at Aix on July 10th. He had just been made heir to the Grand Duchy of
Frankfort--a broad hint to him and to Europe that Italy would be
eventually united to France under Napoleon's dynasty. This was the
nadir of the Beauharnais family--Josephine _repudiee_, Hortense
unqueened and unwed,[90] and Eugene's expectations dissipated, and all
within a few short months. Eugene had left his wife ill at Geneva,
whither Josephine goes to visit her the next day, duly reporting her
visit to Napoleon in her letter of July 14th (see No. 5). Geneva was
always the home of the disaffected, and so the Empress had to be
specially tactful, and the De Remusat reports: "She speaks of the
Emperor as of a brother, of the new Empress as the one who will give
children to France, and if the rumours of the latter's condition be
correct, I am certain she will be delighted about it."
_That unfortunate daughter is coming to France_--_i.e._ to reside when
she is not at St. Leu (given to her by Napoleon) or at the waters. On
the present occasion she has been at Plombieres a month or more. On
July 10th Napoleon instructs the Countess de Boubers to bring the
Grand Duke of Berg to Paris, "whom he awaits with impatience"
(_Brotonne_, 625).
No. 5.
_The conduct of the King of Holland has worried me._--This was in
March, and by May the crisis was still more acute and Napoleon's
patience exhausted. On May 20th he writes: "Before all things be a
Frenchman and the Emperor's brother, and then you may be sure you are
in the path of the true interests of Holland. Good sense and policy
are necessary to the government of states, not sour unhealthy bile."
And three days later: "Write me no more of your customary twaddle;
three years now it has been going on, and every instant proves its
falsehood! This is the last letter I shall ever write you in my
life."
Louis at one time determined on war, and rather than surrender
Amsterdam, to cut the dykes. The Emperor hears of this, summons his
brother, and practically imprisons him until he countermands the
defence of Amsterdam.
On July 1st Louis abdicated and fled to Toeplitz in Bohemia. Napoleon
is terribly grieved at the conduct of his brother, who would never
realise that the effective Continental blockade was Napoleon's last
sheet-anchor to force peace upon England.
No. 6.
_To die in a lake_--_i.e._ the Lake of Bourget, shut in by the Dent du
Chat, where a white squall had nearly capsized the sailing boat.
Josephine had been on July 26th to visit the abbey Haute-Combe, place
of sepulture of the Princes of Savoy, and the storm had overtaken her
on the return voyage.
No. 8.
_Paris, this Friday._--A very valuable note of M. Masson (_Josephine
Repudiee_, 198) enables us to fix this letter at its correct date. He
says: "It has to do with the exile of Madame de la T---- (viz., the
Princess Louis de la Tremoille), which takes place on September 28th,
1810, and this 28th September is also a Friday: there is also the
question of Mlle. de Mackau being made a baroness" (and this lady had
not joined the Court of Josephine till May 1810); "lastly, the B----
mentioned therein can only be Barante, the Prefect, whose dismissal
(from Geneva) almost coincides with this letter." It may be added
that the La Tremoille family was one of the oldest in France, allied
with the Condes, and consequently with the Bourbons. Barante's fault
had been connivance at the letters and conduct of Madame de Stael.
No. 9.
_The only suitable places ... are either Milan or Navarre._--Milan had
been her own suggestion conveyed by Eugene, but Napoleon, two months
later, had told her she could spend the winter in France, and in spite
of danger signals ("inspired by diplomacy rather than devotion" [91])
from Madame de Remusat (in her fulsome and tedious "despatch" sent
from Paris in September, and probably inspired by the Emperor himself)
she manages to get to Navarre, and even to spend the first fortnight
of November at Malmaison. Before leaving Switzerland Josephine refuses
to risk an interview with Madame de Stael. "In the first book she
publishes she will not fail to report our conversation, and heaven
knows how many things she will make me say that I have never even
thought of."
No. 10.
In spite of the heading Josephine was at Malmaison on this day, and
Napoleon writes Cambaceres: "My cousin, the Empress Josephine not
leaving for Navarre till Monday or Tuesday, I wish you to pay her a
visit. You will let me know on your return how you find her"
(_Brotonne_,721). The real reason is to hasten her departure, and she
gets to Navarre November 22nd (Thursday).
_The Empress progresses satisfactorily._--Napoleon writes to this
effect to her father, the Emperor of Austria, on the same day: "The
Empress is very well.... It is impossible that the wife for whom I am
indebted to you should be more perfect. Moreover, I beg your Majesty
to rest assured that she and I are equally attached to you."
FOOTNOTES
[87] On this occasion Baron Lejeune sees the Archduke Charles, and
remarks: "There was nothing in his quiet face with its grave
and gentle expression, or in his simple, modest, unassuming
manner, to denote the mighty man of war; but no one who met his
eyes could doubt him to be a genius."
[88] "This gloomy and forsaken chateau," says St. Amand, "whose only
attraction was the half-forgotten memory of its vanished
splendours, was a fit image of the woman who came to seek
sanctuary there."
[89] He endows the husband with L4000 a year, and the title of Count
Tascher.
[90] "Une epouse sans epoux, et une reine sans royaume"--St. Amand.
[91] Aubenas.
SERIES O
No. 1.
_The New Year._--On this occasion, instead of her usual gifts
(_etrennes_) she organised a lottery of jewels, of which Madame
Ducrest gives a full account. Needless to say, Josephine worked the
oracle so that every one got a suitable gift--including the old Bishop
(see next note).
_More women than men._--The Bishop of Evreux (Mgr. Bourlier) was the
most welcome guest. He amused Josephine, and although eighty years of
age, could play _trictrac_ and talk well on any subject. Madame de
Remusat wrote her husband concerning him, "We understand each other
very well, he and I."
_Keep well._--At Navarre Josephine lost her headaches, and put on
flesh.
No. 2.
There is a full account of the birth of the King of Rome in Napoleon's
letter to the Emperor of Austria on March 20 (No. 17,496). The letter
of this date to Josephine is missing, but is referred to by
D'Avrillon. It began, "My dear Josephine, I have a son. I am _au
comble de bonheur_."
_Eugene._--Josephine much appreciated this allusion. "Is it possible,"
she said, "for any one to be kinder than the Emperor, and more anxious
to mitigate whatever might be painful for me at the present moment, if
I loved him less sincerely? This association of my son with his own is
well worthy of him who, when he likes, is the most fascinating of all
men." She gave a costly ring to the page who brought the letter.
On the previous day Eugene had arrived at Navarre,--sent by the
Emperor. "You are going to see your mother, Eugene; tell her I am sure
that she will rejoice more than any one at my happiness. I should have
already written to her if I had not been absorbed by the pleasure of
watching my boy. The moments I snatch from his side are only for
matters of urgent necessity. This event, I shall acquit myself of the
most pleasant of them all by writing to Josephine."
No. 4.
Written in November 1811.
_As fat as a good Normandy farmeress._--Madame d'Abrantes, who saw her
about this time, writes: "I observed that Josephine had grown very
stout[92] since the time of my departure for Spain. This change was at
once for the better and the worse. It imparted a more youthful
appearance to her face; but her slender and elegant figure, which had
been one of her principal attractions, had entirely disappeared. She
had now decided _embonpoint_, and her figure had assumed that matronly
air which we find in the statues of Agrippina, Cornelia, &c. Still,
however, she looked uncommonly well, and she wore a dress which became
her admirably. Her judicious taste in these matters contributed to
make her appear young much longer than she otherwise would. The best
proof of the admirable taste of Josephine is the marked absence of
elegance shown by Marie Louise, though both Empresses employed the
same milliners and dressmakers, and Marie Louise had a large sum
allotted for the expenses of her toilet."
St. Amand says that 1811 was for Josephine a happy year, compared to
those which followed.
SERIES P
No. 1.
Written from Konigsberg (M. Masson, in _Josephine Repudiee_, says
Dantzig; but on June 11th Napoleon writes to Eugene, "I shall be at
Konigsberg to-morrow," where his correspondence is dated from
henceforward). A day or two later he writes the King of Rome's
governess that he trusts to hear soon that the fifteen months old
child has cut his first four teeth.
No. 2.
_Gumbinnen, June 20th._--From this place and on this date goes forth
the first bulletin of the _Grande Armee_. It gives a _resume_ of the
causes of the war, dating from the end of 1810, when English influence
again gained ascendency.
On July 29th he writes Hortense from Witepsk to congratulate her on
her eldest son's recovery from an illness. A week later he writes his
librarian for some amusing novels--new ones for choice, or old ones
that he has not read--or good memoirs.
Josephine meanwhile has permission to go to Italy. Owing to her
grandson's illness she defers starting till July 16th. Through
frightful weather she reaches Milan _via_ Geneva on July 28th, and has
a splendid reception. On the 29th she writes to Hortense: "I have
found the three letters from Eugene, the last one dated the 13th; his
health is excellent. He still pursues the Russians, without being able
to overtake them. It is generally hoped the campaign may be a short
one. May that hope be realised!" Two days later she announces the
birth of Eugene's daughter Amelia, afterwards Empress of Brazil.
Towards the end of August Josephine goes to Aix and meets the Queen of
Spain with her sister Desiree Bernadotte, the former "kind and amiable
as usual," the latter "very gracious to me"--rather a new experience.
From Aix she goes to Pregny-la-Tour, on the Lake of Geneva, and shocks
the good people in various ways, says M. Masson, especially by
innuendoes against Napoleon; and he adds, "if one traces back to their
source the worst calumnies against the morals of the Emperor, it is
Josephine that one encounters there." She gets to Malmaison October
24th. Soon after his return from Moscow Napoleon pays her a visit, and
about this time she begins to see the King of Rome, whose mother has
always thought more of her daily music and drawing lessons than of
whether she was making her son happy or not.
1812 closed in gloom, but 1813 was in itself terribly ominous to so
superstitious a woman as Josephine. Thirteen is always unlucky, and
moreover the numbers of 1813 add up to 13; also the doom-dealing year
began on a Friday. Every one felt the hour approaching. As Napoleon
said at St. Helena: "The star grew pale; I felt the reins slipping
from my hand, and I could do no more. A thunderbolt could alone have
saved us, and every day, by some new fatality or other, our chances
diminished. Sinister designs began to creep in among us; fatigue and
discouragement had won over the majority; my lieutenants became lax,
clumsy, careless, and consequently unfortunate; they were no longer
the men of the commencement of the Revolution, nor even of the time of
my good fortune. The chief generals were sick of the war; I had gorged
them too much with my high esteem, with too many honours and too much
wealth. They had drunk from the cup of pleasure, and wished to enjoy
peace at any price. _The sacred fire was quenched._"
Up to August Fortune had smiled again upon her favourite. With
conscripts for infantry and without cavalry he had won Lutzen,
Bautzen, and Dresden; and even so late as September Byron was writing
that "bar epilepsy and the elements he would back Napoleon against the
field." But treachery and incompetence had undermined the Empire, and
Leipsic (that battle of giants, where 110,000 soldiers were killed and
wounded) made final success hopeless. In 1814 his brothers Lucien and
Louis rallied to him, and Hortense was for the only time proud of her
husband. She thinks if he had shown less suspicion and she less pride
they might have been happy after all. "My husband is a good Frenchman
... he is an honest man." Meanwhile, Talleyrand is watching to guide
the _coup de grace_. Napoleon makes a dash for Lorraine to gather his
garrisons and cut off the enemy's supplies. The Allies hesitate and
are about to follow him, as per the rules of war. Talleyrand, the only
man who could ever divine Napoleon, sends them the message, "You can
do everything, and you dare nothing; dare therefore _once_!" Hortense
is the only _man_ left in Paris, and in vain she tries to keep Marie
Louise, whose presence would have stimulated the Parisians to hold the
Allies at bay. It is in vain. Unlike Prussia or Austria who fought
for months, or Spain who fought for years, after their capitals were
taken:--
"Like Nineveh, Carthage, Babylon and Rome,
France yields to the conqueror, vanquished at home."
After Marmont's betrayal Napoleon attempts suicide, and when he
believes death imminent sends a last message to Josephine by
Caulaincourt, "You will tell Josephine that my thoughts were of her
before life departed."
It was on Monday, May 23rd, that Josephine's illness commenced, after
receiving at dinner the King of Prussia and his sons (one afterwards
Wilhelm der Greise, first Emperor of Germany). Whether the sore throat
which killed her was a quinsy or diphtheria[93] is difficult to prove,
but the latter seems the more probable. Corvisart, who was himself ill
and unable to attend, told Napoleon that she died of grief and worry.
Before leaving for the Waterloo campaign Napoleon visited Malmaison,
and there, as Lord Rosebery reminds us, allowed his only oblique
reproach to Marie Louise to escape him: "Poor Josephine. Her death, of
which the news took me by surprise at Elba, was one of the most acute
griefs of that fatal year, 1814. She had her failings, of course; _but
she, at any rate, would never have abandoned me_."
FOOTNOTES
[92] Mlle. d'Avrillon says that during the Swiss voyage Josephine
found it desirable, for the first time, to "wear whalebone in
her corsets."
[93] The same question may be asked respecting the death of
Montaigne.
APPENDIX (1)
A REPUTED POEM BY NAPOLEON I.
LE CHIEN, LE LAPIN, ET LE CHASSEUR.
FABLE.--_Composee a l'age de 13 ans, par_ NAPOLEON I.
Cesar, chien d'arret renomme,
Mais trop enfle de son merite,
Tennait arrete dans son gite
Un malheureux lapin de peur inanime.
"Rends-toi!" lui cria-t-il, d'une voix de tonerre
Qui fit au loin trembler les peuplades des bois.
"Je suis Cesar, connu par ses exploits,
Et dont le nom remplit toute la terre."
A ce grand nom, Jeannot Lapin,
Recommandant a Dieu son ame penitente,
Demande d'une voix tremblante:
"Tres-serenissime matin,
Si je me rends quel sera mon destin?"
"Tu mourras." "Je mourrai!" dit la bete innocente.
"Et si je fuis?" "Ton trepas est certain."
"Quoi!" reprit l'animal qui se nourrit de thym,
"Des deux cotes je dois perdre la vie!
Que votre auguste seigneurie
Veuille me pardonner, puisqu'il me faut mourir,
Si j'ose tenter de m'enfuir."
Il dit, et fuit en heros de garenne.
Caton l'aurait blame; je dis qu'il n'eut pas tort.
Car le chasseur le voit a peine
Qu'il l'ajuste, le tire--et le chien tombe mort
Que dirait de ceci notre bon La Fontaine?
Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera.
I'approuve fort cette methode-la.
APPENDIX (2)
GENEALOGY OF THE BONAPARTE FAMILY
Many more or less fictitious genealogies of the Bonapartes have been
published, some going back to mythical times. The first reliable
record, however, seems to be that of a certain Bonaparte of Sarzana,
in Northern Italy, an imperial notary, who was living towards the end
of the thirteenth century, and from whom both the Corsican and the
Trevisan or Florentine Bonapartes claim their origin. From him in
direct line was descended Francois de Sarzana, who was sent to Corsica
in 1509 to fight for the Republic of Genoa. His son Gabriel, having
sold his patrimony in Italy, settled in Ajaccio, where he bore the
honourable title of Messire, and where, being left a widower, he
assumed the tonsure and died Canon of the cathedral.
From him an unbroken line of Bonapartes, all of whom in turn were
elected to the dignity of Elder of Ajaccio, brings us to Charles
Bonaparte Napoleon, father of the Emperor.
APPENDIX (3)
REPUTED LETTERS OF NAPOLEON TO JOSEPHINE. TAKEN FROM THE MEMOIRS
OF MADAME DUCREST.
The author asked the advice of Monsieur Frederic Masson about
these Letters, to which he at once received the courteous reply, "Il
faut absolument rejeter les Lettres publiees par Regnault Varin[94] et
reproduites par Georgette Ducrest; pas une n'est authentique." No one
who has read much of Napoleon's correspondence can in fact believe for
a moment in their authenticity. They are interesting, however, as
showing the sort of stuff which went to form our grandfathers'
fallacies about the relations of Napoleon and Josephine. Madame
Ducrest occasionally played and sang for Josephine after the
divorce. Her father was a nephew of Madame de Genlis. Madame
Ducrest married a musical composer, M. Bochsa, the then celebrated
author of _Dansomanie_ and _Noces de Gamache_. He afterwards
deserted her, and her voice having completely failed, she was
compelled to write her Memoirs to earn sustenance thereby. Of these
Memoirs M. Masson has said,[95] that "in the midst of apocryphal
documents, uncontroverted anecdotes, impossible situations, are yet
to be found some first-hand personal observations."
No. 1.--1796.
FROM GENERAL BONAPARTE TO HIS WIFE.
My first laurel, my love, must be for my country; my second shall be
for you. While beating Alvinzi I thought of France; when I had
defeated him I thought of you. Your son will present to you a standard
which he received from Colonel Morbach, whom he made prisoner with his
own hands. Our Eugene, you see, is worthy of his father; and I trust
you do not think me an unworthy successor of the great and unfortunate
general, under whom 1 should have been proud to learn to conquer. I
embrace you.
BONAPARTE.
No. 2.--1804.
TO GENERAL BONAPARTE.
I have read over your letter, my dear, perhaps for the tenth time, and
I must confess that the astonishment it caused me has given way only
to feelings of regret and alarm. You wish to raise up the throne of
France, and that, not for the purpose of seating upon it those whom
the Revolution overthrew, but to place yourself upon it. You say, how
enterprising, how grand and, above all, useful is this design; but I
should say, how many obstacles oppose its execution, what sacrifices
will its accomplishment demand, and when realised, how incalculable
will be its results? But let us suppose that your object were already
attained, would you stop at the foundation of the new empire? That new
creation, being opposed by neighbouring states, would stir up war with
them and perhaps entail their ruin. Their neighbours, in their turn,
will not behold it without alarm or without endeavouring to gratify
their revenge by checking it. And at home, how much envy and
dissatisfaction will arise; how many plots must be put down, how many
conspiracies punished! Kings will despise you as an upstart, subjects
will hate you as an usurper, and your equals will denounce you as a
tyrant. None will understand the necessity of your elevation; all will
attribute it to ambition or pride. You will not want for slaves to
crouch beneath your authority until, seconded by some more formidable
power, they rise up to oppose you; happy will it be if poison or the
poignard!... But how can a wife, a friend dwell on these dreadful
anticipations!
This brings my thoughts back to myself, about whom I should care but
little were my personal interests alone concerned. But will not the
throne inspire you with the wish to contract new alliances? Will you
not seek to support your power by new family connections? Alas!
whatever those connections may be, will they compensate for those
which were first knit by corresponding fitness, and which affection
promised to perpetuate? My thoughts linger on the picture which
fear--may I say love, traces in the future. Your ambitious project has
excited my alarm; console me by the assurance of your moderation.
No. 3.--_December 1809._
TO THE EMPEROR.
My forebodings are realised! You have just pronounced the word which
separates us for ever; the rest is nothing more than mere formality.
Such, then, is the result, I shall not say of so many sacrifices (they
were light to me, since they had you for their object), but of an
unbounded friendship on my part and of the most solemn oaths on yours!
It would be a consolation for me if the state which you allege as your
motive were to repay my sacrifice by justifying your conduct! But that
public consideration which you urge as the ground for deserting me is
a mere pretence on your part. Your mistaken ambition has ever been,
and will continue to be, the guide of all your actions, a guide which
has led you to conquests and to the assumption of a crown, and is now
driving you on to disasters and to the brink of a precipice.
You speak of the necessity of contracting an alliance, of giving an
heir to your empire, of founding a dynasty! But with whom are you
about to form an alliance? with the natural enemy of France, that
artful house of Austria, whose detestation of our country has its rise
in its innate feelings, in its system, in the laws of necessity. Do
you believe that this hatred, of which she has given us such abundant
proof, more particularly for the last fifty years, has not been
transferred by her from the kingdom of France to the French empire?
That the children of Maria Theresa, that skilful sovereign, who
purchased from Madame de Pompadour the fatal treaty of 1756, which you
never mention without shuddering; do you imagine, I repeat, that her
posterity, when inheriting her power, has not also inherited her
spirit? I am merely repeating what you have so often said to me; but
at that time your ambition was satisfied with humbling a power which
you now find it convenient to restore to its former rank. Believe me,
as long as you shall exercise a sway over Europe, that power will be
submissive to you; but beware of reverses of fortune.
As to the necessity of an heir, I must speak out, at the risk of
appearing in the character of a mother prejudiced in favour of her
son; ought I, in fact, to be silent when I consider the interests of
one who is my only delight, and upon whom alone you had built all your
hopes? That adoption of the 12th of January 1806 was then another
political falsehood! Nevertheless the talents, the virtues of my
Eugene are no illusion. How often have you not spoken in his praise? I
may say more; you thought it right to reward him by the gift of a
throne, and have repeatedly said that he was deserving of greater
favours. Well, then! France has frequently re-echoed these praises;
but you are now indifferent to the wishes of France.
I say nothing to you at present of the person who is destined to
succeed me, and you do not expect that I should make any allusion to
this subject. You might suspect the feelings which dictated my
language; nevertheless, you can never doubt of the sincerity of my
wishes for your happiness; may it at least afford me some consolation
for my sufferings. Great indeed will be that happiness if it should
ever bear any proportion to them!
No. 4.
PART OF A LETTER SAID TO BE DATED BRIENNE, 1814.
"... On revisiting this spot, where I passed my youthful days, and
contrasting the peaceful condition I then enjoyed with the state of
terror and agitation to which my mind is now a prey, often have I
addressed myself in these words: 'I have sought death in numberless
engagements; I can no longer dread its approach; I should now hail it
as a boon ... nevertheless, I could still wish to see Josephine once
more!'"
No. 5.
TO THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE, AT MALMAISON.
_Fontainebleau, 16th April 1814_.
_My dear Josephine_,--I wrote to you on the 8th instant (it was on a
Friday). You have perhaps not received my letter; fighting was still
going on; it is possible that it may have been stopped on its way. The
communications must now be re-established. My determination is taken;
I have no doubt of this note coming to your hands.
I do not repeat what I have already told you. I then complained of my
situation; I now rejoice at it. My mind and attention are relieved
from an enormous weight; my downfall is great, but it is at least said
to be productive of good.