Napoleon has been accused of having hastened the death of this beautiful
Princess by his treatment of her at Tilsit. It is said he admitted that
if she had been present at the beginning of the negotiations for peace,
she would have had considerable influence upon the result. Napoleon
observed that she received him in truly tragic style--demanding and
crying for justice.
The Prussians were blind to Buonaparte’s power. They had dared to combat
a hero--to oppose themselves to the destiny of France, and reject the
friendship of Napoleon. The Queen solicited, supplicated, and implored;
but in vain. Magdeburg, above all, was the object she sought for.
The Emperor asked the Queen to dinner. Before they were seated, he took
a very beautiful rose, and presented it to her. The motion of her hand
seemed to express a refusal; but altering her mind she said, “_Oui, mais
au moins avec Magdeburg_.” On this, the cruel Emperor replied, “I should
observe to your Majesty, that it is I who give, and you who receive.”
The dinner passed off in conversation of similar nature.
On the morrow the Queen was much enraged on learning that the treaty
deprived her of Magdeburg. She appears to have parted from the French
Emperor with feelings of hatred.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S INTERVIEW WITH THE PRUSSIAN QUEEN.]