, her face not sopale, and she continued her visits during the Emperor's stay. EvidentlyJosephine had good grounds for jealousy. 

Napoleon interrupted these distractions by going forth to fight the battleof Eylau, one of the bloodiest and most obstinate combats known tohistory. He described it in two letters to the Empress, written in thesame day. This is the first:--

"Eylau, February 9, 1803, 3 A. M. MY DEAR: We had a great battle yesterday. I was victorious, but our loss was heavy; that of the enemy, which waseven greater, is no consolation for me. I write you these few linesmyself, though I am very tired, to tell you that I am well and love you. Ever yours. "

This is the second:--

"Eylau, February 9, 6 P. M. I write a word lest you should be anxious. Theevening lost the battle; forty cannon, ten flags, twelve thousandprisoners, suffering horribly. I lost sixteen hundred killed and three tofour thousand wounded. Your cousin, Tascher, is unhurt. I have placed himon my staff as artillery officer. Corbineau was killed by a shell. I wasexceedingly attached to him; he was an excellent officer, and I am deeplydistressed. My Horse Guard covered itself with glory. D'Allemagne isdangerously wounded. Good by, my dear. "

The Emperor did not tell everything to Josephine; he said nothing aboutthe terrible vicissitudes of the battle, a victory scarcely to bedistinguished from a defeat; he kept silence about the cruel sufferings ofhis army which, without having eaten, had fought amid blinding snowbeneath a leaden sky; he said no word about the regiments destroyed, onein particular, from colonel to drummers, all killed or wounded; he did notmention his own danger in the cemetery on the hill, where he had stoodsurrounded by his Guard, his last resource, anxiously watching the fightfrom its beginning, slashing the snow with his whip, and exclaiming at theapproach of the Russian Grenadiers as they advanced towards him, "Whataudacity!" He did not say that after the terrible and fruitless bloodshed, which both armies claimed as a victory, he had been obliged to withdraw, and that Bennigsen had taken possession of the hotly disputed battle-field. He did not say what he was about to say in his bulletins: "Imagine, on a space a league square, nine or ten thousand corpses; four or fivethousand dead horses; lines of Russian knapsacks; fragments of guns andsabres: the earth covered with bullets, shells, supplies; twenty-fourcannon, surrounded by their artillery-men, slain just as they were tryingto take their guns away; and all that in plainest relief on the stretch ofsnow. " He did not quote the words he uttered in the biting frost, in faceof thousands of dead and dying, when the gloomy day was sinking into anight of anguish: "This sight is one to fill rulers with a love of peaceand a horror of war. " No; the Emperor did not tell her everything. 

In another letter, dated Eylau, February 11, 8 A. M. , the Emperor tried toreassure the Empress: "I send you a line: you must have been very anxious, I fought the enemy on a memorable day which cost me many brave men. Thebad weather drove me into winter quarters. Do not distress yourself, I begof you; it will all be over soon, and my delight at seeing you once morewill soon make me forget my fatigue. Besides, I have never been better. Little Tascher, of the fourth of the line, did well; and he had a hardexperience. I have given him a place near me, in the artillery; so histroubles are over. The young man interests me. Good by, my dear; athousand kisses. "

From this moment the Emperor's letters to his wife became cold, short, dull, and utterly insignificant; speaking of nothing but the rain, or thegood weather, and perpetually bidding her to be cheerful. A clear-wittedperson ought to see readily that Napoleon, who was otherwise occupied, wrote to the Empress only from a sense of duty. Here are four letters; thefirst from Landsberg, the other three from Liebstadt. February 18: "Iwrite a line. I am well. I am busy putting the army into winter quarters. It is raining and thawing like April. We have not yet had a cold day. Goodby, my dear. Yours ever. " February 20: "I write a line that you may not beanxious. My health is good, and everything is in good condition. I haveput the army into winter quarters. It is a curious season, freezing andthawing, damp and changeable. Good by, my dear. " February 21: "I haveyours of February 4, and am glad to hear that you are well. Paris willgive you cheerfulness and rest; the return to your usual habits willrestore your health. I am wonderfully well. The weather and the countryare wretched. Everything is in good condition; it freezes and thaws everyday; it is a most singular winter. Good by, my dear. I think of you, andam anxious to hear that you are contented, cheerful, and happy. Everyours. " February 22: "I have your letter of the 8th. I am glad to hearthat you have been to the Opera, and that you mean to receive every week. Go to the theatre occasionally, and always sit in the grand box. I ampleased with the festivities given to you. I am very well. The weathercontinues unsettled, freezing and thawing. I have put the army into winterquarters to rest it. Don't be sad, and believe that I love you. "

Towards the end of February Napoleon had established his headquarters atOsterode, where he lived in a sort of barn, from which he governed hisEmpire and controlled Europe. He wrote to his brother Joseph, March 1, about the sufferings of this severe campaign in Poland. "The staff-officers have not taken off their clothes for two months, and some not forfour, I have myself been a fortnight without taking off my boots.... Weare deep in the snow and mud, without wine, brandy, or bread, living onmeat and potatoes, making long marches and counter-marches, without anycomforts, and generally fighting with the bayonets under grape-shot; thewounded have to be carried in open sleighs for fifty leagues.... We aremaking war in all its excitement and horror. " It is easy to see thatJosephine, who knew all this, had good grounds for anxiety. Paris wasempty and gloomy; every face was sad. France is easily tired ofeverything, even of glory. The auditors of the Council of State, who weresent to Osterode to carry to the Emperor the reports of the differentministers, returned to Paris in deep distress at the sights they had seen, and spread alarm in official circles. Napoleon consequently decided thatthose reports should be brought to him by staff-officers, who were moreinured to scenes of distress. 

From headquarters at Osterode the Emperor sent eleven letters to theEmpress between February 23 and April 1, 1807, but he said nothing ofimportance in them. Thus: "Try to pass your time agreeably; don't beanxious. I am in a wretched village where I shall be some time; it's notso pleasant as a large city. I tell you again, I have never been so well;you will find me much stouter.... I have ordered what you want forMalmaison; be happy and cheerful; that's what I desire. I am waiting forgood weather, which must come soon. I love you, and want to hear that youare contented and cheerful. You will hear a good deal of nonsense aboutthe battle of Eylau; the bulletin tells everything; its report of thelosses is rather exaggerated than cut down. " At the same time he somewhatreproved his wife: "I am sorry to hear that there is a renewal of themischievous talk such as there was in your drawing-room at Mayence; put astop to it. I shall be much annoyed if you don't find some clue. You letyourself be distressed by the talk of people who ought to cheer you up. Irecommend to you a little firmness, and to learn how to put everybody inhis place. My dear, you must not go to the small theatres in privateboxes; it does not suit your rank; you ought to go only to the four largetheatres and always sit in the Imperial box. If you want to please me, youmust live as you did when I was in Paris. Then you did not go to the smalltheatres or such places. You ought always to go to the Imperial box. Foryour life at home, you must have regular receptions; that is the only wayof winning my approval. Greatness has its inconveniences. An Empress can'tgo about everywhere like a commoner. "

The greatness which the Emperor spoke about was no consolation toJosephine. She was unhappier beneath the gilded ceilings of the Tuileriesthan a peasant woman in a hovel. She besought her husband to let her joinhim in Poland, and wrote to him despairing letters. 

Napoleon answered from Osterode, March 27: "My dear, I am much pained byyour letters. You must not die: you are well and have no real cause ofgrief. I think you ought to go to Saint Cloud in May. But you ought tospend April in Paris.... You must not think of travelling this summer; allthat is impossible. You couldn't be racing through inns and camps. I am asanxious as you can be to see you and be quiet. I understand other thingsthan war; but duty is before everything. All my life I have sacrificedeverything--peace, interest, happiness--to my destiny. " These phrases inno way consoled Josephine who knew very well that her husband, in spite ofhis assumption of Spartan austerity; occasionally indulged indistractions. 

In the month of March something occurred which somewhat moderated theEmpress's sufferings. Her daughter-in-law, the Vice-Queen of Italy, gavebirth at Milan, on the 17th, to a daughter who was named JosephineMaximilienne Augusta. She it was who was to marry, in 1827, Oscar, CrownPrince and later King of Sweden. "You will hear with pleasure, " theEmpress wrote Queen Hortense, "of the Princess Augusta's happy delivery. Eugene is delighted with his daughter; his only complaint is that shesleeps too much, so that he can't see her as much as he would like. "Josephine would gladly have gone to Milan to congratulate her son and tokiss her granddaughter, but her grandeur kept her in Paris, where theprolongation of her husband's absence and the torments of too welljustified jealousy plunged her into the deepest gloom. 

Napoleon became tired of the monotonous and excessively disagreeable stayat Osterode, where he could not receive the Polish lady to whom he becamecontinually more and more attached. Early in April he installed himself atFinkenstein, in a pretty castle belonging to a Prussian crown official, and there he was very comfortably quartered with his staff and militaryhousehold. It was from thence that he wrote, April 2, the following shortletter to Josephine: "My dear, I send you a line. I have just moved myheadquarters to a very pretty castle, like that of Bessières, where I havea number of open fireplaces, which is very pleasant for me, as I get upoften in the night; I like to see the fire. My health is perfect, theweather is fine, but still cold. The thermometer is but a few degrees fromfreezing. Good by, my dear. Ever yours. " As soon as Napoleon was settledin this castle his first thought was to send for the Polish lady, for whomhe had fitted up an apartment near his own. She left at Warsaw her oldhusband, who never consented to see her again, and spent three weeks withthe Emperor. "They took all their meals together, " says Constant. "I wasthe only one in attendance, so I was able to overhear their talk which wasalways amiable, lively, and eager on the part of the Emperor, alwaystender, affectionate and melancholy on the part of Madame V. When HisMajesty was away Madame V. Spent all her time in reading or lookingthrough the blinds of the Emperor's room at the parades and drills goingon in the courtyard of the castle, which he often directed in person. "Constant, who felt bound to admire his master's choice, adds with somefeeling: "The Emperor appeared, to appreciate perfectly the interestingqualities of this angelic woman, whose gentle, unselfish character left onme an impression that can never fade... Her life, like her nature, wascalm and uniform. Her character fascinated the Emperor and bound him downto her. " This loving idyl, a sort of interlude in the tragedy of war, mayhave suited Constant's taste, but it was hardly of a nature to pleaseJosephine, who, like most jealous people, knew almost always what shewanted to know, and from the Tuileries found means to watch what was goingon in this distant castle. 

Napoleon's letters to Josephine during the reign of Madame V. Were shorterand more stupid than usual. They were merely a few lines on the weather, the Emperor's health, or his desire to hear that his wife was "cheerfuland happy. " But, alas! cheerfulness and happiness were not for her! Tooastute to be hoodwinked, she understood that her husband still had afriendly feeling for her but that his love was dead. In the eyes of ajealous woman, friendship is a slight thing. What does she care for theesteem and attentions of a friend who was once her lover? To all the goodservices of friendship she would a thousand times prefer the anger, fury, violence, of love. 

XXII. 

THE DEATH OF THE YOUNG NAPOLEON. 

Queen Hortense was no happier in her Holland palaces than was the Empressin the Tuileries. She had to endure all the grief, deception, and miseryof an ill-assorted marriage. The incompatibility of disposition whichexisted between her husband and herself from the first days of theirmarried life, made itself continually more felt. King Louis blamed hiswife not merely for her faults, but also for her good qualities. He wassometimes annoyed because she was gracious, amiable, charming; and thegeneral sympathy she aroused in Holland, as in France, excited the fearsof this irritable and sullen husband. Hortense looked upon herself as avictim. She had a lively imagination, and exaggerated her grief toherself, suffering more keenly on account of her excitement, which wasoften very great. One day she said to Madame de Rémusat, her intimate andadmiring friend, that her life was so painful and apparently so hopelessthat when she was at one of her villas near the sea, and looked out on theocean where were the English fleets blockading her ports, she wished thatchance might bring a ship to where she was, and she might be carried off aprisoner. 

The conjugal infelicities of Louis and his wife attracted the attention ofthe Emperor, who kept as strict a guard over his family as over hisEmpire, and was as prompt to exercise control in private, as in politicalmatters. He wanted his brother to obey him, both as King and husband, andin his discontent at seeing his orders disobeyed, he wrote to him, fromthe depths of Poland, April 4, 1807, this reproachful letter, which is areal reprimand: "Your quarrels with the Queen have become public. Show, then, in private life some of that paternal and effeminate character whichyou display in matters of government, and in business the same rigor youexercise in your household. You treat a young woman as we treat aregiment.... You have an excellent and most virtuous wife and you make herunhappy. Let her dance as much as she pleases; she is young. My wife isforty; I wrote to her from the battle-field to go to a ball. And you wanta young woman of twenty, who sees her life flitting, and has everyillusion, to live in a cloister, or to be always washing her baby like anurse. You are too much _you_ in your household, and not enough in youradministration. I should not say all this to you except for the interest Ihave for you. Make the mother of your children happy; you have one way todo this: that is, by showing her esteem and confidence. Unfortunately yourwife is too virtuous; if you had married a coquette she would lead you bythe end of your nose. But you have a proud wife who is afflicted anddistressed by the mere thought that you may have a bad opinion of her. Youought to have married any one of a number of women whom I know in Paris;she would have had no difficulty in getting ahead of you and would havekept you at her feet. It is not my fault, I have often told your wife so. "Thus the Emperor, by taking part in behalf of his daughter-in-law andagainst his brother, took a position as arbiter in their domesticquarrels. This interference was all the more galling to Louis, --who wouldhave liked to be master in both his own kingdom and in his own house, --that calumny, as he well knew, persisted in representing the Emperor ashis rival in Hortense's love, and as the father of the Crown Prince. 

This child was named Napoleon Charles. He was born in Paris, October 10, 1802. His grandmother, Josephine, nourished the hope that some day hemight be heir to the Empire, and she regarded his birth as a pledge offinal reconciliation between the Bonapartes and the Beauharnaises. Shebelieved that his cradle saved her from divorce. The Emperor, who alwaysliked children, was especially fond of his nephew. He watched his growthwith the keenest interest, admiring his amiability, his precocity, hisexcellent disposition, The boy was really remarkable for intelligence andbeauty. His large blue eyes reflected every mood of his mind. Good, loving, frank, and merry, he needed only to appear and all sadness wasbanished. His mother had brought him up to revere the Emperor. His father, the King, gave him new toys every day, choosing those he thought mostattractive. The boy preferred those he received from his uncle, and whenhis father said, "But just see, Napoleon, those are ugly; mine areprettier. " "No, " said the young Prince, "those are very pretty, my unclegave them to me. " One morning on his way to see the Emperor, he passedthrough a drawing-room where happened to be among others, Murat, thenGrand Duke of Berg. The young Napoleon walked straight ahead withoutpaying attention to any one, and when Murat stopped him and said, "Don'tyou mean to say good-morning to me?" the child replied, "No; not before myuncle the Emperor. " Who knows? if this little Prince had lived the Emperormight have desired no other heir, and perhaps the divorce would never havetaken place. 

This boy was his mother's hope and pride, her joy and consolation. Hisfather, too, loved him much. He was a light in the darkness, a rainbowafter the storm. Sometimes when his parents were quarrelling he succeededin reconciling them. He used to take his father by the hand, who gladlylet himself be led by this little angel, and then he would say in acaressing tone: "Kiss her, papa, I beg of you"; then he was perfectlyhappy when his father and mother exchanged a kiss of peace. 

The little Prince had a sudden attack of croup in the night of May 4, 1807. He was thought to be lost, but in the evening he was a littlebetter, and the physicians had some hope of saving him. The improvementlasted but a few minutes. In the course of the day he was given someEnglish powders, which lent him a feverish strength, so that at six in theevening he asked for some cards and pictures to play with, but the feveronly gave way to his death agony. Towards ten in the evening the childdrew his last breath. 

No words can describe the unhappy Queen's despair; she became stony withgrief, and fears were felt for her reason. Josephine's grief wasboundless. She did not dare to leave the Empire without the Emperor'sauthorization, and so did not go to The Hague, but went in all haste tothe Castle of Laeken, near Brussels, whence she wrote to Hortense in theevening of May 14: "I have just readied the Castle of Laeken, my deardaughter, and await you here. Come and give me life; your presence isnecessary for me, and you must have need of seeing me and of weeping withyour mother. I should have liked to go further, but I was too weak, andbesides I had not time to send word to the Emperor. I have summonedcourage to come thus far; I hope that you will have enough to come to yourmother. Good by, my dear daughter, I am worn out with fatigue andespecially with grief. " In the evening of May 15, Hortense arrived at theCastle of Laeken, accompanied by her husband and her sole surviving son. She was motionless, apathetic, the figure of despair. M. De Rémusat, whowas with the Empress, wrote the next day to his wife: "The Queen has butone thought, the loss she has suffered; she speaks of only one thing, of_him_. Not a tear, but a cold calm, an almost absolute silence abouteverything, and when she speaks she wrings every one's heart. If she seesany one whom she has ever seen with her son, she looks at him withkindliness and interest, and says, 'You know he is dead. ' When she firstsaw her mother, she said to her: 'It's not long since he was here with me. I held him on my knees thus. ' Seeing me a few minutes later, she made asign for me to come forward. 'Do you remember Mayence? He acted with us. 'She heard ten o'clock strike; she turned to one of the ladies and said, 'You know it was at ten that he died. ' That is the only way she breaks heralmost continual silence. With all that, she is kind, sensible, perfectlyreasonable; she thoroughly understands her condition, and even speaks ofit. She says she is glad that she has fallen into this numb state, otherwise her sufferings would have been too intense. Some one asked herif she was much moved when she saw her mother: 'No, ' she answered; 'but Iam very glad to have seen her. ' Mention was made of Josephine's surpriseat her lack of emotion on seeing her; 'Oh, Heavens!' she said, 'she mustnot mind it; that's the way I am. ' To anything that is asked her on anyother subject, she says, 'It's all the same to me; do as you please. '"

A messenger had been sent to carry the news to the Emperor, who was muchaffected by hearing it. He wrote to Josephine, May 14: "I can well imaginethe grief which Napoleon's death, must cause. You can understand what Isuffer. I should like to be with you, that you might be moderate anddiscreet in your grief. You were happy enough never to lose a child, butthat is one of the conditions and penalties attached to our human misery. Let me hear that you are calm and well! Do you want to add to my regret?Good by, my dear. "

May 17 an imposing ceremony took place in Paris--the carrying of the swordof Frederick the Great to the Tuileries. A triumphal chariot, richlydecorated, carried the one hundred and eighty flags captured in the lastcampaign. Marshal Moncey, on horseback, held the hero's sword. The chariotproceeded to the iron gate of the Invalides, which it was too lofty topass under. Then the veterans came to take the flags and to carry theminto the church. The ceremony began with a song of triumph. MarshalSérurier, Governor of the Invalides, spoke: "We are here, " he said, "tothe number of more than nine hundred of those who fought against the greatking whose warlike spoils our children have just won. At that time fortunedid not always smile upon our valor. The fathers were no less brave thantheir sons, but they had not the same leader. Yet we can only recall withpride the words of that great man: 'If I were at the head of the Frenchpeople, not a cannon would be fired in Europe without my permission'--honorable proof of his esteem for the soldiers who were fighting him. Butit was in the reign of a sovereign even greater by his genius, his feats, his moderation, that the French people was to rise to such a height ofpower and glory. We swear faithfully to guard the treasure which hisImperial and Royal Majesty has entrusted to us. " Then the old churchechoed with cries of "We swear it!"

At this ceremony, the eloquent President of the Legislative Body, M. DeFontanes, made a fine speech full of enthusiasm for Napoleon, butrespectful to the memory of the great Frederick and to the misfortunes ofhis successor. He closed with a few words on the grief that the death ofthe Crown Prince must have caused the Emperor: "Perhaps, at this moment, "he said, "the hero who has saved us is weeping in his tent at the head ofthree hundred thousand victorious French, and of all the confederate kingsand princes who march under his banner. He weeps, and neither the trophiesheaped about him, nor the glory of the twenty sceptres he holds so firmly, which even Charlemagne failed to grasp, can distract his thoughts from thecoffin of that boy, whose first steps he aided with his triumphant hands, whose promising intelligence he hoped one day to guide. Let him not forgetthat his domestic woes have been felt like a public calamity, and may atender expression of the national interest bring him some slightconsolation. All our alarm for the future is a more ardent expression ofour homage. May fortune be satisfied with this one victim, and while shealways favors the plans of the greatest of monarchs, may she not make himpay for his glory by similar misfortunes!"

Doubtless the death of this young child altered the face of things. If hehad lived, it would have been for him, and not his brother, to bear thename of Napoleon III. , or possibly even of Napoleon II. , and apparentlythe destiny of the world would have been very different. Kingdoms andempires, on what does their fate depend! May 5 was to be a fatal date; theyoung Prince died May 5, 1807, and fourteen years later to a day his unclewas to die on the rock of Saint Helena. 

XXIII. 

THE END OF THE WAR. 

The Empress brought her daughter Hortense and her grandson Napoleon Louis, a boy a little over two, back to Paris with her, but she had not long theconsolation of their presence; before the end of May Hortense was obligedto leave for Cauterets to repair her shattered health. Her mother wrote toher from Saint Cloud, May 27: "I have wept much since your departure; thisseparation is very painful for me, and the only thing that could enable meto bear it would be the certainty that you are getting some good from yourtrip. I have heard of you from Madame de Broc. I beg of you to thank herfor this attention and to ask her to write to me when you are unable. Iheard news, too, of your son; he is at Laeken, very well, and awaits theKing's arrival. The Emperor has written to me again; he shares our sorrow. I needed this consolation, the only one I have received since yourdeparture. I am always alone, every moment recalls our loss, my tearsnever cease flowing. Good by, my dear daughter, take care of yourself foryour mother's sake, who loves you most tenderly. "

Napoleon, who forbade his wife and daughter-in-law to be gloomy, --an ordermore easily given than obeyed, --thought their mourning excessive. Hisexpressions of sympathy were very singular. He wrote from Finkenstein toQueen Hortense, May 20, 1807:--

"MY DAUGHTER: Everything I hear from The Hague tells me you are notreasonable. However legitimate your grief, it should have some bounds. Donot ruin your health; seek some distractions, and remember that life is sofull of dangers and evils that death is not the worst thing that canbefall one. " In his letter of May 24 to the Empress, the Emperor spoke ofthe unhappy Queen with a severity that amounted to brutality: "Hortense isunreasonable and does not deserve to be loved since she does not love anyone but her children. Try to calm her and do not make trouble for me. Forevery hopeless evil, consolation must be found. " He wrote to her again, May 26: "I have your letter of the 16th. I am glad Hortense has gone toLaeken. I am sorry to hear what you say about the sort of stupor she isin. She might show courage and self-control. I can't understand why sheshould be sent to the baths; she could find more distractions in Paris. Control yourself; be cheerful, and keep well. My health is excellent. Goodby. I stare your sufferings, and am sorry not to be with you. "

In her bitter grief Hortense lacked courage to write to the Emperor, whowas annoyed by her silence. "My dear, " he wrote to Josephine, June 2, "Ihear that you have arrived at Malmaison. I have no letters from you. I amvexed with Hortense; she has not written me a word. All you tell me abouther distresses me. Why could you not distract her a little? You are alwaysin tears! I hope you will show some self-control, that I may not find yousad. I have been for two days at Dantzic; the weather is fine; I am well. I think of you more than you think of an absent man. Good by; much love. Forward to Hortense this letter. " This is the severe epistle whichJosephine was bidden to send to Hortense:--

"June 2. MY DAUGHTER: You have not written me a word in your great andnatural grief. You have forgotten everything, as if you had not stilllosses to endure. I hear that you love nothing, are indifferent toeverything; this is plain from your silence. That is not right, Hortense. It is not what you promised us. Your son was everything for you? Are yourmother and I nothing? Had I been at Malmaison I should have shared yoursorrow, but I should have wanted you to listen to your best friends. Goodby, my daughter; be cheerful; you must be resigned. My wife is muchdistressed at your condition; do not give her further pain. Youraffectionate father. "

It is easily seen that such letters were ill adapted to allay the anguishof an inconsolable mother mourning for her child. 

Josephine's letters to her daughter showed very different feelings. Thekind Empress did her best to persuade her that the Emperor sympathizedwith her grief. She wrote from Saint Cloud, June 4: "Your letter, my dearHortense, gives me much consolation, and what I hear from your ladiesabout your health makes me easier. The Emperor was much distressed, inevery letter he tries to give me courage, but I know that this unhappyevent was a great blow to him. The King arrived at Saint Len last evening;he has sent me word that he meant to call on me to-day, and he must leavethe boy here during his absence. You know how much I love the child, andhow careful I shall be of him. I want the King to take the same route asyou; it will be a consolation for you both to meet. All his letters sinceyou left are full of love for you. He has too tender a heart not to betouched. Good by, my dear daughter; take care of your health; mine willimprove only when I don't have to suffer for those I love. " This lettershows all the kindness and gentleness of Josephine's character. She wasconciliating and benevolent, and did her best to smooth over Napoleon'sblame and to reconcile Hortense with her husband. She wrote again fromSaint Cloud, June 11: "Your boy is very well, and amuses me a great deal;he is so gentle; I think he has all the ways of the poor boy we mourn. "Josephine understood consolation better than the Emperor. 

What could be more touching, more maternal, than this letter from theEmpress? "Your letter moved me deeply; I see your grief is ever fresh andI perceive this better by my own sufferings. We have lost what was mostworthy to be loved; my tears flow as they did the first day. Those regretsare too natural to be repressed by reason, although it should moderatethem. You are not alone in the world. You have left a husband, aninteresting child, and you are too tender for that to be strange andindifferent to you. Think of us, my dear daughter, and let this calm yournatural sorrow. I rely on your love for me and on your reasonableness. Ihope that the trip and the waters will do you good. Your son is very well, and is charming. My health is a little better, but you know it depends onyours. Good by. Many kisses. "

The character of this loving mother and grandmother manifests itself inevery one of her letters. Her style was simple and affectionate, likeherself. Her letters, full of the gentlest, best, and most touchingfeeling, might make one say, "The style is the woman. "

While Josephine and Hortense were weeping, Napoleon was bringing aterrible campaign to a brilliant end. June 15 he thus announced to hiswife the great victory of Friedland: "My dear: I write but a word, for Iam very tired; I have been bivouacking for several days. My children havebeen worthily celebrating the battle of Marengo. The battle of Friedlandwill be quite as famous and glorious for my people. The whole Russian armyrouted; eighty cannon; thirty thousand men captured or killed; twenty-fiveRussian generals killed, wounded, or captured; the Russian Guard wipedout; it is a worthy sister of Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena. The bulletin willtell you the rest. My losses are not serious; I succeeded inoutmanoeuvring the enemy. Be calm and contented. Good by, my dear, myhorse is waiting. " The next day he wrote another letter to Josephine: "Mydear, yesterday I sent Moustache to you with news of the battle ofFriedland. Since then, I have continued to pursue the enemy, Königsberg, acity of eighty thousand inhabitants, Is in my power, I have found theremany cannon, stores, and finally sixty thousand muskets just come fromEngland. Good by, my dear, my health is perfect, although I have a coldfrom the rain and cold of the bivouac. Be cheerful and contented. Everyours. " From Tilsitt Napoleon wrote to his wife, June 19: "I have sentTascher to you to allay your anxiety. Everything goes on admirably here. The battle of Friedland decided everything. The enemy is confounded, castdown, and extremely enfeebled. My health is excellent, my army superb. Good by; be cheerful and contented. " Be cheerful and contented--he wasalways saying it. 

June 25, at one in the afternoon, a great sight was to be seen in themiddle of the Niemen. A raft had been placed midstream in plain view fromboth banks of the river. All the rich stuffs that could be found in thelittle town of Tilsitt had been taken to make a pavilion on a part of thisraft for the reception of the Emperors of France and Russia. From one bankNapoleon embarked with Murat, Berthier, Bessières, Duroc, andCaulaincourt; and from the other, Alexander, with the Grand DukeConstantine, Generals Bennigsen and Ouvaroff, the Prince of Labanoff, andthe Count of Lieven. The two armies were drawn up on the two banks, andthe country people of the neighborhood were present to watch one of themost memorable interviews known to history. When they reached the raft, the two sovereigns, who had just been fighting so bitterly, and had sentso many thousand men to death, fell into each other's arms with emotion. The same day Napoleon wrote to Josephine: "I have just seen the EmperorAlexander, and am much pleased with him; he is a very fine-looking, goodyoung Emperor; he has more intelligence than is generally supposed. He isgoing to move into Tilsitt to-morrow. Good by; keep well and be contented. My health is excellent. " The two monarchs became very intimate. "My dear, "Napoleon wrote to his wife July 3, "M. De Turenne will give you all thedetails about what is going on here; everything is moving smoothly. Ithink I told you that the Emperor of Russia drank to your health withgreat kindness. He and the King of Prussia dine with me every day. I wantyou to be contented. Good by; much love. " And July 6: "I have yours ofJune 25. I am sorry you are so egoistic, and that my success gives you nopleasure. The beautiful Queen of Prussia is to dine with me to-day. I amwell and anxious to see you again when fate permits. Still it willprobably be soon. "

The Queen of Prussia was one of the most beautiful and most brilliantwomen of her time. An hour after her arrival at Tilsitt, Napoleon calledon her, and that evening, when she came to dine with him, he went to thedoor of the house in which he lived to receive her with all respect. Butin spite of all her efforts to modify the conditions of the peace imposedon Prussia, her gracious and obstinate endeavors were fruitless. Napoleon, July 7, thus described to Josephine the dinner of the evening before tothe charming Queen: "My dear, the Queen of Prussia dined with meyesterday. I was obliged to refuse her some concessions she wanted me tomake to her husband; but I was polite, and also kept to my plan. She isvery amiable. When I see you I will give you all the details which wouldbe too long to write now. When you read this letter, peace will have beenconcluded with Russia and Prussia, and Jerome will have been recognized asKing of Westphalia with a population of three millions. This piece of newsis for you alone. Good by, my dear; I want to hear that you are contentedand cheerful. " The story runs that the Queen of Prussia, who held abeautiful rose in her hand, offered it to Napoleon, saying with a gracioussmile: "Take it, Sire, but in exchange for Magdeburg. " The hero of Jenamade a mistake not to make the exchange. He did too much or too little forthe Prussian monarchy. Since he could not or would not wipe it out, heought to have let it live, and become a friendly power. Who can tell?Perhaps his acceptance of the rose would have warded off many acts ofvengeance, many disasters. On such slight things does the world's destinydepend!

Josephine wrote to her daughter from Saint Cloud, July 10: "I often hearfrom the Emperor, who speaks a great deal about the Emperor Alexander, with whom he seems well satisfied. He sent M. De Monaco and M. DeMontesquiou to give me details of all they had seen. They say the firstview was a magnificent sight. The two armies were on the two banks of theNiemen. The Emperor was the first to arrive at a raft built in the middleof the river; the Emperor Alexander's boat found some difficulty inapproaching, which gave him a chance to speak of his eagerness thwarted bythe stream. They tell me that when the two Emperors kissed, wide-spreadapplause arose from both banks. What most interests me in all this goodnews is my hope of soon seeing the Emperor again. Why is this happinesstroubled by sad memories that can never be destroyed? Your boy isperfectly-well; his complexion has entirely changed. I hope the waterswill do both you and the King good; remember me to him, and believe in myconstant love. "

Before leaving Tilsitt, where he had signed a glorious peace, Napoleon hadthe bravest soldier of the Russian Guard presented to him, and he gave himthe eagle of the Legion of Honor. He gave his portrait to Platou, thehetman of the Cossacks, and some Baschirs gave him a concert after thecustom of their country. July 9, at eleven in the morning, wearing thegrand cordon of Saint Andrew, he called on the Emperor Alexander, who worethe broad ribbon of the Legion of Honor, The two sovereigns passed threehours together, then mounted their horses, and rode towards the Niemen. Then they got down and embraced for the last time. The Czar then embarked, and Napoleon waited on the river-bank until his new friend had landed onthe other shore. He returned to Königsberg and from there to Dresden, whence he wrote to Josephine, July, 18: "My dear, I reached here yesterdayafternoon at five, very well, though I had been posting one hundred hourswithout stopping. I am staying with the King of Saxony, whom I like verymuch. I have more than half my journey to you behind me. I warn you that Imay burst in on you at Saint Cloud one of these nights, like a jealoushusband. Good by, my dear; I shall be very glad to see you again. Everyours. " Napoleon spoke of jealousy. The days of the first Italian campaignwere very distant. Everything had changed. It was no longer he who had tobe jealous of Josephine: it was Josephine who was jealous of him, and withgood reason. After an absence of nearly a year, the Emperor reached SaintCloud, July 27, 1807, at six o'clock in the morning. 

XXIV. 

THE EMPEROR'S RETURN. 

July 28, 1807, the Emperor, who had arrived at Saint Cloud the day before, received the great bodies of the State. It would be hard to form an exactidea of the flatteries addressed to him. Let us quote a few taken atrandom. M. Séguier, First President of the Court of Appeal, said to thehero of Friedland: "Napoleon is above admiration; only love can rise tohim. " The Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, speaking in the name of hisclergy, was perhaps even more enthusiastic: "The God of armies, " he said, "has dictated and directed all your plans; nothing could resist theswiftness of so many wonders.... Have confidence, Sire, in our zeal, andinstruct the people in the submission and obedience they owe to all ofYour Majesty's decrees and orders. " But it was Councillor of StateTrochot, Prefect of the Seine, who deserves the prize in this competitionof adulation. Here is a fragment of his speech: "Sire, now that at lastParis receives you once more after so long an absence and such prodigiousfeats, it would gladly express to you all its intense admiration, and yetit can only speak to you of its love. And, indeed, if it tried tocontemplate in you the conqueror of so many kings, the law-maker of somany peoples, the controller of so many events, the arbiter of so manydestinies, how could it dare to approach Your Majesty, and in whatlanguage could it address you? Should it speak to you of triumphs? But canany one but a Caesar himself speak of what Caesar has done? Of glory? butfor ten years it has been impossible to speak of all you have won. Ofgenius? but who can speak of all the marvels yours has wrought, beforewhich we are dumb and confounded. Sire, all these things are beyond us, and since they command admiration, even silence, the silence ofastonishment which admiration imposes seems to be our sole manner ofexpressing it. " More had not been said, to Louis XIV. , the Sun King. 

In allusion to the illuminations in Paris the evening before, the Prefect, of the Seine added: "Why could not you, Sire, have been an eye-witness ofthe joy which the announcement of Your Majesty's return spread yesterdaythroughout the capital of your Empire! Why could not you have heard theapplause with which your faithful subjects rent the welkin daring thefestivity which they gave on this occasion until well into the night!" ThePrefect closed by a prophecy, alas! not too accurate: "The august EmperorNapoleon will render war between nations impossible, and the world'shappiness will date from his reign. "

The hero of Austerlitz, of Jena, of Friedland, then thought nothingimpossible. His direct or indirect sway extended from the Straits ofGibraltar to the Vistula, from the mountains of Bohemia to the North Sea. Charlemagne was outstripped. Josephine saw her husband again with joy, butalso with anxiety and terror. He returned so infatuated by his wonderfulfortune, he was so flattered and deified by his courtiers, in his wholeImperial and royal person there was something so formidable and majestic, that his gentle and timid wife was, as it were, dazzled by the rays of asun, too brilliant for her to look at. 

Josephine had now become afraid to address him as thou, and to call himsimply Bonaparte as she had done before. When she spoke to him, she oftencalled him Sire. She did not dare to reproach him with his infidelities atWarsaw or the Castle of Finkenstein, or to show that she noticed hisattentions to many ladies of the court, notably to a beautiful Italianwoman, a friend of Talleyrand's, who was one of her readers and aprominent object of Napoleon's attentions. She saw rising before her thevision of divorce, the phantom which had haunted her imagination since theexpedition to Egypt. Fearful of giving her husband the slightest pretextfor discontent or annoyance, she was humbler, more submissive, moreobedient than ever. 

So long as the oldest son of Louis and Hortense had lived, Josephine feltcomparatively secure, because she knew that this boy, a special favoriteof Napoleon's, was intended by his uncle to be the heir of his Empire. Buthis surviving brother, the little Napoleon Louis, born October 11, 1804, did not give the Empress the same confidence. The Emperor was lessintimate with this child; he had not played with him as he had done withthe other; he had not become attached to him. The little Napoleon Louiswas staying with Josephine when the Emperor returned. She did all shecould to make him love him. 

Moreover, it was not an easy thing to hold the affections of a man likeNapoleon. Six years younger than his wife, he was but thirty-eight, and inall the flower and prime of his Caesar-like beauty. He liked to make aconquest of beauties as well as of provinces. The thought of resistanceexasperated him. In everything he demanded success, triumph, dominion. Thecelebration of his birthday, August 15, 1807, which was accompanied withunusual pomp and splendor, was of the nature of a deification. He madeJosephine share his triumph, and held her by the hand when he appeared ona balcony of the Tuileries, in the enclosure, amid the applause of themultitude assembled in the gardens. 

King Jerome's marriage with the young Princess Catherine of Würtembergadded to the animation of the already brilliant court. The annulment ofthe young Prince's marriage with Miss Paterson had caused Napoleon muchdifficulty. When this marriage had been contracted at Baltimore, December8, 1803, he had been only First Consul, and Jerome, a simple navalofficer, was in no way under the control of the decree of the Senate, which was later to determine the civil conditions of the new Imperialfamily. But in his haste to marry the young and beautiful American girl, Jerome, who was but nineteen years old, had neglected, in spite of theadvice of the French Consul, to demand the permission of his mother, Madame Letitia Bonaparte. This omission had not prevented the Bishop ofBaltimore from celebrating the marriage. Napoleon, however, regarded it asnull and void. It was not till February 22, 1805, that he obtained hismother's protest, and the 21st of the next March, by an Imperial decree, he annulled the marriage which displeased him, by his own authority. Yet, in the eyes of religion, this union still existed. The Emperor asked thePope to pronounce it null, but Pius VII. Gave the request a formalrefusal, writing in June, 1805: "It is beyond our power in the presentstate of things, to pronounce it null. If we should usurp an authority wedo not possess, we should render ourselves guilty of an abuse abominablebefore the throne of God; and Your Majesty himself, in his justice, wouldblame us for pronouncing a sentence contrary to the testimony of ourconscience, and to the invariable principles of the church.... That is whywe earnestly hope that Your Majesty will be convinced that the desire withwhich we are always animated to second his designs, so far as depends onus, particularly in a matter so closely concerning his august person, hasbeen rendered idle by the absolute absence of power, and we entreat him toreceive this sincere declaration as testimony of our really paternalaffection. " This was the beginning of the quarrel between the Pope and theEmperor. Pius VII. Would not yield; but Napoleon found greater servilityin the metropolitan officialty of Paris; and October 6, 1806, he secured asentence pronouncing the nullity of his brother Jerome's marriage withMiss Paterson. 

The King of Würtemberg, in the hope that a close alliance with theImperial family would strengthen his throne, and procure him accession ofland and power, had prepared to give to the Emperor's young brother thehand of his daughter, Princess Catherine. As soon as the King had formedthis decision, he would not listen to a word of criticism from his family, who were already accustomed never to discuss his ideas. The King ofWürtemberg was a real giant. He was so stout that a broad, deep hollow hadto be cut out of his dining-table; for otherwise he would not have beenable to reach his plate. He was fond of riding, but it was not easy tofind a horse strong enough to carry his enormous weight. The horse had tobe gradually accustomed to it, and to accomplish this, the equerry who hadto prepare the royal steed used to wear a band full of lead, to which hewould add new pieces every day, until he was as heavy as the King. Thismonarch, who was highly respected, though greatly feared, by ids subjects, had some eccentricities. Thus he demanded that his wife should be up andfully dressed by seven in the morning; and insisted that at whatever hourof the day or evening it should please him to enter her apartment, heshould find her ready to accompany him wherever he might want to go. TheQueen, who was his second wife, --Princess Catherine was a child by hisfirst marriage, --was a daughter of the King of England, and consequentlyshe was averse to seeing her step-daughter marry the brother of England'sgreatest enemy; but she took good care not to make any objections. TheKing of Würtemberg was severe to his family and to his subjects, but hewas well educated, intelligent, and energetic. Napoleon set great store byhim, and regarded him as a loyal and faithful ally. 

Jerome, who had been made King of Westphalia by the treaty of Tilsitt, wasthe youngest of the Emperor's brothers. He was born at Ajaccio, November15, 1784, and was not yet twenty-three when he married Princess Catherineof Würtemberg, who was nearly two years older than he, having been bornFebruary 2, 1783. This Princess had much charm; she was tall, handsome, her expression was noble and kindly; she inspired every one with sympathyand respect. She was a woman remarkable for intelligence, virtue, andaffection. She was to be a model wife and mother. She it was who, in 1814, refused to get a divorce and to abandon an unfortunate husband, adethroned king. She it was who wrote to her father this admirable letter, without fear of his anger: "Having been forced, by reasons of state tomarry the King, my husband, it has been granted me by fate to be thehappiest woman in the world. I feel for my husband love, tenderness, esteem, combined; at this painful moment would the best of desire todestroy my domestic happiness, the only sort left to me? I venture to tellyou, my clear father, you and, all the family, that you do not know theKing, my husband. A time will come, I hope, when you will be convincedthat you have misjudged him and then you will always find him and me themost respectful and most loving children. " She was the courageous woman, the faithful wife, the devoted mother, of whom Napoleon said at SaintHelena: "Princess Catherine of Würtemberg has with her own hands writtenher name in history. "

Jerome's marriage was an event of great ceremony. It was first celebrated, by proxy, at Stuttgart, the Princess's brother representing thebridegroom. The Emperor sent presents to his future sister-in-law, amongother things a set of diamonds worth three hundred thousand francs. Adetachment from the Emperor's household and many of the Empress's ladiesof the bedchamber went to the frontiers to meet the Princess. She reachedthe Castle of Raincy, August 20, 1807, and there saw her betrothed for thefirst time, and the 21st, Napoleon received her at the Tuileries on thefirst step of the great staircase. As she bowed before him, he folded herin his arms, then he presented her to the Empress, before the whole courtand the deputies of the new kingdom of Westphalia, who had been summonedto Paris to be present at the marriage of their young sovereign with aPrincess belonging to one of the oldest and most illustrious families ofGermany. 

Saturday, August 22, the signature of the marriage contract and the civilwedding took place at the Tuileries, in the Gallery of Diana, in presenceof the Emperor, the Empress, the ladies and officers of their householdsand the great personages of the Empire. M. Regnault de Saint-Jeand'Angély, Secretary of State of the Imperial family, read the marriage-contract, which was then signed by the Emperor, the Empress, the youngcouple, the Princes and Princesses, the Prince Primate of theConfederation of the Rhine, the Prince's high dignitaries of the Empire, and the witnesses of the marriage. The witnesses were, for the court ofFrance: Prince Borghese, Prince Murat, Grand Duke of Berg, and MarshalBerthier, Prince of Neufchâtel; for the court of Würtemberg: the Prince ofBaden; the Prince of Nassau; and the Count of Winzingerode, the Ministerof Würtemberg. Prince Cambacérès, Arch-chancellor of the Empire, thenreceived the consent of the couple and pronounced the formula of the civilmarriage. 

The next day, Sunday, August 23, 1807, at eight in the evening, thereligious marriage was celebrated in the chapel of the Tuileries, thegalleries being filled with the diplomatic bodies, the foreign princes andnoblemen and invited guests. The procession was brilliant. On entering thechapel, Napoleon gave his hand to the Princess Catherine, and Jerome histo the Empress. The Prince Primate of the Confederation of the Rhines, Archbishop of Regensburg, Sovereign Prince of that city, of Aschaftenburg, of Frankfort, etc. , surrounded by his clergy and his court, stood at thechapel door. He gave holy water to the Emperor and the Empress, who atonce went to their praying-chairs; then he gave the nuptial blessing tothe young couple, while the canopy was held by the Bishop of Ghent and theAbbé of Boulogne, the Emperor's Almoners. After the ceremony, they allwent back from the chapel to the grand apartments, where followed aconcert, a ballet, and a reception in the Hall of the Marshals. TwiceNapoleon appeared on the balcony, showing the newly married pair the vastthrong filling the garden of the Tuileries. Unfortunately, a sudden stormprevented the display of fireworks. 

While the thunder was roaring and the rain pouring down, the Empress, ather young brother-in-law's marriage, was the prey to sad reflections. Shethought of the deserted American wife, who, far away, was weeping, whileher husband, the father of her children was joyfully leading another wifeto the altar. Josephine doubtless thought that soon perhaps her lot wouldhe the same as that of the unhappy Miss Paterson; that she would hesacrificed, abandoned, repudiated in the very same way. 

The Empress had another cause of grief. At the Pyrenees her daughterHortense had become reconciled with Louis, and was soon to be the motherof the child afterwards known as Napoleon III. But in a few weeks theincongeniality of their dispositions, for a moment forgotten in theircommon grief, asserted itself anew. On their return to Paris, at the endof August, the discord between the King and the Queen of Holland was asviolent as ever. The King, more uneasy and suspicious than ever before, wanted to carry his wife to Holland, but the Queen had an aversion to thecountry where she had suffered so much, and to its fatal climate. Shefeared that if she should return there she might lose her second son likethe first. Her health was wretched; she feared that her lungs wereaffected. In France she felt that the Emperor protected her from herhusband's anger. Holland seemed to her a gloomy, damp, melancholy prison, of which the King, her husband, would be the jailor. Louis Bonaparte wasfurious at his wife's resistance, all the more that he was obliged to hidehis feelings. Napoleon, who held his family, like his Empire, in absolutecontrol, gave Louis, as well as his other brothers, orders which they hadto obey without a word or a murmur. The King of Holland returned to hiskingdom alone, his wife stayed in France, but in the gloomiest spirits, with mind and body disordered, disenchanted about all human things. "Fromthat time, " she said later, "I understood that my misfortunes were beyondcure; I looked upon my life as destroyed; I conceived a horror ofgrandeur, of a throne; I often cursed what so many called my good fortune;I felt lost to all enjoyment of life, shorn of all Illusions, nearly deadto everything going on about me. " Under other conditions, the Empresswould have been delighted to have her daughter with her, but she found herso dejected, so morose, and so unhappy, that her presence was quite asmuch a grief as a comfort for her. These were the feelings of the Empressof the French and of the Queen, of Holland when they went to Fontainebleauwith the court at the end of September, 1807. There the Emperor lived moresplendidly than ever, surrounding himself with all the pomp and majesty ofmonarchy. 

XXV. 

THE COURT AT FONTAINEBLEAU. 

The court arrived at the Palace of Fontainebleau September 21, 1807, andstayed there until November 15. Napoleon felt the need of displayingunprecedented luxury. He wanted to have the Diplomatic Corps send toforeign powers the account of magnificent festivities. This splendidpalace, with its proud memories of the old French monarchy, was aresidence that pleased him. He liked to be surrounded by great persons, whether foreigners or Frenchmen, who rivalled one another in flattery, zeal, and homage towards him. In his opinion, festivities and battlesadded to the glory of the throne. Desiring to be in everything first, hewas very anxious for his court to be esteemed the most brilliant inEurope. 

There were various types among the guests at Fontainebleau. There wasNapoleon's mother, rather Italian than French by birth, and in face andaccent. She recalled the characters of antiquity, unspoiled by prosperity, austere in her life, simple in her taste, rigidly economical, less fromavarice than a distrust of the continuance of her son's good fortune. There was the beautiful Princess Borghese, Duchess of Guastalla, moreelegant, more fashionable, more attractive than ever; then Madame Murat, rich in freshness and brilliancy, not satisfied with being a FrenchPrincess and Grand Duchess of Berg, but yearning to be a Queen; the Queenof Holland, on the other hand, in despair at having ascended the throne, and plunged in a deep melancholy in marked contrast with the splendorssurrounding her in spite of herself. Then Joseph Bonaparte's wife, theQueen of Naples, whose tastes were modest, and who preferred Paris to herItalian kingdom. There were many Princes and great lords in the crowd ofcourtiers, the satellites of the Imperial sun. In the Gallery of Henry II. Were to be distinguished a cluster of German Princes: the Grand Duke ofWürzburg, --who did not seem to sigh for his Grand Duchy of Tuscany, finding ample consolation in singing Italian pieces, for music was hispassion; the Prince Primate of the Confederation of the Rhine, Archbishopof Regensburg, Sovereign Prince of that city and of Frankfort, who, inspite of his position in the church, joined the Emperor's hunt; PrinceWilliam of Prussia, who hoped by his devotion to alleviate the troubles ofhis country, and to modify the demands of the hero of Jena; the Prince ofMecklenburg-Schwerin, conspicuous for his formal German politeness; theyoung Prince of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Brother of the Queen of Prussia, less interested in the patriotic grievances of his sister, than in hisassiduous court to the Empress Josephine, whose respectful platonic loverhe was; the Prince of Baden, who, although the brother-in-law of theEmperor of Russia, the King of Bavaria, and the King of Sweden, was proudto have married a Mademoiselle de Beauharnais, daughter of a simpleSenator of the Empire, with but one regret--that his wife did not love himenough; Jerome, the young and brilliant King of Westphalia, apparentlyforgetful of Elisabeth Paterson, and full of mad love for his new wife, Princess Catherine of Würtemberg. 

In the Gallery of Henry II. Was also to be seen Murat, who, after histriumphal entry into Warsaw, thought of nothing but crowns, anxiouslywondering whether he was to be King of Poland, or of Portugal, of Spain, or of Naples. There were the high dignitaries of the Empire, the foreignambassadors, the marshals, the ministers; M. De Talleyrand with hisenormous salary, his high position as Grand Chamberlain and Vice-Elector, his title of Prince of Benevento, always sparkling with the cold, sceptical, politely contemptuous wit that distinguished those who belongedto the old régime--Talleyrand, who, in the Emperor's closet possibly spoketo him with a certain freedom, but in the Gallery of Henry II. Resembledthe other courtiers and kept a profound silence as his master drew near. Then the Count of Ségur, Grand Master of Ceremonies, as attractive in thecourt of Napoleon as he had been in that of Catherine II. As ambassador ofLouis XVI. ; Marshal Berthier, Grand Master of the Horse, Vice-Constable, Sovereign Prince of Neufchâtel, as devoted to Madame Visconti as if hewere a youth of twenty; Count Tolstoi, the brilliant ambassador of theEmperor Alexander; M. De Metternich, the fascinating and skilful AustrianAmbassador, conspicuous by Ms admiration for Princess Murat. 

When the Emperor entered, all eyes were turned towards him alone; abouthim centred all interest, all intrigues, all ambitions. He appeared as thedispenser of fortune, the arbiter of destiny, the exceptional being onwhom depended individuals, kingdoms, empires. He filled it all with hispresence; every one seemed to live only for and by the Emperor. A smile, aword, the slightest mark of attention on his part, seemed a preciousreward, a marked honor, As soon as he entered, a quiver of admiration andof terror seemed to run through the air. Every one bowed like a horse whosniffs the approach of his master; they almost prostrated themselvesbefore him. Any one to whom he spoke, stammered, feared to reply, turnedpale and red; and he, rejoicing in their embarrassment, gloried in thewide gulf he had set between himself and all other human beings. Evenforeigners seemed to be his subjects. Whatever their position, whatevertheir coat-of-arms, by his side they were vulgar supernumeraries. Hispower appeared to be limitless, like his genius; and believing everythingpossible, looking upon himself as a prodigy, a living miracle, he exultedproudly and majestically in his glory. 

Under the second Empire, what were called the _series_ of Compiègne and ofFontainebleau were much less ceremonious than under the first. All theguests of Napoleon III. Breakfasted and dined at his table, --in themorning in frock-coat, in the evening in black coat and knee breeches; nouniforms were to be seen. Women appeared at breakfast in morning dress;they wore no especial dress at the hunt. Before dinner the Empress used toreceive a few specially invited guests to drink tea. All day the Emperorleft the company perfectly free. In the evening there was dancing to themusic of a piano like a hand-organ, of which a chamberlain turned thehandle. The Emperor was treated with great deference, but no one fearedhim, because his words were always marked by great affability. NapoleonI. , on the other hand, was perhaps more feared than admired. Those whowere charged with organizing his entertainments were perfectly happy if hewas silent; for he almost never gave a word of praise and oftencriticised. It was a conspicuous and rare honor, even for Princes, to dinewith him. There were besides at Fontainebleau, in 1807, several distincttables: those of the Princes and Princesses of the Imperial family, whooften gave grand dinners; that of the Grand Marshal of the Palace, withtwenty-five places; that of the Empress's Maid of Honor, with the samenumber; and, finally, a last table for all those who had received nospecial invitation. The Princesses paid the cost--of installing themselvesthere out of their own purses, while under Napoleon III. , atFontainebleau, or at Compiègne, all the expenses were defrayed by theEmperor. Under the first Empire only those holding high official positionwere invited to the Imperial, residences; under the second, many wereinvited who were famous only for their elegance. Under Napoleon I. , whereeverything was formal, scarcely anything but tragedy was played at thecourt; under Napoleon III. , lighter plays were often given. The hunts werevery simple under the second Emperor and very magnificent under the first, In 1807 Napoleon had ordered that women who went to the coursing shouldwear a special costume; that of the Empress and of all the ladies of herhousehold was of amaranthine velvet, embroidered with gold, and a cap withwhite feathers; that of the Princesses, blue for the Queen of Holland, pink for the Princess Murat, lilac for the Princess Borghese, all adornedwith silver embroidery. The Emperor and all his guests wore the samehunting-dress for coursing: a green coat with gold, buttons and lace, breeches of white cassimere, Hessian boots without tops; for shooting, agreen coat, with no other ornament than white buttons, on which werecarved hunting emblems. Under the first Empire, etiquette was most rigid;under the second, it hardly existed. At every moment of day and evening, Napoleon I. Wore a twofold air as commander-in-chief and sovereign;Napoleon III. Was like a man of the world receiving his friends in his owncastle. 

From September 21 to November 15, 1807, the great general had commandedthat there should be amusement in the Palace of Fontainebleau. Pleasurewas ordered, but it does not come at call. The Emperor, accustomed to havehis every wish obeyed, was surprised to see that not every face wasradiant. "Strange, " he said, "I have gathered a good many people here atFontainebleau; I want them to amuse themselves, I have arranged theirpleasures, yet every one seems tired and sad. " The Italian songs, evenwhen sung by the best singers, in costume and with all the scenery, produced but a feeble impression. The tragedies seemed to induce slumber. The little balls, or, more exactly, the little hops in the apartment ofthe Maid of Honor, Madame de la Rochefoucauld, were very dull. Sometimeslittle games were played there; they gave a flash of gaiety, but as soonas the Emperor appeared, every one assumed a serious, composed air. Mightone not say once more what La Bruyère said when speaking of the court ofLouis XIV. : "Who would believe that this eagerness for shows, that meals, hunts, ballets, tilting-matches, crowned so many anxieties, pains, anddiverse interests, so many fears and hopes, so many lively passions, andserious affairs?" A palace is not built for ease. All its formalities hangheavy on every guest; the whole of every day is spent in playing a part. 

Amid all these empty pleasures and hollow joys there was no lack ofsorrow. It was there that the wretched Queen Hortense, spitting blood, mourning the past and dreading the future, said to Napoleon: "Myreputation is tainted, my health ruined, I expect no more happiness inlife; banish me from your court; if you wish, lock me up in a convent, Idesire neither throne nor fortune. Give peace to my mother, glory toEugene, who deserves it, but let me live a calm and solitary life. " Shehad been happier as an unknown schoolgirl at Madame Campan's, just as hermother, the Empress of the French and the Queen of Italy, must have oftensighed for the island of Martinique, where she would have preferred thesplash of the waves to the courtiers' murmur of obsequious flattery. Napoleon, himself, at the height of human glory, had lost the peace ofheart which he enjoyed in his boyhood, and never found again. 

The Empress Josephine naturally held the highest place in this brilliantcourt of Fontainebleau, and was the object of untiring homage; few, however, suspected the anxieties that tormented her, so calm happy did sheappear, with a kind word and a gracious smile for every one. 

M. De Metternich, the Austrian Ambassador who was then at Fontainebleau, took pains to ascertain the causes of her secret sorrow, and sent thedetails to his government. He wrote to von Stadion: "In many of myprevious reports I have had the honor of speaking to Your Excellency aboutthe long current rumors regarding the approaching divorce of the Emperor. After circulating vaguely in the last two months, they have become thesubject of general and public discussion. It is true of these rumors, asof all not stamped out at their birth, that they rest on some foundationof truth, or they would be promptly silenced, if they were not directlytolerated. " Then the clear-sighted ambassador reported in the samedespatch what he had learned, thanks to his relations with persons to whomthe Empress had made revelations: "Since his return from the army, theEmperor's bearing towards his wife has been cold and embarrassed. He nolonger lives in the same apartment with her, and many of his daily habitshave undergone a change. Rumors of the Empress's divorce began at thatmoment to assume a more serious form; when they reached her ears shesimply waited for some direct information, without letting the Emperor seethe slightest anxiety. "

Josephine was sorely stricken, and her sufferings were all the moreintense because she had to hide them from every one, especially from herhusband, and they made a marked contrast, by the irony of fate, with thepleasures and amusements that surrounded her. She was too clear-sightedand intelligent to proceed to question the Emperor. She feared light anddreaded the truth. She hesitated before the abyss that awaited her, andshuddered before the Emperor's glance. She suffered on the throne, as ifit were an instrument of torture. It was then that Fouché took some stepswhich doubled her anguish. The incident is thus recounted, by PrinceMetternich in the despatch already cited: "One day the Minister of Policevisited her at Fontainebleau. And after a short preamble, told her thatthe public good, and, above all, the strengthening of the existing dynastyrequiring that the Emperor should have children, she ought to ask theSenate to join with her in demanding of the Emperor a sacrifice mostpainful to his heart. The Empress, who was prepared for the question, asked Fouché, with great coolness, if he took this step by the Emperorsorders. 'No, ' he replied: 'I speak to Your Majesty as a minister chargedwith a general supervision, as a private citizen, as a subject devoted tohis country's glory, ' 'In that case I have nothing to say to you, 'interrupted the Empress; 'I regard my union with the Emperor as written inthe book of Fate, I shall never discuss the matter with any one but him, and never will do anything but what he orders, '" Josephine, when shementioned this conversation to her confidant, M. De Lavalette, who hadmarried a Mademoiselle de Beauharnais, said to him in great perplexity;"Is it not clear that Fouché was sent by the Emperor and that my fate issettled? Alas! To leave the throne is nothing to me. Who knows better thanI do how many tears I have shed there? But to lose at the same time theman to whom I have given my best love, that sacrifice is beyond mystrength. "

But to return to Prince Metternich's despatch: "Many days passed withoutincident, when suddenly the Emperor began to share again the Empress'sapartment and took a favorable moment to ask why she had been so sad forsome days. The Empress then told him of her interview with Fouché. TheEmperor confirmed his statement that he had never given him any suchorders. He added that she ought to know him well enough to be sure that hehad no need of any go-between to manage matters with her, and made herpromise to report to him anything further she might hear about thematter. " Josephine was not at all comforted. Napoleon's explanation wasvery embarrassed, and who could think that so crafty and ambitious a manas Fouché could assume the responsibility of such a negotiation if hesupposed that thereby he exposed himself to his master's wrath?

The Minister of Police did not confine himself to mere spoken words. A fewdays after his interview with the Empress, he wrote to her a long letteron large paper, in which he set forth all the arguments he had alreadybrought forward, to urge upon her the spontaneous sacrifice which would bethe more meritorious, the more painful it was. Josephine, who receivedthis letter in the evening, summoned M. De Rémusat at midnight to show itto him. "What shall I do, " she asked, "to ward off this storm?" "Madame, "replied the First Chamberlain, "my advice is to go this very moment to theEmperor, if he has not gone to bed, or else the very first thing to-morrowmorning. Remember, you must seem to have consulted no one. Make him readthis letter; watch him as closely as you can; but, whatever happens, showthat you hate these roundabout methods, and tell him again that you willnever listen to anything but a direct order from him. "

The Empress did as he said, Napoleon, to use a common expression, was"cornered. " He pretended to be much surprised, and very angry; promised"to comb Fouché's head, " and even added that if she desired he would takeaway his portfolio; and to calm her he went so far as to write to theMinister of Police this letter, dated Fontainebleau, November 5, 1807:--

"MONSIEUR FOUCHÉ: In the last fortnight I have heard of your foolishactions; it is time for you to put an end to them, and to stopinterfering, directly or indirectly, in a matter which in no way concernsyou; that is my wish. "

Fouché was not at all disturbed by his master's reproach. He was at heartconvinced that he had not displeased him; he kept his portfolio, and wassure that the divorce, though postponed, was irrevocably decided on by theEmperor. Josephine had no more illusions. It was in vain that Napoleonspoke to her kindly, and tried to console her with kisses and even tears, --for Napoleon used to cry sometimes, --after Fouché had made his overturesshe had no more peace of mind. The end of the stay at Fontainebleau wasvery gloomy. All became tired of this life of empty show, of the perpetualconstraint, of the pleasures which by dint of repetition became dull andmonotonous. Every one longed for home, to escape from this master'sglances; for his presence inspired an admiration tempered with dread. Thewomen had spent vast sums in their dress. The men had indulged inambitious plans almost always futile. The German princelings had sufferedin their lordly pride and German patriotism by having to bow their headsbefore the formidable man whose humble vassals they were, and these men, vain of their coat-of-arms, had not seen without a secret spite thecrushing superiority of a poor Corsican gentleman. This great conquerorhimself was not happy in all his splendor. Although he was no longer inlove with his wife, it was not without sadness that he had seen heruneasiness and grief. Anxiety about the condition of Spain, which was sofatal to him, cast a cloud on his brow. When hunting in the forest, he wasoften seen to lose himself in thought and to let his horse wander as hepleased. At the theatrical performances it was noticed that, absorbed anddistracted, he appeared to think less of the play than of his vast plans. 

Not long since I visited the palace and the forest of Fontainebleau, inone of those cold but bright autumn days when the half bare trees have astrange appearance, when some leaves are as red as blood, others as yellowas gold, and nature wears all the countless hues which defy the artist'sbrush. The forest is wonderfully beautiful with its marvellous combinationof trees and rocks. All the kings of France since Louis VII. Haveinhabited this palace. The holy head of Louis IX. Appears there with hisaureola on his head, In the gallery of Francis I. , with its nymphs andfauns, amid garlands, fruits, and emblems, one recalls that King andCharles V. Who entered the palace by the glided door, and who took part inthe great festival in the forest, when nymphs, fauns, and gods seemed toissue from the trunks of oaks to the sound of tambourines, and a band ofmaidens flung flowers before the feet of the Spanish court. One recalls, too, Catharine de' Medici with her squadron, of young and brilliantamazons--Catharine de' Medici who In this palace brought forth her twosons, Francis II, and Henry III. At the end of the oval court is a dome ofrich and picturesque construction, called the baptistery of Louis XIII, because that king was baptized there. Then there are the apartments of thequeen mothers; Catharine de' Medici, Maria de' Medici, Anne of Austria, and those of Pius VII. , a captive at Fontainebleau, In the bedroom of thequeen mothers an altar was raised where the Vicar of Christ said mass. Thehangings of embroidered satin in this room were a wedding-gift from thecity of Lyons to Marie Antoinette. The room is a model of luxury andelegance, and is called the Chamber of the Five Maries because it has beeninhabited by five sovereigns bearing that name, Maria de' Medici, MariaTheresa, Marie Antoinette, Marie Louise, and Marie Amélie. It was also theEmpress Eugénie's chamber. 

This marvellously picturesque palace of Fontainebleau is full ofinteresting reminiscences, but of all the figures it recalls, no figure ismore impressive than that of Napoleon. There is much gorgeous furniture inthe palace of various sorts, in the style of the renaissance, of LouisXIV. , Louis XV. , and Louis XVI. ; but no piece attracts more attention thanthe plain mahogany table on which Napoleon signed his abdication. Then howimpressive is the bedroom where he spent terrible nights, unable to sleep, and at last seeking in suicide a cure for his despair! Consider thecontrast between 1807 and 1814! Meanwhile there had been changes of face, many apostasies. "Ah! Caulaincourt, mankind, mankind!" exclaimed thedeserted Emperor. Every one left him, promising him a speedy return, butno one thought of it. Fontainebleau became a desert. If the sound ofwheels was heard, it was never of carriages arriving, but only ofcarriages going away. It was at Fontainebleau that Napoleon's pridetriumphed, and there that his pride suffered its cruelest humiliations. What anguish he endured, this man of destiny, in that room where he wrote:"To finish my career by signing a treaty in which I have not been able tostipulate a single general interest, nor even one moral interest, such asthe preservation of our colonies, or the maintenance of the Legion ofHonor! To sign a treaty by which money is given to me!" What anguish torehis mind and body when, having taken too small a dose of poison, he saidbetween his spasms: "How hard it is to die, and it is so easy on thebattle-field! Why didn't I die at Arcis-sur-Aube!" Did he then recall thesplendor of his return from Jena, from Friedland, from Tilsitt? Did heremember the crowd of courtiers who resembled priests whose God he was?The only courtiers left were those to whom he had given neither money norhonors, the old soldiers of his guard, with, their gray mustaches, whocould not restrain their sobs and tears when, in the Court of the WhiteHorse, he bade them farewell, saying, "I should like to embrace you in myarms, but let me embrace this flag which represents you. "

XXVI. 

THE END OF THE YEAR, 1807. 

While the court was still at Fontainebleau, the Empress received a pieceof news, which had been kept back from her for some days, and which addedmaterially to her sorrows. Her widowed mother, Madame Tascher de laPagerie, whom she had not seen since September, 1790, had died June 2, 1807, at the age of seventy, in her home at Martinique. Josephine, who wasmuch attached to her mother, had done her best to persuade her to come toFrance, where she would have been sure of the warmest welcome. But thatvenerable lady had perhaps chosen more wisely in preferring her modest andquiet home to all the splendor and excitement of an Imperial palace. Fromafar she thought of her daughter at the summit of human happiness; nearher, she would often have seen her sad and downcast. By not approachingthe throne which, at a distance, appears like a magic seat, but, to usethe Emperor's expression, is in fact only an armchair covered with velvet, Napoleon's mother-in-law was spared the sight of much misery, and shedied, as she had lived, in peace. 

The Emperor left for Italy November 16. 1807, and this departure was forJosephine, already so afflicted, another source of anxiety and sadness, She would gladly have gone with him, and have seen once more Eugene andher granddaughter, who was named after her; but Napoleon had decidedotherwise. He was no longer unable to live without his wife, and he nolonger thought with La Fontaine that absence was the greatest of evils. Healleged as reason, the inclemency of the winter, said that he should beback early in December--in fact, he did not return to the Tuileries tillJanuary 1--and to the Empress's great despair set off without her, leavingher the prey of the liveliest anxiety, the cruelest fears. 

In Italy Napoleon received the same ardent flattery as in France. Hereached Milan November 22, before Prince Eugene had had time to ride outto meet him. After ovations, reviews, religious ceremonies at theCathedral, grand performances at the Scala, he went to Venice. Here he wasreceived with all the luxury that used to be displayed at the majesticmarriage of the doge and the Adriatic. When he reached Fusina, he entereda gondola rowed by men in satin coats embroidered with gold. He enteredthe grand canal beneath an arch of triumph between a double line of boatsadorned with festoons and garlands. At the Venice theatre he saw a grandperformance representing Olympus, and then was played, amid applause, thepopular air, _Napoleone it grande_. He had with him in Venice his brotherJoseph, King of Naples; his sister, Elisa Bacciochi, Princess of Lucca;his step-son, Prince Eugene, Viceroy of Italy; the King and Queen ofBavaria, the father-in-law and mother-in-law of this Prince; Murat, GrandDuke of Berg, and Berthier, Prince of Neufchâtel. He left Venice December8, dining at Treviso. The 11th he was at Udine, and the 14th at Mantua. 

It was in this city that he had a secret interview with his brotherLucien, with whom he wished to be reconciled, but on one absolutecondition, _sine qua non_. It will be remembered that Lucien, against theFirst Consul's wishes, had married Alexandrine de Bleschamps, widow of M. Jouberthon; who, after being a broker in Paris, had died in Saint Domingo, whither he had followed the French expedition. Napoleon, who was anxiousto marry Lucien with Queen Marie Louise, daughter of Charles IV. Of Spain, and widow of Louis I. , King of Etruria, wished to annul this marriage. Butthis brilliant offer had been peremptorily declined by the man whopreferred a woman's love to a crown. In the spring of 1804 Lucien hadvoluntarily left France to seek in Rome an asylum from his brother'sincessant reproaches and demands. His mother, Madame Letitia, whothoroughly approved of him, had followed him to Rome, and the Emperor hadmet with some difficulty in persuading her to return to Paris, which sheonly did after the coronation. M. De Méneval went by night to fetch Lucienfrom the inn where he was staying, and led him mysteriously to the palacewhich the Emperor occupied. Laden, instead of falling in his brother'sarms, greeted him coldly, with dignified reserve. 

Stanislas de Girardia, in his interesting "Journal, " has recounted theinterview of the two brothers, as he heard it from Lucien himself. Theysaid very much what follows:--

"Well, sir, do you still told to Madame Jouberthon and her son?"

"Madame Jouberthon is my wife, and her son is my son. "

"No, no, since it is a marriage which I do not recognize, and consequentlynull. "

"I contracted it lawfully, as citizen and as Christian. "

"The civil act was illegal, and it is known that you gave a priest twenty-five louis-d'or to persuade him to marry you. "

"Doubtless Your Majesty, when he invited me here, did not do so for thepurpose of paining me; if that is his intention, I withdraw, "

"I have conquered Europe, and certainly I should not flinch before you. You owe your peaceful life in Rome to my kindness; but you are acquiringthere a consideration which displeases me, and in time you will annoy me;I will order you to go away, and I will make you leave Europe. "

"And if I should not obey?" "I will have you arrested. "

"And then?"

"I shall have you sent to Bicêtre and then if--"

"I should defy you to commit a crime!"

"Don't speak to me in that way; don't imagine you can impose on me, Irepeat, I have not conquered Europe to flinch before you. Leave the room. "

Lucien did not leave, and Napoleon, after a few violent words, became alittle calmer. Lucien then renewed the stormy discussion, trying to pacifyhis brother. 

"I had no intention of displeasing Your Majesty by saying what should showthe high opinion I have of the greatness of his soul. "

"Never mind that; cast your eyes on the map of the world then. Join us, Lucien, and take your share; it will be a fine one, I promise you. Thethrone of Portugal is empty; I have declared that the King shall cease toreign. I will give it to you; take command of the army destined to make aneasy conquest of it, and I will make you a French Prince and mylieutenant. The daughters of your first wife shall be my nieces; I willestablish them in life. I will marry the eldest to the Prince of theAsturias; the King of Spain asks it of me as a favor; I can prove it bythis letter. "

"My eldest daughter, Sire, is not yet thirteen; she is not old enough tobe married. "

"I thought she was older. "

"In a year or two, I will gladly let you dispose of her. "

"Then there are no difficulties about the children of your first wife. Youhave daughters by your second wife, I will adopt them; you have a boy too;I shall not recognize him; his mother will have an important duchy, and hecan be her heir. As for you, go to Lisbon, leave your wife and your son inRome; I will look after them. Your ties are broken. I will find a way. "

"That can only be by divorce. "

"And why not? That is a frank and positive way which perfectly suits me. Iwant to be reconciled with you, and you know the price attached to thePortuguese crown. "

"I see that to get it I should have to consent to make my wife aconcubine, my son a bastard. Your Majesty knows me ill if he has been ableto believe that the offer of a crown could tempt me to a dishonorableaction. "

"He who is not for me, is against me; if you don't enter into my system, you are my enemy; and thereby I have the right of persecuting you and Ishall persecute you. "

"I do not want to be your enemy, Sire; I cannot become one by preservingmy honor and my virtue, by refusing to give up my reputation for a throne:and that this disagreement may be unknown, let Your Majesty give me someconspicuous proof of his kindness; give me the broad ribbon of the Legionof Honor, I beg of you!"

"No; by taking my colors you would ruin your reputation; it is a greatthing to be opposed to me, and it is a fine part to play; you can continueit for two years without inconvenience, but then you will have to leaveEurope. "

"Much sooner, and I shall prepare to leave for America. Only theentreaties of my mother and Josephine have kept me here so long. "

"I don't ask that of you; my propositions are not too unreasonable to bethought over; ponder them, with your wife, and let me know your answerwithin eighteen days. "

At the end of the interview the two brothers parted with emotion. Lucienflung himself into his brother's arms, saying that doubtless he wasembracing him for the last time, and left for Rome with his head high. Hewas obliged to yield only on one point, by sending to Paris his oldestdaughter, Charlotte Marie, the issue of his first marriage with ChristineBoyer. (She was born at Saint Maximini in February, 1795, and in 1815married Prince Marius Gabrielli. ) But the young girl had all her father'sindependent spirit. In Paris she was entrusted to the care of hergrandmother, Madame Letitia, and she spoke so severely about the Imperialfamily in her letters, which were opened, that she was sent back to herfather in Rome almost as soon as she had arrived in France. As for theidea of an annulment of the marriage or a divorce, Lucien absolutelyrejected it. He preferred his wife to all the wealth, all the honors, allthe kingdoms of the world. Jerome had yielded. Lucien did not yield. 

Napoleon left Mantua after his interview with his brother, and returned toMilan, where, December 17, he witnessed some naval sports in the arena ofthe circus, which was turned into a lake. There too, December 20, in thegrand, hall of the palace, he adopted Prince Eugene as his son anddeclared him his heir to the crown of Italy. At the same time he issuedthese two decrees: "Wishing to give especial proof of our satisfactionwith our good city of Venice, we have conferred, and by these letters-patent here present do confer, upon our dearly loved son, Prince EugeneNapoleon, our heir presumptive to the crown of Italy, the title of Princeof Venice. " "Wishing to give especial proof of our satisfaction with ourgood city of Bologna, we have conferred, and by these letters-patent herepresent do confer, the title of Princess of Bologna upon our dearly lovedgranddaughter, the Princess Josephine. " Napoleon left Milan, December 24, to return to Paris by way of Turin. 

The letters which the Emperor wrote to his wife during this trip were veryempty and unimportant, wholly unlike those he had written in 1798. Only afew need be quoted. "Milan, November, 25, 1807. I have been here, my dear, two days. I am glad I did not bring you. You would have suffered terriblycrossing Mount Cenis where a storm detained me twenty-four hours. I foundEugene very well; I am much pleased with him. The Princess is ill; I wentto see her at Monza: she has had a miscarriage, but is improving. Good by, my dear. " "Venice, November 30, 1807. I have your letter of the 22d. Ihave been for two days in Venice. The weather is very bad, which has notprevented my going through the lagoons to see the different forts. I amglad to see that you are amusing yourself in Paris. The King of Bavariaand his family and the Princess Elisa are also here. After December 2, which I shall spend here, I shall be on my way back, and glad to see you. Good by, my dear. " "Udine, December 11, 1807. I have your letter of the3d, and I see you are much pleased with the Jardin des Plantes. I am atthe furthest limit of my journey; it is possible that I shall be soon inParis where I shall be glad to see you again. The weather has not beenvery cold here, but very wet. I have taken advantage of the last fineweather of the season, for I suppose that at Christmas the winter will behere. Good by, my dear. Ever Yours. "

During the Emperor's absence the triumphal return of the Guard brought aslight diversion to the Empress's anxiety and distress of mind. Thoughunhappy as a wife, she was at least happy as a Frenchwoman. She, alas! hada presentiment of divorce, but not of the invasion and dismemberment ofFrance. At noon, November 25, the twelve thousand old soldiers of theGuard, bronzed, covered with glorious wounds, some already gray, madetheir solemn entry into Paris. An arch of triumph, broader and higher thanthe Porte Saint Martin, had been built at the gate of La Villette. ThePrefect of the Seine and the municipal authorities there awaited theveterans. 

The prefect welcomed the brave soldiers: "Heroes of Jena, of Eylan, ofFriediand, " he said, "conquerors of peace, immortal thanks are due you, for the country you have conquered! Your own country will ever rememberyour triumphs; your names will be handed down to the remotest posterity onbronze and marble, and the story of your exploits, firing the courage ofour latest descendants, will be recalled, and you, by the example you haveset, will still protect this vast Empire which, you have so gloriouslydefended with your valor... Hail! war-like eagles, symbols of the power ofour magnanimous Emperor; carry over all the earth, with his great name, the glory of the French name, and may the crowns with which the city ofParis has been allowed to decorate you be everywhere a proof at onceaugust and formidable of the union of monarch, people, and army!"

Marshal Bessières, who was in, command, replied: "The most perfect harmonywill always exist between the populace of this great city and the soldiersof the Imperial guard, and if their eagles should march again, recallingtheir oath to defend, them to the death, they would remember that thewreaths adorning them redouble the obligation. " After these two speechesthe standard bearer left the ranks and bent down the flags on which themagistrates placed golden crowns bearing this inscription: "The city ofParis to the Grand Army. " Then the troops marched past in the followingorder: the fusiliers, the riflemen, grenadiers, the light cavalry, theMamelukes, dragoons, the horse grenadiers, and the picked body of gens desarmes. While they passed beneath the arch of triumph, a large band andchorus performed a cantata, with words by Arnault and music by Méhul. Passing through the dense crowds that lined the way, the guard came to theTuileries, passing beneath the arch of the Carrousel, where the eagleswere set down. Then it entered the palace garden, leaving its arms there, and proceeded to the Champs Elysées, where a banquet for twelve thousandmen was laid. The tables were arranged under tents on each side of theChamps Elysées, along their whole extent, from the Place de la Concorde tothe gate de l'Etoile. The tent of the staff was in the middle, half-wayup. Marshal Bessières proposed a toast to the city of Paris, and thePrefect of the Seine one to the Emperor and King, and another to the GrandArmy. 

The next day there were three performances in every theatre. The pit, theorchestra, and principal rows of boxes and galleries were reserved for theImperial Guard. The opera gave _The Triumph of Trajan_. The Français gave_Gaston and Bayard_. "That historical play, " said the _Moniteur_, "whichpresents so noble and true a picture of French honor, of warlikevictories, of chivalric enthusiasm, --never did this tragedy havespectators better fitted to appreciate it. " In the minor theatres variousplays on the events of the day were given. The performance at the operawas magnificent; the _Moniteur_ described it with its usual lyricalenthusiasm: "This picked band of braves, who, in their swift conquests, intheir distant marches, have seen such, diverse climates, visited so manyshores, and in so few months have seen the springs and the mouths of somany rivers, know also the banks of the Tiber; hence in the scenery theyat ones recognized Rome; in the triumphal march, in the eager throng, inthe vast populace, bursting through the ranks of the Roman soldiers, andflinging themselves beneath the hoofs of their horses, they saw thetouching picture of the reception they had met the day before. Theiremotion baffles description. The Imperial Guard gazing at Trajan's triumphwas itself an admirable spectacle. " The opera was but a series ofingenious allusions to Napoleon's glory. Trajan was represented asburning, with his own hand, papers containing the secret of a conspiracy, recalling Napoleon's throwing into the fire the letters by which, he couldhave rained M. Hatzfeld; and when the Roman Emperor appeared in hischariot, drawn by four white horses, it was not Trajan who was applauded, but Napoleon. 

December 14, at the Military School, Marshal Bessières, to celebrate thevictories of the Grand Army, and to thank the city of Paris for itsreception of the Imperial Guard, gave a grand entertainment which theEmpress honored with her presence. The Invalides was brilliantlyilluminated and connected with the Military School by a long row oflights. In the middle of the Champ de Mars was a vast hemisphere, on whichwas a pedestal holding a colossal statue of the Emperor, surrounded byallegoric figures. The trophies set aside for each one of the Grand Armywere marked with the corps number. The Imperial Guard was under arms, andformed an interesting part of the spectators, and of the spectacle aswell. Bengal fires lit up the warlike scene. The heights across the Seinewere also ablaze with lights. The Empress arrived at the Military Schoolat about eight in the evening. The entertainment began with a balletperformed by dancers from the opera. Then there were fireworks. The Champde Mars was one sea of flame, and the Imperial Guard fired blankcartridges for half an hour. Then there was a grand ball with a finesupper; after which the dances continued till morning. 

This worldly and military entertainment, at which the Empress queenappeared in all her glory, may be regarded as the crowning point of hersplendors. And here, at the end of 1807, we close this study. We have leftto narrate in a final volume only the last seven years of Josephine'slife. We have already recounted nearly the whole career of this attractivewoman, of this justly famous sovereign. We have described her infancy inMartinique, in her modest, patriarchal home, where she was born, June 23, 1763. We have admired her as a young girl, loving flowers, music, andnature, beneath the clear sky of the Antilles, amid banana and orangetrees, tropical flowers, and birds of paradise, where the fortune-tellingnegress said to her: "You will be a queen. " We have seen her in France, marrying, December 13, 1779, the young and brilliant Viscount Alexandre deBeauharnais, by whom she had one son, the future Viceroy of Italy, and onedaughter, the future Queen of Holland. We have seen her going through thatperiod of illusions, so well called the Golden Age of the Revolution, receiving in her drawing-room in the rue de l'Université the flower of theliberal nobility and leaders of the Constituent Assembly, then suddenlypassing from the Golden to the Iron Age, shuddering at the dangers towhich war, and above all the Terror exposed her husband, the general inchief of the Army of the Rhine, the leader of the democracy, rewarded forhis patriotism and his devotion to the Republic by the scaffold. Sheherself, during her husband's captivity, was imprisoned in the CarmesApril, 1794; for one hundred and eight days of inexpressible anguish andtorment, she occupied in this dungeon the Room of the Swords as it wascalled, because the walls still bore traces of the three swords which themen of September had leaned against them after the massacre of the onehundred and twenty priests who were in the prison. Beauharnais, the man ofthe old régime, who had embraced the new ideas with so much ardor, thisgrand lord who got himself treated like a _sans-culotte_ was guillotinedfour days before Robespierre, whose death would have saved him. His youngwidow left prison, reduced to extreme want, and took refuge with herfather-in-law, at Fontainebleau; then she made her appearance in themotley society which, first showed itself in the drawing-room of MadameTallien, then at the Luxembourg under Barras. Rivalling Madame Tallien andMadame Récamier in popularity, she smiled through her tears, likeAndromache in Homer. Her means becoming greater, thanks to the support ofmen in authority, she bought in the rue Chantereine, afterwards rue de laVictoire, a little house belonging to Talma, the tragedian. There shereceived with her customary courtesy the few survivors of Frencharistocracy who said behind well-closed doors: "Let us talk about the oldcourt; let us take a turn at Versailles. "

Bonaparte, commander of the Army of the Interior, after the 13thVendémiaire, when he saved the expiring Convention, had just ordered thedisarmament of the sections and the delivery of all arms found in privatehouses, when a boy of fourteen called upon him to ask to have back thesword of his father, who had commanded the armies of the Republic. Thisboy was Eugene de Beauharnais, afterwards Viceroy of Italy. Bonaparte, touched by this action, received him graciously. The next day Madame deBeauharnais called upon him to thank him. He was much struck by her charmsand proposed to her; she accepted him and they were married March 9, 1796. The Viscountess of Beauharnais became Citizeness Bonaparte. No soonermarried, than the young husband, who was only twenty-six, tore himselffrom her arms and started for the army of Italy. Then Napoleon's love forJosephine was much greater than hers for him. It was he who was jealous, he who wrote burning letters; he it was who was all enthusiasm, ardor, andablaze with passion. It was only with reluctance that Josephine decided toleave Paris, where she was happy, but in Italy she found a real royalty. At Milan she took possession of the Serbelloni Palace, where she did thehonors most admirably and received the homage of the proud aristocracy ofMilan. She followed her husband to the war, for he could not bear to beseparated from her, and one day when, beset with dangers, she was crying, he exclaimed: "Wurmser shall pay dearly for the tears he causes you. "After Arcole, Madame Bonaparte resembled a sovereign. She singularly aidedher husband to play the double part which was soon to carry him to thehighest rank. When it was a question of repelling royalism, the youngconqueror relied on men like Augereau; when it was necessary to attractmen of the old régime, Josephine was the bond of union between him and theFrench or Italian aristocracy. On her return to Paris, June 2, 1798, sheshared her husband's glories. The little house in the rue Chantereinebecame more famous than the grandest palaces. 

Bonaparte left for Egypt, embarking at Toulon, May 19, 1798, after takingtender leave of Josephine. During her husband's absence, she bought theestate of Malmaison, an unknown spot which soon became famous. Sheskilfully defended Bonaparte's interests with the Directory, and in herdrawing-room met celebrities of every kind. But malicious persons soonsent to Egypt hostile rumors, and her impetuous husband, wild with jealouswrath, spoke of nothing but separation and divorce. He reached Parisunexpectedly, October 16, 1799, and not finding his wife there, startedoff to meet her on a different road from hers, wild with jealousy. Hisbrothers, Josephine's enemies, deceived him, and at first he refused tosee her again; but, softened by the supplications of Eugene and Hortensede Beauharnais, he pardoned his wife and opened his door to her; shedefended herself, and he let himself be convinced, so that, instead of adivorce, there was a complete reconciliation. Josephine was of use to herhusband in the preparations for the 18th Brumaire; she helped him to lullthe vigilance of the Republicans and to rise to the highest rank. 

Citizeness Bonaparte had become the wife of the First Consul. Like theladies of the old régime, she was addressed as Madame until she should becalled Empress, or Your Majesty. She was at the head of the ConsularCourt, rich in youth, glory, and hope. At the Tuileries she tookpossession of the apartments of Marie Antoinette. At Malmaison she enjoyedthe pleasures of the country. The hero of Marengo looked upon her as hisgood angel, his good genius. Their happiness was interrupted by theinfernal machine, but this gloomy incident was soon forgotten. UnderJosephine's guidance Parisian society soon resumed its former brilliancy. Monarchical customs reappeared. The Concordat effected a reconciliation ofthe church with the government, and the wife of the First Consul, surrounded by a real court, heard a _Te Deum_ in the rood-loft of NotreDame. At heart she was a Royalist by her memories and her feelings, although she was made by fate an Empress. The crown, so far from temptingher, filled her with fear. She yearned to descend as her husband yearnedto rise. The proclamation of the Consulate for life, the prelude of theEmpire, filled her with gloom and apprehension, Neither the pomp of SaintCloud, nor the triumphal trip in Belgium. Robbed her of her wise andmodest ideas. She much preferred Malmaison to any splendid palace, andlooked back with regret at the time when she was simply CitizenessBonaparte. Grandeur, so far from turning her head, only made her lessambitious, She gave her husband excellent advice, which, unfortunately, hedid not follow. Had he listened to her, he would not have had the Duke ofEnghien killed, he would have been modest in good fortune, and would haveremained the first citizen of a great Republic. 

Crowned at Notre Dame by the hands of Napoleon, Josephine played asovereign's part with as much ease as if she had been born on the steps ofthe throne. The greatest names of the old régime figured in her house. Sheadorned magnificent festivities by her presence. In Italy, whither sheaccompanied her husband, she received as Queen the same homage she hadreceived as Empress. Yet, amid all this splendor, she was not happy. Theterrible wars in which Napoleon engaged filled her with anxiety. AtStrassburg, during the Austerlitz campaign, at Mayence during that of Jenaand that of Poland, she was a victim of the greatest distress of mind andnervous terror. Then, too, her husband's infidelities filled her withdespair. Towards the end of 1807 the spectre of divorce arose before her. The loss of a crown would be a trifling matter, but the sight of anotherwoman reigning as lawful wife over Napoleon's heart was a thought to whichshe could not reconcile herself. From that moment she knew no peace orhappiness. She was like a convicted criminal awaiting sentence at anymoment, and she had to hide her terrible grief from every one. She alwaysimagined that in the homage paid her by force of habit, there wassomething false and ironical. She thought of herself only as disgraced, betrayed, repudiated. All that was left of her crown was its mark on herbrow. Few peasant women in their huts were ever as thoroughly unhappy aswas this sovereign in her palace. 

We have seen Josephine in her springtime, in her summer; it remains for usto describe only the autumn of this wonderful and melancholy career. Thislast study will be profoundly sad. "In the season which despoils nature, "said Madame Swetchine, "there is no breeze, no puff of air so light thatit fails to detach the leaf from the tree that bore it. In the autumn ofthe heart there is no movement that does not carry away a happiness or ahope. " The great afflictions of Josephine's later years were the divorce, the invasion, and the long agony. Driven from the Tuileries forever, shetook refuge at Malmaison one rainy, cold, December night, recalling, doubtless, the starlit evenings when the conqueror of Italy sought calmand happiness in that favorite spot. And after draining the cup ofbitterness, the deserted wife exclaimed: "It sometimes seems to me as if Iwere dead and there was nothing left of me except a sort of vague power offeeling that I no longer exist. " She could truly say with Queen Margaretof Navarre: "I have borne more than my share of the weariness which is thecommon lot of man. " A still harder trial awaited her. Napoleon wasunhappy, and she was forbidden to comfort him! He was exiled, and she wasforbidden to follow him! The Empire she had seen so magnificent she was tosee conquered, invaded, dismembered. No one was to mourn the woes of hercountry more than she. She was to die of grief, and when, May 29, 1814, she had breathed her last after uttering in her death agony these threewords which sum up the anguish of her soul: "Napoleon! Elba! MarieLouise!" Mademoiselle Avrillon, the First Lady of her Bedchamber, was tosay, "I have seen the Empress Josephine's sleeplessness and her terribledreams. I have known her to pass whole days buried in the gloomiestthought. I know what I have seen and heard, and I am sure that griefkilled her!" Was there ever a life of greater vicissitudes? It was acareer full of smiles and tears, presenting every contrast of light andshade, of joy and grief, reproducing all the splendor and all the miserythat can be crowded into human existence! It was a career, as fascinatingas it was strange, which could only have been seen in those pathetic anddisturbed epochs, when one surprise follows another, and the actors areperhaps even more astonished than the spectators at the shifting scenesand the incidents of the drama, in which events always take an unexpectedturn, when men and things suffer shocks unknown to previous generations, and when history reads like the wildest romance.