Eugénie’s Personality
After the wedding a glowing account of the ceremony was published in the
_Moniteur_, which concluded as follows:
“The interest displayed by the people in their new sovereign was
prompted by more than idle curiosity. The universal admiration she
excited was genuine. Those noble features, enhanced by their
expression of sweetness and modesty, irresistibly attracted the
working classes, who felt that the Empress regarded them with kindness
and good-will.”
This assertion was not groundless, for although public opinion, as we
have seen, had been against the Emperor’s choice, and although among the
cheering throngs that greeted the sovereigns there was much secret
dissatisfaction, the spell of Eugénie’s beauty and charm of manner was
so potent that even her enemies were silenced by it. The lovely face
with its regular delicate features suggests in contour the portraits of
Mary Stuart. Her complexion was dazzling and her brown hair full of
golden gleams. Under the heavy lashes and delicately pencilled eyebrows,
her blue eyes, so dark as almost to seem black, were full of fire and
softness, reflecting the tender heart and dauntless soul within. The
Andalusians are famous for the beauty of their hands and feet, and
Eugénie’s did not belie her origin. The lines of her figure and the
curves of her neck were as perfect as those of an antique statue; in
short, hers was a flawless exterior in which no discord marred the
complete harmony of the picture.
Thus elevated to a throne, Eugénie burned with desire to make herself
beloved by the people, to excite the admiration of those about her, and
silence all hints as to her birth and checkered past. Controlling her
naturally impulsive and passionate nature when necessary, concealing her
pride and ambition under a modest, almost humble air, she left nothing
undone to add to her popularity and strengthen her position. Two
qualities invaluable to a sovereign she naturally possessed—magnanimity
and an open hand. Before the wedding the official journals had brought
many proofs of her kindness of heart to the knowledge of the public—such
as, that the Empress, having beheld an accident to a poor workman who
fell from a scaffold, sprang from her coach to hasten to the aid of the
unfortunate man and had him carried to a hospital; and on another
occasion, seeing a poor abandoned child wandering in the street, the
Emperor’s bride had taken it into her own carriage and promised to
provide for its future. Still another and striking instance of this was
her refusal to accept a diamond necklace valued at six hundred thousand
francs which the Municipal Council of Paris had intended to present to
her. She wrote a most gracious letter conveying her thanks to the
Council for their loyal intention, but declaring she could not consent
that Paris should make so great a sacrifice in her behalf, or that the
Emperor’s wedding should lay any more burdens on the country; adding
that her sole desire was to share with the Emperor the affections of the
people, and expressing a wish that the six hundred thousand francs might
be devoted to charity. This could not fail to create a good impression;
and after the wedding many other examples of the same kind occurred. She
gave freely to all who approached her with petitions, conscious only
that help was needed; and many kind and consoling words accompanied the
large sums she privately bestowed. Indeed, in 1863 she went so far as to
insure her life in favor of the poor that they might not suffer by her
death; and she laid the foundations of many noble works of charity that
will cause her name to be honored long after she herself is forgotten.
Besides her generosity Eugénie possessed a thousand ways of attracting
and winning people to her. The Emperor’s love had raised her to the
throne; it depended solely on herself and her tact to maintain her
position on it. With her inborn dignity, her beauty, and her queenly
grace, she was as well equipped by nature for the part as any royal
princess; indeed many a sovereign born might well have envied her, as,
sparkling with jewels, she stood beneath the canopy of the throne to
receive the foreign diplomats and nobles of the Empire. When she
appeared on horseback beside the Emperor at grand reviews, or rode
through the city in the imperial coach, bowing in response to the shouts
of the dazzled crowds, nothing could have been more beautiful. It was
plain to all that the Empress well knew how to play her part.
Seldom have two persons better suited to one another than Napoleon and
Eugénie, or more completely in accord, been united. In all the pomp and
power of her sovereignty she never forgot that it was to him she owed it
all; and in proportion as the sense of her own importance rose, her love
and admiration for him increased also. In the eyes of the world he had
taken a step downward in his choice of a bride; it was now her task to
prove that “the adventuress” could be as useful to the dynasty as a
consort born in the purple.
“I would rather be spoken ill of than not be spoken of at all!” Louis
Napoleon had exclaimed when his first attempts to bring about a
political revolution had only excited pity and derision. Even at that
time he had studied the French people well, and knew their weak spot was
vanity. To flatter the national vanity therefore became one of his
principal agencies for maintaining his power; and while in private life
he loved an almost plebeian simplicity, in public no effect was too
striking or too spectacular to keep up his imperial state.
No one knew better than Eugénie how to arrange these brilliant effects.
Ever since the days when she was the companion of toreadors and the
heroine of the Corso, love of display and notoriety had been her ruling
passion. She may not have been conscious of this in the beginning, but
what was at first a habit became by degrees a necessity; and just as the
actress thirsts for applause, so Eugénie craved the admiration and
approval of the populace. As the actress eagerly searches the newspaper
columns after each appearance for the notices of her performance, so
Eugénie, after every public entertainment or review or excursion,
devoured the descriptions published of her costumes and appearance,
revelling in the praises lavished on her person, and spurred on thereby
to fresh efforts to win public favor. She studied the question of her
_toilettes_ as if it were a religion and she its high priestess. Most of
the fashions of that brilliant period were set by her, and the lists of
guests invited to court entertainments were subjected to her personal
supervision. Even ladies of high rank were sometimes refused admission
to the Tuileries should their costumes not suit Her Majesty.
Brought up among the Spanish aristocracy, famous for elegance and
stateliness of manner, and yet perfectly familiar with the lighter
customs of French society, Eugénie succeeded in imparting to her court a
tone of delicacy as well as luxury and magnificence that made it famous,
not only throughout France, but over half the world. Before she had been
a month on the throne, a thousand tales were circulated of her beauty,
wit, and generosity. The most enthusiastic accounts were printed of all
she said and did; and the attention of the public was so occupied with
her that it almost forgot to criticise the politics of the Emperor.
Wherever the imperial pair appeared they were surrounded by eager
throngs; and although here and there some expressions of disapproval
might be heard, the Parisians were dazzled by a magnificence of display
such as no other city of Europe could equal, and which conjured up
memories of a glorious past that filled their hearts with pride.