was born February 12, 1768, had just entered his forty-third year;
consequently, he was only eighteen months older than his son-in-law, the
Emperor Napoleon, who was born August 15, 1769. The Austrian monarch
had taken for his third wife his cousin Marie Louise Beatrice of Este,
daughter of the Archduke Ferdinand, Duke of Modena. This Princess, who
had no children, was born December 14, 1787, four years, almost to a
day, before her step-daughter, the Archduchess Marie Louise, Napoleon's
wife, who was born December 11, 1791. The new Empress of the French, at
the time of the celebration of her wedding in Vienna, was consequently
eighteen years and three months old, and twenty-two years younger than
her husband.
Francis II. had eight children, three boys and five girls, all by
his second wife, Marie Theresa, of the Two Sicilies, and born in the
following order: In 1791, Marie Louise; in 1793, Ferdinand, the Prince
Imperial; in 1797, Leopoldine, who became the wife of Dom Pedro, Emperor
of Brazil; in 1798, Marie Clementine, who married the Prince of Salerno,
and was the mother-in-law of the Duke of Aumale, the son of Louis
Philippe; in 1801, Caroline, who married Prince Frederick of Saxony; in
1802, Francis Charles Joseph; in 1804, Marie Anne, who became Abbess of
the Chapter of Noble Ladies in Prague; in 1805, John.
He had one sister and eight brothers, to wit: Marie Theresa Josepha,
born 1767, who married Antoine Clement, brother of Frederic Augustus,
King of Saxony; Ferdinand, born 1769, who, after having been Grand
Duke of Tuscany, became Grand Duke of Würzburg, and a great friend
of Napoleon; Charles Louis, born 1771, the famous Archduke Charles,
Napoleon's rival on the battle-field; Joseph Antoine, born 1776,
Palatine of Hungary; Antoine Victor, born 1779, who became Bishop of
Bamberg; John, born 1782, who presided over the parliament at Frankfort
in 1848; Reinhardt, born 1783, who was Viceroy of the Kingdom of
Lombardy and Venetia when it became an Austrian province; Louis, born
1784; Rudolph, born 1788, who became a Cardinal. Consequently, at the
time of Marie Louise's marriage, there were eleven Archdukes, three sons
and eight brothers of the Emperor. The wedding ceremony was preceded,
March 10, 1810, by a rite called the renunciation. At one in the
afternoon, Marshal Berthier, Prince of Neufchâtel, Ambassador
Extraordinary of France, drove to the Palace with his suite, in a state
carriage drawn by six horses, and was conducted to the hall of the Privy
Council, to witness this ceremony. As soon as Francis II. and Marie
Louise had taken their seats beneath the canopy, the Emperor, as head of
the family, spoke as follows: "Inasmuch as the customs of the Imperial
family require that the Imperial Princesses and Archduchesses shall
before marriage recognize the Pragmatic Sanction of Austria, and the
order of succession, by a solemn act of renunciation, Her Imperial
Highness the Archduchess Marie Louise, who is betrothed to His Imperial
Majesty the Emperor of the French, King of Italy, is about to take
the usual oath, and proceed to the formal rite of renunciation." The
Archduchess then went up to a table on which stood a crucifix between
two lighted candles, and the holy Gospels. Count Hohenwart, Prince
Archbishop of Vienna, opened the book of the Gospel according to St.
John, and the Archduchess, having placed upon it two fingers of
the right hand, read aloud the act of renunciation of the right of
succession to the crown, and took the oath. That evening, Gluck's
_Iphigenia among the Taurians_ was given at the Royal opera-house.
The stairway to the boxes was brilliantly lighted, and lined with
orange-trees. The next day, Sunday, the wedding was celebrated with
great pomp at the Church of the Augustins. The procession filed through
the apartments of the Palace, which had been covered with rugs and
filled with chandeliers and candelabra. Grenadiers were drawn up in a
double line from the Palace to the church. This was the order of the
procession: Two stewards of the court, the pages, the stewards of the
chamber, the carvers, the chamberlains, the privy councillors, the
ministers, the principal officers of the court, the French Ambassador
Extraordinary, the Archdukes Rudolph, Louis, Reinhardt, John, Antoine,
Joseph, preceded by the Archduke Charles, accompanied by the Grand
Master of the Court; the Emperor and King, followed by the Captain of
the Noble Hungarian Guard, the Captain of the Yeomen, and the Grand
Chamberlain; the Empress Queen holding the bride by the hand. The train
of the Empress's dress was carried by the grand mistresses of the court
as far as the second ante-chamber, by pages to the church, and then
again by the grand mistresses. On each side of the Emperor, the Empress,
and the Archdukes, marched twelve archers and as many body-guards; at
some distance the same number of yeomen bearing halberds. Kettledrums
and trumpets announced the arrival of the Emperor and the Empress at
the church, where the Prince Archbishop of Vienna, accompanied by the
clergy, met them at the door and presented them with holy water; that
done, he proceeded with his bishops to the foot of the altar, on the
gospel-side. The Imperial family took their place in the choir. The
Archduke Charles, as Napoleon's representative, and the Archduchess
Marie Louise, kneeled at the prayer-desks before the altar. When the
Archbishop had blessed the wedding-ring, which was presented to him in a
cup, the Archduke Charles and the bride advanced to the altar, where the
ceremony took place in German, according to the Viennese rite. After the
exchange of rings, the bride took the one destined for Napoleon, which
she was to give herself to her husband. Then while those present
remained on their knees the _Te Deum_ was sung. Six pages carried
flaming torches; salvos of artillery were fired; the bells of the city
announced to the populace the completion of the rite. After the _Te
Deum_ the Archbishop pronounced the benediction. Then the procession
returned to the Palace in the order of its going forth.
The French Ambassador wrote to the Duke of Cadore: "The marriage of His
Majesty the Emperor with the Archduchess Marie Louise was celebrated
with a magnificence that it would be hard to surpass, by the side of
which even the brilliant festivities that have preceded it are not to be
mentioned. The vast multitude of spectators, who had gathered from all
quarters of the realm and from foreign parts, so packed the church, and
the halls and passage-ways of the Palace, that the Emperor and Empress
of Austria were often crowded. The really prodigious display of pearls
and diamonds; the richness of the dresses and the uniforms; the
numberless lights that illuminated the whole Palace; the joy of the
participants, gave to the ceremony a splendor worthy of this grand and
majestic solemnity. The richest noblemen of the country made a most
brilliant display, and seemed to rival even with the Emperor. The ladies
who accompanied the two Empresses, who were for the most part Princesses
and women of the highest rank, seemed borne down by the weight of the
diamonds and pearls they wore. But all eyes were fixed on the principal
person of the solemnity, on this adored Princess who soon will make the
happiness of our Sovereign."
When the procession had re-entered the Palace, the Imperial family and
the court assembled in the room called the Room of the Mirror. The
Emperor of Austria and the two Empresses received the congratulations of
all the nobility. By the side of Marie Louise stood the grand mistress
of the household and twelve ladies-in-waiting. "Her modesty," Count Otto
continues in the same report, "the nobility of her bearing, the ease
with which she replied to the speeches addressed to her, enchanted
every one.... I was the first to be introduced to her. She answered my
congratulations by saying that she would spare no pains to please His
Majesty the Emperor Napoleon and to contribute to the happiness of the
French nation which had now become her own. Her Majesty then received
all the noblemen of the court, and spoke to them with an affability that
delighted them. When the reception was over, I was presented to the
Emperor, who spoke to me most amiably and most cordially. He told me
that, in spite of his delicate health, he was unwilling to lose any
opportunity of testifying his high esteem of my master, the Emperor. 'He
will always find in me,' he went on, 'the loyalty and zeal which you
must have noticed in this last negotiation. I give to your Emperor my
beloved daughter. She deserves to be happy. You see joy on every face.
We have neglected nothing to show our satisfaction with this alliance.
Our nations require rest; they applaud what we have done. I am sure that
the best intelligence will reign between us, and that our union will
become only closer.' All these gratifying things that the Emperor said
to me were made even more marked by the voice and the smile which
accompanied them. This monarch, in fact, has a charm of manner which
accounts for his great popularity. During and after the ceremony, the
Empress held her stepdaughter by her right hand, leading her in this
way in the church and through the halls and rooms. The large crowd of
spectators, which almost blocked the inside of the Palace and all the
approaches, seemed to belong to the Imperial family, so great was its
emotion on seeing the new Empress pass by. All the Frenchmen who were
near me confessed that they had never seen a grander or more touching
sight. The court has had a large number of medals struck off in memory
of this event. Many hundred of these have been sent to the Prince of
Neufchâtel, who, to the last, has been treated with the most marked
consideration."
After the wedding and the reception a grand state dinner was given at
the Palace. A splendid table was set upon a platform covered with costly
carpets, over which there was a canopy in the shape of a horseshoe. The
Grand Master of the Court announced to their Majesties that the dinner
was served. Carvers and pages brought in the meats. After the _lavabo_
the Archbishop asked the blessing, and the Imperial family took their
places in the following order; in the middle, the Empress of the French;
on her right, the Emperor of Austria; on her left, the Empress; on the
two sides the Archdukes Charles, Joseph, Antoine, John, Reinhardt,
Louis, Rudolph, the Prince of Neufchâtel, the Ambassador Extraordinary.
The Grand Master of the Court sat on the right, behind the Emperor's
chair; near him were the Captain of the Yeomen, and on the left the
Captain of the Noble Hungarian Guard. The ministers of state and the
representatives of foreign courts sat on the right, and the two grand
mistresses of the court on the left below the platform. The rest were
opposite the table, next to the body-guard. The Emperor's children had a
place assigned to them in the gallery from which they could look down on
the feast. A concert, vocal and instrumental, accompanied the dinner. At
the end the officiating bishop said grace in a low voice.
There was much comment on the presence of the Prince of Neufchâtel at
the Imperial table, where he sat from the beginning to the end of the
dinner. This was a modification of the ceremonial of the Viennese court,
which admitted Ambassadors to the monarch's table only on very rare
occasions, as at the marriage of an Archduchess; but even in this case,
required that they should leave the table when the dessert was served,
to move about among the noblemen admitted to the banquet-hall. It was
recalled that at the marriage of the French Dauphin to the Archduchess
Marie Antoinette, the Marquis of Durfort, the Ambassador of Louis
XV., was not invited to the dinner in order to avoid the question of
precedence between him and Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen, who was present
at the banquet. This same Duke, as well as the brothers of the young
Empress of the French, did not attend the state dinner of March 11,
1810; and the reason given was the desire to show a particular honor to
Napoleon's Ambassador Extraordinary.
The same day, the Archduke Charles who had just represented the French
Emperor at the wedding, wrote to him this letter:--
"March 11, 1810. SIRE: The functions which Your Imperial Majesty has
been kind enough to impose on me have been infinitely agreeable.
Flattered at being chosen to represent a sovereign who, by his exploits,
will live eternally in the annals of history, and convinced of the
mutual happiness which must ensue from the union of Your Imperial
Majesty with a Princess endowed with so many qualities as my dear niece,
I have felt happy at being called on to cement this bond. I beg Your
Imperial Majesty to receive the most earnest assurances of this feeling,
as well as of the profound consideration with which I shall never cease
to be, sire, Your Majesty's very humble and very obedient servant and
cousin, CHARLES."
That evening there were free performances at every theatre. The Emperor
and Empress drove through the city with the bride, who had that day sent
one gold napoleon to every wounded Frenchman, and five napoleons to
every one who had lost a limb. The same thing had been done for the
wounded German allies of France in the last war. This exhibition of
generosity produced the most favorable impression, and much gratitude
was felt towards the new Empress, who in the hours of her triumph had
thought of the suffering soldiers. She was everywhere cheered. The city
and suburbs were rivals in the brilliancy of the illuminations. In front
of the Chancellor's office, where the Prince of Neufchâtel was staying,
were shown the initials of Napoleon and Marie Louise amid a circle
of lights. On one window was this motto, _Ex unione pax, opes,
tranquillitas populorum_, "This union brings to the people peace,
wealth, tranquillity." The dwelling of the Superintendent of Public
Buildings represented a temple with this illuminated inscription,
_Vota publica fausto hymeneo_, "The wishes of the public for the happy
marriage."
The famous engineer Melzel had devised an ingenious decoration. Above an
excellent portrait of the new Empress there appeared a rainbow; on one
side, his happiest invention, an automaton, which the Viennese called
the War Trumpet. But a Genius was silencing it by pointing to this
motto, _Tace, mundus concors_, "Silence, the world is at peace."
To be sure there were a few satires, and some insulting placards posted
secretly, but the police took pains to remove them. Unfortunately the
weather was unfavorable, and scarcely one light out of ten held out
to burn. Was not this a token of the enthusiasm of the Viennese for
Napoleon, an enthusiasm which had succeeded hatred as if by magic, and
which, after flaring up so speedily, was soon to expire? VIII.
THE DEPARTURE.
Marie Louise was to pass but one day more in Vienna. The ceremony had
taken place March 11, 1810, and on the 13th the new Empress of the
French was to leave the Austrian capital to join her husband in France.
After all these festivities and great excitement, the 12th was devoted
to peace and quiet. The Emperor Francis profited by it to write to
Napoleon the following letter:--
"March 12, 1810. MY BROTHER AND MY DEAR SON-IN-LAW: I appoint my
Chamberlain, the Count of Clary, the bearer of this letter to Your
Imperial Majesty. The great bond which forever unites our two thrones
was completed yesterday. I wish to be the first to congratulate Your
Majesty on an event which it has deserved, and which my wishes in
harmony with your own, my brother, have crowned, for I regard it as the
most precious as well as the surest pledge of our common happiness, and
consequently of that of our subjects. If the sacrifice I make is very
great, if my heart is bleeding at the loss of this beloved daughter, the
thought, and, I do not hesitate to say, the firmest conviction of her
happiness, is alone able to console me. Count Metternich, who in a few
days will follow Count Clary, will be commissioned to express by word of
mouth to Your Imperial Majesty the attachment which I consecrated to
the monarch who yesterday became one of the members of my family. Now I
confine myself to begging him to receive the assurances of my esteem and
unalterable friendship. Your Imperial and Royal Majesty's affectionate
brother and father-in-law,
"Francis."
March 12, the Marshal Berthier, Prince of Neufchâtel, left Vienna for
Braunan, on the Austrian and Bavarian frontier. There he was to join the
Empress of the French, who was to be conducted thither by the Austrian
escort and then be entrusted to the French escort with which she was
to continue her journey. "Before the Prince of Neufchâtel left," wrote
Count Otto, March 10, "a great many Archdukes called on him, including
even the high officers of the crown. His Highness started at two
o'clock, amid the acclamations of a large multitude. No embassy has ever
been more warmly received or filled with more dignity and nobility. The
Prince left sixty thousand francs to be divided among the household
where he had stayed. He was most discreet in everything that he did,
and in spite of the various honors heaped upon him, I do not think that
there is a single person at the court whose pride has been wounded." As
the moment drew near when the young Empress was to leave her beloved
family and country, to plunge into the unknown future that was awaiting
her, various emotions crowded upon her. At heart a German and an
Austrian, she could not accustom herself to the thought that probably
she would never see again her revered and beloved father; the family who
adored her; the good people of Vienna, who had always shown the kindest
interest in her; the Burg and Schoenbrunn, where had been spent so many
happy years of her infancy; the dear Church of the Augustins, where she
had so often earnestly offered up her prayers. Could all the praise of
Napoleon which she had been hearing for the last few days wipe out
the memory of the abuse she had so often heard? She had been promised
wealth, grandeur, power; but do those constitute happiness?
The 13th of March came; the hour of her departure struck. That same day
the French Ambassador wrote: "Her Majesty the Empress of the French left
this morning with a large suite. On leaving her loved family and the
land she will never see again, she for the first time felt all the
anguish of the cruel separation. At eight o'clock in the morning the
whole court was assembled in the reception-rooms. About nine, the
Austrian Empress appeared, again leading her step-daughter by her right
hand. She tried to speak to me, but her voice was choked by sobs. The
young Empress was accompanied to her carriage by her step-mother and
the Archdukes, and there they kissed her for the last time. Here the
affectionate mother broke down, and she was supported to her own room by
two chamberlains. The young Empress burst into tears, and her distress
moved even foreigners who witnessed it."
The procession started in the following order: a division of
cuirassiers, a squadron of mounted militia, three postilions, the Prince
of Paar, Director of the Posts, in a carriage with six horses; following
came four carriages, each with six horses, containing Count Edelinck,
Grand Master of the Court, and the chamberlains; Counts Eugene
of Hangevitz; Domenic of Urbua; Joseph Metternich, Landgrave of
Fürstenberg; Counts Ernest of Hoyes and Felix of Mier; Count Haddick,
Field-Marshal; the Count of Wurmbrand; Count Francis Zichy; Prince
Zinzendorf; Prince Paul Esterhazy; Count Antony Bathiani; then the
Prince of Trautmannsdorf, First Grand Master of the Court, and
Quartermaster, in a carriage with six horses; then, in one with eight
horses, the Empress of the French, having with her the Countess of
Lazansky, grand mistress of her household; finally, in three carriages
with six horses each, her ladies-in-waiting,--the Princess of
Trautmannsdorf, Countesses O'Donnell, of Sauran, d'Appony, of Blumeyers,
of Traun, of Podstalzky, of Kaunitz, of Hunyady, of Chotek, of Palfy,
of Zichy. A detachment of cavalry brought up the rear. The procession
passed slowly through Saint Michael's Place, the Kohlmarkt, the Graben,
Kärthnerstrasse, the Glacis, and the Mariahülfestrasse. The troops and
national guard lined both sides of the way.
"The Empress," wrote Count Otto, in his despatch of March 13, "passed
through the main streets of the city and the suburbs, amid the ringing
of bells and the roar of cannon, followed by an immense concourse of
persons who uttered affectionate wishes and farewells. The inhabitants
had decorated their houses and even the palace gate with tricolored
flags. The regimental bands played French marches for the first time. A
general salvo from the ramparts finally announced that the Empress had
crossed the bridge. Her Majesty will be received with the same honors
in all the Austrian cities she passes through. The procession, which
consists of eighty-three carriages, will probably be delayed by the bad
roads, and the rain which fell heavily last night."
The Ambassador thus concluded his despatch: "The tumultuous joy which
has prevailed in Vienna during this last week, which has gratified Her
Majesty as much as any one, has been dimmed for a moment by a feeling
which does honor to the kindness of her heart, and can only endear her
the more to us. She has a great affection for her parents, and this
feeling they return. She has been called Louise the Pious, and it has
been said to be only right that she should share the throne of Saint
Louis. The Emperor started an hour before Her Majesty for Linz, where he
will embrace his beloved daughter for the last time. During these last
few days it has been very obvious that his feelings as a father have had
more weight with him than his position as a sovereign. This monarch's
amiable disposition has appeared in the most favorable light on this
occasion, and everything promises the happiest results from this
alliance."
On leaving Vienna, Marie Louise doubtless thought that she would
never see it again; but she was to return to it very soon and in very
different circumstances. In four years the Viennese were to see
her again, but how changed the condition of things! Events cruelly
disappointed the hopes of peace and happiness evoked by her marriage. It
was a bitter deception. The hatred of the Austrians for Napoleon, whom
in 1810 they had so much admired, became once more as intense as in the
days of Austerlitz and Wagram. They ceased to greet Marie Louise with
applause; they simply pitied her. Her father himself ceased to regard
her as a sovereign. "As my daughter," he said to her, "everything that
I possess is yours, my blood and my life; I do not know you as a
sovereign." The time seemed very remote when she had precedence of the
Empress of Austria, and her father, the head of the house of Hapsburg,
respectfully gave her place at his right hand. After losing the double
Imperial and Royal crown, that of France and that of Italy, she was
obliged to beg of the implacable Coalition a petty duchy, the possession
of which had been promised her by a treaty signed after the fall of the
great Empire. There were again festivities in Vienna, but not for her,
the dethroned sovereign. Once she was curious to see one, and she
watched it hiding behind a curtain. On the evening of a court ball given
by her father in honor of the members of the Congress of Vienna, she
concealed herself near an opening made in the attic of the great hall
of the palace,--where the festivities of her wedding had been
celebrated,--and from there the wife of the prisoner of Elba watched the
men dancing who were condemning her to widowhood even in the lifetime of
her husband.
IX.
THE TRANSFER.