It was on Oct. 16, 1799, that Eugene de Beauharnais arrived in Paris on
his return from Egypt; and almost immediately thereafter I had the good
fortune to be taken into his service, M. Eugene being then twenty-one
years of age. I soon after learned a few particulars, which I think are
little known, relative to his former life, and the marriage of his mother
with General Bonaparte.
His father, as is well known, was one of the victims of the Revolution;
and when the Marquis de Beauharnais had perished on the scaffold, his
widow, whose property had been confiscated, fearing that her son,
although still very young, might also be in danger on account of his
belonging to the nobility, placed him in the home of a carpenter on the
rue de l'Echelle where, a lady of my acquaintance, who lived on that
street, has often seen him passing, carrying a plank on his shoulder. It
seems a long distance from this position to the colonelcy of a regiment
of the Consular guards, and the vice-royalty of Italy.
I learned, from hearing Eugene himself relate it, by what a singular
circumstance he had been the cause of the first meeting between his
mother and his step-father. Eugene, being then not more than fourteen or
fifteen years of age, having been informed that General Bonaparte had
become possessor of the sword of the Marquis de Beauharnais, took a step
which seemed hazardous, but was crowned with success. The general having
received him graciously, Eugene explained that he came to beg of him the
restoration of his father's sword. His face, his bearing, his frank
request, all made such a pleasant impression on Bonaparte, that he
immediately presented him with the sword which he requested. As soon as
this sword was in his hands he covered it with kisses and tears; and the
whole was done in so artless a manner, that Bonaparte was delighted with
him.
Madame de Beauharnais, being informed of the welcome the general had
given her son, thought it her duty to make him a visit of gratitude.
Bonaparte, being much pleased with Josephine in this first interview,
returned her visit. They met again frequently; and as is well known, one
event led to another, until she became the first Empress of the French;
and I can assert from the numerous proofs that I have had of this fact,
that Bonaparte never ceased to love Eugene as well as if he, had been his
own son.
The qualities of Eugene were both attractive and solid. His features
were not regular, and yet his countenance prepossessed every one in his
favor. He had a well-proportioned figure, but did not make a
distinguished appearance, on account of the habit he had of swinging
himself as he walked. He was about five feet three or four inches
[About five feet six or seven inches in English measurement.--TRANS.]
in height. He was kind, gay, amiable, full of wit, intelligent,
generous; and it might well be said that his frank and open countenance
was the mirror of his soul. How many services he has rendered others
during the course of his life, and at the very period when in order to do
so he had often to impose privations on himself.
It will soon be seen how it happened that I passed only a month with
Eugene; but during this short space of time, I recall that, while
fulfilling scrupulously his duties to his mother and his step-father, he
was much addicted to the pleasures so natural to his age and position.
One of his greatest pleasures was entertaining his friends at breakfast;
which he did very often. This amused me much on account of the comical
scenes of which I was often a witness. Besides the young officers of
Bonaparte's staff, his most frequent guests, he had also frequently at
his table the ventriloquist Thiemet, Dugazon, Dazincourt, and Michau of
the Theatre Francais, and a few other persons, whose names escape me at
this moment. As may be imagined, these reunions were extremely gay;
these young officers especially, who had returned like Eugene from the
expedition to Egypt, seemed trying to indemnify themselves for the recent
privations they had had to suffer. At this time ventriloquists, among
whom Thiemet held a very distinguished position, were the fashion in
Paris, and were invited to private gatherings. I remember on one
occasion, at one of these breakfasts of Eugene's, Thiemet called by their
names several persons present, imitating the voices of their servants, as
if they were just outside the door, while he remained quietly in his
seat, appearing to be using his lips only to eat and drink, two duties'
which he performed admirably. Each of the officers called in this manner
went out, and found no one; and then Thiemet went out with them, under
the pretext of assisting them in the search, and increased their
perplexity by continuing to make them hear some well-known voice. Most
of them laughed heartily at the joke of which they had just been the
victims; but there was one who, having himself less under control than
his comrades, took the thing seriously, and became very angry, whereupon
Eugene had to avow that he was the author of the conspiracy.
I recall still another amusing scene, the two heroes of which were this
same Thiemet, of whom I have just spoken, and Dugazon. Several
foreigners were present at a breakfast given by Eugene, the parts having
been assigned, and learned in advance, and the two victims selected.
When each had taken his place at table, Dugazon, pretending to stammer,
addressed a remark to Thiemet, who, playing the same role, replied to
him, stammering likewise; then each of them pretended to believe that the
other was making fun of him, and there followed a stuttering quarrel
between the two parties, each one finding it more and more difficult to
express himself as his anger rose. Thiemet, who besides his role of
stammering was also playing that of deafness, addressed his neighbor, his
trumpet in his ear:
"Wha-wha-what-do-does he say?"--"Nothing," replied the officious
neighbor, wishing to prevent a quarrel, and to supply facts while
defending the other stammerer.--"So-so-he-he-he-he's mamaking fun of me!"
Then the quarrel became more violent still; they were about to come to
blows, when each of the two stammerers seizing a carafe of water, hurled
it at the head of his antagonist, and a copious deluge of water from the
bottles taught the officious neighbors the great danger of acting as
peacemakers. The two stammerers continued to scream as is the custom of
deaf persons, until the last drop of water was spilt; and I remember that
Eugene, the originator of this practical joke, laughed immoderately the
whole time this scene lasted. The water was wiped off; and all were soon
reconciled, glass in hand. Eugene, when he had perpetrated a joke of
this sort, never failed to relate it to his mother, and sometimes to his
stepfather, who were much amused thereby, Josephine especially.
I had led for one month a very pleasant life with Eugene, when Lefebvre,
the valet de chambre whom he had left sick at Cairo, returned in restored
health, and asked to resume his place. Eugene, whom I suited better on
account of my age and activity, proposed to him to enter his mother's
service, suggesting to him that he would there have an easier time than
with himself; but Lefebvre, who was extremely attached to his master,
sought Madame Bonaparte, and confided to her his chagrin at this
decision.
Josephine promised to assist him; and consoled him by assurances that she
would suggest to her son that Lefebvre should reassume his former
position, and that she would take me into her own service. This was done
according to promise; and one morning Eugene announced to me, in the most
gratifying manner, my change of abode. "Constant," he said to me,
"I regret very much that circumstances require us to part; but you know
Lefebvre followed me to Egypt, he is an old servant, and I feel compelled
to give him his former position. Besides, you will not be far removed,
as you will enter my mother's service, where you will be well treated,
and we will see each other often. Go to her this morning; I have spoken
to her of you. The matter is already arranged, and she expects you."
As may be believed, I lost no time in presenting myself to Madame
Bonaparte. Knowing that she was at Malmaison, I went there immediately,
and was received by her with a kindness which overwhelmed me with
gratitude, as I was not then aware that she manifested this same
graciousness to every one, and that it was as inseparable from her
character as was grace from her person. The duties required of me, in
her service, were altogether nominal; and nearly all my time was at my
own disposal, of which I took advantage to visit Paris frequently. The
life that I led at this time was very pleasant to a young man like
myself, who could not foresee that in a short while he would be as much
under subjection as he was then at liberty.
Before bidding adieu to a service in which I had found so much that was
agreeable, I will relate some incidents which belong to that period, and
which my situation with the stepson of General Bonaparte gave me the
opportunity of learning.
M. de Bourrienne has related circumstantially in his memoirs the events
of the 18th Brumaire; [The 18th Brumaire, Nov. 9, 1799, was the day
Napoleon overthrew the Directory and made himself First Consul.--TRANS.]
and the account which he has given of that famous day is as correct as it
is interesting, so that any one curious to know the secret causes which
led to these political changes will find them faithfully pointed out in
the narration of that minister of state. I am very far from intending to
excite an interest of this, kind, but reading the work of M. Bourrienne
put me again on the track of my own recollections. These memoirs relate
to circumstances of which he was ignorant, or possibly may have omitted
purposely as being of little importance; and whatever he has let fall on
his road I think myself fortunate in being permitted to glean.
I was still with Eugene de Beauharnais when General Bonaparte overthrew
the Directory; but I found myself in as favorable a situation to know all
that was passing as if I had been in the service of Madame Bonaparte, or
of the general himself, for my master, although he was very young, had
the entire confidence of his stepfather, and, to an even greater degree,
that of his mother, who consulted him on every occasion.
A few days before the 18th Brumaire, Eugene ordered me to make
preparations for a breakfast he wished to give on that day to his
friends, the number of the guests, all military men, being much larger
than usual. This bachelor repast was made very gay by an officer, who
amused the company by imitating in turn the manners and appearance of the
directors and a few of their friends. To represent the Director Barras,
he draped himself 'a la grecque' with the tablecloth, took off his black
cravat, turned down his shirt-collar, and advanced in an affected manner,
resting his left arm on the shoulder of the youngest of his comrades,
while with his right he pretended to caress his chin. Each person of the
company understood the meaning of that kind of charade; and there were
uncontrollable bursts of laughter.
He undertook then to represent the Abbe Sieyes, by placing an enormous
band of paper inside of his neckcloth, and lengthening thus indefinitely
a long, pale face. He made a few turns around the room, astraddle of his
chair, and ended by a grand somersault, as if his steed had dismounted
him. It is necessary to know, in order to understand the significance of
this pantomime, that the Abbe Sieges had been recently taking lessons in
horseback, riding in the garden of the Luxembourg, to the great amusement
of the pedestrians, who gathered in crowds to enjoy the awkward and
ungraceful exhibition made by this new master of horse.
The breakfast ended, Eugene reported for duty to General Bonaparte, whose
aide-de-camp he was, and his friends rejoined the various commands to
which they belonged.
I went out immediately behind them; for from a few words that had just
been dropped at my young master's, I suspected that something grave and
interesting was about to take place. M. Eugene had appointed a
rendezvous with his comrades at Pont-Tournant; so I repaired to that
spot, and found a considerable gathering of officers in uniform and on
horseback, assembled in readiness to escort General Bonaparte to
Saint-Cloud.
The commandant of each part of the army had been requested by General
Bonaparte to give a breakfast to their corps of officers; and they had
done so like my young master. Nevertheless, the officers, even the
generals, were not all in the secret; and General Murat himself, who
rushed into the Hall of the Five Hundred at the head of the grenadiers,
believed that it was only a question of exemption, on account of age,
that General Bonaparte intended to propose, in order that he might obtain
the place of director.
I have learned from an authoritative source, that when General Jube, who
was devoted to General Bonaparte, assembled in the court of the
Luxembourg, the guard of the directors of which he was commander, the
honest M. Gohier, president of the Directory, put his head out of the
window, and cried to Jube: "Citizen General, what are you doing down
there?"--"Citizen President, you can see for yourself I am mustering the
guard."--"Certainly, I see that very plainly, Citizen General; but why
are you mustering them?"--"Citizen President, I am going to make an
inspection of them, and order a grand maneuver. Forward--march!" And
the citizen general filed out at the head of his troop to rejoin General
Bonaparte at Saint-Cloud; while the latter was awaited at the house of
the citizen president, and the breakfast delayed to which General
Bonaparte had been invited for that very morning.
General Marmont had also entertained at breakfast the officers of the
division of the army which he commanded (it was, I think, the artillery).
At the end of the repast he addressed a few words to them, urging them
not to alienate their cause from that of the conqueror of Italy, and to
accompany him to Saint-Cloud. "But how can we follow him?" cried one of
his guests. "We have no horses."--"If that alone deters you, you will
find horses in the court of this hotel. I have seized all those of the
national riding-school. Let us go below and mount." All the officers
present responded to the invitation except General Allix, who declared he
would take no part in all this disturbance.
I was at Saint-Cloud on the two days, 18th and 19th Brumaire. I saw
General Bonaparte harangue the soldiers, and read to them the decree by
which he had been made commander-in-chief of all the troops at Paris, and
of the whole of the Seventeenth Military Division. I saw him come out
much agitated first from the Council of the Ancients, and afterwards from
the Assembly of the Five Hundred. I saw Lucien Bonaparte brought out of
the hall, where the latter assembly was sitting, by some grenadiers, sent
in to protect him from the violence of his colleagues. Pale and furious,
he threw himself on his horse and galloped straight to the troops to
address them; and when he pointed his sword at his brother's breast,
saying he would be the first to slay him if he dared to strike at
liberty, cries of "Vive Bonaparte! down with the lawyers!" burst forth
on all sides; and the soldiers, led by General Murat, rushed into the
Hall of the Five Hundred. Everybody knows what then occurred, and I will
not enter into details which have been so often related.
The general, now made First Consul, installed himself at the Luxembourg,
though at this time he resided also at Malmaison. But he was often on
the road, as was also Josephine; for their trips to Paris when they
occupied this residence were very frequent, not only on Government
business, which often required the presence of the First Consul, but also
for the purpose of attending the theater, of whose performances General
Bonaparte, was very fond, giving the preference always to the Theatre
Francais and the Italian Opera. This observation I make in passing,
preferring to give hereafter the information I have obtained as to the
tastes and habits of the emperor.
Malmaison, at the period of which I speak, was a place of unalloyed
happiness, where all who came expressed their satisfaction with the state
of affairs; everywhere also I heard blessings invoked upon the First
Consul and Madame Bonaparte. There was not yet the shadow of that strict
etiquette which it was necessary afterwards to observe at Saint-Cloud, at
the Tuileries, and in all the palaces in which the Emperor held his
court. The consular court was as yet distinguished by a simple elegance,
equally removed from republican rudeness and the luxuriousness of the
Empire. Talleyrand was, at this period, one of those who came most
frequently to Malmaison. He sometimes dined there, but arrived generally
in the evening between eight and nine o'clock, and returned at one, two,
and sometimes three in the morning.
All were admitted at Madame Bonaparte's on a footing of equality, which
was most gratifying. There came familiarly Murat, Duroc, Berthier, and
all those who have since figured as great dignitaries, and some even as
sovereigns, in the annals of the empire.
The family of General Bonaparte were assiduous in their attentions; but
it was known among us that they had no love for Madame Bonaparte, of
which fact I had many proofs. Mademoiselle Hortense never left her
mother, and they were devotedly attached to each other.
Besides men distinguished by their posts under the government or in the
army, there gathered others also who were not less distinguished by
personal merit, or the position which their birth had given them before
the Revolution. It was a veritable panorama, in which we saw the persons
themselves pass before our eyes. The scene itself, even exclusive of the
gayety which always attended the dinings of Eugene, had its attractions.
Among those whom we saw most frequently were Volney, Denon, Lemercier,
the Prince of Poix, de Laigle, Charles Baudin, General Beurnonville,
Isabey, and a number of others, celebrated in science, literature, and
art; in short, the greater part of those who composed the society of
Madame de Montesson.
Madame Bonaparte and Mademoiselle Hortense often took excursions on
horseback into the country. On these occasions her most constant escorts
were the Prince de Poix and M. de Laigle. One day, as this party was
reentering the court-yard at Malmaison, the horse which Hortense rode
became frightened, and dashed off. She was an accomplished rider, and
very active, so she attempted to spring off on the grass by the roadside;
but the band which fastened the end of her riding-skirt under her foot
prevented her freeing herself quickly, and she was thrown, and dragged by
her horse for several yards. Fortunately the gentlemen of the party,
seeing her fall, sprang from their horses in time to rescue her; and, by
extraordinary good fortune, she was not even bruised, and was the first
to laugh at her misadventure.
During the first part of my stay at Malmaison, the First Consul always
slept with his wife, like an ordinary citizen of the middle classes in
Paris; and I heard no rumor of any intrigue in the chateau. The persons
of this society, most of whom were young, and who were often very
numerous, frequently took part in sports which recalled college days.
In fact, one of the greatest diversions of the inhabitants of Malmaison
was to play "prisoners' base." It was usually after dinner; and
Bonaparte, Lauriston, Didelot, de Lucay, de Bourrienne, Eugene, Rapp,
Isabey, Madame Bonaparte, and Mademoiselle Hortense would divide
themselves into two camps, in which the prisoners taken, or exchanged,
would recall to the First Consul the greater game, which he so much
preferred. In these games the most active runners were Eugene, Isabey,
and Hortense. As to General Bonaparte, he often fell, but rose laughing
boisterously.
General Bonaparte and his family seemed to enjoy almost unexampled
happiness, especially when at Malmaison, which residence, though
agreeable at that time, was far from being what it has since become.
This estate consisted of the chateau, which Bonaparte found in bad
condition on his return from Egypt, a park already somewhat improved, and
a farm, the income of which did not with any certainty exceed twelve
thousand francs a year. Josephine directed in person all the
improvements made there, and no woman ever possessed better taste.
From the first, they played amateur comedy at Malmaison, which was a
relaxation the First Consul enjoyed greatly, but in which he took no part
himself except that of looker-on. Every one in the house attended these
representations; and I must confess we felt perhaps even more pleasure
than others in seeing thus travestied on the stage those in whose service
we were.
The Malmaison Troupe, if I may thus style actors of such exalted social
rank, consisted principally of Eugene, Jerome, Lauriston, de Bourrienne,
Isabey, de Leroy, Didelot, Mademoiselle Hortense, Madame Caroline Murat,
and the two Mademoiselles Auguie, one of whom afterwards married Marshal
Ney,
[Michel Ney, Styled by Napoleon the "bravest of the brave," was
born 1769, at Sarre-Louis (now in Prussia), son of a cooper.
Entered the army as a private 1787, adjutant-general 1794, general
of brigade 1796, general of division 1799, marshal 1804, Duke of
Elchingen 1805, Prince of Moskwa 1812, and commanded the rear-guard
in the famous retreat from Russia. On the return from Elba he went
over to Napoleon; was at Waterloo. Was afterwards taken, and in
spite of the terms of the surrender of Paris was tried for treason,
and shot in the gardens of the Luxembourg, Dec. 8, 1815.--TRANS.]
and the other M. de Broc. All four were very young and charming, and few
theaters in Paris could show four actresses as pretty. In addition to
which, they showed much grace in their acting, and played their parts
with real talent; and were as natural on the stage as in the saloon,
where they bore themselves with exquisite grace and refinement. At first
the repertoire contained little variety, though the pieces were generally
well selected. The first representation which I attended was the "Barber
of Seville" in which Isabey played the role of Figaro, and Mademoiselle
Hortense that of Rosine--and the "Spiteful Lover." Another time I saw
played the "Unexpected Wager," and "False Consultations." Hortense and
Eugene played this last piece perfectly; and I still recall that, in the
role of Madame le Blanc, Hortense appeared prettier than ever in the
character of an old woman, Eugene representing Le Noir, and Lauriston the
charlatan. The First Consul, as I have said, confined himself to the
role of spectator; but he seemed to take in these fireside plays, so to
speak, the greatest pleasure, laughed and applauded heartily, though
sometimes he also criticised.
Madame Bonaparte was also highly entertained; and even if she could not
always boast of the successful acting of her children, "the chiefs of the
troupe," it sufficed her that it was an agreeable relaxation to her
husband, and seemed to give him pleasure; for her constant study was to
contribute to the happiness of the great man who had united her destiny
with his own.
When the day for the presentation of a play had been appointed, there was
never any postponement, but often a change of the play; not because of
the indisposition, or fit of the blues, of an actress (as often happens
in the theaters of Paris), but for more serious reasons. It sometimes
happened that M. d'Etieulette received orders to rejoin his regiment, or
an important mission was confided to Count Almaviva, though Figaro and
Rosine always remained at their posts; and the desire of pleasing the
First Consul was, besides, so general among all those who surrounded him,
that the substitutes did their best in the absence of the principals, and
the play never failed for want of an actor.
[Michau, of the Comedie Francaise, was the instructor of the
troupe. Wherever it happened that an actor was wanting in
animation, Michau would exclaim. "Warmth! Warmth! Warmth!"
--Note by CONSTANT.]