FROM LONDON TO HAM VIÂ BOULOGNE
Between 1839 and 1848 Prince Louis Napoleon (allowing for the six years
which he spent at Ham) resided mostly, if not entirely, in London. In
the first part of those years--on his arrival here from Switzerland,
which he had left under pressure of Louis Philippe’s Government--he
lodged at Fenton’s Hotel, St. James’s Street,[25] soon removing to
Carlton Terrace, Pall Mall. In 1846, upon his escape from Ham and his
return to London (May 27), he stayed for a while at the Brunswick Hotel,
Jermyn Street; then changed his quarters to King Street, St. James’s,
where he was living when he acted as a special constable during the
Chartist riots.[26] From King Street he wrote (February 15, 1847) to a
friend, M. Vieillard:
For the last fortnight I have been installed in a new house, and
for the first time in seven years I enjoy the pleasure of being at
home. I have assembled here all my books, my albums, and family
portraits--in a word, all the precious objects which have escaped
shipwreck. The portrait of the Emperor, by Paul Delaroche, is very
fine. This generous present has given me great pleasure, and forms
the most beautiful ornament of my salon.
An intimate friend of the Prince (the pseudonymous “Baron d’Ambès”)
asserts that Louis Napoleon “left Lord Cardigan’s house to occupy Lord
Ripon’s, Carlton Gardens. He did not lose by the change.”[27] His
drawing-rooms were “full of glorious souvenirs and sacred relics. There
were portraits of the Emperor, the Empress, and Queen Hortense; the ring
of the ‘crowning’; the ring worn by Napoleon I. at his marriage with
Joséphine; the tricolour cashmere scarf which he wore at the Battle of
the Pyramids; the portraits of all the members of the imperial family;
the famous talisman of Charlemagne, found in his tomb at
Aix-la-Chapelle, and sent to Napoleon by the cathedral clergy in 1804; a
medallion with two portraits, painted by Isabey; and other marvels,
doubly dear to him who religiously preserves them.”
The Prince drove or rode every day. His cabriolet, driven by himself,
soon became familiar in the West End; in the Ladies’ Mile it was much
remarked, for the Prince soon made a number of friends, well-known men
and pretty élégantes, some of whom were to be seen at Lady
Blessington’s. “In London he visited only important personages. He was
an assiduous frequenter of the libraries, and a good customer of the
booksellers. He now (1840) published his volume, ‘Les Idées
Napoléoniennes,’ a résumé of that programme of democratic empire which
he always upheld.”
About this time De Persigny appeared among the authors. His “book” was a
very small one, but it was read in Paris by everybody, for it was a
cleverly-written account of a “visit to Prince Louis” (it was so
entitled). It was published anonymously, but people soon gave a name to
it. De Persigny, it seems, had read Vertot’s “Révolutions Romaines” (a
favourite book of Napoleon I.), and discovered a parallel between Prince
Louis, nephew of Napoleon, and Octavius, grandnephew of Julius Cæsar. De
Persigny’s work touched the Prince, whose hopes were revived by its
emotional passages.
Louis Napoleon’s attempts--first at Strasburg in 1836, and next at
Boulogne in 1840--to arouse France to a sense of his merits were signal
failures, so farcical as to cover him with ridicule in a country where
that defect is popularly supposed to “kill.” He was a laughing-stock,
yet he survived both contempt and obloquy, to say nothing of six years’
imprisonment. In the Strasburg plot the Prince was assisted by a lady
(of the same age as himself) who called herself Mrs. Gordon, and who was
born Bruault-Eléonore Bruault. She had been a singer, and had received
lessons in Paris from Rossini. Some time in the year 1836, beautiful and
poor, she was in London, where she came in contact with De Persigny, who
probably introduced her to the Prince. After the fiasco at Strasburg she
was quick enough to burn all compromising documents before the police
could seize them. Moreover, she contrived to get De Persigny, disguised
as a cook, out of the town. He reached London safely, and narrated the
story of the “attempt” in a pamphlet published in London and in Paris.
Fleury joined De Persigny in London; they shared lodgings, belonged to
the same club, and were presently joined by the Marquis de Gricourt.[28]
For his attempt to make the troops at Strasburg mutiny in his favour
Louis Napoleon was deported to America, where he arrived on March 30,
1837, after a long voyage, which he fully described in letters to his
mother. At New York, on the evening of his arrival, the Prince dined
with two American Generals, his brothers-in-law, and others, and later
met his cousins, Achille and Lucien Murat and Pierre Bonaparte. Achille
Murat was employed at the post-office; Lucien was married to a
school-mistress; Prince Pierre was leading a gay life. The illness of
Prince Louis’ mother brought him back from the United States. He reached
London on July 10, 1837, and, by means of a passport borrowed from a Mr.
Robinson, got to Arenenberg early in August, after frequently evading
the Continental police. Queen Hortense died on October 5, consoled in
her last moments by her son’s presence and Dr. Conneau’s promise that he
would never leave him.[29]
One night in the first week of August, 1840, the walls of
Boulogne-sur-Mer were placarded with proclamations signed “Napoleon.”
These “posters,” which had been printed in London, were headed
respectively, “To the French People,” “To the Army,” and “To the
Inhabitants of the Department of the Pas de Calais” (Boulogne, of
course, included). The “proclamations,” couched in very lofty terms,
aroused no enthusiasm, but much merriment; they were really as amusing
as anything in “Charivari.” “Soldats, aux armes! Vive la France!”--so
ended the appeal to the troops.
Then, on the same wall, the Boulogne burgesses stared their hardest at a
“Decree” which they read without a thrill. “Prince Napoleon, in the name
of the French people, decrees as follows: The Dynasty of the
Bourbons-d’Orléans has ceased to reign” (excusez du peu!) “The French
people has entered into its rights. The troops are relieved from their
oath of fidelity;” with much more similar rhodomontade. Without a
tremor--doubtless with many a wink--Boulogne read that M. Thiers was
appointed President of the Provisional Government, and that all who
showed energetically their sympathy for “the national cause” would be
recompensed “in a striking manner” in the name of the country! One would
like to have seen the faces of the conspirators when the “proofs” of
these grandiloquent pronunciamientos were taken to Carlton Terrace. How
unenterprising of the _Times_, the _Herald_, and the _Post_ not to have
obtained early copies! Nor could those journals have suspected that the
Prince between times--between gallivanting at Lady Blessington’s, riding
one of his two saddle-horses (there were three others) in the Row, and
“beating the town”--the aspiring, talented, and pertinacious Nephew of
the Uncle, had devoted himself to the onerous task of “developing his
programme”--
1. Alliance of the Empire and the Democracy.
2. Free Trade.
3. The Principle of Nationalities.
All admirable ideas, and all to be carried out one day, but not by
entreating Strasburg troops to mutiny, or by “landings” at
Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Boulogne expedition was planned at Carlton Terrace in June, 1840. A
steamer, the _Edinburgh Castle_, was purchased for the Prince,
ostensibly for the use of “some gentlemen who wanted to cruise on the
Scottish coast” (the name of the good ship seemed not altogether
inappropriate). Guns were bought at Birmingham. Uniforms were brought
over from the “Temple,” in Paris--all but the buttons; these were bought
in London, and sewn on by Dr. Conneau! “Servants” were imported from
France; they had all served in the army.
Between August 3 and August 5 the _Edinburgh Castle_ made four trips to
Boulogne. On the night of the 5th the vessel was anchored off Wimereux.
All told, the imperial force numbered sixty-two, including thirty
ex-soldiers (the “servants”). Ammunition, money, and horses were all
taken safely across the Channel. And there was a live Eagle, symbolizing
the return of “the other.” Money had been offered to the douaniers, who
scorned the proffered bribes--a bad omen. The audacious conspirators
went through Boulogne, shouting “Vive l’Empereur!” They tried to get the
42nd Line Regiment to “rise,” but the honest fellows turned deaf ears
to the charmers. A detachment of that regiment attacked the
conspirators. The Prince wanted to die at the foot of the Column of the
Grande Armée, after “running-up” the imperial flag, but he was dragged
away. Pursued by a handful of the National Guard, the conspirators took
to their heels and made for the beach. The Prince and some of his
friends jumped into the sea, hoping to regain “the lugger.” They were
“shot down like ducks.” One was fatally wounded, another was drowned,
others were badly hit. It was said that a bullet grazed the Prince
“without hurting him.” Louis Napoleon, De Persigny, Dr. Conneau, and
Mésonan were picked up by gendarmes, dragged into a boat, and taken to
prison.
These things happened on August 6. On the 7th, in the afternoon, the
_Moniteur_ published a statement, signed by the War Minister, Cubières,
that the conspirators had been “driven into the waves, which vomited
them up again. Louis Napoleon and all his adherents have been captured,
killed, or drowned.” The Prince, on the 9th, was taken from the château
at Boulogne to the fortress of Ham. On the 12th he arrived in Paris in a
carriage, escorted by departmental gendarmes and men of the Municipal
Guard. He was kept, until his trial, in the strong-room of the
Conciergerie, three gaolers never leaving him. Even his valet, Charles
Thélin, was not allowed to see his forlorn, but not dejected, master.
While the Prince was under lock and key his ever-faithful valet wrote to
a friend in London the subjoined letter (cited by Baron d’Ambès in his
very remarkable volumes):
PARIS, À LA CONCIERGERIE, _August 21, 1840_.
MY DEAR FRITZ,
You will have sent to Mr. Farquhar the letter which the Prince left
with you on his departure from London [for Boulogne]. It contains
his instructions to sell everything except the toilette articles of
His Highness and of those persons who left them [at the Prince’s
residence]. As to the cabriolet and the horse, the two sets of
harness, and the sporting gun, Mr. Farquhar will doubtless have
already told you that they were the Prince’s gifts to him. The
Prince thinks that the housemaids and the kitchen servants have
been discharged with a month’s wages [in lieu of notice].
You will remain in the house, with Lord Ripon’s chambermaid, until
further orders. The Prince will allow you £4 a month, besides what
you are now getting, for your board. You are to preserve all the
English newspapers which have appeared since the Prince’s
departure, and send them to him when he asks for them. Keep in the
house the articles belonging to other persons, and put the name of
each on the trunks and packages. Arrange all these things so that
they may be sent off when you get orders about them. See that the
lodgings of these gentlemen are paid, and tell all the tradespeople
to apply to Mr. Farquhar for payment of their accounts.
You are to buy two leather trunks at £3 each, and put in them all
the things which are in the wardrobe in His Highness’s bedroom,
with the two pairs of sheets, the two pillows, and the towels in
the same room which are marked with an “N” and a crown. Put with
them also the two little nécessaires de toilette, the boots, shoes,
etc. The two trunks should be got ready for sending away at any
moment. You are to take for yourself the old red shooting [or
hunting] coat, the leather breeches and the white breeches, the
large boots, the green overcoat, the green trousers, the
hunting-boots, the large brown overcoat, the two vieilles du
matin, and the hats. In the dressing-room you will find a brand-new
hat.
I left in my room a leather trunk containing my things. You will
find in a drawer a little box containing some papers and other
things which I highly value. Take great care of them. There is also
in my wardrobe some linen for shirts. Take care of my paletot, my
trousers (if there are any), and my little nécessaire. Do what you
like with the rest of the things.
Adieu, my dear friend. The Prince is quite well.
CH. THÉLIN.
On September 28, 1840, Prince Louis Napoleon and some of his
fellow-conspirators were tried at the Luxembourg before the Cour des
Pairs, M. Pasquier presiding over the tribunal. Fifty-five persons had
been arrested at Boulogne, but only twenty-two were proceeded against.
The Prince was defended by the ablest advocate of his day, Berryer,
whose brief was marked with a fee of £600; with him were MM. Marie and
Ferdinand Barrot. M. Jules Favre defended other of the prisoners.
After President Pasquier had begun the “interrogation of identity,” the
Prince rose and requested permission to read a short written statement
in his defence. He began: “For the first time in my life I am allowed to
raise my voice in France and to speak freely to Frenchmen.”
Towards the end of his address he said: “A last word, gentlemen. I
represent before you a principle, a cause, a defeat. The principle is
the sovereignty of the people; the cause that of the Empire; the defeat,
Waterloo. The principle you have recognized, the cause you have served,
the defeat you wish to avenge.”
The trial lasted until October 6, when the prisoners were sentenced: the
Prince to perpetual imprisonment in a fortress; Montholon, Lombard,
Conneau, and De Persigny to five years’ imprisonment; one was deported;
others were sent to gaol for fifteen, ten, five, and two years.
The Prince heard his fate unmoved. To the greffier he remarked
spiritedly: “Sir, they said formerly that the word ‘impossible’ was not
French; to-day the same may be said of the word ‘perpetual.’”
During the trial the Prince sat in a fauteuil, guarded by two soldiers
with fixed bayonets. He was a trim, alert-looking figure, in frock-coat
and high black stock, wearing to and fro a tall hat.
His six years’ isolation at Ham--a huge fortress, with a moat--converted
Louis Napoleon into a littérateur of almost the first rank. His industry
was excessive. Reams of paper were covered with his straggling, careless
writing, chiefly on military subjects. His foster-sister, Mme. Cornu,
gave him valuable assistance by forwarding books which otherwise he
would probably have been unable to obtain, looking after his
proof-sheets, writing to his publishers, and sending him extracts from
volumes for which she ransacked libraries. When, in his stonemason’s or
bricklayer’s long blouse, cap, and canvas trousers, carrying a plank and
smoking a pipe, he made his escape, “Badinguet” was the father of at
least two children, boys, for whose maintenance and education he made
adequate provision.[30]
On May 27, 1846, Louis Napoleon reached London, and put up at the
Brunswick Hotel, where his name was entered as Comte d’Arenenberg. He is
said to have astonished Lady Blessington and the friends who were dining
with her by appearing at Gore House the same evening. He wrote to the
French Ambassador (M. de Saint-Hilaire, who had been a friend of Queen
Hortense) informing him that he had escaped from Ham solely to revisit
his old father, and that he had no intention of making any more
“attempts” against the French Government, his previous efforts having
resulted so disastrously to himself. The Prince’s widowed father, the
Comte de Saint-Leu, ex-King Louis of Holland, was residing at Florence,
and Louis Napoleon vainly applied to the Austrian Ambassador in London
and to the Grand Duke Leopold for permission to visit his father, who
passed away in the following July.
All that the Comte de Saint-Leu possessed he left to his only surviving
son, Louis Napoleon--his palace at Florence, his landed property at
Civita Nuova, his money, and all his relics of Napoleon I. By his
father’s death the Prince became a comparatively wealthy man. D’Ambès
asserts that he had to his credit at Barings 150,000 francs (£6,000),
and at Farquhar’s 3,000,000 francs (£120,000). We are led to believe
that the Prince was unmercifully “bled” on all sides, and that he was
soon deluged with begging letters from France, Switzerland, and Poland.
“He spends a great deal. He already owns several houses in London, and
has bought a house in Berkeley Street for Miss Howard.”