“THESE THINGS ARE LITTLE; BUT, THEN, THEY’RE ALL”
Between December 23, 1870, and January 25, 1871, a minute record was
made, by order of the new Government, of all the objects found in the
imperial apartments at the Tuileries, and admittedly belonging to
Napoleon III., the Empress Eugénie, and the Prince Imperial. The list
was most carefully drawn up by the Delegates of the Commission of
Liquidation of the former Civil List and Private Domain of their
Majesties, and when it was completed everything was transferred to and
put under seals in a room on the fifth floor of the Pavilion of
Flora.[105]
Not one of this heap of cherished articles was of any particular
intrinsic or artistic value, yet it was this fact which gave, and gives,
them their charm. It is not the State décor, seen and known by all, that
we can reconstitute with the aid of these multifarious knick-knacks, but
they form the milieu intime, comprising a thousand familiar objects, a
thousand personal souvenirs, in the midst of which the occupants of the
Tuileries lived their daily life. It is more than interesting or curious
to handle these old-fashioned bibelots; it is often touching, even
painful.
In the Emperor’s apartments were an eagle (from a flag) in gilded
bronze, embraced by Napoleon I. when he took farewell of Fontainebleau;
a hand of the Empress Eugénie in white marble; a portfolio of music
(containing the “Marche des Impériaux,” from the tragedy of “Jules
César”), by Hary de Bülow; a meerschaum pipe, representing Napoleon III.
and the Prince Imperial; a silver fountain, the gift of Queen Pomaré to
the Emperor; a dagger, with damascened blade, given to him by his
mother-in-law, the Comtesse de Montijo; a walking-stick, made of a
bulrush stalk; a crutch, in rock-crystal, ornamented with fine stones,
the Empress Catherine of Russia’s present to Frederick II.; a tin box,
containing water from the Jordan; a candle used at the Prince Imperial’s
first Communion; a black leather case, containing the Emperor’s costume
of Knight of the Garter; a man’s head, in crayons, signed “Joséphine”; a
plan in relief of the château of Ham (the prison of Napoleon III. for
six years); a photograph of the Prince Imperial in his cradle; boxes,
cases of medals, addresses, diplomas, vases, cups, tea and coffee
services; a thousand articles which have gone out of fashion, in all
styles; albums of photographs and engravings, portraits of Sovereigns,
hundreds of paper-weights, inkstands, and wafer-boxes; a collection of
French and foreign military models in coloured plaster--amongst them two
Prussian soldiers, one Bavarian, two Würtemburgers, and a White
Cuirassier; figures of a merchant, a woman, five soldiers and
peasants--Russian; and two mahogany boxes containing the plaques and
decorations of Napoleon III., with the stern official notification,
opposite the French ones, “Two plaques and decorations missing--taken
away by the Emperor.”
Among the numerous “Souvenirs intimes de Napoléon I. et de sa famille”
are a Prayer-Book (“paroissien”) which belonged to Mme. Mère,[106] and a
black snuff-box with her portrait, enclosing some locks of hair of her
daughter, Princesse Pauline; a gold folding lorgnette, which belonged to
the Duc de Reichstadt; a packet containing handkerchiefs from the
death-bed of Queen Hortense, and a packet of handkerchiefs which
belonged to Napoleon I.; a gold ring containing a tooth of Michel
Montaigne, and one of Goethe’s visiting-cards; the grey capote of
Marengo, and the scarf worn by Napoleon I. at the battle of the
Pyramids; a morocco blotting-pad, ornamented with a painting under glass
representing a Spanish bandit, painted by Queen Hortense; a blue velvet
sabretache, embroidered in gold, the gift of Prince Eugène; two gold
epaulettes; the garniture of buttons, grenades, and plaques; the grey
capote worn by the Emperor at the battle of Waterloo; a quantity of
breloques, bibelots, snuff-boxes, objects in hair, miniatures, porcelain
and crystal ornaments, bonbonnières, pocket-knives, etc.
In the Empress Eugénie’s apartments were found Perrault’s stories, a
Spanish edition of “Paradise Lost,” an “Imitation de Jésus-Christ,” the
“Mémorial de Saint-Hélène,” and the “Chansons Populaires du Piémont”;
photographs of the Shah of Persia, Mme. Carette (the Empress’s “reader”
for many years, and a reliable chronicler of Second Empire days), the
Princesse de Metternich, the daughters of the Duchesse d’Albe (the
Empress’s nieces), the Royal Family of Spain, the Sultan Abd-el-Kader,
and Princesse Bacciochi; a miniature of the Prince Imperial and his
“guardian angel,” in a velvet frame; an egg, on which is painted the
battle of Malakoff; two dumb-bells, in granite, with silver handles; one
of Orsini’s bombs, seized on the memorable January 14, 1858, the date of
the “attempt” at the opera; two pairs of satin shoes, which belonged to
Queen Hortense and the Empress Joséphine; and the hat worn by Napoleon
III. on the night of his attempted assassination by Orsini.
In the Prince Imperial’s apartments were statuettes of the Virgin and
the Infant Jesus, the dome of the Invalides in painted cardboard,
stuffed birds, geographical games, a three-masted vessel in a glass
case; a reliquary, containing relics of St. Eugénie and the brassard
worn by the “little Prince” at his first Communion; a garden rake and
two hoes, in steel; three summer hats, in white silk, and two black
ones; a cantata dedicated to the Prince by Pellegrini; trophies of the
imperial hunts at Fontainebleau and Compiègne; and the Prince’s Orders
and decorations.
There were chairs and fauteuils, settees (poufs) in tapestry and red
satin, with silk fringe; étagères in black wood and bronze; a prie-Dieu
in carved oak, covered with blue velvet; tables, with feet of bamboo,
covered with tapestry and adorned with fringe; a carved fire-screen in
gilded wood; and many other objects.
Finally, there were several boxes of cigars (“regalias” and “Londres”)
and “Imperial” cigarettes (the Emperor was a great smoker of these),
which were sent by the Delegates of the Commission of Liquidation, by
order of M. Picard, to M. Jules Simon, at the Ministry of Public
Instruction, and sold for the benefit of the wounded soldiers. Forty
years have flown since France was weighed down by the disasters, but the
past appears so recent that, in stirring its ashes, we fancy them still
warm, still living; neither the tears nor the blood poured upon the
souvenirs of so many misfortunes have yet made them cold.