ROME.--Prince Napoleon, the head of the Bonaparte family and _de
jure_ Emperor of the French, has died at Rome after a long and
serious illness, during the course of which, faithful to his declared
principles, he refused to accept a drop of medicine. His has been
a strange and eventful life. Nephew of the great Napoleon, born in
Trieste in 1822, he has been four times in exile. He was born in exile
and he has died in exile. One of the most brilliant men who ever lived,
one of the most statesmanlike, his whole life has been ruined, and the
great promise of his youth spoiled, by the cynical disregard of the
opinion of others which has always distinguished him. He was far the
superior of his cousin, the Emperor Napoleon III., and if his advice
had had more weight with the Emperor, the Republic in France would
still be a hopeless dream, and the mud of Panama would not have soiled
France.
Prince Napoleon had, of course no connection with the _coup d'état_
of the Second December that gave Napoleon III. the French Empire,
for his claims were indisputably superior to those of the successful
plotter; and although a reconciliation did take place between them,
their relations were never very cordial, in spite of the fact that the
Emperor placed great reliance upon Prince Napoleon's judgment. It may
be safely said that if Prince Napoleon had been in Paris during the
fatal days of 1870, the unfortunate war with Prussia would never have
been declared. It is ancient history now that the Empress Eugénie was
the cause of that war, and in private conversation often referred to it
as "_Ma Guerre_."
Not long since I met the famous Doctor Cordes of Geneva, who had been
called in consultation by the Emperor before he started on the fatal
campaign that culminated in Sedan; and he told me that the Emperor was
simply a child in the hands of the Empress, for he was, at that time,
suffering the most terrible agony from stone in the bladder. At that
time, however, Prince Napoleon was traveling in Spitzbergen with his
_bon amis_, Ernest Renan, the clever author of the "_Vie de Jésus_,"
and knew nothing of passing events. A warning dispatch was indeed sent
to him, but he shrugged his shoulders on receiving it and remarked that
although the members of the government in France were "_imbeciles_,"
still they were not all fools.
But events proved that they were, and Prince Napoleon hurried back
upon the declaration of war, meeting with a hostile reception on his
way through Scotland, where the sympathies of the people were with
Prussia. He found the French Ambassador in London, M. de la Vallette,
jubilant and repeating the boomerang-like phrase, "_A Berlin_." The
Prince foretold the result clearly and exactly, and after Sedan quietly
devoted himself to scientific pursuits until the time for the third
Empire should arrive. He had never liked the Empress Eugénie. He saw
clearly the mistake the Emperor had made in not allying himself with
one of the reigning houses; and in espousing the beautiful Mademoiselle
de Montijo. He assumed a spiteful attitude toward the Empress whom he
called "_Ni-Ni_," and once refused to drink her health in public.
M. Renan says of him that his grasp of a subject was wonderful, his
wit extraordinary, and his executive ability unsurpassed. His sister,
the brilliant Princess Mathilde, who shares so many of his gifts, has
the only _salon_ in Paris to-day, and with her brother's death and the
union of his party it will become historical.
Prince Napoleon was so reserved that he went through life without
inspiring or receiving any real affection, and without meaning it he
unconsciously repelled adherents who wished to become devoted. He had
the misfortune of passing for a Republican under the Empire and for an
Imperialist under the Republic, which was the more unfortunate as he
despised all forms of government, and in his ambition to rule would
have put up with any. A curious thing about him was the fact that his
followers liked him better at a distance. Only the other day one of his
staunchest friends exclaimed: "I never liked him so well as now, when I
know I shall not see him again."
At a distance people remembered only his brilliancy, culture, eloquence
and the surprising ease with which he mastered every problem, however
difficult, in public affairs. He was superior everywhere and popular
nowhere, and although he had the personal magnetism which enforces
admiration at first sight, he had also the unfortunate power of
inducing antipathy toward him on further acquaintance.
The deceased Prince's life was in all its vicissitudes an extraordinary
one and is rich in anecdotes and stories. His career was a succession
of false steps, and again and again the cup of power was at his lips,
only to be dashed to the ground by his own mistake. A man of majestic
person, high ambitions and unexcelled ability, his singular lack of
tact and knack of doing the wrong thing in the right place ruined his
chances of success.
Prince Jerome Napoleon, or the Emperor Napoleon the Fifth--to give him
his real title--was the son of Jerome Bonaparte (the brother of the
great Napoleon), King of Westphalia, by his marriage with the Princess
Catherine of Wurtemburg. He was brought up in Rome, Austria and Geneva,
and finished his education under the supervision of his uncle, the King
of Wurtemburg, at the military school of Ludwisburg, near Stuttgart.
On the establishment of the Empire, under his cousin, he took rank
as Heir Apparent before the Prince Imperial's birth, after which
he became Heir Presumptive, and was for some time Governor-General
of Algeria. The Emperor often employed him upon various diplomatic
military and scientific missions. Many people may have forgotten that
at one time Prince Napoleon was a prominent rival of the Emperor. When
the future Napoleon III. was indulging in various little escapades
that made it seem unlikely he would ever rise to any great position,
fortune favoured his more youthful cousin. Prince Napoleon had every
advantage. In looks he was weirdly like the first Napoleon. I saw
him here last year and instinctively looked for the cocked hat and
knee breeches associated forever with "_le petit caporal_." No one
who saw his massive, clean-shaven, powerful face could doubt that he
stood face to face with a veritable Napoleon. He seemed to hold the
winning card when the Revolution of 1848 broke out, but every day he
lost ground, notwithstanding his active interference in affairs, and
every day Prince Louis Napoleon gained more influence in spite of his
reserve. And this illustrates French nature. It prefers a man who is
impenetrable rather than one who bustles about and allows his plans to
be found out. After a few pitched battles Prince Napoleon allowed it to
appear that he recognized his cousin as the stronger man, and attached
himself to his cause. But he had no sympathy with the men who planned
the _coup d'état_. He distrusted and disliked them, and they returned
the compliment. But he became Heir Presumptive, was made a general and
had the Palais-Royal as a residence with £40,000 a year.
In 1859 he married Princess Clotilde, the daughter of King Victor
Emanuel, and sister of the present King of Italy. He leaves three
children, Prince Victor Napoleon--now Napoleon the Sixth,--Princess
Letitia, widow of the Duke of Aosta, and Prince Louis, a colonel in
the Russian Dragoons. And now we come to two mistakes generally made
as to the dead Prince's character. He was not a coward and he was not
an atheist. Ever since the Crimean war Prince Napoleon has been dogged
with a reputation for cowardice and was given the nicknames of "_Plon
Plon_" and "_Cringe Plomb_" by the Parisian mob. There is not a doubt,
however, that he behaved with all the courage of his race at the battle
of the Alma, and that his recall was not due to his own choosing, but
to the intrigues of his enemies.
The report of the Marshal Commanding confirms this. But a damning story
of his ill-health was circulated at the time by the semi-official
papers, and the mob was ready to put the worst construction on it.
Report says the Empress Eugénie was in no small degree responsible
for these rumours, for she cordially disliked him and he returned the
feeling with interest.
Fate was again cruel to him in the war with Prussia in 1870-'71. When
he returned from Spitzbergen he was anxious to be given a responsible
command in the Imperial army, but instead was sent off to Italy to keep
King Victor Emanuel in a good humour. He had one more chance, before
the war, of redeeming his honour, when the Duc d'Aumale challenged him
to a duel, but lost it by too much conscientiousness. He hastened to
the Tuilleries to ask if he ought to fight. Of course the Emperor said
no, and then the Empress made her famous but ill-natured _bon mot_,
"If a bullet is ever found in our cousin's body it will be that he has
swallowed it."
Prince Napoleon was not an atheist. This is proved by his whole life,
by his friends and by his death, and will be proved by his memoirs, for
in his last moments, while still conscious, he received Extreme Unction
from Cardinal Bonaparte, and he has had a religious funeral. He was an
anti-clerical, and while certainly not a religious man, he inclined
towards the doctrines of Rousseau.
The famous Good Friday dinner at which the Prince and his guests ate
_charcuterie_ and drank a somewhat profane toast was the base of the
belief respecting his religious opinions--a belief greatly magnified
and spread by the Empress Eugénie. Prince Napoleon never knew when to
speak and when to remain silent, although a magnificent orator, and his
failing has been well summed up by a famous senator: "The Prince speaks
well, he is the best of orators--but he says only too well what had
best been left unsaid."
His friends were the most famous men of the day, Victor Hugo, Edmond
About, Ste. Beuve and Père Hyacinthe, who sent him his blessing as he
lay dying. His relations with the Emperor show many instances of his
want of tact. Having been complimented by Napoleon upon two speeches
delivered in the Senate against the temporal power of the Pope, he
resolved to improve upon them, and then delivered his famous anti-Papal
speech at Ajaccio, a speech which drew forth the following interesting
letter of remonstrance from the Emperor:
"_Monsieur Mon Cousin_,--I cannot help informing you of the painful
impression which I received on reading the speech you delivered at
Ajaccio. When I left you in Paris with the Empress and my son and as
President of the Privy Council, I hoped that you would prove yourself
by your acts, conduct and speeches, worthy of the trust which I had
placed in you, and that you would set the example of that unity which
ever ought to exist in our family. You have raised questions which
no longer concern our day. It is necessary to have borne, as I have,
the responsibilities of power in order to judge how far the ideas of
Napoleon I. are applicable to the present time. Before the great statue
of the founder of our family, what are we but pigmies, only able to
behold a part and incapable of grasping the whole? One thing, however,
is certain, and that is that Napoleon exercised--first of all in his
family and then in his government--that severe discipline without which
all government is impossible, and without which all liberty leads to
anarchy. Having said this much, my cousin, I pray God to have you in
his holy keeping.