volume 18), were approximately 65,000 French against 80,000

allies[63]--the latter in a strong chosen position. Napoleon saved 1500, the wreckage of Augereau's[64] corps, that went astray in the blizzard (costing the French more than half their loss in the two days' fight), by a charge of his Horse Guard, but his Foot Guard never fired a shot. The allies lost 5000 to 6000 dead and 20,000 wounded. Napoleon told Montholon that his loss at Eylau was 18,000, which probably included 2000 dead, and 15,000 to 16,000 wounded and prisoners. As the French remained masters of the field of battle, the slightly wounded were evidently not counted by Napoleon, who in his bulletin gives 1900 dead and 5700 wounded. The list of wounded inmates of the hospital a month later, March 8th, totalled only 4600, which astonished Napoleon, who sent back for a recount. On receipt of this he wrote Daru (March 15): "From your advices to hand, I see we are not far out of count. There were at the battle of Eylau 4000 or 5000 wounded, and 1000 in the combats preceding the battle."

No. 40.

_Corbineau._--Mlle. d'Avrillon (vol. ii. 101) tells how, in haste to join his regiment at Paris, Corbineau had asked for a seat in her carriage from St. Cloud. She was delighted, as he was a charming man, "with no side on like Lauriston and Lemarois." He had just been made general, and said, "Either I will get killed or deserve the favour which the Emperor has granted me. M'selle, you shall hear me spoken of; if I am not killed I will perform some startling deed."

_Dahlmann._--General Nicholas Dahlmann, commanding the chasseurs of the guard, was killed in the charge on the Russian infantry which saved the battle. On April 22nd Napoleon wrote Vice-Admiral Decrés to have three frigates put on the stocks to be called Dahlmann, Corbineau, and Hautpoul, and in each captain's cabin a marble inscription recounting their brave deeds.

No. 41.

_Young Tascher._--The third of Josephine's cousins-germain of that name. He was afterwards aide-de-camp of Prince Eugène, and later major-domo of the Empress Eugénie.

No. 42.

After this letter St. Amand declares that Napoleon's letters to his wife become "cold, short, banal, absolutely insignificant." "They consisted of a few remarks about the rain or the fine weather, and always the same refrain--the invitation to be cheerful.... Napoleon, occupied elsewhere, wrote no longer to his legitimate wife, but as a duty, as paying a debt of conscience." He was occupied, indeed, but barely as the author supposes. It is Bingham (vol. ii. 281) who reminds us that in the first three months of 1807 we have 1715 letters and despatches preserved of his work during that period, while he often rode forty leagues a day, and had instructed his librarian to send him by each morning's courier two or three new books from Paris. Aubenas is more just than St. Amand. "If his style is no longer that of the First Consul, still less of the General of Italy, he was solicitous, punctilious, attentive, affectionate even although laconic, in that correspondence (with Josephine) which, in the midst of his much greater preoccupations, seems for him as much a pleasure as a duty."

No. 43.

_I am still at Eylau._--It took Napoleon and his army eight days to bury the dead and remove the wounded. Lejeune says, "His whole time was given up now to seeing that the wounded received proper care, and he insisted on the Russians being as well treated as the French" (vol. i. 48). The Emperor wrote Daru that if more surgeons had been on the spot he could have saved at least 200 lives; although, to look at the surgical instruments used on these fields, and now preserved in the museum of Les Invalides, it is wonderful that the men survived operations with such ghastly implements of torture. A few days later Napoleon tells Daru on no account to begrudge money for medicines, and especially for quinine.

_This country is covered with dead and wounded._--"Napoleon," says Dumas (vol. i. 18, 41), "having given order that the succour to the wounded on both sides might be multiplied, rode over the field of battle, which all eye-witnesses agree to have been the most horrible field of carnage which war has ever offered. In a space of less than a square league, the ground covered with snow, and the frozen lakes, were heaped up with 10,000 dead, and 3000 to 4000 dead horses, débris of artillery, arms of all kinds, cannon-balls, and shells. Six thousand Russians, expiring of their wounds, and of hunger and thirst, were left abandoned to the generosity of the conqueror."

No. 50.

_Osterode._--"A wretched village, where I shall pass a considerable time." Owing to the messenger to Bernadotte being captured by Cossacks, the Emperor, if not surprised at Eylau on the second day, found at least all his own intentions anticipated. He could not risk the same misfortune again, and at Osterode all his army were within easy hailing distance, "within two marches at most" (Dumas). Savary speaks of him there, "working, eating, giving audience, and sleeping--all in the same room," alone keeping head against the storm of his marshals, who wished him to retire across the Vistula. He remained over five weeks at Osterode, and more than two months at Finckenstein Castle, interesting himself in the affairs of Teheran and Monte Video, offering prizes for discoveries in electricity and medicine, giving advice as to the most scientific modes of teaching history and geography, while objecting to the creation of poet-laureates or Cæsarians whose exaggerated praises would be sure to awaken the ridicule of the French people, even if it attained its object of finding a place of emolument for poets. Bignon says (vol. vi. 227): "From Osterode or from Finckenstein he supervised, as from Paris or St. Cloud, the needs of France; he sought means to alleviate the hindrances to commerce, discussed the best ways to encourage literature and art, corresponded with all his ministers, and while awaiting the renewal of the fray, having a war of figures with his Chancellor of Exchequer."

_It is not as good as the great city._--The day before he had written his brother Joseph that neither his officers nor his staff had taken their clothes off for two months; that he had not taken his boots off for a fortnight; that the wounded had to be moved 120 miles in sledges, in the open air; that bread was unprocurable; that the Emperor had been living for weeks upon potatoes, and the officers upon mere meat. "After having destroyed the Prussian monarchy, we are fighting against the remnant of the Prussians, against Russians, Cossacks, and Kalmucks, those roving tribes of the north, who formerly invaded the Roman Empire."

_I have ordered what you wish for Malmaison._--About this time he also gave orders for what afterwards became the Bourse and the Madeleine, and gave hints for a new journal (March 7th), whose "criticism should be enlightened, well-intentioned, impartial, and robbed of that noxious brutality which characterises the discussions of existing journals, and which is so at variance with the true sentiments of the nation."

No. 54.

_Minerva._--In a letter of March 7th Josephine writes to Hortense: "A few days ago I saw a frightful accident at the Opera. The actress who represented Minerva in the ballet of 'Ulysses' fell twenty feet and broke her arm. As she is poor, and has a family to support, I have sent her fifty louis." This was probably the ballet, "The Return of Ulysses," a subject given by Napoleon to Fouché as a suitable subject for representation. In the same letter Josephine writes: "All the private letters I have received agree in saying that the Emperor was very much exposed at the battle of Eylau. I get news of him very often, sometimes two letters a day, but that does not replace him." This special danger at Eylau is told by Las Cases, who heard it from Bertrand. Napoleon was on foot, with only a few officers of his staff; a column of four to five thousand Russians came almost in contact with him. Berthier instantly ordered up the horses. The Emperor gave him a reproachful look; then sent orders to a battalion of his guard to advance, which was a good way behind, and standing still. As the Russians advanced he repeated several times, "What audacity, what audacity!" At the sight of his Grenadiers of the Guard the Russians stopped short. It was high time for them to do so, as Bertrand said. The Emperor had never stirred; all who surrounded him had been much alarmed.

No. 55.

"It is the first and only time," says Aubenas, "that, in these two volumes of letters (_Collection Didot_), Napoleon says _vous_ to his wife. But his vexation does not last more than a few lines, and this short letter ends, '_Tout à toi_.' Not content with this softening, and convinced how grieved Josephine will be at this language of cold etiquette, he writes to her the same day, at ten o'clock at night, before going to bed, a second letter in his old style, which ends, '_Mille et mille amitiés_.'" It is a later letter (March 25th) which ends as described, but No. 56 is, nevertheless, a kind letter.

No. 56.

_Dupuis._--Former principal of the Brienne Military School. Napoleon, always solicitous for the happiness of those whom he had known in his youth, had made Dupuis his own librarian at Malmaison. His brother, who died in 1809, was the learned Egyptologist.

No. 58.

_M. de T----_, _i.e._ M. de Thiard. In _Lettres Inedites de Napoleon I._ (Brotonne), No. 176, to Talleyrand, March 22nd, the Emperor writes: "I have had M. de Thiard effaced from the list of officers. I have sent him away, after having testified all my displeasure, and told him to stay on his estate. He is a man without military honour and civic fidelity.... My intention is that he shall also be struck off from the number of my chamberlains. I have been poignantly grieved at such black ingratitude, but I think myself fortunate to have found out such a wicked man in time." De Thiard seems to have been corresponding with the enemy from Warsaw.

No. 60.

_Marshal Bessières._--His château of Grignon, now destroyed, was one of the most beautiful of Provence. Madame de Sevigné lived and was buried in the town of Grignon.

_No. 63._

This was printed April 24th in the French editions, but April 14th is evidently the correct date.

No. 67.

"_Sweet, pouting, and capricious._"--Aubenas speaks of these lines "in the style of the Italian period, which seemed in fact to calm the fears of the Empress."

No. 68.

_Madame ----._ His own sister, Madame Murat, afterwards Queen of Naples. See note to Letter 35 for her influence over Junot. The latter was severely reprimanded by Napoleon on his return and banished from Paris. "Why, for example, does the Grand Duchess occupy your boxes at the theatres? Why does she go thither in your carriage? Hey! M. Junot! you are surprised that I am so well acquainted with your affairs and those of that little fool, Madame Murat?" ("Memoirs of the Duchess d'Abrantès," vol. iii. 328.)

_Measles._--As the poor child was ill four days, it was probably laryngitis from which he died--an ailment hardly distinguishable from croup, and one of the commonest sequelæ of measles. He died on May 5th.

The best account is the Memoirs of Stanislaus Giraudin. They had applied leeches to the child's chest, and had finally recourse to some English powders of unknown composition, which caused a rally, followed by the final collapse. King Louis said the child's death was caused by the Dutch damp climate, which was bad for his own health. Josephine hastens to join her daughter, but breaks down at Lacken, where Hortense, more dead than alive, joins her, and returns to Paris with her.

No. 69.

_I trust I may hear you have been rational in your sorrow._--As a matter of fact he had heard the opposite, for the following day (May 15th) he writes to his brother Jerome: "Napoleon died in three days at the Hague; I know not if the King has advised you of it. This event gives me the more pain insomuch as his father and mother are not rational, and are giving themselves up to all the transports of their grief." To Fouché he writes three days later: "I have been very much afflicted by the misfortune which has befallen me. I had hoped for a more brilliant destiny for that poor child;" and on May 20th, "I have felt the loss of the little Napoleon very acutely. I would have wished that his father and mother should have received from their temperament as much courage as I for knowing how to bear all the ills of life. But they are younger, and have reflected less on the frailty of our worldly possessions." It is typical of Napoleon that the only man to whom, as far as we know, he unbosomed his sorrow should be one of his early friends, even though that friend should be the false and faithless Fouché, who requited his confidence later by vile and baseless allegations respecting the parentage of this very child. In one respect only did Napoleon resemble David in his supposititious sin, which was, that when the child was dead, he had neither time nor temperament to waste in futile regrets. As he said on another occasion, if his wife had died during the Austerlitz Campaign it would not have delayed his operations a quarter of an hour. But he considers practical succour to the living as the most fitting memorial to the dead, and writes on June 4th to De Champagny: "Twenty years ago a malady called croup showed itself in the north of Europe. Some years ago it spread into France. I require you to offer a prize of £500 (12,000 francs), to be given to the doctor who writes the best essay on this malady and its mode of treatment." Commenting on this letter Bignon (vol. vi. p. 262) adds, "It is, however, fortunate when, on the eve of battles, warlike princes are pondering over ways of preserving the population of their states."

No. 71.

_May 20th._--On this date he writes Hortense: "My daughter, all the news I get from the Hague tells me that you are not rational. However legitimate your grief, it must have limits: never impair your health; seek distractions, and know that life is strewn with so many rocks, and may be the source of so many miseries, that death is not the greatest of all.--Your affectionate father, NAPOLEON."

No. 74.

_I am vexed with Hortense._--The same day he encloses with this a letter to Hortense. "My daughter, you have not written me a line during your great and righteous grief. You have forgotten everything, as if you had nothing more to lose. They say you care no longer for any one, that you are callous about everything; I note the truth of it by your silence. This is not well, Hortense, it is not what you promised me. Your son was everything for you. Are your mother and myself nothing? Had I been at Malmaison I should have shared your grief, but I should have wished you at the same time to turn to your best friends. Good-bye, my daughter, be cheerful; it is necessary to be resigned; keep well, in order to fulfil all your duties. My wife is utterly miserable about your condition; do not increase her sorrow.--Your affectionate father, NAPOLEON."

Hortense had been on such bad terms with her husband for several months past that Napoleon evidently thinks it wiser not to allude to him, although he had written Louis a very strong letter on his treatment of his wife two months earlier (see letter 12,294 of the _Correspondence_, April 4th). There is, however, a temporary reunion between husband and wife in their common sorrow.

No. 78.

_Friedland._--On this day he wrote a further letter to the Queen of Holland (No. 12,761 of the _Correspondence_): "My daughter, I have your letter dated Orleans. Your grief pains me, but I should like you to possess more courage; to live is to suffer, and the true man is always fighting for mastery over himself. I do not like to see you unjust towards the little Napoleon Louis, and towards all your friends. Your mother and I had hoped to be more to you than we are." She had been sent to take the waters of Cauterets, and had left her child Napoleon Louis (who died at Forli, 1831) with Josephine, who writes to her daughter (June 11th): "He amuses me much; he is so gentle. I find he has all the ways of that poor child that we mourn." And a few days later: "There remains to you a husband, an interesting child, and a mother whose love you know." Josephine had with women the same tact that her husband had with men, but the Bonaparte family, with all its good qualities, strained the tact and tempers of both to the utmost.

No. 79.

_Tilsit._--Referring to Napoleon and Alexander at Tilsit, Michaud says: "Both full of wiles and devices, they affected nevertheless the most perfect sentiments of generosity, which at the bottom they scarcely dreamed of practising. Reunited, they were the masters of the world, but such a union seemed impossible; they would rather share it among themselves. Allies and rivals, friends and enemies, all were sacrificed; henceforth there were to be only two powers, that of the East and that of the West. Bonaparte at this time actually ruled from the Niemen to the Straits of Gibraltar, from the North Sea to the base of the Italian Peninsula."

FOOTNOTES

[60] Bouillet, _Dictionnaire Universelle_, &c.

[61] "The Queen of that Court was the fair Madame Tallien. All that imagination can conceive will scarcely approach the reality; beautiful after the antique fashion, she had at once grace and dignity; without being endowed with a superior wit, she possessed the art of making the best of it, and won people's hearts by her great kindness."--_Memoirs of Marmont_, vol. i., p. 887.

[62] This brave general was mortally wounded in the cavalry charge which saved the battle, and the friends of Bernadotte assert that the message was never given--an assertion more credible if the future king's record had been better on other occasions.

[63] Alison says 75,000 allies, 85,000 French, but admits allies had 100 more cannon.

[64] Augereau, says Méneval, went out of his mind during this battle, and had to be sent back to France.

SERIES H

No. 1.

_Milan._--Magnificent public works were set on foot by Napoleon at Milan, and the Cathedral daily adorned with fresh marvels of sculpture. Arriving here on the morning of the 22nd, Napoleon goes first to hear the _Te Deum_ at the Cathedral, then to see Eugène's wife at the Monza Palace; in the evening to the La Scala Theatre, and finishes the day (to use an Irishism) by working most of the night.

_Mont Cenis._--"The roads of the Simplon and Mont Cenis were kept in the finest order, and daily attracted fresh crowds of strangers to the Italian plains." So says Alison, but on the present occasion Napoleon was overtaken by a storm which put his life in danger. He was fortunate enough to reach a cave in which he took refuge. This cave appeared to him, as he afterwards said, "a cave of diamonds" (Méneval).

_Eugène._--The writer in _Biog. Univ._ (art. Josephine) says: "During a journey that Napoleon made in Italy (November 1807) he wished, while loading Eugène with favours, to prepare his mind for his mother's divorce. The Decree of Milan, by which, in default of male and legitimate children[65] of _the direct_ _line_, he adopted Eugène for his son and his successor to the throne of Italy, gave to those who knew how to read the secret thoughts of the Emperor in his patent acts the proof that he had excluded him from all inheritance in the Imperial Crown of France, and that he dreamed seriously of a new alliance himself."

No. 2.

_Venice._--The Venetians gave Napoleon a wonderful ovation--many nobles spending a year's income on the fêtes. "Innumerable gondolas glittering with a thousand colours and resounding with the harmony of instruments, escorted the barges which bore, together with the master of the world, the Viceroy and the Vice-Queen of Italy, the King and Queen of Bavaria, the Princess of Lucca, the King of Naples (Joseph, who stayed six days with his brother), the Grand Duke of Berg, the Prince of Neufchâtel, and the greater part of the generals of the old army of Italy" (Thiers). While at Venice Napoleon was in easy touch with the Porte, of which he doubtless made full use, while, _per contra_, he was expected to give Greece her independence.

_November 30th._--Leaving Milan, Napoleon came straight through Brescia to Verona, where he supped with the King and Queen of Bavaria. The next morning he started for Vicenza through avenues of vine-encircled poplars and broad yellow wheat-fields which "lay all golden in the sunlight and the breeze" (Constant). The Emperor went to the theatre at Vicenza, and left again at 2 A.M. Spending the night at Stra, he met the Venetian authorities early the next morning at Fusina.

No. 3.

_Udine._--He is here on the 12th, and then hastens to meet his brother Lucien at Mantua--the main but secret object of his journey to Italy. It is _most_ difficult to gauge the details--was it a political or a conjugal question that made the interview a failure? Madame D'Abrantès, voicing the rumours of the day, thinks the former; Lucien, writing Memoirs for his wife and children, declares it to be the latter. Napoleon was prepared to legalise the children of his first wife, and marry the eldest to Prince Ferdinand, the heir to the Spanish crown; but Lucien considers the Bourbons to be enemies of France and of the Bonapartes. These Memoirs of Lucien are not perhaps very trustworthy, especially where his prejudices overlap his memory or his judgment, but always instructive and very readable. When the account of this interview was written (early in 1812), Lucien was an English prisoner, furious that his brother has just refused to exchange him for "some English Lords." Speaking of Josephine, the Emperor tells him that in spite of her reputation for good-nature, she is more malicious than generally supposed, although for her husband "she has no nails"; but he adds that rumours of impending divorce have made life between them very constrained. "Only imagine," continued the Emperor, "that wife of mine weeps every time she has indigestion, because she says she thinks herself poisoned by those who wish me to marry some one else. It is perfectly hateful." He said that Joseph also thought of a divorce, as his wife gave him only daughters, and that the three brothers might be remarried on the same day. The Emperor regretted not having taken the Princess Augusta, daughter of his "best friend, the King of Bavaria," for himself, instead of for Eugène, who did not know how to appreciate her and was unfaithful. He was convinced that Russia by invading India would overthrow England, and that his own soldiers were ready to follow him to the antipodes. He ends by offering Lucien his choice of thrones--Naples, Italy, "the brightest jewel of my Imperial crown," or Spain[66] (Madame D'Abrantès adds _Prussia_), if he will give way about Madame Jouberthon and her children. "Tout pour Lucien divorcé, rien pour Lucien sans divorce." When Napoleon finds his brother obdurate he makes Eugène Prince of Venice, and his eldest daughter Princess of Bologna, with a large appanage. Lucien is in fresh disgrace within less than three months of the Mantuan interview, for on March 11, 1808, Napoleon writes brother Joseph, "Lucien is misconducting himself at Rome ... and is more Roman than the Pope himself. His conduct has been scandalous; he is my open enemy, and that of France.... I will not permit a Frenchman, and one of my own brothers, to be the first to conspire and act against me, with a rabble of priests."

_I may soon be in Paris._--After leaving Milan he visits the fortifications at Alessandria, and is met by a torchlight procession at Marengo. Letters for two days (December 27-28th) are dated Turin, although Constant says he did not stop there. Crossing Mont Cenis on December 30th he reaches the Tuileries on the evening of New Year's Day (1808).

FOOTNOTES

[65] The Decree itself says "nos enfants et descendants males, legitimes et naturels."

[66] On October 11th Prince Ferdinand had written Napoleon for "the honour of allying himself to a Princess of his august family"; and Lucien's eldest daughter was Napoleon's only choice.

SERIES I

No. 1.

_Bayonne_ is half-way between Paris and Madrid, nearly 600 miles from each. Napoleon arrived here April 15th, and left July 21st, returning with Josephine _viâ_ Pau, Tarbes, Auch, Montauban, Agen, Bordeaux, Rochefort, Nantes. Everywhere he received a hearty welcome, even, and especially, in La Vendée. He arrives at Paris August 14th, hearing on August 3rd at Bordeaux of (what he calls) the "horrible catastrophe" of General Dupont at Baylen.

No. 2.

_A country-house._--The Château of Marrac. Marbot had stayed there in 1803 with Augereau. Bausset informs us that this château had been built either for the Infanta Marie Victoire engaged to Louis XV., or for the Dowager Queen of Charles II., "the bewitched," when she was packed off from Madrid to Bayonne (see Hume's _Spain_, 1479-1788).

_Everything is still most primitive._--Nevertheless he enjoyed the _pamperruque_ which was danced before the château by seven men and ten maidens, gaily dressed--the women armed with tambourines and the men with castanets. Saint-Amand speaks of thirteen performers (seven men and six maidens) chosen from the leading families of the town, to render what for time immemorial had been considered fit homage for the most illustrious persons.

No. 3.

_Prince of the Asturias._--The Emperor had received him at the château of Marrac, paid him all the honours due to royalty, while evading the word "Majesty," and insisting the same day on his giving up all claim to the Crown of Spain. Constant says he was heavy of gait, and rarely spoke.

_The Queen._--A woman of violent passions. The Prince of the Asturias had designs on his mother's life, while the Queen openly begged Napoleon to put the Prince to death. On May 9th Napoleon writes Talleyrand to prepare to take charge of Ferdinand at Valençay, adding that if the latter were "to become attached to some pretty woman, whom we are sure of, it would be no disadvantage." A new experience for a Montmorency to become the keeper of a Bourbon, rather than his Constable. Pasquier, with his usual Malvolian decorum, gives fuller details. Napoleon, he says, "enumerates with care (to Talleyrand) all the precautions that are to be taken to prevent his escape, and even goes so far as to busy himself with the distractions which may be permitted him. And, be it noted, the principal one thrown in his way was given him by a young person who lived at the time under M. De Talleyrand's roof. This liaison, of which Ferdinand soon became distrustful, did not last as long as it was desired to."

No. 4.

_A son has been born._--By a plebiscite of the year XII. (1804-5), the children of Louis and Hortense were to be the heirs of Napoleon, and in conformity with this the child born on April 20th at 17 Rue Lafitte (now the residence of the Turkish Ambassador), was inscribed on the register of the Civil List destined for princes of the blood. His two elder brothers had not been so honoured, but in due course the King of Rome was entered thereon. Had Louis accepted the Crown of Spain which Napoleon had in vain offered to him, and of which Hortense would have made an ideal Queen, the chances are that Napoleon would never have divorced Josephine. St. Amand shows at length that the future Napoleon III. is truly the child of Louis, and neither of Admiral Verhuell nor of the Duke Decazes. Louis and Hortense in the present case are sufficiently agreed to insist that the father's name be preserved by the child, who is called Charles Louis Napoleon, and not Charles Napoleon, which was the Emperor's first choice. In either case the name of the croup-stricken firstborn had been preserved. On April 23rd Josephine had already two letters from Cambacérès respecting mother and child, and on this day the Empress writes her daughter: "I know that Napoleon is consoled for not having a sister."

_Arrive on the 27th._--Josephine, always wishful to humour her husband's love of punctuality, duly arrived on the day fixed, and took up her abode with her husband in the château of Marrac. Ferdinand wrote to his uncle in Madrid to beware of the cursed Frenchmen, telling him also that Josephine had been badly received at Bayonne. The letter was intercepted, and Napoleon wrote Murat that the writer was a liar, a fool, and a hypocrite. The Emperor, in fact, never trusted the Prince henceforward. Bausset, who translated the letter, tells how the Emperor could scarcely believe that the Prince would use so strong an adjective, but was convinced on seeing the word _maldittos_, which he remarked was almost the Italian--_maledetto_.

SERIES J

Leaving St. Cloud September 22nd, Napoleon is at Metz on the 23rd, at Kaiserlautern on the 24th, where he sends a message to the Empress in a letter to Cambacérès, and on the 27th is at Erfurt. On the 28th the Emperors of France and Russia sign a Convention of Alliance. Napoleon leaves Erfurt October 14th (the anniversary of Jena), travels incognito, and arrives St. Cloud October 18th.

No. 1.

_I have rather a cold._--Napoleon had insisted on going to explore a new road he had ordered between Metz and Mayence, and which no one had ventured to say was not complete. The road was so bad that the carriage of the _maître des requêtes_, who had been summoned to account for the faulty work, was precipitated a hundred feet down a ravine near Kaiserlautern.

_I am pleased with the Emperor and every one here._--Which included what he had promised Talma for his audience--a _parterre_ of kings. Besides the two Emperors, the King of Prussia was represented by his brother Prince William, Austria by General Vincent, and there were also the Kings of Saxony, Bavaria, Würtemberg, Westphalia, and Naples, the Prince Primate, the Princes of Anhalt, Coburg, Saxe-Weimar, Darmstadt, Baden, and Nassau. Talleyrand, Champagny, Maret, Duroc, Berthier, and Caulaincourt, with Generals Oudinot, Soult, and Lauriston accompanied Napoleon. Literature was represented by Goethe, Wieland, Müller; and feminine attractions by the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar and the wily Princess of Tour and Taxis, sister of the Queen of Prussia. Pasquier and others have proved that at Erfurt Talleyrand did far more harm than good to his master's cause, and in fact intended to do so. On his arrival he spent his first evening with the Princess of Tour and Taxis, in order to meet the Emperor Alexander, and said: "Sire ... It is for you to save Europe, and the only way of attaining this object is by resisting Napoleon. The French people are civilised, their Emperor is not: the sovereign of Russia is civilised, his people are not. It is therefore for the sovereign of Russia to be the ally of the French people,"--of whom Talleyrand declared himself to be the representative. By squaring Alexander this transcendental (unfrocked) Vicar of Bray, "with an oar in every boat," is once more hedging, or, to use his own phrase, guaranteeing the future, and at the same time securing the daughter of the Duchess of Courland for his nephew, Edmond de Périgord. "The Arch-apostate" carried his treason so far as to advise Alexander of Napoleon's ulterior views, and thus enabled the former to forestall them--no easy matter in conversations with Napoleon "lasting whole days" (see Letter No. 3, this Series). Talleyrand had also a grievance. He had been replaced as Foreign Minister by Champagny. He had accepted the surrender of his portfolio gladly, as now, becoming Vice-Grand Elector, he ranked with Cambacérès and Maret. But when he found that Napoleon, who liked to have credit for his own diplomacy, seldom consulted him, or allowed Champagny to do so, jealousy and ill-will naturally resulted.

No. 2.

_Shooting over the battlefield of Jena._--The presence of the Emperor Alexander on this occasion was considered a great affront to his recent ally, the King of Prussia, and is severely commented on by Von Moltke in one of his Essays. In fairness to Alexander, we must remember that their host, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, had married his sister. Von Moltke, by the way, speaks of _hares_ forming the sport in question, but Savary of a second battle of Jena fought against the _partridges_. The fact seems to be that all kinds of game, including stags and deer, were driven by the beaters to the royal sportsmen in their huts, and the Emperor Alexander, albeit short-sighted, succeeded in killing a stag, at eight feet distance, _at the first shot_.

_The Weimar ball._--This followed the Jena shoot, and the dancing lasted all night. The Russian courtiers were scandalised at their Emperor dancing, but while he was present the dancing was conventional enough, consisting of promenading two and two to the strains of a Polish march. "Imperial Waltz, imported from the Rhine," was already the rage in Germany, and Napoleon, in order to be more worthy of his Austrian princess, tried next year to master this new science of tactics, but after a trial with the Princess Stephanie, the lady declared that her pupil should always give lessons, and never receive them. He was rather more successful at billiards, pursued under the same praiseworthy incentive.

_A few trifling ailments._--Mainly a fearful nightmare; a new experience, in which he imagines his vitals torn out by a bear. "Significant of much!" As when also the Russian Emperor finds himself without a sword and accepts that of Napoleon as a gift: and when, on the last night, the latter orders his comedians to play "Bajazet,"--little thinking the appointed Tamerlane was by his side.

No. 3.

_I am pleased with Alexander._--For the time being Josephine had most reason to be pleased with Alexander, who failed to secure his sister's hand for Napoleon.

_He ought to be with me._--He might have been, had not Napoleon purposely evaded the Eastern Question. On this subject Savary writes (vol. ii. 297):--"Since Tilsit, Napoleon had sounded the personal views of his ambassador at Constantinople, General Sebastiani, as to this proposition of the Emperor of Russia (_i.e._ the partition of Turkey). This ambassador was utterly opposed to this project, and in a long report that he sent to the Emperor on his return from Constantinople, he demonstrated to him that it was absolutely necessary for France never to consent to the dismemberment of the Turkish Empire; the Emperor Napoleon adopted his views." And these Talleyrand knew. The whirligig of time brings about its revenges, and in less than fifty years Lord Palmerston had to seek an alliance with France and the house of Napoleon in order to maintain the fixed policy that sent Napoleon I. to Moscow and to St. Helena. "Alexander, with justice," says Alison, "looked upon Constantinople as the back-door of his empire, and was earnest that its key should be placed in his hands." "Alexander," Napoleon told O'Meara, "wanted to get Constantinople, which I would not allow, as it would have destroyed the equilibrium of power in Europe. I reflected that France would gain Egypt, Syria, and the islands, which would have been nothing in comparison with what Russia would have obtained. I considered that the barbarians of the north were already too powerful, and probably in the course of time would overwhelm all Europe, as I now think they will. Austria already trembles: Russia and Prussia united, Austria falls, and England cannot prevent it."

_Erfurt_ is the meridian of Napoleon's first thirteen years (1796-1808)--each more glorious; henceforward (1809-1821) ever faster he "rolls, darkling, down the torrent of his fate."

SERIES K

No. 5.

Written from Aranda.

No. 6.

Written from the Imperial Camp outside Madrid. Neither Napoleon[67] nor Joseph entered the capital, but King Joseph took up his abode at the Prado, the castle of the Kings of Spain, two miles away; while the Emperor was generally at Chamartin, some five miles distant. He had arrived on the heights surrounding Madrid on his Coronation Day (December 2nd), and does not fail to remind his soldiers and his people of this auspicious coincidence. The bulletin concludes with a tirade against England, whose conduct is "shameful," but her troops "well disciplined and superb." It declares that Spain has been treated by them as they have treated Holland, Sardinia, Austria, Russia, and Sweden. "They foment war everywhere; they distribute weapons like poison; but they shed their blood only for their direct and personal interests."

_Parisian weather of the last fortnight in May._--In his bulletin of the 13th, he says: "Never has such a month of December been known in this country; one would think it the beginning of spring." But ten days later all was changed, and the storm of Guadarrama undoubtedly saved Moore and the English army. "Was it then decreed," groans Thiers, "that we, who were always successful against combined Europe, should on no single occasion prevail against those implacable foes?"

No. 8.

Other letters of this date are headed Madrid.

_Kourakin._--Alexander Kourakin was the new Russian Ambassador at Paris, removed thence from Vienna to please Napoleon, and to replace Tolstoi, who, according to Savary, was always quarrelling with French officers on military points, but who could hardly be so narrow-minded a novice on these points as his namesake of to-day. This matter had been arranged at Erfurt.

No. 9.

_The English appear to have received reinforcements._--Imagine a Transvaal with a population of ten millions, and one has a fair idea of the French difficulties in Spain, even without Portugal. The Spaniards could not fight a scientific battle like Jena or Friedland, but they were incomparable at guerilla warfare. The Memoirs of Barons Marbot and Lejeune have well demonstrated this. The latter, an accomplished linguist, sent to locate Moore's army, found that to pass as an Englishman the magic words "Damn it," won him complete success.

No. 10.

_Benavente._--Here they found 600 horses, which had been hamstrung by the English.

_The English flee panic-stricken._--The next day Napoleon writes Fouché to have songs written, and caricatures made of them, which are also to be translated into German and Italian, and circulated in Germany and Italy.

_The weather is very bad._--Including 18 degrees of frost. Savary says they had never felt the cold so severe in Poland--and that they ran a risk of being buried in the snow. The Emperor had to march on foot and was very much tired. "On these occasions," adds Savary, "the Emperor was not selfish, as people would have us believe ... he shared his supper[68] and his fire with all who accompanied him: he went so far as to make those eat whom he saw in need of it." Napier gives other details: "Napoleon, on December 22nd, has 50,000 men at the foot of the Guadarrama. A deep snow choked the passes of the Sierra, and after twelve hours' toil the advanced guards were still on the wrong side: the general commanding reported the road impracticable, but Napoleon, dismounting, placed himself at the head of the column, and amidst storms of hail and driving snow, led his soldiers over the mountain." At the passage of the Esla Moore escapes Napoleon by twelve hours. Marbot, as usual, gives picturesque details. Officers and men marched with locked arms, the Emperor between Lannes and Duroc. Half-way up, the marshals and generals, who wore jack-boots, could go no further. Napoleon, however, got hoisted on to a gun, and bestrode it: the marshals and generals did the same, and in this grotesque order they reached, after four hours' toil, the convent at the summit.

_Lefebvre._--As they neared Benavente the slush became frightful, and the artillery could not keep pace. General Lefebvre-Desnouette went forward, with the horse regiment of the Guard, forded the Esla with four squadrons, was outnumbered by the English (3000 to 300), but he and sixty (Lejeune, who escaped, says a hundred) of his chasseurs were captured. He was brought in great triumph to Sir John Moore. "That general," says Thiers, "possessed the courtesy characteristic of all great nations; he received with the greatest respect the brilliant general who commanded Napoleon's light cavalry, seated him at his table, and presented him with a magnificent Indian sabre."

No. 11.

Probably written from Astorga, where he arrived on January 1st, having brought 50,000 men two hundred miles in ten days.

_Your letters._--These probably, and others received by a courier, decided him to let Soult follow the English to Corunna--especially as he knew that transports were awaiting the enemy there. He himself prepares to return, for Fouché and Talleyrand are in league, the slim and slippery Metternich is ambassador at Paris, Austria is arming, and the whole political horizon, apparently bright at Erfurt, completely overcast. Murat, balked of the Crown of Spain, is now hoping for that of France if Napoleon is killed or assassinated. It is Talleyrand and Fouché who have decided on Murat, and on the ultimate overthrow of the Beauharnais. Unfortunately for their plans Eugène is apprised by Lavalette, and an incriminating letter to Murat captured and sent post-haste to Napoleon. This, says Pasquier, undoubtedly hastened the Emperor's return. Ignoring the complicity of Fouché, the whole weight of his anger falls on Talleyrand, who loses the post of High Chamberlain, which he had enjoyed since 1804. For half-an-hour this "arch-apostate," as Lord Rosebery calls him, receives a torrent of invectives. "You are a thief, a coward, a man without honour; you do not believe in God; you have all your life been a traitor to your duties; you have deceived and betrayed everybody: nothing is sacred to you; you would sell your own father. I have loaded you down with gifts, and there is nothing that you would not undertake against me. Thus, for the past ten months, you have been shameless enough, because you supposed, rightly or wrongly, that my affairs in Spain were going astray, to say to all who would listen to you that you always blamed my undertaking there, whereas it was yourself who first put it into my head, and who persistently urged it. And that man, _that unfortunate_ (he was thus designating the Duc d'Enghien), by whom was I advised of the place of his residence? Who drove me to deal cruelly with him? What then are you aiming at? What do you wish for? What do you hope? Do you dare to say? You deserve that I should smash you like a wine-glass. I can do it, but I despise you too much to take the trouble." This we are assured by the impartial Pasquier, who heard it from an ear-witness, and second-hand from Talleyrand, is an abstract of what Napoleon said, and to which the ex-Bishop made no reply.

No. 12.

_The English are in utter rout._--Still little but dead men and horses fell into his hands. Savary adds the interesting fact that all the (800) dead cavalry horses had a foot missing, which the English had to show their officers to prove that they had not sold their horses. Scott, on barely sufficient evidence perhaps, states, "The very treasure-chests of the army were thrown away and abandoned. There was never so complete an example of a disastrous retreat." The fact seems to have been that the soldiership was bad, but Moore's generalship excellent. Napier writes, "No wild horde of Tartars ever fell with more license upon their rich effeminate neighbours than did the English troops upon the Spanish towns taken by storm." What could be expected of such men in retreat, when even Lord Melville had just said in extenuation of our army that the worst men make the best soldiers?

NOS. 13 AND 14.

Written at Valladolid. Here he received a deputation asking that his brother may reside in Madrid, to which he agrees, and awaits its arrangement before setting out for Paris.

At Valladolid he met De Pradt, whom he mistrusted; but who, like Talleyrand, always amused him. In the present case the Abbé told him that "the Spaniards would never thank him for interfering in their behalf, and that they were like Sganarelle in the farce, who quarrelled with a stranger for interfering with her husband when he was beating her" (Scott's "Napoleon").

He leaves Valladolid January 17th, and is in Paris on January 24th. He rode the first seventy miles, to Burgos, in five and a half hours, stopping only to change horses.[69] Well might Savary say, "Never had a sovereign ridden at such a speed."

_Eugène has a daughter._--The Princess Eugénie-Hortense, born December 23rd at Milan; married the hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern Hechingen.

_They are foolish in Paris_--if not worse. Talleyrand, Fouché, and others were forming what amounted to a conspiracy, and the Empress herself, wittingly or unwittingly, had served as their tool. For the first time she answers a deputation of the Corps Législatif, who come to congratulate her on her husband's victories, and says that doubtless his Majesty would be very sensible of the homage of an assembly _which represents the nation_. Napoleon sees in this remark a germ of aggression on behalf of his House of Commons, more especially when emphasised by 125 blackballs against a Government Bill. He takes the effective but somewhat severe step of contradicting his wife in the _Moniteur_, or rather declaring that the Empress knew the laws too well not to know that the Emperor was the chief representative of the People, then the Senate, and last the Corps Législatif.

"It would be a wild and even criminal assertion to try to represent the nation before the Emperor."

All through the first half of 1809 another dangerous plot, of which the centre was the Princess of Tour and Taxis, had its threads far and wide. Many of Soult's generals were implicated, and in communication with the English, preventing their commander getting news of Wellesley's movements (Napier). When they find Soult cannot be traduced, they lend a willing ear to stirring up strife between the Emperor and Soult, by suggesting that the latter should be made King of Portugal. Madame d'Abrantès, who heard in 1814 that the idea had found favour with English statesmen, thinks such a step would have seriously injured Napoleon (vol. iv. 53).

FOOTNOTES

[67] Napoleon visited Madrid and its Palais Royal incognito, and (like Vienna) by night (Bausset).

[68] With Lejeune on one occasion.

[69] _Biographie Universelle._ Michaud says _ponies_.

SERIES L

1809.

The dangers surrounding Napoleon were immense. The Austrian army, 320,000 strong (with her Landwehr, 544,000 men) and 800 cannon, had never been so great, never so fitted for war. Prussia was already seething with secret societies, of which as yet the only formidable one was the Tugendbund, whose headquarters were Konigsburg, and whose chief members were Stein, Stadion, Blucher, Jahn. Perhaps their most sensible scheme was to form a united German empire, with the Archduke Charles[70] as its head. The Archduke Ferdinand invaded the Duchy of Warsaw, and had he taken Thorn with its park of 100 cannon, Prussia was to join Austria. In Italy the Carbonari and Adelphes[71] only waited for the French troops to go north to meet the Austrians to spread revolt in Italy. Of the former the head lodge was at Capua and its constitutions written in English, since England was aiding this _chouanerie religieuse_ as a lever against Napoleon. England had an army of 40,000 men ready to embark in any direction--to Holland, Belgium, Naples, or Biscay, while the French troops in Portugal were being tampered with to receive Moreau as their leader, and to march with Spaniards and English for the Pyrenees. At Paris Talleyrand was in partial disgrace, but he and Fouché were still plotting--the latter, says Pelet, forwarding daily a copy of the private bulletin (prepared for Napoleon's eye alone) to the Bourbons. After Essling and the breaking of the Danube bridge, he hesitated between seizing supreme power himself or offering it to Bernadotte.

Up to the last--up to March 27th--the _Correspondence_ proves that Napoleon had hoped that war would be averted through the influence of Russia. "All initiative," he declared, "rested on the heads of the court of Austria." "Menaced on all sides; warned of the intentions of his enemies by their movements and by their intercepted correspondence; seeing from that moment hostilities imminent, he wishes to prove to France and Europe that all the wrongs are on their side, and awaits in his capital the news of an aggression that nothing justifies, nothing warrants. Vain prudence! Europe will accuse him of having been the instigator on every occasion, even in this."[72] On April 8th the Austrians violated Bavarian territory, and during his supreme command for the next five days Berthier endangered the safety of the French empire in spite of the most elaborate and lucid instructions from Napoleon, which he failed to comprehend. "Never," says Pelet, "was so much written, never so little done. Each of his letters (Berthier's) attests the great difference which existed between his own correspondence and that which was dictated to him." An ideal chief of staff, he utterly lacked the decision necessary for a commander-in-chief. The arrival of Napoleon changed in a moment the position of affairs. "The sudden apparition of the Emperor produced the effect of the head of Medusa, and paralysed the enemy."[73] Within five days the Austrians were four times defeated, and Ratisbon, the _passe-partout_ of Southern Germany and half-way house between Strasburg and Vienna, is once more in the hands of France and her allies. Pelet considers these operations as the finest which have been executed either in ancient or modern times, at any rate those of which the projects are authentically proved. He foretells that military men from every country of Europe, but specially young Frenchmen, will religiously visit the fields of the Laber. They will visit, with Napoleon's _Correspondence_ in their hands, "much more precious than every other commentary, the hills of Pfaffenhofen, the bridge of Landshut, and that of Eckmühl, the mill of Stangl, and the woods of Roking." A few days later the Archduke Charles writes a letter to Napoleon, which is a fair type of those charming yet stately manners which made him at that moment the most popular man in Europe. "Sire," he writes, "your Majesty's arrival was announced to me by the thunder of artillery, without giving me time to compliment you thereon. Scarcely advised of your presence, I was made sensible of it by the losses which you have caused me. You have taken many of my men, Sire; my troops also have made some thousands of prisoners in places where you did not direct the operations. I propose to your Majesty to exchange them man for man, grade for grade, and if that offer is agreeable to you, please let me know your intentions for the place destined for the exchange. I feel flattered, sire, in fighting against the greatest captain of the age. I should be more happy if destiny had chosen me to procure for my country the benefit of a lasting peace. Whichsoever they be, the events of war or the approach of peace, I beg your Majesty to believe that my desires always carry me to meet you, and that I hold myself equally honoured in finding the sword, or the olive branch, in the hand of your Majesty."

No. 1.

_DONAUWERTH._-- n the same day napoleon writes almost an identical letter to cambacérès, adding, however, the news that the tyrolese are in full revolt.

On april 20th he placed himself at the head of the wurtembergers and bavarians at abensberg. he made a stirring speech (no. 15,099 of _correspondence_), and lejeune tells us that the prince royal of bavaria translated into german one sentence after another as the emperor spoke, and officers repeated the translations throughout the ranks.

On april 24th is issued from Ratisbon his proclamation to the army:--"Soldiers, you have justified my expectations. You have made up for your number by your bravery. You have gloriously marked the difference between the soldiers of Cæsar and the armed cohorts of Xerxes. In a few days we have triumphed in the pitched battles of Thann, Abensberg, and Eckmühl, and in the combats of Peising, Landshut, and Ratisbon. A hundred cannon, forty flags, fifty thousand prisoners.... before a month we shall be at Vienna." It was within three weeks! He was specially proud of Eckmühl, and we are probably indebted to a remark of Pasquier for his chief but never divulged reason. "A noteworthy fact in connection with this battle was that the triumphant army was composed principally of Bavarians and Wurtembergers. Under his direction, these allies were as greatly to be feared as the French themselves." At St. Helena was written: "The battle of Abensberg, the manoeuvres of Landshut, and the battle of Eckmühl were the most brilliant and the most skilful manoeuvres of Napoleon." Eckmühl ended with a fine exhibition of a "white arm" mêlée by moonlight, in which the French proved the superiority of their double cuirasses over the breastplates of the Austrians. Pelet gives this useful abstract of the campaign of five days:--

_April 19th._--Union of the french army whilst fighting the Archduke, whose base is already menaced.

_April 20th._--Napoleon, at Abensberg and on the banks of the Laber, breaks the Austrian line, totally separating the centre from the left, which he causes to be turned by Massena.

_April 21st._--He destroys their left wing at Landshut, and captures the magazines, artillery, and train, as well as the communications of the enemy's grand army, fixing definitely his own line of operations, which he already directs on Vienna.

_April 22nd._--He descends the Laber to Eckmühl, gives the last blow to the Archduke's army, of which the remnant takes refuge in Ratisbon.

_april 23rd._--He takes that strong place, and forces the Archduke to take refuge in the mountains of Bohemia.

No. 2.

_May 6th._--On May 1st Napoleon was still at Braunau, waiting for news from Davoust. Travelling by night at his usual speed he reached Lambach at noon on May 2nd, and Wels on the 3rd. The next morning he heard Massena's cannon at Ebersberg, but reaches the field at the fall of night--too late to save the heavy cost of Massena's frontal attack. The French lost at least 1500 killed and wounded; the Austrians (under Hiller) the same number killed and 7000 prisoners. Pelet defends Massena, and quotes the bulletin of May 4th (omitted from the _Correspondence_): "It is one of the finest feats of arms of which history can preserve the memory! The traveller will stop and say, 'It is here, it is here, in these superb positions, that an army of 35,000 Austrians was routed by two French divisions'" (Pelet, ii. 225). Lejeune, and most writers, blame Massena, referring to the Emperor's letter of May 1st in Pelet's Appendix (vol. ii.), but not in the _Correspondence_.

Between April 17th and May 6th there is no letter to Josephine preserved, but plenty to Eugène, and all severe--not so much for incapacity as for not keeping the Emperor advised of what was really happening. On May 6th he had received no news for over a week.

_The ball that touched me_--_i.e._ at Ratisbon. This was the second time Napoleon had been wounded in battle--the first time by an English bayonet at Toulon. On the present occasion (April 23rd) Méneval seems to be the best authority: "Napoleon was seated on a spot from which he could see the attack on the town of Ratisbon. He was beating the ground with his riding-whip,[74] when a bullet, supposed to have been fired from a Tyrolean carbine, struck him on the big toe (Marbot says 'right ankle,' which is correct). The news of his wound spread rapidly[75] from file to file, and he was forced to mount on horseback to show himself to his troops. Although his boot had not been cut the contusion was a very painful one," and in the first house he went to for a moment's rest, he fainted. The next day, however, he saw the wounded and reviewed his troops as usual, and Lejeune has preserved a highly characteristic story, somewhat similar to an experience of the Great Frederick's: "When he had reached the seventh or eighth sergeant the Emperor noticed a handsome young fellow with fine but stern-looking eyes and of resolute and martial bearing, who made his musket ring again as he presented arms. 'How many wounds?' inquired the Emperor. 'Thirty,' replied the sergeant. 'I am not asking you your age,' said the Emperor graciously; 'I am asking how many wounds you have received.' Raising his voice, the sergeant again replied with the one word, 'Thirty.' Annoyed at this reply, the Emperor turned to the colonel and said, 'The man does not understand; he thinks I am asking about his age.' 'He understands well enough, sire,' was the reply; 'he has been wounded thirty times.' 'What!' exclaimed the Emperor, 'you have been wounded so often and have not got the cross!' The sergeant looked down at his chest, and seeing that the strap of his cartridge-pouch hid his decoration, he raised it so as to show the cross. He said to the Emperor, with great earnestness, 'Yes, I've got one; but I've merited a dozen!' The Emperor, who was always pleased to meet spirited fellows such as this, pronounced the sacramental words, 'I make you an officer!' 'That's right, Emperor,' said the new sub-lieutenant as he proudly drew himself up; 'you couldn't have done better!'"

No. 3.

Almost an exact duplicate of this letter goes on to Paris to Cambacérès, as also of No. 4. The moment the Emperor had heard that the Archduke had left Budweiss and was going by the circuitous route _viâ_ Krems to Vienna, he left Enns (May 7th) and reached Moelk the same evening. Seeing a camp of the enemy on the other side of the river he sends Marbot with a sergeant and six picked men to kidnap a few Austrians during the night. The foray is successful, and three are brought before Napoleon, one weeping bitterly. The Emperor asked the reason, and found it was because he had charge of his master's girdle, and would be thought to have robbed him. The Emperor had him set free and ferried across the river, saying, "We must honour and aid virtue wherever it shows itself." The next day he started for Saint-Polten (already evacuated by Hiller). On his way he saw the ruins of Dirnstein Castle, where Richard Coeur de Lion had been imprisoned. The Emperor's comments were interesting, but are now hackneyed, and are in most histories and memoirs--the parent source being Pelet (vol. ii. 246).

No. 4.

_Schoenbrunn_, situated a mile from Vienna, across the little river of that name. Constant thus describes it: "Built in 1754 by the Empress Marie Thérèse, Schoenbrunn had an admirable position; its architecture, if defective and irregular, was yet of a majestic, imposing type. To reach it one has to cross the bridge across the little river Vienna. Four stone sphinxes ornament this bridge, which is very large and well built. Facing the bridge there is a handsome gate opening on to a large courtyard, spacious enough for seven or eight thousand men to manoeuvre in. The courtyard is in the form of a quadrangle surrounded by covered galleries and ornamented with two large basins, in which are marble statues. On both sides of the gateway are two huge obelisks of pink stone surmounted by gilt eagles.

"In German, Schoenbrunn means 'fair spring,' and the name is derived from a fresh and sparkling spring which is situated in the park. It wells forth from a little mound on which a tiny grotto has been built, carved within so as to resemble stalactites. Inside the grotto is a recumbent naiad holding a horn, from which the water falls down into a marble basin. In summer this little nook is deliciously cool.

"The interior of the palace merits nothing but praise. The furniture is sumptuous, and in taste both original and distinguished. The Emperor's bedroom (the only place in the whole edifice where there was a chimney) was upholstered in Chinese lacquer-wood of great antiquity, yet the painting and gilding were still quite fresh. The study adjoining was decorated in a like way. All these apartments, except the bedroom, were heated in winter by immense stoves, which sadly spoilt the effect of the other furniture. Between the study and the bedroom there was a strange apparatus called a 'flying chair,' a sort of mechanical seat, which had been constructed for the Empress Marie Thérèse, and which served to transport her from one floor to another, so that she was not obliged to go up and down the staircase like every one else. The machine was worked in the same way as at theatres, by cords, pulleys, and a counter-weight." The Emperor drank a glassful from the beautiful spring, Schoen Brunn, every morning. Napoleon found the people of Vienna less favourable to the French than in 1805; and Count Rapp told him "the people were everywhere tired of us and of our victories." "He did not like these sort of reflections."

_May 12th._--On May 13th is dated the _seventh_ bulletin of the army of Germany, but none of the Bulletins 2 to 6 are in the _Correspondence_. It states that on the 10th he is before Vienna; the Archduke Maximilian refuses to surrender; on the 11th, at 9 P.M., the bombardment commences, and by daybreak the city capitulated, and the Archduke fled. In his proclamation Napoleon blamed him and the house of Austria for the bombardment. "While fleeing from the city, their adieux to the inhabitants have been murder and arson; like Medea, they have with their own hands slain their children." The Viennese had sworn to emulate their ancestors in 1683, and the heroes of Saragossa. But Alison (than whom none can do the "big bow-wow" style better) has a thoughtful comment on what really occurred. "All history demonstrates that there is one stage of civilisation when the inhabitants of a metropolis are capable of such a sacrifice in defence of their country, and only one; and that when passed, it is never recovered. The event has proved that the Russians, in 1812, were in the state of progress when such a heroic act was possible, but that the inhabitants of Vienna and Paris had passed it. Most certainly the citizens of London would never have buried themselves under the ruins of the Bank, the Treasury, or Leadenhall Street before capitulating to Napoleon." 1870 and the siege of Paris modify this judgment; but the Prussian bombardment came only at the last, and barely reached the centre of the city.

No. 5.

_Ebersdorf._--Written five days after the murderous battle of Essling. Montgaillard, whose temper and judgment, as Alison remarks, are not equal to his talents, cannot resist a covert sneer (writing under the Bourbons) at Napoleon's generalship on this occasion, although he adds a veneer by reminding us that Cæsar was defeated at Dyrrachium, Turenne at Marienthal, Eugène at Denain, Frederick the Great at Kolin. The crossing of the river was one which none but a victorious army, with another[76] about to join it, could afford to risk, but which having effected, the French had to make the best of. As Napoleon said in his tenth bulletin, "The passage of a river like the Danube, in front of an enemy knowing perfectly the localities, and having the inhabitants on its side, is one of the greatest operations of war which it is possible to conceive." The Danube hereabouts is a thousand yards broad, and thirty feet deep. But the rising of its water fourteen feet in three days was what no one had expected. At Ebersdorf the first branch of the Danube was 500 yards across to an islet, thence 340 yards across the main current to Lobau, the vast island three miles broad and nearly three miles long, separated from the farther bank by another 150 yards of Danube. Bertrand had made excellent bridges, but on the 22nd the main one was carried away by a floating mill.

_Eugène ... has completely performed the task._--At the commencement of the campaign the Viceroy was taken unprepared. The Archduke John, exactly his own age (twenty-seven), was burning with hatred of France. Eugène had the impudence, with far inferior forces, to attack him at Sacile on April 16th, but was repulsed with a loss (including prisoners) of 6000 men. It is now necessary to retire, and the Archduke follows him leisurely, almost within sight of Verona. By the end of April the news of Eckmühl has reached both armies, and by May 1st the Austrians are in full retreat. As usual, Napoleon has already divined their altered plan of campaign, and writes from Braunau on this very day, "I doubt not that the enemy may have retired before you; it is necessary to pursue him with activity, whilst coming to join me as soon as possible _viâ_ Carinthia. The junction with my army will probably take place beyond Bruck. It is probable I shall be at Vienna by the 10th to the 15th of May." It is the successful performance of this task of joining him and of driving back the enemy to which Napoleon alludes in the letter. The Viceroy had been reproved for fighting at Sacile without his cavalry, for his precipitous retreat on Verona; and only two days earlier the Emperor had told him that if affairs went worse he was to send for the King of Naples (Murat) to take command. "I am no longer grieved at the blunders you have committed, but because you do not write to me, and give me no chance of advising you, and even of regulating my own affairs here conformably." On May 8th Eugène defeats the Austrians on the Piave, and the Archduke John loses nearly 10,000 men and 15 cannon. Harassed in their retreat, they regain their own territory on May 14th--the day after the capitulation of Vienna. Henceforward Eugène with part of the army, and Macdonald with the rest, force their way past all difficulties, so that when the junction with the Grand Army occurs at Bruck, Napoleon sends (May 27th) the following proclamation: "Soldiers of the army of Italy, you have gloriously attained the goal that I marked out for you.... Surprised by a perfidious enemy before your columns were united, you had to retreat to the Adige. But when you received the order to advance, you were on the memorable fields of Arcola, and there you swore on the manes of our heroes to triumph. You have kept your word at the battle of the Piave, at the combats of San-Daniel, Tarvis, and Goritz; you have taken by assault the forts of Malborghetto, of Prediel, and made the enemy's divisions, entrenched in Prewald and Laybach, surrender. You had not then passed the Drave, and already 25,000 prisoners, 60 cannon, and 10 flags signalised your valour." This is the proclamation alluded to in this letter to Josephine.

No. 6.

_May 29th._--The date is wrong; it should be May 19th or 24th, probably the latter. It sets at rest the vexed question how the Danube bridge was broken, and seems to confirm Marbot's version of a floating mill on fire, purposely sent down by an Austrian officer of Jägers, who won the rare order of Maria Theresa thereby--for performing _more_ than his duty. Bertrand gained his Emperor's lifelong admiration by his expedients at this time. Everything had to be utilised--anchors for the boat bridges were made by filling fishermen's baskets with bullets; and a naval contingent of 1200 bluejackets from Antwerp proved invaluable.

No. 7.

_I have ordered the two princes to re-enter France._--After so critical a battle as the battle of Essling the Emperor's first thoughts were concerning his succession--had he been killed or captured. He was therefore seriously annoyed that the heir-apparent and his younger brother had both been taken out of the country without his permission. He therefore writes the Queen of Holland on May 28th from Ebersdorf: "My daughter, I am seriously annoyed that you have left France without my permission, and especially that you have taken my nephews out of it. Since you are at Baden stay there, but an hour after receiving the present letter send my two nephews back to Strasburg to be near the Empress--they ought never to go out of France. It is the first time I have had reason to be annoyed with you, but you should not dispose of my nephews without my permission, you should realise what a bad effect it will have. Since the waters at Baden are doing you good you can stay there a few days, but, I repeat, lose not a moment in sending my nephews back to Strasburg. If the Empress is going to the waters at Plombières they may accompany her there, but they must never pass the bridge of Strasburg.--Your affectionate father, Napoleon." This letter passed through the hands of Josephine at Strasburg, who was so unhappy at not having heard from her husband that she opened it, and writes to Hortense on June 1st when forwarding the letter: "I advise you to write to him immediately that you have anticipated his intentions, and that your children are with me: that you have only had them a few days in order to see them, and to give them a change of air. The page who is announced in Méneval's letter has not yet arrived. I hope he will bring me a letter from the Emperor, and that at least he will not be as vexed with me for your being at Baden. Your children have arrived in excellent health."

_The Duke of Montebello, who died this morning._--The same day he writes to La Maréchale as follows:--

"_Ma Cousine_,--The Marshal died this morning of the wounds that he received on the field of honour. My sorrow equals yours. I lose the most distinguished general in my whole army, my comrade-in-arms for sixteen years, he whom I looked upon as my best friend. His family and children will always have a special claim on my protection. It is to give you this assurance that I wished to write you this letter, for I feel that nothing can alleviate the righteous sorrow that you will experience." The following year he bestowed the highest honour on the Maréchale that she could receive.

_Thus everything ends._--The fourteenth bulletin says that the end was caused by a pernicious fever, and in spite of Dr. Franck, one of the best physicians in Europe. "Thus ends one of the most distinguished soldiers France ever possessed."[77] He had received thirteen wounds. The death of Lannes, and the whole of the Essling period, is best told by Marbot. The loss of Lannes was a more serious one to Napoleon than the whole 20,000 men lost in this battle. The master himself has told us that "in war men are nothing, a man is everything." They could be replaced: Lannes never. Like Kléber and Desaix, he stood on a higher platform than the older Marshals--except Massena, who had serious drawbacks, and who was the only one of Napoleon's best generals that Wellington met in the Peninsula. Lannes had always the ear of the Emperor, and always told him facts, not flattery. His life had been specially crowded the last few weeks. Rebuked by Napoleon for tardiness in supporting Massena at Ebersberg, his life was saved by Napoleon himself when he was thrown from his horse into the flooded Danube; and finally, on the field of Essling, he had under his orders Bessières, the man who had a dozen years before prevented his engagement to Caroline Bonaparte by tittle-tattling to Napoleon.

No. 9.

_Eugène won a battle._--The remnant of the Archduke John's army, together with Hungarian levies, in all 31,000 men, hold the entrenched camp and banks of the Raab. Eugène defeats it, with a loss of 6000 men, of whom 3700 were prisoners. Napoleon, in commemoration of the anniversary of Marengo (and Friedland) calls it the little granddaughter of Marengo.

No. 11.

The curtain of the war's final act was rung up in the twenty-fourth bulletin. "At length there exists no longer the Danube for the French army; General Count Bertrand has completed works which excite astonishment and inspire admiration. For 800 yards over the most rapid river in the world he has, in a fortnight, constructed a bridge of sixteen arches where three carriages can pass abreast."

_Wagram_ is, according to Pelet, the masterpiece of _tactical_ battles, while the five days' campaign (Thann to Ratisbon) was one long _strategic_ battle. Nevertheless, respecting Wagram, had the Archduke John, with his 40,000 men, turned up, as the Archduke had more right to expect than Wellington had to expect Blucher, Waterloo might have been antedated six years.

_Lasalle_ was a prime favourite of Napoleon, for his sure eye and active bearing. His capture of Stettin with two regiments of hussars was specially noteworthy. Like Lannes he had a strong premonition of his death. Marbot tells a story of how Napoleon gave him 200,000 francs to get married with. A week later the Emperor asked, "When is the wedding?" "As soon as I have got some money to furnish with, sire." "Why, I gave you 200,000 francs to furnish with last week! What have you done with them?" "Paid my debts with half, and lost the other half at cards." Such an admission would have ruined any other general. The Emperor laughed, and merely giving a sharp tug at Lasalle's moustache, ordered Duroc to give him another 200,000.

_I am sunburnt_, and, as he writes Cambacérès the same day, tired out, having been sixty out of the previous seventy-two hours in the saddle.

No. 12.

_Wolkersdorf._--On July 8th he writes General Clarke: "I have the headquarters lately occupied by the craven Francis II., who contented himself with watching the whole affair from the top of a tower, ten miles from the scene of battle." On this day also he dictated his twenty-fifth bulletin, of which the last portion is so skilfully utilised in the last scene of Act V. in L'Aiglon. One concluding sentence is all that can here be quoted: "Such is the recital of the battle of Wagram, a decisive and ever illustrious battle, where three to four hundred thousand men, twelve to fifteen hundred guns, fought for great stakes on a field of battle, studied, meditated on, and fortified by the enemy for many months."

_A surfeit of bile._--His usual source of relief after extra work or worry. In this case both. Bernadotte had behaved so badly at Wagram, that Napoleon sent him to Paris with the stern rebuke, "A bungler like you is no good to me." But as usual his anger against an old comrade is short-lived, and he gives General Clarke permission to send Bernadotte to command at Antwerp against the English.

No. 16.

_My affairs follow my wishes._--In Austria, possibly, but not elsewhere. Prussia was seething with conspiracy, Russia with ill-concealed hatred, the English had just landed in Belgium, and Wellesley had just won Talavera. Soult was apparently no longer trustworthy, Bernadotte a conceited boaster, who had to be publicly snubbed (see The Order of the Day, August 5th, No. 15,614). Clarke and Cambacérès are so slow that Napoleon writes them (August 10th) "not to let the English come and take you in bed." Fouché shows more energy than every one else put together, calls out National Guards, and sends them off to meet the northern invasion. The Minister of the Interior, M. Cretet, had just died, and the Emperor had wisely put Fouché, the most competent man available, into his place for the time being.

No. 17.

_August 21st._--The list of birthday honours (August 15th) had been a fairly long one, Berthier becoming Prince of Wagram, Massena of Essling, Davoust of Eckmühl. Marshals Oudinot and Macdonald, Generals Clarke, Reynier, Gaudin and Champagny, as also M. Maret, became Dukes. Marmont had already, says Savary, been made delirious with the joy of possessing a bâton.

No. 18.

_Comedians._--Napoleon found relaxation more after his own heart in conversing with the savants of Germany, including the great mechanic Mäelzel, with whose automaton chess-player he played a game. Constant gives a highly-coloured picture of the sequel: "The automaton was seated before a chess-board, and the Emperor, taking a chair opposite the figure, said laughingly, 'Now, my friend, we'll have a game.' The automaton, bowing, made signs for the Emperor to begin. After two or three moves the Emperor made a wrong one on purpose; the automaton bowed and replaced the piece on the board. His Majesty cheated again, when the automaton bowed again, but this time took the pawn. 'Quite right,' said his Majesty, as he promptly cheated for the third time. The automaton then shook its head, and with one sweep of its hand knocked all the chessmen down."

_Women ... not having been presented._--One woman, however, the mistress of Lord Paget, was quite willing to be presented at a late hour and to murder him at the same time--at least so says Constant.

No. 19.

_All this is very suspicious._--For perfectly natural reasons Cæsar's wife was now above suspicion, but Cæsar himself was not so. Madame Walewski had been more than a month at Schoenbrunn, and on May 4th, 1810, Napoleon has a second son born, who fifty years later helped to edit his father's _Correspondence_.

No. 20.

_Krems._--He left here to review Davoust's corps on the field of Austerlitz. Afterwards all the generals dined with him, and the Emperor said, "This is the second time I come upon the field of Austerlitz; shall I come to it a third time?" "Sire," replied one, "from what we see every day none dare wager that you will not!" It was this suppressed hatred that probably determined the Emperor to dismantle the fortifications of Vienna, an act that intensified the hatred of the Viennese more than his allowing the poor people to help themselves to wood for the winter in the imperial forests had mollified them.

_My health has never been better._--His reason for this remark is found in his letter to Cambacérès of the same date, "They have spread in Paris the rumour that I was ill, I know not why; I was never better." The reason of the rumour was that Corvisart had been sent for to Vienna, as there had been an outbreak of dysentery among the troops. This was kept a profound secret from France, and Napoleon even allowed Josephine to think that Corvisart had attended him (see Letter 22).

No. 23.

_October 14th._--Two days before, Stabs, the young Tugendbundist and an admirer of Joan of Arc, had attempted to assassinate Napoleon on parade with a carving-knife. The Emperor's letter to Fouché of the 12th October gives the most succinct account:--

"A youth of seventeen, son of a Lutheran minister of Erfurt, sought to approach me on parade to-day. He was arrested by the officers, and as the little man's agitation had been noticed, suspicion was aroused; he was searched, and a dagger found upon him. I had him brought before me, and the little wretch, who seemed to me fairly well educated, told me that he wished to assassinate me to deliver Austria from the presence of the French. I could distinguish in him neither religious nor political fanaticism. He did not appear to know exactly who or what Brutus was. The fever of excitement he was in prevented our knowing more. He will be examined when he has cooled down and fasted. It is possible that it will come to nothing. He will be arraigned before a military commission.

"I wished to inform you of this circumstance in order that it may not be made out more important than it appears to be. I hope it will not leak out; if it does, we shall have to represent the fellow as a madman. If it is not spoken of at all, keep it to yourself. The whole affair made no disturbance at the parade; I myself saw nothing of it.

"_P.S._--I repeat once more, and you understand clearly, that there is to be no discussion of this occurrence."

Count Rapp saved the Emperor's life on this occasion, and he, Savary, and Constant, all give detailed accounts. Their narratives are a remarkable object-lesson of the carelessness of the average contemporary spectator in recording dates. Savary gives vaguely the end of September, Constant October 13th, and Count Rapp October 23rd. In the present case the date of this otherwise trivial incident is important, for careless historians assert that it influenced Napoleon in concluding peace. In any case it would have taken twenty such occurrences to affect Napoleon one hairbreadth, and in the present instance his letter of October 10th to the Russian Emperor proves that the Peace was already settled--all but the signing.

No. 24.

_Stuttgard._--General Rapp describes this journey as follows: "Peace was ratified. We left Nymphenburg and arrived at Stuttgard. Napoleon was received in a style of magnificence, and was lodged in the palace together with his suite. The King was laying out a spacious garden, and men who had been condemned to the galleys were employed to labour in it. The Emperor asked the King who the men were who worked in chains; he replied that they were for the most part rebels who had been taken in his new possessions. We set out on the following day. On the way Napoleon alluded to the unfortunate wretches whom he had seen at Stuttgard. 'The King of Würtemberg,' said he, 'is a very harsh man; but he is very faithful. Of all the sovereigns in Europe he possesses the greatest share of understanding.'

"We stopped for an hour at Rastadt, where the Princess of Baden and Princess Stephanie had arrived for the purpose of paying their respects to the Emperor. The Grand Duke and Duchess accompanied him as far as Strasburg. On his arrival in that city he received despatches which again excited his displeasure against the Faubourg St. Germain. We proceeded to Fontainebleau; no preparations had been made for the Emperor's reception; there was not even a guard on duty."

This was on October 26th, at 10 A.M. Méneval asserts that Napoleon's subsequent bad temper was feigned. In any case, the meeting--that moment so impatiently awaited--was a very bad _quart d'heure_ for Josephine, accentuated doubtless by Fouché's report of bad conduct on the part of the ladies of St. Germain.

FOOTNOTES

[70] This Archduke was the "international man" at this juncture. Louis Bonaparte speaks of a society at Saragossa, of which the object was to make the Archduke Charles king of Spain.

[71] These Adelphes or Philadelphes were the socialists or educated anarchists of that day. They wished for the _statu quo_ before Napoleon became supreme ruler. They had members in his army, and it seems quite probable that Bernadotte gave them passive support. General Oudet was their recognised head, and he died under suspicious circumstances after Wagram. The society was, unlike the Carbonari, anti-Catholic.

[72] Pelet, vol. i. 127.

[73] Pelet, vol. i. 282.

[74] "Gaily asking his staff to breakfast with him" (Pelet).

[75] Lejeune says "some hours afterwards."

[76] Eugène's.

[77] "What a loss for France and for me," groaned Napoleon, as he left his dead friend.

SERIES M

No. 1.

According to the _Correspondence of Napoleon I._, No. 16,058, the date of this letter is December 17th. It seems, however, possible that it is the letter written immediately after his arrival at Trianon, referred to by Méneval, who was, in fact, responsible for it. Thiers, working from unpublished memoirs of Hortense and Cambacérès, gives a most interesting account of the family council, held at 9 P.M. on Friday, December 15th, at the Tuileries. Constant also describes the scene, but gives the Empress credit for showing the most self-command of those chiefly interested. The next day, 11 A.M., Count Lacépède introduced the resolutions of the family council to the Senatus-Consultus.[78] "It is to-day that, more than ever before, the Emperor has proved that he wishes to reign only to serve his subjects, and that the Empress has merited that posterity should associate her name with that of Napoleon." He pointed out that thirteen of Napoleon's predecessors had broken the bonds of matrimony in order to fulfil better those of sovereign, and that among these were the most admired and beloved of French monarchs--Charlemagne, Philip Augustus, Louis XII. and Henry IV. This speech and the Decrees (carried by 76 votes to 7) are found in the _Moniteur_ of December 17th, which Napoleon considers sufficiently authentic to send to his brother Joseph as a full account of what occurred, and with no further comment of his own but that it was the step which he thought it his duty to take. The Decrees of the Committee of the Senate were:--"(1) The marriage contracted between the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Josephine is dissolved. (2) The Empress Josephine will retain the titles and rank of a crowned Empress-Queen.[79] (3) Her jointure is fixed at an annual revenue of £80,000 from the public treasury.[80] (4) Every provision which may be made by the Emperor in favour of the Empress Josephine, out of the funds of the Civil List, shall be obligatory on his successors." They added separate addresses to the Emperor and Empress, and that to the latter seems worthy of quotation:--"Your Imperial and Royal Majesty is about to make for France the greatest of sacrifices; history will preserve the memory of it for ever. The august spouse of the greatest of monarchs cannot be united to his immortal glory by more heroic devotion. For long, Madame, the French people has revered your virtues; it holds dear that loving kindness which inspires your every word, as it directs your every action; it will admire your sublime devotion; it will award for ever to your Majesty, Empress and Queen, the homage of gratitude, respect, and love."

From a letter of Eugène's to his wife, quoted by Aubenas, it appears that he, with his mother, arrived at Malmaison on Saturday evening,[81] December 16th, and that it never ceased raining all the next day, which added to the general depression, in spite of, or because of, Eugène's bad puns. On the evening of the 16th Napoleon was at Trianon, writing letters, and we cannot think that if the Emperor had been to Malmaison on the Sunday,[82] Eugène would have included this without comment in the "some visits" they had received. The Emperor, as we see from the next letter, paid Josephine a visit on the Monday.

No. 2.

The date of this is Tuesday, December 19th, while No. 3 is Wednesday the 20th.

_Savary_, always unpopular with the Court ladies, has now nothing but kind words for Josephine. "She quitted the Court, but the Court did not quit her; it had always loved her, for never had any one been so kind.... She never injured any one in the time of her power; she protected even her enemies"--such as Fouché at this juncture, and Lucien earlier. "During her stay at Malmaison, the highroad from Paris to this château was only one long procession, in spite of the bad weather; every one considered it a duty to present themselves at least once a week." Later, Marie Louise became jealous of this, and poor Josephine had to go to the château of Navarre, and finally to leave France.

_Queen of Naples._--For some reason Napoleon had not wanted this sister at Paris this winter, and had written her to this effect from Schoenbrunn on October 15th. "If you were not so far off, and the season so advanced, I would have asked Murat to spend two months in Paris. But you cannot be there before December, which is a horrible season, especially for a Neapolitan."[83] But sister Caroline, "with the head of a Cromwell on the shoulders of a pretty woman," was not easy to lead; and her husband had in consequence to bear the full weight of the Emperor's displeasure. Murat's finances were in disorder, and Napoleon wrote Champagny on December 30th to tell Murat plainly that if the borrowed money was not returned to France, it would be taken by main force.[84]

_The hunt._--In pouring rain, in the forest of St. Germain.

No. 4.

Thursday, December 21st, is the date.

_The weather is very damp._--Making Malmaison as unhealthy as its very name warranted, and rendering more difficult the task which Madame de Rémusat had set herself of resting Josephine mentally by tiring her physically. This typical toady--Napoleon's Eavesdropper Extraordinary--had arrived at Malmaison on December 18th. She writes on the Friday (December 22nd), beseeching her husband to advise the Emperor to moderate the tone of his letters, especially this one (Thursday, December 21st), which had upset Josephine frightfully. Surely a more harmless letter was never penned. But it is the Rémusat all over; she lives in a chronic atmosphere of suspicion that all her letters are read by the Emperor, and therefore, like Stevenson's nursery rhymes, they are always written with "one eye on the grown-up person"[85]--on the grown-up person _par excellence_ of France and the century. The opening of letters by the government was doubtless a blemish, which, however, Napoleon tried to neutralise by entrusting the Post Office to his wife's relative, Lavalette, a man whose ever-kind heart prevented this necessary espionage degenerating into unnecessary interference with individual rights.

No. 5.

Date probably Sunday, December 24th.

_King of Bavaria._--Eugène had gone to Meaux to meet his father-in-law, who had put off the "dog's humour" which he had shown since the 16th.

No. 6.

Josephine had gone by special invitation to dine at the little Trianon with Napoleon on Christmas Day, and Madame d'Avrillon says she had a very happy day there. "On her return she told me how kind the Emperor had been to her, that he had kept her all the evening, saying the kindest things to her." Aubenas says, "The repast was eaten in silence and gloom," but does not give his authority. Eugène, moreover, confirms Madame d'Avrillon in his letter to his wife of December 26th: "My dear Auguste, the Emperor came on Sunday to see the Empress. Yesterday she went to Trianon to see him, and stayed to dinner. The Emperor was very kind and amiable to her, and she seemed to be much better. Everything points to the Empress being more happy in her new position, and we also." On this Christmas Day Napoleon had his last meal with Josephine.

No. 7.

_Tuileries._--His return from Trianon to this, his official residence, made the divorce more apparent to every one.

No. 8.

_A house vacant in Paris._--This seems a hint for Josephine. She wishes to come to Paris, to the Élysée, and to try a little diplomacy of her own in favour of the Austrian match, and she sends secretly to Madame de Metternich--whose husband was absent. Eugène more officially is approaching Prince Schwartzenberg, the ambassador. Josephine, like Talleyrand, wished to heal the schism with Rome by an Austrian alliance; while Cambacérès, foreseeing a war with the power not allied by marriage, would have preferred the Russian match.

No. 9.

Thursday, January 4th.

_Hortense._--Louis had tried to obtain a divorce. Cambacérès was ordered on December 22nd to summon a family council (_New Letters of Napoleon I._, No. 234); but the wish of the King was refused (verbally, says Louis in his _Historical Documents of Holland_), whereupon he refused to agree to Josephine's divorce, but had to give way, and was present at what he calls the farewell festival given by the city of Paris to the Empress Josephine on January 1st. The ecclesiastical divorce was pronounced on January 12th.

No. 10.

January 5th. He duly visits Josephine the next day.

No. 11.

January 7th is the date.

_What charms your society has._--Her repertoire of small talk and scandal. He had also lost in her his Agenda, his Journal of Paris. Still the visits are growing rarer. This long kind letter was doubtless intended to be specially so, for two days later the clergy of Paris pronounced the annulment of her marriage. This was far worse than the pronouncement by the Senate in December, as it meant to her that she and Napoleon had never been properly married at all. The Emperor, who hated divorces, and especially _divorcées_, had found great difficulty in breaking down the barriers he had helped to build, for which purpose _he_ had to be subordinated to his own Senate, _the Pope_ to his own bishops. Seven of them allowed the annulment of the marriage of 1804 on account of (1) its secrecy, (2) the insufficiency of consent of the contracting parties, and (3) the absence of the local parish priest at the ceremony. The last reason was merely a technical one; but with respect to the first two it is only fair to admit that Napoleon had undoubtedly, and perhaps for the only time in his life, been completely "rushed," _i.e._ by the Pope and Josephine. The coronation ceremony was waiting, and the Pope, secretly solicited by Josephine, insisted on a religious marriage first and foremost. The Pope suffered forthwith, but the other bill of costs was not exacted till five years after date.

No. 12.

Wednesday, January 12th.

_King of Westphalia._--Madame Durand (_Napoleon and Marie Louise_) says that, forced to abandon his wife (the beautiful and energetic Miss Paterson) and child, Jerome "had vowed he would never have any relations with a wife who had been thus forced upon him." For three years he lavished his attentions upon almost all the beauties of the Westphalian court. The queen, an eye-witness of this conduct, bore it with mild and forbearing dignity; she seemed to see and hear nothing; in short, her demeanour was perfect. The king, touched by her goodness, weary of his conquests, and repentant of his behaviour, was only anxious for an opportunity of altering the state of things. Happily the propitious moment presented itself. The right wing of the palace of Cassel, in which the queen's apartments were situated, took fire; alarmed by the screams of her women the queen awoke and sprang out of her bed, to be caught in the arms of the king and carried to a place of safety. From that time forth the royal couple were united and happy.

No. 13.

Saturday, January 13th.

_Sensible._--This was now possible after a month's mourning. In the early days, according to Madame Rémusat, her mind often wandered, But Napoleon himself encouraged the Court to visit her, and the road to Malmaison was soon a crowded one. As the days passed, however, life became sadly monotonous. Reading palled on Josephine, as did whist and the daily feeding of her golden pheasants and guinea-fowls. Remained "Patience"! Was it the "General" she played or the "Emperor," or did she find distraction in the "Demon"?

No. 14.

_D'Audenarde._--Napoleon's handsome equerry, whom Mlle. d'Avrillon calls "un homme superbe." His mother was Josephine's favourite _dame du palais_. Madame Lalaing, Viscountess d'Audenarde, _née_ Peyrac, was one of the old régime who had been ruined by the Revolution.

No. 16.

Tuesday, January 23rd.

On January 21st a Privy Council was summoned to approve of Marie Louise as their "choice of a consort, who may give an heir to the throne" (Thiers). Cambacérès, Fouché, and Murat wished for the Russian princess; Lebrun, Cardinal Fesch, and King Louis for a Saxon one; but Talleyrand, Champagny, Maret, Berthier, Fontanes were for Austria.

No. 17.

Sunday, January 28th.

No. 18.

Josephine had heard she was to be banished from Paris, and so had asked to come to the Élysée to prove the truth or otherwise of the rumour.

_L'Élysée._--St. Amand gives the following interesting _précis_: "Built by the Count d'Evreux in 1718, it had belonged in succession to the Marchioness de Pompadour, to the financier Beaujon, a Croesus of the eighteenth century, and to the Duchesse de Bourbon. Having, under the Revolution, become national property, it had been hired by the caterers of public entertainments, who gave it the name of L'Élysée. In 1803 it became the property of Murat, who, becoming King of Naples, ceded it to Napoleon in 1808. Here Napoleon signed his second abdication, here resided Alexander I. in 1815, and here Josephine's grandson effected the _Coup d'État_ (1851). When the Senatus-Consultus fixed the revenue of Josephine, Napoleon not only gave her whatever rights he had in Malmaison, viz., at least 90 per cent. of the total cost, but the palace of the Élysée, its gardens and dependencies, with the furniture then in use." The latter residence was, however, for her life only.

No. 19.

February 3rd is the date.

_L'Élysée._--After the first receptions the place is far worse than Malmaison. Schwartzenberg, Talleyrand, the Princess Pauline, Berthier, even her old friend Cambacérès are giving balls,[86] while the Emperor goes nearly every night to a theatre. The carriages pass by the Élysée, but do not stop. "It is as if the palace were in quarantine, with the yellow flag floating."

No. 20.

_Bessières' country-house._--M. Masson says Grignon, but unless this house is called after the château of that name in Provence, he must be mistaken.

No. 21.

_Rambouillet._--He had taken the Court with him, and was there from February 19th to the 23rd, the date of this letter. While there he had been in the best of humours. On his return he finds it necessary to write his future wife and to her father--and to pen a legible letter to the latter gives him far more trouble than winning a battle against the Austrians, if not assisted by General Danube.

_Adieu._--Sick and weary, Josephine returns to Malmaison, Friday, March 9th, and even this is not long to be hers, for the new Empress is almost already on her way. The marriage at Vienna took place on March 11th, with her uncle Charles,[87] the hero of Essling, for Napoleon's proxy; on the 13th she leaves Vienna, and on the 23rd reaches Strasbourg. On the 27th she meets Napoleon at Compiègne, spends three days with him in the château there, and arrives at St. Cloud on April 1st, where the civil marriage is renewed, followed by the triumphal entry into Paris, and the religious ceremony on April 2nd. This day Josephine reaches the château of Navarre.

FOOTNOTES

[78] By here subordinating himself to the Senate, the Emperor was preparing a rod for his own back hereafter.

[79] This clause gives considerable trouble to Lacépède and Regnauld. They cannot even find a precedent whether, if they met, Josephine or Marie Louise would take precedence of the other.

[80] In addition to this, Napoleon gives her £40,000 a year from his privy purse, but keeps most of it back for the first two years to pay her 120 creditors. (For interesting details see Masson, _Josephine Répudiée_.)

[81] Which agrees with Madame d'Avrillon, who says they left the Tuileries at 2.30. Méneval says Napoleon left for Trianon a few hours later. Savary writes erroneously that they left the following morning.

[82] M. Masson seems to indicate a visit on December 16th, but does not give his authority (_Josephine Repudiée_, 114).

[83] _Correspondence of Napoleon I._, No. 15,952.

[84] _New Letters of Napoleon_, 1898.

[85] Canon Ainger's comparison.

[86] See Baron Lejeune for an interesting account of a chess quadrille at a dance given by the Italian Minister, Marescalchi.

SERIES N

_Navarre_, on the site of an old dwelling of Rollo the Sea-King, was built by Jeanne of France, Queen of Navarre, Countess of Evreux. At the time of the Revolution it belonged to the Dukes of Bouillon, and was confiscated. In February 1810, Napoleon determined to purchase it, and on March 10th instructed his secretary of state, Maret, to confer the Duchy of Navarre, purchased by letters patent, on Josephine and her heirs male. The old square building was, however, utterly unfit to be inhabited: not a window would shut, there was neither paper nor tapestry, all the wainscoting was rotten, draughts and damp everywhere, and no heating apparatus.[88] What solace to know its beautiful situation, its capabilities? No wonder if her household, banished to such a place, sixty-five miles from the "capital of capitals," should rebel, and secessions headed by Madame Ney become for a time general. Whist and piquet soon grow stale in such a house and with such surroundings, and even _trictrac_ with the old bishop of Evreux becomes tedious. Eugène as usual brings sunshine in his path, and helps to dispel the gloom caused by the idle gossip imported from Paris--that Josephine is not to return to Malmaison, and the like.

No. 1.

This was Josephine's second letter, says D'Avrillon, the first being answered _vivâ voce_ by Eugène.

_To Malmaison._--Napoleon had promised Josephine permission to return to Malmaison, and would not recant: his new wife was, however, very jealous of Josephine, and very much hurt at her presence at Malmaison. Napoleon managed to be away from Paris for six weeks after Josephine's arrival at Malmaison.

No. 1A.

_It is written in a bad style._--M. Masson, however, is loud in its praises, and adds, "Voilà donc le protocol du tutoiement" re-established between them in spite of the second marriage, and their correspondence re-established on the old terms.

No. 2.

This letter seems to have been taken by Eugène to Paris, and thence forwarded to the Emperor with a letter from that Prince in which he enumerates Josephine's suggestions and wishes--(1) that she will not go to Aix-la-Chapelle if other waters are suggested by Corvisart; (2) that after stopping a few days at Malmaison she will go in June for three months to the baths, and afterwards to the south of France; visit Rome, Florence, and Naples incognito, spend the winter at Milan, and return to Malmaison and Navarre in the spring of 1811; (3) that in her absence Navarre shall be made habitable, for which fresh funds are required; (4) that Josephine wishes her cousins the Taschers to marry, one a relative of King Joseph, the other the Princess Amelie de la Leyen, niece of the Prince Primate. To this Napoleon replies from Compiègne, April 26th, that the De Leyen match with Louis Tascher may take place,[89] but that he will not interest himself in the other (Henry) Tascher, who is giddy-headed and bad-tempered. "I consent to whatever the Empress does, but I will not confer any mark of my regard on a person who has behaved ill to me. I am very glad that the Empress likes Navarre. I am giving orders to have £12,000 which I owe her for 1810, and £12,000 for 1811 advanced to her. She will then have only the £80,000 from the public treasury to come in.... She is free to go to whatever spa she cares for, and even to return to Paris afterwards." He thinks, however, she would be happier in new scenes which they had never visited together, as they had Aix-la-Chapelle. If, however, the last are the best she may go to them, for "what I desire above all is that she may keep calm, and not allow herself to be excited by the gossip of Paris." This letter goes far to soothe the poor châtelaine of Navarre.

No. 2A.

_Two letters._--The other, now missing, may have some reference to the pictures to which he refers in his letter to Fouché the next day. "Is it true that engravings are being published with the title of _Josephine Beauharnais née La Pagerie_? If this is true, have the prints seized, and let the engravers be punished" (_New Letters_, No. 253).

No. 3.

Probably written from Boulogne about the 25th. His northern tour with Marie Louise had been very similar to one taken in 1804, but his _entourage_ found the new bride very cold and callous compared to Josephine. Leaving Paris on April 29th Napoleon's _Correspondence_ till June is dated Laeken (April 30th); Antwerp (May 3rd); Bois-le-Duc; Middleburg, Gand, Bruges, Ostend (May 20th); Lille, Boulogne, Dieppe, Le Havre, Rouen (May 31st). He takes the Empress in a canal barge from Brussels to Malines and himself descends the subterranean vault of the Escaut-Oise canal, between St. Quentin and Cambrai. He is at St. Cloud on June 2nd.

Josephine has felt his wanderings less, as she has the future Emperor, her favourite grandson, with her, the little Oui-Oui, as she calls him, and for whom the damp spring weather of Holland was dangerous. She was also at Malmaison from the middle of May to June 18th. The original collection of _Letters_ (Didot Frères, 1833) heads the letter correctly to the Empress Josephine at _Malmaison_, but the _Correspondence_, published by order of Napoleon III., gives it erroneously, to the Empress Josephine, _at the Château of Navarre_ (No. 16,537).

_I will come to see you._--He comes for two hours on June 13th, and makes himself thoroughly agreeable. Poor Josephine is light-headed with joy all the evening after. The meeting of the two Empresses is, however, indefinitely postponed, and Josephine had now no further reason to delay her departure. Leaving her little grandson Louis behind, she travels under the name of the Countess d'Arberg, and she is accompanied by Madame d'Audenarde and Mlle. de Mackau, who left the Princess Stephanie to come to Navarre. M. Masson notes that Madame de Rémusat needs the Aix waters, and will rejoin Josephine (within a week), under pretext of service, and thus obtain her cure gratuitously. They go _viâ_ Lyons and Geneva to Aix-les-Bains. M. Masson, who has recently made a careful and complete study of this period, describes the daily round. "Josephine, on getting out of bed, takes conscientiously her baths and douches, then, as usual, lies down again until _déjeuner_, 11 A.M., for which the whole of the little Court are assembled at _The Palace_--wherever she lives, and however squalid the dwelling-place, her abode always bears this name. Afterwards she and her women-folk ply their interminable tapestry, while the latest novel or play (sent by Barbier from Paris) is read aloud. And so the day passes till five, when they dress for dinner at six; after dinner a ride. At nine the Empress's friends assemble in her room, Mlle. de Mackau sings; at eleven every one goes to bed." This programme, however, varies with the weather. Here is St. Amand's version (_Dernières Années de l'Impératrice Joséphine_, p. 237): "A little reading in the morning, an airing (_le promenade_) afterwards, dinner at eight on account of the heat, games afterwards, and some little music; so passed existence."

No. 4.

_July 8th._--On July 5th, driving along the Chambéry road, Josephine met the courier with a letter from Eugène describing the terrible fire at Prince Schwartzenberg's ball, where the Princess de la Leyen, mother of young Taschre's bride-elect, was burnt. It is noteworthy that the Emperor makes no allusion to the conflagration. As, however, this is the first letter since the end of May, others may have been lost or destroyed.

_You will have seen Eugène_--_i.e._ on his way to Milan, who arrived at Aix on July 10th. He had just been made heir to the Grand Duchy of Frankfort--a broad hint to him and to Europe that Italy would be eventually united to France under Napoleon's dynasty. This was the nadir of the Beauharnais family--Josephine _repudiée_, Hortense unqueened and unwed,[90] and Eugène's expectations dissipated, and all within a few short months. Eugène had left his wife ill at Geneva, whither Josephine goes to visit her the next day, duly reporting her visit to Napoleon in her letter of July 14th (see No. 5). Geneva was always the home of the disaffected, and so the Empress had to be specially tactful, and the De Rémusat reports: "She speaks of the Emperor as of a brother, of the new Empress as the one who will give children to France, and if the rumours of the latter's condition be correct, I am certain she will be delighted about it."

_That unfortunate daughter is coming to France_--_i.e._ to reside when she is not at St. Leu (given to her by Napoleon) or at the waters. On the present occasion she has been at Plombières a month or more. On July 10th Napoleon instructs the Countess de Boubers to bring the Grand Duke of Berg to Paris, "whom he awaits with impatience" (_Brotonne_, 625).

No. 5.

_The conduct of the King of Holland has worried me._--This was in March, and by May the crisis was still more acute and Napoleon's patience exhausted. On May 20th he writes: "Before all things be a Frenchman and the Emperor's brother, and then you may be sure you are in the path of the true interests of Holland. Good sense and policy are necessary to the government of states, not sour unhealthy bile." And three days later: "Write me no more of your customary twaddle; three years now it has been going on, and every instant proves its falsehood! This is the last letter I shall ever write you in my life."

Louis at one time determined on war, and rather than surrender Amsterdam, to cut the dykes. The Emperor hears of this, summons his brother, and practically imprisons him until he countermands the defence of Amsterdam.

On July 1st Louis abdicated and fled to Toeplitz in Bohemia. Napoleon is terribly grieved at the conduct of his brother, who would never realise that the effective Continental blockade was Napoleon's last sheet-anchor to force peace upon England.

No. 6.

_To die in a lake_--_i.e._ the Lake of Bourget, shut in by the Dent du Chat, where a white squall had nearly capsized the sailing boat. Josephine had been on July 26th to visit the abbey Haute-Combe, place of sepulture of the Princes of Savoy, and the storm had overtaken her on the return voyage.

No. 8.

_Paris, this Friday._--A very valuable note of M. Masson (_Josephine Repudiée_, 198) enables us to fix this letter at its correct date. He says: "It has to do with the exile of Madame de la T---- (viz., the Princess Louis de la Trémoille), which takes place on September 28th, 1810, and this 28th September is also a Friday: there is also the question of Mlle. de Mackau being made a baroness" (and this lady had not joined the Court of Josephine till May 1810); "lastly, the B---- mentioned therein can only be Barante, the Prefect, whose dismissal (from Geneva) almost coincides with this letter." It may be added that the La Trémoille family was one of the oldest in France, allied with the Condés, and consequently with the Bourbons. Barante's fault had been connivance at the letters and conduct of Madame de Staël.

No. 9.

_The only suitable places ... are either Milan or Navarre._--Milan had been her own suggestion conveyed by Eugène, but Napoleon, two months later, had told her she could spend the winter in France, and in spite of danger signals ("inspired by diplomacy rather than devotion" [91]) from Madame de Rémusat (in her fulsome and tedious "despatch" sent from Paris in September, and probably inspired by the Emperor himself) she manages to get to Navarre, and even to spend the first fortnight of November at Malmaison. Before leaving Switzerland Josephine refuses to risk an interview with Madame de Staël. "In the first book she publishes she will not fail to report our conversation, and heaven knows how many things she will make me say that I have never even thought of."

No. 10.

In spite of the heading Josephine was at Malmaison on this day, and Napoleon writes Cambacérès: "My cousin, the Empress Josephine not leaving for Navarre till Monday or Tuesday, I wish you to pay her a visit. You will let me know on your return how you find her" (_Brotonne_,721). The real reason is to hasten her departure, and she gets to Navarre November 22nd (Thursday).

_The Empress progresses satisfactorily._--Napoleon writes to this effect to her father, the Emperor of Austria, on the same day: "The Empress is very well.... It is impossible that the wife for whom I am indebted to you should be more perfect. Moreover, I beg your Majesty to rest assured that she and I are equally attached to you."

FOOTNOTES

[87] On this occasion Baron Lejeune sees the Archduke Charles, and remarks: "There was nothing in his quiet face with its grave and gentle expression, or in his simple, modest, unassuming manner, to denote the mighty man of war; but no one who met his eyes could doubt him to be a genius."

[88] "This gloomy and forsaken château," says St. Amand, "whose only attraction was the half-forgotten memory of its vanished splendours, was a fit image of the woman who came to seek sanctuary there."

[89] He endows the husband with £4000 a year, and the title of Count Tascher.

[90] "Une épouse sans époux, et une reine sans royaume"--St. Amand.

[91] Aubenas.

SERIES O

No. 1.

_The New Year._--On this occasion, instead of her usual gifts (_étrennes_) she organised a lottery of jewels, of which Madame Ducrest gives a full account. Needless to say, Josephine worked the oracle so that every one got a suitable gift--including the old Bishop (see next note).

_More women than men._--The Bishop of Evreux (Mgr. Bourlier) was the most welcome guest. He amused Josephine, and although eighty years of age, could play _trictrac_ and talk well on any subject. Madame de Rémusat wrote her husband concerning him, "We understand each other very well, he and I."

_Keep well._--At Navarre Josephine lost her headaches, and put on flesh.

No. 2.

There is a full account of the birth of the King of Rome in Napoleon's letter to the Emperor of Austria on March 20 (No. 17,496). The letter of this date to Josephine is missing, but is referred to by D'Avrillon. It began, "My dear Josephine, I have a son. I am _au comble de bonheur_."

_Eugène._--Josephine much appreciated this allusion. "Is it possible," she said, "for any one to be kinder than the Emperor, and more anxious to mitigate whatever might be painful for me at the present moment, if I loved him less sincerely? This association of my son with his own is well worthy of him who, when he likes, is the most fascinating of all men." She gave a costly ring to the page who brought the letter.

On the previous day Eugène had arrived at Navarre,--sent by the Emperor. "You are going to see your mother, Eugène; tell her I am sure that she will rejoice more than any one at my happiness. I should have already written to her if I had not been absorbed by the pleasure of watching my boy. The moments I snatch from his side are only for matters of urgent necessity. This event, I shall acquit myself of the most pleasant of them all by writing to Josephine."

No. 4.

Written in November 1811.

_As fat as a good Normandy farmeress._--Madame d'Abrantès, who saw her about this time, writes: "I observed that Josephine had grown very stout[92] since the time of my departure for Spain. This change was at once for the better and the worse. It imparted a more youthful appearance to her face; but her slender and elegant figure, which had been one of her principal attractions, had entirely disappeared. She had now decided _embonpoint_, and her figure had assumed that matronly air which we find in the statues of Agrippina, Cornelia, &c. Still, however, she looked uncommonly well, and she wore a dress which became her admirably. Her judicious taste in these matters contributed to make her appear young much longer than she otherwise would. The best proof of the admirable taste of Josephine is the marked absence of elegance shown by Marie Louise, though both Empresses employed the same milliners and dressmakers, and Marie Louise had a large sum allotted for the expenses of her toilet."

St. Amand says that 1811 was for Josephine a happy year, compared to those which followed.

SERIES P

No. 1.

Written from Konigsberg (M. Masson, in _Josephine Repudiée_, says Dantzig; but on June 11th Napoleon writes to Eugène, "I shall be at Konigsberg to-morrow," where his correspondence is dated from henceforward). A day or two later he writes the King of Rome's governess that he trusts to hear soon that the fifteen months old child has cut his first four teeth.

No. 2.

_Gumbinnen, June 20th._--From this place and on this date goes forth the first bulletin of the _Grande Armée_. It gives a _résumé_ of the causes of the war, dating from the end of 1810, when English influence again gained ascendency.

On July 29th he writes Hortense from Witepsk to congratulate her on her eldest son's recovery from an illness. A week later he writes his librarian for some amusing novels--new ones for choice, or old ones that he has not read--or good memoirs.

Josephine meanwhile has permission to go to Italy. Owing to her grandson's illness she defers starting till July 16th. Through frightful weather she reaches Milan _viâ_ Geneva on July 28th, and has a splendid reception. On the 29th she writes to Hortense: "I have found the three letters from Eugène, the last one dated the 13th; his health is excellent. He still pursues the Russians, without being able to overtake them. It is generally hoped the campaign may be a short one. May that hope be realised!" Two days later she announces the birth of Eugène's daughter Amelia, afterwards Empress of Brazil. Towards the end of August Josephine goes to Aix and meets the Queen of Spain with her sister Desirée Bernadotte, the former "kind and amiable as usual," the latter "very gracious to me"--rather a new experience. From Aix she goes to Prégny-la-Tour, on the Lake of Geneva, and shocks the good people in various ways, says M. Masson, especially by innuendoes against Napoleon; and he adds, "if one traces back to their source the worst calumnies against the morals of the Emperor, it is Josephine that one encounters there." She gets to Malmaison October 24th. Soon after his return from Moscow Napoleon pays her a visit, and about this time she begins to see the King of Rome, whose mother has always thought more of her daily music and drawing lessons than of whether she was making her son happy or not.

1812 closed in gloom, but 1813 was in itself terribly ominous to so superstitious a woman as Josephine. Thirteen is always unlucky, and moreover the numbers of 1813 add up to 13; also the doom-dealing year began on a Friday. Every one felt the hour approaching. As Napoleon said at St. Helena: "The star grew pale; I felt the reins slipping from my hand, and I could do no more. A thunderbolt could alone have saved us, and every day, by some new fatality or other, our chances diminished. Sinister designs began to creep in among us; fatigue and discouragement had won over the majority; my lieutenants became lax, clumsy, careless, and consequently unfortunate; they were no longer the men of the commencement of the Revolution, nor even of the time of my good fortune. The chief generals were sick of the war; I had gorged them too much with my high esteem, with too many honours and too much wealth. They had drunk from the cup of pleasure, and wished to enjoy peace at any price. _The sacred fire was quenched._"

Up to August Fortune had smiled again upon her favourite. With conscripts for infantry and without cavalry he had won Lutzen, Bautzen, and Dresden; and even so late as September Byron was writing that "bar epilepsy and the elements he would back Napoleon against the field." But treachery and incompetence had undermined the Empire, and Leipsic (that battle of giants, where 110,000 soldiers were killed and wounded) made final success hopeless. In 1814 his brothers Lucien and Louis rallied to him, and Hortense was for the only time proud of her husband. She thinks if he had shown less suspicion and she less pride they might have been happy after all. "My husband is a good Frenchman ... he is an honest man." Meanwhile, Talleyrand is watching to guide the _coup de grâce_. Napoleon makes a dash for Lorraine to gather his garrisons and cut off the enemy's supplies. The Allies hesitate and are about to follow him, as per the rules of war. Talleyrand, the only man who could ever divine Napoleon, sends them the message, "You can do everything, and you dare nothing; dare therefore _once_!" Hortense is the only _man_ left in Paris, and in vain she tries to keep Marie Louise, whose presence would have stimulated the Parisians to hold the Allies at bay. It is in vain. Unlike Prussia or Austria who fought for months, or Spain who fought for years, after their capitals were taken:--

"Like Nineveh, Carthage, Babylon and Rome, France yields to the conqueror, vanquished at home."

After Marmont's betrayal Napoleon attempts suicide, and when he believes death imminent sends a last message to Josephine by Caulaincourt, "You will tell Josephine that my thoughts were of her before life departed."

It was on Monday, May 23rd, that Josephine's illness commenced, after receiving at dinner the King of Prussia and his sons (one afterwards Wilhelm der Greise, first Emperor of Germany). Whether the sore throat which killed her was a quinsy or diphtheria[93] is difficult to prove, but the latter seems the more probable. Corvisart, who was himself ill and unable to attend, told Napoleon that she died of grief and worry. Before leaving for the Waterloo campaign Napoleon visited Malmaison, and there, as Lord Rosebery reminds us, allowed his only oblique reproach to Marie Louise to escape him: "Poor Josephine. Her death, of which the news took me by surprise at Elba, was one of the most acute griefs of that fatal year, 1814. She had her failings, of course; _but she, at any rate, would never have abandoned me_."

FOOTNOTES

[92] Mlle. d'Avrillon says that during the Swiss voyage Josephine found it desirable, for the first time, to "wear whalebone in her corsets."

[93] The same question may be asked respecting the death of Montaigne.

APPENDIX (1)

A REPUTED POEM BY NAPOLEON I.

LE CHIEN, LE LAPIN, ET LE CHASSEUR.

FABLE.--_Composée a l'âge de 13 ans, par_ NAPOLEON I.

César, chien d'arrêt renommé, Mais trop enflé de son mérite, Tennait arrêté dans son gîte Un malheureux lapin de peur inanimé. "Rends-toi!" lui cria-t-il, d'une voix de tonerre Qui fit au loin trembler les peuplades des bois. "Je suis César, connu par ses exploits, Et dont le nom remplit toute la terre." A ce grand nom, Jeannot Lapin, Recommandant a Dieu son âme pénitente, Demande d'une voix tremblante: "Trés-sérénissime mâtin, Si je me rends quel sera mon destin?" "Tu mourras." "Je mourrai!" dit la bête innocente. "Et si je fuis?" "Ton trépas est certain." "Quoi!" reprit l'animal qui se nourrit de thym, "Des deux côtés je dois perdre la vie! Que votre auguste seigneurie Veuille me pardonner, puisqu'il me faut mourir, Si j'ose tenter de m'enfuir." Il dit, et fuit en héros de garenne. Caton l'aurait blamé; je dis qu'il n'eut pas tort. Car le chasseur le voit à peine Qu'il l'ajuste, le tire--et le chien tombe mort Que dirait de ceci notre bon La Fontaine? Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera. I'approuve fort cette méthode-là.

APPENDIX (2)

GENEALOGY OF THE BONAPARTE FAMILY

Many more or less fictitious genealogies of the Bonapartes have been published, some going back to mythical times. The first reliable record, however, seems to be that of a certain Bonaparte of Sarzana, in Northern Italy, an imperial notary, who was living towards the end of the thirteenth century, and from whom both the Corsican and the Trevisan or Florentine Bonapartes claim their origin. From him in direct line was descended Francois de Sarzana, who was sent to Corsica in 1509 to fight for the Republic of Genoa. His son Gabriel, having sold his patrimony in Italy, settled in Ajaccio, where he bore the honourable title of Messire, and where, being left a widower, he assumed the tonsure and died Canon of the cathedral.

From him an unbroken line of Bonapartes, all of whom in turn were elected to the dignity of Elder of Ajaccio, brings us to Charles Bonaparte Napoleon, father of the Emperor.

APPENDIX (3)

REPUTED LETTERS OF NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. TAKEN FROM THE MEMOIRS OF MADAME DUCREST.

The author asked the advice of Monsieur Frédéric Masson about these Letters, to which he at once received the courteous reply, "Il faut absolument rejeter les Lettres publiées par Regnault Varin[94] et reproduites par Georgette Ducrest; pas une n'est authentique." No one who has read much of Napoleon's correspondence can in fact believe for a moment in their authenticity. They are interesting, however, as showing the sort of stuff which went to form our grandfathers' fallacies about the relations of Napoleon and Josephine. Madame Ducrest occasionally played and sang for Josephine after the divorce. Her father was a nephew of Madame de Genlis. Madame Ducrest married a musical composer, M. Bochsa, the then celebrated author of _Dansomanie_ and _Noces de Gamache_. He afterwards deserted her, and her voice having completely failed, she was compelled to write her Memoirs to earn sustenance thereby. Of these Memoirs M. Masson has said,[95] that "in the midst of apocryphal documents, uncontroverted anecdotes, impossible situations, are yet to be found some first-hand personal observations."

No. 1.--1796.

FROM GENERAL BONAPARTE TO HIS WIFE.

My first laurel, my love, must be for my country; my second shall be for you. While beating Alvinzi I thought of France; when I had defeated him I thought of you. Your son will present to you a standard which he received from Colonel Morbach, whom he made prisoner with his own hands. Our Eugène, you see, is worthy of his father; and I trust you do not think me an unworthy successor of the great and unfortunate general, under whom 1 should have been proud to learn to conquer. I embrace you.

BONAPARTE.

No. 2.--1804.

TO GENERAL BONAPARTE.

I have read over your letter, my dear, perhaps for the tenth time, and I must confess that the astonishment it caused me has given way only to feelings of regret and alarm. You wish to raise up the throne of France, and that, not for the purpose of seating upon it those whom the Revolution overthrew, but to place yourself upon it. You say, how enterprising, how grand and, above all, useful is this design; but I should say, how many obstacles oppose its execution, what sacrifices will its accomplishment demand, and when realised, how incalculable will be its results? But let us suppose that your object were already attained, would you stop at the foundation of the new empire? That new creation, being opposed by neighbouring states, would stir up war with them and perhaps entail their ruin. Their neighbours, in their turn, will not behold it without alarm or without endeavouring to gratify their revenge by checking it. And at home, how much envy and dissatisfaction will arise; how many plots must be put down, how many conspiracies punished! Kings will despise you as an upstart, subjects will hate you as an usurper, and your equals will denounce you as a tyrant. None will understand the necessity of your elevation; all will attribute it to ambition or pride. You will not want for slaves to crouch beneath your authority until, seconded by some more formidable power, they rise up to oppose you; happy will it be if poison or the poignard!... But how can a wife, a friend dwell on these dreadful anticipations!

This brings my thoughts back to myself, about whom I should care but little were my personal interests alone concerned. But will not the throne inspire you with the wish to contract new alliances? Will you not seek to support your power by new family connections? Alas! whatever those connections may be, will they compensate for those which were first knit by corresponding fitness, and which affection promised to perpetuate? My thoughts linger on the picture which fear--may I say love, traces in the future. Your ambitious project has excited my alarm; console me by the assurance of your moderation.

No. 3.--_December 1809._

TO THE EMPEROR.

My forebodings are realised! You have just pronounced the word which separates us for ever; the rest is nothing more than mere formality. Such, then, is the result, I shall not say of so many sacrifices (they were light to me, since they had you for their object), but of an unbounded friendship on my part and of the most solemn oaths on yours! It would be a consolation for me if the state which you allege as your motive were to repay my sacrifice by justifying your conduct! But that public consideration which you urge as the ground for deserting me is a mere pretence on your part. Your mistaken ambition has ever been, and will continue to be, the guide of all your actions, a guide which has led you to conquests and to the assumption of a crown, and is now driving you on to disasters and to the brink of a precipice.

You speak of the necessity of contracting an alliance, of giving an heir to your empire, of founding a dynasty! But with whom are you about to form an alliance? with the natural enemy of France, that artful house of Austria, whose detestation of our country has its rise in its innate feelings, in its system, in the laws of necessity. Do you believe that this hatred, of which she has given us such abundant proof, more particularly for the last fifty years, has not been transferred by her from the kingdom of France to the French empire? That the children of Maria Theresa, that skilful sovereign, who purchased from Madame de Pompadour the fatal treaty of 1756, which you never mention without shuddering; do you imagine, I repeat, that her posterity, when inheriting her power, has not also inherited her spirit? I am merely repeating what you have so often said to me; but at that time your ambition was satisfied with humbling a power which you now find it convenient to restore to its former rank. Believe me, as long as you shall exercise a sway over Europe, that power will be submissive to you; but beware of reverses of fortune.

As to the necessity of an heir, I must speak out, at the risk of appearing in the character of a mother prejudiced in favour of her son; ought I, in fact, to be silent when I consider the interests of one who is my only delight, and upon whom alone you had built all your hopes? That adoption of the 12th of January 1806 was then another political falsehood! Nevertheless the talents, the virtues of my Eugène are no illusion. How often have you not spoken in his praise? I may say more; you thought it right to reward him by the gift of a throne, and have repeatedly said that he was deserving of greater favours. Well, then! France has frequently re-echoed these praises; but you are now indifferent to the wishes of France.

I say nothing to you at present of the person who is destined to succeed me, and you do not expect that I should make any allusion to this subject. You might suspect the feelings which dictated my language; nevertheless, you can never doubt of the sincerity of my wishes for your happiness; may it at least afford me some consolation for my sufferings. Great indeed will be that happiness if it should ever bear any proportion to them!

No. 4.

PART OF A LETTER SAID TO BE DATED BRIENNE, 1814.

"... On revisiting this spot, where I passed my youthful days, and contrasting the peaceful condition I then enjoyed with the state of terror and agitation to which my mind is now a prey, often have I addressed myself in these words: 'I have sought death in numberless engagements; I can no longer dread its approach; I should now hail it as a boon ... nevertheless, I could still wish to see Josephine once more!'"

No. 5.

TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.

_Fontainebleau, 16th April 1814_.

_My dear Josephine_,--I wrote to you on the 8th instant (it was on a Friday). You have perhaps not received my letter; fighting was still going on; it is possible that it may have been stopped on its way. The communications must now be re-established. My determination is taken; I have no doubt of this note coming to your hands.

I do not repeat what I have already told you. I then complained of my situation; I now rejoice at it. My mind and attention are relieved from an enormous weight; my downfall is great, but it is at least said to be productive of good.

In my retreat I intend to substitute the pen for the sword. The history of my reign will gratify the cravings of curiosity. Hitherto, I have only been seen in profile; I will now show myself in full to the world. What facts have I not to disclose! how many men are incorrectly estimated! I have heaped favours upon a countless number of wretches; what have they latterly done for me?

They have all betrayed me, one and all, save and except the excellent Eugène, so worthy of you and of me. May he ever enjoy happiness under a sovereign fully competent to appreciate the feelings of nature and of honour!

Adieu, my dear Josephine; follow my example and be resigned. Never dismiss from your recollection one who has never forgotten, and never will forget you! Farewell, Josephine.

NAPOLEON.

_P.S._--I expect to hear from you when I shall have reached the island of Elba. I am far from being in good health.

FOOTNOTES

[94] _Memoires et Correspondance de l'Impératrice Joséphine_, par _J. B. J. Innocert Philadelphe Regnault Varin_. Paris, 1820, 8^o. This book is not in the British Museum Catalogue.

[95] _Josephine Impératrice et Reine_, Paris, 1899.

INDEX OF PERSONS

_Excluding_ NAPOLEON _and_ JOSEPHINE, _which occur on nearly every page_.

Abercromby, Sir Ralph, 49

Abrantès, Mdme. Junot, Duchesse d', 190, 199, 229, 230, 231, 242, 247, 254, 261, 265, 266, 278, 312

Achille. (_See_ Murat)

Agrippina, 312

Ainger, Canon, 298

Albufera, Duke of. (_See_ Suchet)

Aldobrandini, Prince, 149

Alexander the Great, 185

Alison, Sir A. (historian), 74, 119, 255, 264, 272, 286

Alvinzi, Marshal, 30, 34, 35, 218, 221, 318

Amand, Saint, _see_ S. Imbert de (author), 4, 172, 199, 212, 221, 223, 243, 245, 251, 256, 257, 267, 269, 302, 304, 307, 308, 312

Amelia (daughter of Eugène), 313

Angoulême, Duc d', 190, 196, 197

Anhalt, Prince of, 270

Arberg, Mdme. d', 176

Arch-Chancellor. (_See_ Cambacérès)

Argenteau, D', 9

Arnault (author), 212

Artois, Comte d', 196, 197

Aubenas, 172, 200, 201, 216, 225, 226, 228, 241, 257, 259, 260, 297, 299

Audenarde, D', 162, 302 ---- Madame Lalaing, Viscountess d', 302, 307

Augereau, Marshal, 24, 38, 57, 70, 90, 154, 196, 214, 254, 255, 267

Auguié, Mlle. Aglaé Louise, 231

Auguste, Princess of Bavaria (then wife of Eugène). (_See_ Beauharnais, Auguste)

Augustus, Emperor, 52, 228

Austria, Emperor of, 186, 197, 218, 223, 240 ---- Empress of, 186

Avrillon, Mlle, d', 82, 174, 225, 233, 256, 297, 299, 302, 305, 311, 312

Baccioli, Eliza (Bonaparte), 63, 122

Baden, Princess Wilhelmina of, 77, 236, 295 ---- Grand Duchess of. (_See_ Beauharnais, Stephanie) ---- Prince of, 242, 243, 245, 270

Bagration, General, 187, 188

Baird, General Sir David, 42, 49, 143

Bajazet, 272

Barante, De (Prefect of Geneva), 309, 310

Barbier (Napoleon's librarian), 307

Barras, Count de, 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 38, 199, 205, 207, 221, 247, 248

Bathurst, Benj., 154

Bausset (Prefect of Imperial Palace), 267, 269, 273

Bavaria, Elector, then King of, 77, 122, 144, 159, 161, 242, 243, 265, 266, 270, 299 ---- Electress, then Queen of, 70, 161, 243, 265 ---- Prince Royal of, 281

Bayard, Chevalier, 235, 243

Beauharnais, Eugène (Viceroy of Italy), 6, 21, 31, 44, 51, 58, 59, 60, 63, 66, 68, 78, 106, 121, 140, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 159, 162, 164, 170, 171, 172, 179, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 216, 224, 228, 229, 234, 242, 243, 244, 254, 256, 264, 265, 266, 276, 277, 282, 286, 287, 290, 297, 299, 305, 308, 310, 311, 312, 313, 318, 320, 321

Beauharnais, Auguste (wife of Eugène), 121, 186, 242, 264, 265, 266, 299 ---- Hortense, 6, 10, 11, 12, 31, 44, 50, 51, 52, 53, 59, 66, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 93, 111, 112, 113, 127, 137, 140, 144, 147, 149, 150, 151, 159, 160, 165, 172, 173, 175, 176, 180, 216, 226, 227, 228, 229, 231, 235, 237, 244, 247, 254, 259, 261, 262, 263, 268, 269, 288, 289, 296, 300, 308, 313, 314 ---- Stephanie, 78, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 89, 242, 243, 244, 254, 271, 295 ---- Fanny (daughter of Count), 243

Beaujon (financier), 302

Beaulieu, General, 6, 7, 10, 11, 38, 204, 205, 208, 209

Becker, General, 81

Bellegarde, General, 49, 195, 197

Bennigsen or Beningsen, General, 90, 188, 193, 254

Bentinck, General, 193

Bentley, 227

Berg, Napoleon Louis, Grand Duke of, 82, 137, 144, 147, 148, 150, 172, 173, 263, 308

Bernadotte, Marshal, 38, 41, 57, 80, 81, 83, 95, 106, 113, 174, 185, 188, 192, 193, 246, 254, 255, 257, 279, 291, 292 ---- Desirée (_née_ Clary), 38, 246, 313

Berthier, Marshal, 33, 57, 141, 214, 224, 229, 246, 251, 259, 265, 270, 280, 292, 302, 303

Bertrand, General, 259, 287, 288, 290

Bessières, Marshal, 57, 106, 128, 136, 139, 149, 165, 190, 260, 290, 303

Bignon, Baron (historian), 55, 75, 255, 258, 262

Billington, Mistress, 224

Bingham, Captain D. A., 204, 208, 256

Blake (Field-Marshal and Spanish General), 135, 136, 148, 181

Blucher, Field-Marshal, 83, 192, 193, 194, 195, 246, 250, 278, 291

Bonaparte, Joseph (King of Spain), 21, 38, 77, 128, 143, 150, 187, 191, 196, 199, 200, 201, 228, 237, 258, 265, 266, 273, 296, 305 ---- Louis, 50, 53, 59, 77, 172, 173, 214, 220, 228, 261, 263, 268, 269, 279, 300, 302, 308, 309, 314 ---- Jerome (King of Westphalia), 117 118, 160, 161, 242, 261, 270, 301 ---- Lucien, 228, 229, 230, 247, 253, 265, 266, 297, 314 ---- Caroline. (_See_ Murat, Madame) ---- Eliza. (_See_ Lucca, Princess of)

Bonaparte Family, The, 317. (Appendix 2)

Bonpland, Aimé, 226

Borghèse, Prince, 99, 115 ---- Pauline, 99, 303

Boubers, Countess de, 308

Bouillet (lexicographer), 74, 248

Bouillon, Duke of, 304

Bourbon, Duchesse de, 302

Bourlier, Bishop of Evreux, 311

Bourrienne, L. de, 30, 31, 61, 155, 226, 228, 229, 230, 237, 239

Boyer (French general, "Pierre le Cruel"), 196

Brizzi, 89

Brock, General, 187

Brotonne, L. de, 190, 238, 260, 310

Browning, Oscar, 47

Bruix, Admiral, 232

Brune, Marshal, 34, 41, 43, 49, 57, 118, 221

Brunswick, Duke of, 245

Brutus, 294

Bulow, General von, 192, 194, 196

Burdett-Coutts, Mr., 218

Burke, Edmund, 38

Buxhowden, General, 72, 90

Byron, Lord, 183, 314

"B----" (probably Bourrienne), 60, 175

Cabarrus, M. de, 248

Cadoudal, Georges (Vendéen chief and conspirator), 57

Cæsar, Julius, 232, 281, 286, 293

Calder, Sir Robert, 63

Cambacérès, Arch-Chancellor, 108, 114, 150, 188, 192, 236, 269, 271, 281, 284, 291, 292, 293, 296, 300, 302, 303, 310

Campan, Madame, 191, 242

Caracci, 209

Carnot (member of the Directory and "organiser of victory"), 200, 204, 205, 206, 208, 209, 210, 217, 223

Castaños, General, Duke of Baylen, 136

Cathcart, Lord, 188

Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza, 1, 270, 315.

Cesarotti, 199

Chabot, 219

Chabran, 219

Chambry, M., 58

Champagny, De (Duc de Cadore), 153, 262, 270, 271, 292, 298, 302

Championnet, General, 42

Charlemagne, 234, 296

Charles, Archduke, 19, 25, 34, 38, 42, 46, 66, 68, 143, 144, 145, 149, 242, 279, 280, 282, 284, 304

Charles, Prince. (_See_ Charles, Archduke)

Charles XII., 185. (_See_ Sweden, King of)

Chauvet, 7, 199, 200

Chimay, Prince de, 248

Clarke, General, 196, 210, 221, 291, 292

Clary, Desirée. (_See_ Bernadotte, Desirée).

Coburg, Prince of, 270

Cockburn, Admiral, 191

Colburn, 229

Colombier, Mlle. du, 224

Conches, Baron Feuillet de, 13

Constant, 229, 230, 232, 233, 236, 254, 265, 267, 268, 284, 292, 293, 294, 296

Corbineau, Constant (one of three brothers, known as les trois Horaces), 98, 99, 256

Corneille, 241

Cornelia, 312

Cornwallis, Lord, 41

Correggio, 205, 209

Corvisart, Baron, 52, 153, 233, 293, 305, 315

Courland, Duchess of, 270

Crassus, 185

Crétet, Count, 292

Cromwell, Oliver, 298

Czartoriski, Prince, 241

Dahlmann, General, 98, 256

Dantzic, Duke of. (_See_ Lefebvre, Marshal)

Darius, 185

Darmagnac, General, 98

Darmstadt, Prince of, 270

Daru, Count, 256, 257

David, King, 262

Davidowich, Baron (Austrian General), 27, 30

Davoust, Marshal, 44, 57, 69, 80, 81, 84, 89, 143, 187, 246, 247, 255, 282, 292, 293

Decazes, Duke, 269

Decrès, Vice-Admiral, Minister of Marine, 225, 254, 256

Delille, Abbé, 190

Desaix, General, 14, 41, 42, 44, 46, 290

Despinois, General, 215

Dessalines ("James I."), of Hayti, 60

Didot, 172

Dietrich, Mdme. de, 240

Don Carlos, Infant, 126

Ducrest, Madame, 311, 317, 318

Duesberg (botanist), 225

Dumas, Matthieu, Count (General and historian), 255, 257, 258

Duphot, General, 38

Dupont, General, 65, 69, 101, 128, 267

Dupuis, 104, 260

Dupuy, 219

Durand, Madame, 301

Duroc, Marshal, 191, 228, 230, 252, 270, 275, 291

Edward, the Black Prince, 222

Elchingen, Duke of. (_See_ Ney, Marshal)

"Eleanore," 252

Enghien, Duc d', 57, 236, 276

England, King George II. of, 43 ---- King George III. of, 43, 46, 64, 70, 218, 223, 238

Estève (General Treasurer of the Crown), 161

Eugène, Prince of Savoy, 286

Eugénie, Empress, 256 ---- Hortense, Princess, 277

Evreux, Count d', 302

Faipoult, Citizen, 204

Ferdinand, Archduke, 143, 147, 279 ---- Prince of Asturias (afterwards Ferdinand VII.), 118, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 194, 195, 196, 266, 268, 269

Fesch, Cardinal, 302

Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, 41

Fontanès, Marquis de, 302

Fouché (de Nantes, Duke of Otranto), 236, 259, 261, 262, 274, 275, 276, 277, 279, 292, 294, 295, 297, 302, 306

Fox, C. J., 77

Foy, General, 191, 196

Francis II., Emperor of Austria (and Germany), 71, 77, 128, 291, 310, 311

Franck, Doctor, 289

Frederick the Great, 67, 249, 283, 286

Frederick I. (Duke, Elector, and King of Wurtemberg), 238

Frederick William II., 38. (_See_ Prussia, King of)

Frederick William III., 38. (_See_ Prussia, King of)

Friand, General, 185

Fulton, Robert, 235

Gaudin, Duke of Gaeta, 292

Genlis, Mdme. de, 318

George II. (_See_ England, King of)

George III. (_See_ England, King of)

Georges. (_See_ Cadoudal)

Germany, Emperor of. (_See_ Austria, Emperor of)

Gillray, James, 248

Giraudin, Stanislaus, 261

Godoy, Don Manuel, Prince of the Peace, 77, 123, 125

Goethe, J. W. Von, 177, 270

Gohier, Louis (member of the Directory), 43

Graham, Colonel, 35, 192, 214, 215

Gros, Baron (artist), 220, 221

Guesclin, Bertrand du, 235

Hamilton, Lady, 249

Harpe, General La. (_See_ Laharpe, General)

Harville, M. d', 70

Hatzfeld, Princess d', 83, 249

Haugwitz, Count von, 71

Hautpoult, General, 255

Haydn, Joseph, 74, 90

Heath, Baron, 60

Hédouville, General, 42, 92

Henri IV., 296

Hiller, General, 282, 284

Hoche, General Lazare, 34, 38, 209, 218

Hofer, Andreas, 146

Hohenlohe, Prince, 81

Hohenzollern-Hechingen, Prince of, 277

Holland, King of. (_See_ Bonaparte, Louis) ---- Queen of. (_See_ Beauharnais, Hortense)

Homer, 199

Hood, Robin, 39

Humbert, General, 41

Humboldt, Baron von, 226

Hume, Martin, 267

Hutchinson, General, 49

Jacquin, Von (Austrian botanist), 225

Jahn, F. L. (German patriot), 278

Jeanne of France (Queen of Navarre), 304

Jellachich, General, 70, 145

Joan of Arc, 294

John, Archduke, 144, 147, 287, 290, 291 ---- King of France, 222

Johnson, Dr., vi., 208

Jomini, Baron (Swiss strategist), 192, 194, 204, 206, 211, 213, 214, 218

Joseph. (_See_ Bonaparte, Joseph)

Josephine Maximilienne Auguste, 106

Joubert, General, 34, 35, 42, 43, 219, 220

Jouberthon, Madame (wife of Lucien), 266

Jourdan, Marshal, 11, 20, 25,42, 57, 191, 217

Julian, Emperor, 185

Julien, Mlle., 153

Jung, Thomas (or Iung), 228, 230, 251

Junot (Duc d'Abrantès), 9, 10, 42, 118, 128, 200, 212, 230, 231, 241, 261

Kalkreuth, Count (Russian Field-Marshal), 79

Kaunitz, Prince, 71

Keith, Lord, 46

Kellerman, Marshal (Duke of Valmy), 19, 57, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 214, 217

Kellermann, General, 46

Kilmaine, General, 19, 27, 215, 220

King. (_See_ Bonaparte, Joseph), 136

Kipling, R., 129

Kléber, General, 19, 20, 42, 43, 46, 290

Klein, General, 20

Kleist, 192

Kourakin, Alexander, 138, 274

Kray, Baron von (Austrian General), 42, 43, 44, 46

Kutusoff, General (Prince of Smolensk), 188, 189

Labédoyère, Madame, 231

La Bruyère, 20

Lacépède, Count de, 189, 296

La Fontaine, 316

Lagrange (mathematician), 190

La Grassini, 223, 224, 228

Laharpe, General, 10, 200, 210

Lannes, Marshal (Duke of Montebello), 9, 45, 46, 57, 68, 69, 78, 80, 90, 136, 143, 145, 147, 219, 275, 289, 290, 291

Lanusse, General François, 219

Larévellière-Lépeaux (Member of the Directory), 38, 43, 217

Larochefoucauld, Mdme. de, 234, 250

La Romana (Spanish General), 136, 138

Lasalle, General, 149, 291

Las Cases, Count de, 117, 207, 224, 229, 232, 259

Latouche-Tréville, Admiral, 235

Latour, Von, Count (Austrian General), 29

Laudon (Austrian General), 65

Lauriston, General, 147, 192, 193, 229, 256, 270

Lavalette, Count de, 220, 221, 276, 299 ---- Madame, 226, 227, 231

Lebrun (statesman, Duke of Placentia), 71, 302 ---- (the poet), 243

Leclerc, General, 50

Lecombe, General, 43

Lefebvre-Desnouettes, General, 139, 275

Lefebvre, Marshal, 57, 111, 112, 135, 145

Lejeune, Baron, 240, 252, 254, 257, 274, 275, 281, 282, 283, 303, 304

Lemarois, General, 67, 239, 256

"Leon," 252

Lestocq, General, 255

Letourneur (Member of the Directory), 198, 201

Leyen, Amélie de la, 305 ---- Princess de la, 171, 308

Liverpool, Lord, 186

Livia (wife of Augustus), 228

Louis, Archduke, 143

Louis XI., 52

Louis XII., 296

Louis XV., 267

Louis XVI., 230

Louis XVIII. (_See_ Angoulême, Duc d')

Lucca, Eliza Bonaparte, Princess of, 265

Lynedoch, Lord. (_See_ Graham, Col.)

L----, Mdme. (_See_ Larochefoucauld, Mdme. de)

Macdonald, Marshal, 41, 42, 145, 147, 150, 192, 196, 287, 292

Mack, General, 41, 64, 66, 239, 246

Macpherson, James, 199

Madison, President, 143, 190

Maelzel, Leonard (German mechanic), 292

Mahmoud IV., 128, 136

Mahomet, 52

Makau, Madame de, 175, 176, 307, 309

Malet, General, 188, 189

"Maman" (Madame Mère, mother of Napoleon), 45, 50, 224, 227

Marbot, Baron, 187, 267, 274, 275, 283, 284, 288, 290, 291

Marchesi (artiste), 224

Marescalchi, 303

Marest, M. de, 213

Maret (Duc de Bassano), 57, 67, 187, 189, 270, 271, 292, 302, 304

Marie Antoinette, 230, 249

Marie Louise, 157, 164, 165, 167, 172, 174, 175, 176, 177, 197, 271, 296, 298, 301, 302, 304, 306, 310, 312, 314, 315

Marie Thérèse, 284, 285, 320

Marie Victoire, Infanta, 267

Marmont, Marshal, 69, 150, 187, 196, 197, 198, 207, 210, 211, 222, 248, 292, 315

Masaniello, 52

Massena, Marshal (Duke of Rivoli), 24, 28, 34, 35, 38, 42, 43, 44, 46, 57, 66, 68, 69, 71, 77, 144, 174, 180, 200, 205, 213, 215, 220, 221, 223, 238, 282, 290, 292

Masson, M. Frédéric, 61, 224, 239, 242, 247, 250, 252, 296, 297, 303, 305, 307, 309, 312, 313, 317, 318

Maximilian, Archduke, 285

Meerfeldt or Meerveldt, Count von, 69, 145

Melas, General, 43, 46, 224

Melito, Count Miot de, 246

Melville, Lord, 277

Ménage, Gilles (scholar), 213

Menard, 219

Méneval, Baron de, 229, 232, 237, 239, 244, 246, 254, 255, 264, 283, 289, 295, 296, 297

Menou, General Baron de, 49

Merlin (member of the Directory), 43

Metternich, Prince, 153, 275 ---- Madame de, 300

Michael Angelo, 205

Michaud, L. G., 162, 231, 264, 277

Michelet, Jules (historian), 212

Michot (actor), 229

Miollis, Adjutant-General, 24

Modena, Duke of, 11

Moltke, Von, 271

Moncey, Marshal, 57

Monclas, 26

Monnier, General J. C., 43

Montaigne, Michel de, 315

Montebello, Duke of. (_See_ Lannes, Marshal)

Montebello, Duchess of (La Maréchale Lannes), 145, 147, 289

Montesquiou, Madame de, 175

Montgaillard, l'Abbé de (historian), 38, 42, 43, 52, 66, 90, 128, 137, 144, 162, 185, 191, 193, 286

Montholon, Count de, 255

Moore, Sir John, 143, 273, 275, 277

Morbach, Colonel, 318

Moreau, General, 14, 19, 20, 25, 29, 30, 38, 43, 44, 46, 57, 188, 192, 205, 217, 223, 279

Mortier, Marshal, 57, 69, 84, 153, 179, 188, 196, 224

Moscati, 36, 37

Moulin, General (member of the Directory), 43

Mourad Bey, 41, 42

Moustache, 44, 114, 115, 140

Müller (Swiss historian), 270

Murat, King of Naples, 9, 16, 22, 23, 45, 46, 57, 64, 66, 69, 79, 81, 83, 86, 97. 99, 125, 127, 128, 148, 188, 189, 190, 194, 195, 211, 212, 219, 224, 235, 240, 254, 265, 269, 270, 276, 287, 298, 302, 303 ---- Madame Caroline, Queen of Naples, 99, 158, 190, 235, 252, 254, 261, 290, 298

Mustapha IV., 112

"M----," 45. (See "Maman")

Napier, Sir William, 123, 141, 275, 277, 278

Naples, King of. (_See_ Bonaparte, Joseph)

Napoleon Charles Bonaparte (eldest son of Hortense), 53, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84. 89, 93, 110, 137, 228, 247

Napoleon Louis (second son of Hortense). (_See_ Berg, Grand Duke of)

Napoleons ("the two"), sons of Hortense and Louis, 68, 79, 80, 84, 86, 90, 151, 174

Napoleon III. (Charles Louis Napoleon, third son of Hortense), 127, 238, 269, 303, 307

Nassau, Prince of, 270

Necker, M., 224

Nelson, Lord, 41, 49

Nero, Emperor, 236

Ney, Marshal (Prince of the Moskowa), 20, 52, 53, 57, 64, 65, 69, 83, 88, 90, 173, 187, 188, 189, 192, 231, 239, 255 ----, Madame, 231, 304

Nicolas, Sir Harris (historian), 74

O'Donnell (Spanish General), 181

O'Meara, Dr., 272

Oscar, Prince (son of Bernadotte), 106

Ossian, 4, 199

Oudet, General, 279

Oudinot, Marshal, Duke of Reggio, 143, 150, 187, 189, 192, 196, 270, 292

Ouvrard (financier), 248

Paër, Ferdinando (musical composer), 89, 91, 242

Paget, Lord, 293

Palafox y Melzi, Duke of Saragossa, 136

Palatine, The Archduke (Joseph-Antoine of Hungary), 148

Palmerston, Lord, 272

Paoli, General de, 209

Parma, Grand Duke of, 11, 204

Pasquier, E. D., Duke, 162, 253, 268, 270, 276, 281

Paterson, Miss (repudiated wife of Jerome Bonaparte), 301

Paul, Princess, 70

Paul I. (_See_ Russia, Czar of)

Pauline. (_See_ Borghèse, Princess)

Pavon, 226

Pelet, General and Baron, 279, 280, 282, 283, 284, 290

Perceval, Spencer (British Premier), 185

Perignon, Marshal, 57

Périgord, Edmond de, 270

Permon, Madame (mother of Madame D'Abrantès), 230

Philip Augustus, King of France, 296

Philippon, General, 185

Pichegru, General, 57

Pignatelli, Prince of Strongoli, and Minister of Ferdinand, King of Naples, 21

Pijon, General, 219

Pitt, William, 77

Pius VI., Pope, 14, 37, 41, 43, 195, 206, 210, 211, 218, 222

Pius VII., Pope, 49, 52, 60, 148, 186, 189, 190, 225, 237, 300, 301

Pompadour, Madame de, 302, 320

Poniatowski, Prince, and Marshal of France, 193

Portugal, Prince Regent of, 125 ---- Queen of, 125

Pradt, Abbé de, 277

Primate, The Prince, 270

Prince Regent, 226. (_See_ George IV.)

Princess, 121. (_See_ Beauharnais, Auguste)

Provera (Austrian General), 34, 35

Prussia, Frederick William II., King of, 38 ---- Frederick William III., King of, 38, 64, 67, 78, 79, 114, 116, 143, 191, 197, 236, 240, 245, 249, 270, 271, 315 ---- Louise, Queen of, 79, 116, 117, 143, 245, 248, 249 ---- Prince Louis of, 78 ---- Prince William of, 270

P----, Madame de, 106

Quesdonowich (Austrian General), 24

Racine, 241

Rampon, Colonel, 9, 219

Raphael, 209

Rapp, Count, 194, 226, 227, 285, 294, 295

Raynouard (author), 241

Redcliffe, Stratford de, 186

Regnauld, Count (State Secretary of the Imperial Court), 296

Rémusat, Madame de, 222, 237, 239, 298, 301, 307, 308, 310, 311

Renard, Madame Château, 6, 8, 10

Renaudin, Madame de, 216

Rewbell (member of the Directory), 38

Reynier, General, 77, 193, 292

Rheims, Mayoress of, 233

Richard Coeur de Lion, 284

Richmond, Madame, 99

Rivoli, Duc de, 35. (_See_ Massena)

Rochefoucauld. (_See_ Larochefoucauld, Mdme. de)

Roger-Ducos (member of the Directory), 43

Rollo the Sea King, 304

Rome, King of (Napoleon II.), "l'Aiglon," 179, 268, 311, 313

Rosebery, Lord, 234, 276, 315

Rose, J. H., 214, 215

Rostopchin, Count and General, 188

Ruiz, 226

Russia, Alexander I., Emperor of, 67, 71, 115, 116, 131, 132, 143, 179, 185, 188, 190, 191, 197, 241, 243, 249, 264, 269, 270, 271, 272, 303 ---- Catherine II., Czarina of, 30 ---- Paul I., Czar of, 49

Sacken, General, 195, 196

Saint Amand, Imbert de, 4, 172, 199, 212, 221, 223, 243, 245, 251, 256, 257, 267, 269, 302, 304, 307, 308, 312

Saint Cyr, Gouvion, Marquis and Marshal, 20, 43, 187, 188, 193

Saint-Hilaire, General, 219

Saliceti, C., 213

Sardinia, King of, 205

Sarrazin, General, 133

Sauret, General, 24, 213, 215

Savary (Duc de Rovigo), 99, 108, 125, 158, 165, 239, 241, 246, 251, 258, 271, 272, 274, 276, 277, 292, 294, 297

Saxe-Hildburghausen, Princess of, 238

Saxony, Elector, then King of, 89, 117, 270

Saxe-Weimar, Prince of, 270, 271 ---- Princess of, 270

Schérer, General (French), 42, 198

Schwartzenberg, Marshal, 192, 193, 194, 300, 303, 308

Scott, Sir Walter, 208, 222, 277

Sebastiani, General, 272

Ségur, General Count, 241

Selim III., 112

Serbelloni, M., 216

Serent, Madame de, 70

Serrurier, Marshal, 25, 57, 215

Sevigné, Madame de, 260

Shakespeare, 249

Sièyes, Abbé and Count (member of the Directory), 42

Smith, Sir Sydney, 60

Soult, Marshal, Duke of Dalmatia, 57, 65, 79, 83, 113, 114, 136, 139, 143, 145, 150, 151, 164, 179, 191, 192, 193, 194, 196, 197, 229, 270, 275, 278, 292

Spain, Charles II. of, and his Queen, 267 ---- Charles IV., King of, 112, 118, 123, 125, 126, 127, 228 ---- Queen of (mother of Ferdinand VII.), 118, 126, 127, 268 ---- Queen of (wife of Joseph), 313

Stabs, 294

Stadion, Count von (Austrian diplomatist), 278

Staël, Madame de, Holstein, 310

Stein, Baron Von, 278

Stephanie. (See Beauharnais)

Stevenson, R. L., 298

Stuart, Marie, 249

Suchet, Marshal (Duke of Albufera), 148, 170, 180, 181, 185, 186, 191, 192, 193

Sullivan, Sir A., 249

Sussi, 6

Suwarrow, Marshal, 42, 43

Sweden, Charles XII., King of, 185 ---- Charles XIII., King of, 147 ---- Gustavus Adolphus IV., King of, 143, 243

Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince, 38, 52, 67, 68, 79, 81, 121, 197, 225, 233, 236, 237, 238, 240, 242, 245, 246, 260, 268, 270, 271, 272, 275, 276, 277, 279, 300, 302, 303, 314

Tallien, "Thermidorian," 7, 237, 247, 254 ---- Madame (Princesse de Chimay), 6, 7, 8, 15, 82, 198, 247, 248

Talma, 270

Tamerlane, 272

Tascher, Louis, 98, 114, 137, 171, 256, 305 ---- Henri, 305

Tasso, 245

Tennant, Charles, 13, 45

Thiard, M. de, 106, 243, 260

Thibaut, M., 225

Thiers, M. (statesman), 265, 273, 275, 296, 302

Tolly, Barclay de, 187, 188

Tolstoi, Count, 274

Tone, Wolfe, 41

Tour and Taxis, Princess of, 270, 278

Toussaint-Louverture, 49, 50, 53

Treilhard, Count (member of the Directory), 43

Trémoille, Princess de la, 309, 310

Trèves, Elector of, 65

Tschitchagow, Admiral, 188

Turenne, M. de, 116 ---- Marshal, 286

Tuscany, Grand Duke of, 216

T----, Madame, 24. (Probably Madame Tallien)

T----, Madame de la, 175. (_See_ Trémoille)

T----, 60. (Probably Talleyrand)

T----, 96. (Probably Tallien)

T----, de, 106. (_See_ Thiard, M. de)

T----, 237. (_See_ Tallien)

Valerian, Emperor, 185

Vandamme, General, 86, 92, 192

Van Dyck, 209

Varin, Regnault, 317

Vaubois, General, 16, 27, 30, 31, 46, 220

Verhuell, Admiral, 269

Veronese, Paul, 209

Victoire, Marie, 267. (_See_ Marie)

Victor, Marshal, 35, 136, 143, 150, 219

Villars, Marshal, 43

Villeneuve, Admiral, 63

Vincent, General, 270

Virgil, 21, 212

Walewski, Marie, 250, 252, 253, 293

Washington, George, 43, 223

Wattier, General, 176

Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 128, 145, 150, 174, 176, 180, 185, 186, 187, 188, 192, 193, 196, 197, 278, 290, 291, 292

Westphalia, King of. (_See_ Bonaparte, Jerome)

Wieland, C. M., 270

Wilhelmina, Princess, 236. (_See_ Baden, Princess of)

William I., Emperor of Germany, 245, 315

Windham, William (British Secretary at War), 213

Wittgenstein, General and Count, 187, 188, 192

Woodward (and Cates), 74

Wrede, Marshal (Bavarian Marshal), 193

Wurmser, Marshal, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 35, 38, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 221, 222, 224

Wurtemberg, Duke of, 64, 68, 77 ---- Electress of, 64, 70, 238 ---- King of, 242, 270, 295 ---- Prince Royal of, 196

Würzburg, Grand Duke of, 78, 244

Xenophon, 205

Xerxes, 281

York, Duke of, 43 ---- General von, 189, 195

Zingarelli, N. (musician), 242

THE END

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