commendation. This piece, he said, contained the finest scene in the
French Drama. As to its faults, the absurd passion of Philoctetes, for
example, they must not, he said, be attributed to the poet, but to the
manners of the age, and the great actresses of the day, to whose laws a
dramatic writer is obliged to submit. This commendation of Voltaire
rather surprised us: it was something novel and singular in the mouth of
the Emperor.
At eleven o’clock, after the Emperor had retired to bed, he sent for me,
and resumed his conversation on the ancient and modern drama; on which
he made many curious remarks. In the first place, he expressed his
surprise that the Romans should have had no tragedies; but then again he
observed that tragedy, in dramatic representation, would have been ill
calculated to rouse the feelings of the Romans, since they performed
real tragedy in their circuses. “The combats of the gladiators,” said
he, “the sight of men consigned to the fury of wild beasts, were far
more terrible than all our dramatic horrors put together. These, in
fact, were the only tragedies suited to the iron nerves of the Romans.”
However, it was observed that the Romans possessed some dramatic essays,
produced by Seneca. By the by, it is a curious fact, that in Seneca’s
Medea, the chorus distinctly predicts the discovery of America, which
took place fourteen hundred years after that drama was written. In the
passage here alluded to, it is said, “A new Tiphys, a son of the earth,
will, in ages to come, discover remote regions towards the west, and
Thule will no longer be the extremity of the universe.”[5]
Footnote 5:
... venient annis
Sæcula seris, quibus Oceanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat tellus, Tiphysque novos
Detegat orbes, nec sit terris ultima Thule.
_End of the Chorus of the 2d Act of
Seneca’s Medea._
THE EMPEROR CONSIDERABLY BETTER.—INFERNAL MACHINE
STORY.—MADAME R—-- DE ST. J—-- D’A—-- —THE TWO EMPRESSES.—JOSEPHINE’S
EXTRAVAGANCE.—CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTES OF THE EMPEROR.
9th.—To-day the Emperor felt himself infinitely better. He was
surrounded by all his suite, and he began to talk of the prodigies of
his early career, which, he said, must have produced a great impression
in the world. “So great an impression,” said an individual present,
“that some were induced to regard them as supernatural.” On this
subject, the following anecdote was related: At the time of the
explosion of the infernal machine, a person, who had just heard the
news, called at a house in a certain quarter of the capital, and,
hastily entering the drawing-room, in which a party was assembled, he
informed the company that Napoleon was no more; and after giving an
account of the event that had just taken place, he concluded by saying:
“He is fairly blown up.” “He blown up!” exclaimed an old Austrian
officer, who had eagerly listened to all that was said, and who had been
a witness to many of the dangers which the young General of the army of
Italy had so miraculously escaped; “he blown up! Ah! you know nothing
about him. I venture to say that he is, at this very moment, as well as
any of us. I know him and all his tricks of old!”
The name of Madame R—-- de St. J—-- d’A—-- having been mentioned, and
some one having remarked to the Emperor how much attachment she had
evinced for him during his stay at the Isle of Elba. “How! she?”
exclaimed the Emperor, with mingled surprise and satisfaction.—“Yes,
Sire.”—“Poor lady!” said he, in a tone of deep regret; “and yet how ill
I treated her! Well! this at least repays me for the ingratitude of
those renegades, on whom I lavished so many favours....” Then, after a
few moments’ silence, he said, significantly, “It is very certain that
one can never know people’s characters and sentiments until after great
trials.“
At dinner, the Emperor was very good humoured and cheerful. He
congratulated himself on having got through his late illness, without
having recourse to medicine, without paying tribute to the Doctor. At
this, he said, the latter had been very much vexed. He would have been
content with ever so little, with the slightest acknowledgment; he only
asked for compliance with the form, like a priest in confession. The
Emperor laughed, and added, that, out of mere complaisance, he had made
trial of a gargle, but that its strong acidity had disagreed with him.
This led him to observe that mild medicines were best suited to his
constitution. “Gentle remedies, whether physical or moral,” said he,
“are the only ones that take effect on me.”
In the course of conversation, the Emperor spoke of the Empresses
Josephine and Maria Louisa, of whom he related some very interesting
details, and concluded with his usual observation, that the one was the
model of the graces, with all their fascinations; and the other the
emblem of innocence, with all its charms.
The Emperor mentioned that Malmaison had cost about three or four
hundred thousand francs: that is to say, all that he was at that time
possessed of. He then calculated the amount of the sums which the
Empress Josephine must have received from him: and added that, with a
little order and regularity, she might, probably, have left behind her
fifty or sixty million francs. “Her extravagance,” said the Emperor,
“vexed me beyond measure. Calculator as I am, I would, of course, rather
have given away a million of francs than have seen a hundred thousand
squandered away.” He informed us that, having one day unexpectedly
broken in upon Josephine’s morning circle, he found a celebrated
milliner, whom he had expressly forbidden to go near the Empress, as she
was ruining her by extravagant demands. “My unlooked for entrance
occasioned great dismay in the academic sitting. I gave some orders
unperceived, and on the lady’s departure, she was seized and carried to
Bicètre. A great outcry was raised among the higher circles in Paris; it
was said that my conduct was disgraceful. It soon became the fashion to
visit the milliner in her confinement, and there was daily a file of
carriages at the gate of the prison. The police informed me of these
facts. All the better, said I; but I hope she is not treated with
severity; not confined in a dungeon?—‘No, Sire, she has a suite of
apartments, and a drawing room.’ Oh, well! let her be. If this measure
is pronounced to be tyrannical, so much the better; it will be a
diapason stroke for a great many others. Very little will serve to shew
that I can do more.” He also mentioned a celebrated man-milliner, who,
he remarked, was the most insolent fellow he had ever met with in the
whole course of his life. “I was one day,” said the Emperor, “speaking
to him respecting a _trousseau_ that he had furnished, when he had the
presumption to call my conduct in question. He did what no man in
France, except himself, would have ventured to do; he began, with great
volubility, to prove to me that I did not grant a sufficient allowance
to the Empress Josephine; and that it was impossible she could pay for
her clothes out of such a sum. I soon put an end to his impertinent
eloquence; I cut him short with a look, and left him transfixed.”
When the Emperor had retired to his chamber, he sent for me, and after
he had gone to bed, he continued to converse very cheerfully, on various
subjects. He said he found himself much better, and that he felt a
pleasure in chatting. However, he was very much troubled with cough, and
this had forced him to rise from table earlier than he otherwise would
have done. “I unthinkingly took too much snuff,” said he, “my attention
having been absorbed in the conversation of the moment. In such a case
you should always take away my snuff-box: that is the way to serve those
one loves.”
WAR ON HIGH ROADS.—DUMOURIEZ MORE DARING THAN NAPOLEON.—PRINCESS
CHARLOTTE OF WALES AND THE PRINCE OF SAXE COBOURG.
10th.—For some days past, the Emperor has been reading works on war,
fortifications, artillery, &c. He has examined Vauban, an account of
Campaigns during the Revolution, Gassendi’s Dictionary, and Guibert’s
Tactics; with all of which he is much pleased. These subjects have led
him to speak of several Generals who have already been frequently
noticed in the course of this Journal. “They could only carry on war on
high roads,” said he, “and within range of cannon, when their field of
battle should have extended over a whole country.”
During dinner, he spoke of the Campaign of Dumouriez in Champagne, which
he had just been reading. He thought little of the Duke of Brunswick,
who with a plan of offensive operations, had advanced only eighteen
leagues in forty days. But, on the other hand, he very much blamed
Dumouriez, whose position, he said, was far too hazardous. “For me, this
is saying a great deal,” added he; “for I consider myself to have been
the most venturous man in war that perhaps ever lived. Yet I should
certainly have been afraid to keep the position that Dumouriez retained;
so numerous were the dangers it presented. I could only explain his
manœuvre, on the supposition that he could not venture to retire; he
would probably have encountered greater risks in retreating than in
staying where he was. Wellington was placed in the same situation at
Waterloo.
“The French are the bravest troops in the world. They will fight in
whatever position they may be attacked; but they cannot retreat before a
victorious enemy. If they experience the least check, they lose all
presence of mind and discipline; they slip through your fingers, as it
were. Dumouriez, I suppose, calculated on this; or perhaps he might have
been influenced by some secret negotiation of which we are ignorant.”
The newspapers, which we perused to-day, mentioned the marriage of
Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg to the Princess Charlotte of Wales.
“Prince Leopold,” said the Emperor, “once had a chance of becoming my
aid-de-camp. He solicited the appointment, and I don’t know what
prevented his obtaining it. However, it was lucky for him that his
application proved unsuccessful: had it been otherwise, his present
marriage would never have taken place. Who can pretend to say what is
fortunate or unfortunate in the events of human life!...”
Princess Charlotte of Wales next became the subject of conversation.
Some one observed that she was exceedingly popular in England, and that
she had given many unequivocal proofs of energy of character. The
English were of opinion that she would be another Elizabeth, and she
herself seemed to cherish that idea. The person who made these remarks
said that he happened to be in London in 1814, at the time when the
young Princess, indignant at the ill treatment of her mother, slipped
away from the Prince Regent’s, and stepping into the first hackney coach
she met with in the street, drove to the residence of her mother, to
whom she was fondly attached. On this occasion the natural severity of
the English relaxed into indulgence; and all were inclined to pardon the
breach of decorum, in consideration of the amiable sentiment that had
occasioned it. The young Princess would not leave her mother, until the
Duke of York, or another of her uncles, and, as it was said, the Lord
Chancellor, prevailed on her to go back to her father’s, by assuring her
that to persist in the course she had adopted would endanger her
mother’s happiness, perhaps, even her life.
Princess Charlotte had already given a proof of decision of character,
in refusing to marry the Prince of Orange. Her reason for rejecting this
alliance was that it would have obliged her occasionally to reside out
of England; and this truly national sentiment contributed to render her
the more dear to the English people.
The English who are at St. Helena assure us that her union with the
Prince of Saxe Coburg was perfectly in unison with her own wishes, and
that she publicly declared she looked forward to happiness, because in
her choice she had been guided purely by sentiment. She was said to be
much attached to Prince Leopold.—“I readily believe it,” said the
Emperor: “I recollect him very well; and when he appeared at the
Tuileries, I thought him one of the handsomest young men I ever saw.”
Within these few days, the English who are here have related an incident
which they regard as a proof of high spirit and dignity of feeling on
the part of their future Queen. Previously to her marriage, one of the
Ministers waited upon her for the purpose of settling some domestic
details; and, having submitted to her some propositions which she did
not conceive to be sufficiently liberal,—“My Lord,” said she, “I am
heiress to the throne of Great Britain; and my mind has risen to a level
with the exalted station I am destined to fill. Therefore, I must be
provided for accordingly. Do not imagine that, in marrying Prince
Leopold, I ever can or will sink to the rank of _Mistress Coburg_.
Entertain no such idea, I beg of you.”
The young Princess is the idol of the English people, who look forward
to her reign as affording the prospect of future happiness.
The Emperor, again alluding to Prince Leopold, and the chance he had of
becoming his aide-de-camp, said:—“A crowd of German Princes solicited
the same favour. When I established the Confederation of the Rhine, the
Sovereigns who were included in it took it for granted that I intended
to revive in my person the etiquette and forms of the Holy Roman Empire;
and all, even Kings themselves, were eager to join my retinue. One
wished to be appointed my cup-bearer, another my grand butler, &c. At
this period, the Princes of Germany literally invaded the Tuileries;
they crowded the saloons, and modestly mingled with the officers of my
household. It was the same with the Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese;
in short, all the most exalted personages in Europe were assembled at
the Tuileries. The fact is,” added the Emperor, “that, during my reign,
Paris was the queen of nations and the French the first nation in the
world!...”
REMARKS ON SEVERAL IMPORTANT SUBJECTS.—NAPOLEON’S DEBUT IN
DIPLOMACY.—CONCENTRATION OF THE NATIONS OF EUROPE.—CONQUEST OF
SPAIN.—DANGER OF RUSSIA.—BERNADOTTE.
11th.—The Emperor did not leave his chamber to-day. I spent nearly the
whole of the day with him; for I only left him to go to dinner.
The conversations of the day were diffuse and interesting, for the
Emperor was exceedingly chatty. He discussed numerous subjects,
perfectly heterogeneous in their nature, though they were naturally
introduced one by another. His conversation abounded with ideas and
facts totally new to me. But the number and importance of the Emperor’s
remarks rendered it impossible for me to seize them all. My eagerness to
note down the past observation sometimes occasioned the present one to
escape me; but, for this very reason, I can, with the greater
confidence, vouch for the accuracy of what I have preserved.
Speaking of the elements of society, the Emperor said: “Democracy may be
furious; but it has some heart, it may be moved. As to aristocracy, it
is always cold and unforgiving.”
At another time, after some preliminary observations, he said;—“All
human institutions present two opposite points of view; all have their
advantages and disadvantages: for example, both republican and
monarchical government may be defended and opposed. Doubtless, it is
easy to prove in theory that both are equally good, and very good; but
this is not quite so easy in application.” He remarked that the extreme
boundary of the government of many was anarchy; and that the extreme
boundary of the government of a single one was despotism; that a just
medium between both was unquestionably the best, were it in the power of
wisdom steadily to pursue such a course. He added, these truths had been
repeated until they had become absolutely commonplace, without producing
any good result; that on this subject many volumes had been written, and
many would still be written without effect.
The Emperor at another moment said: “Despotism is not absolute; but
merely relative. A man cannot with impunity absorb all power within
himself. If a Sultan strikes off the heads of his subjects, according to
the whim of the moment, he runs the risk of losing his own by the same
sort of caprice. Excess will always incline either to one side or the
other. What the sea gains by encroachment in one direction, it loses
elsewhere. When I was in Egypt, a conqueror, an absolute ruler and
master, dictating laws to the people by mere orders of the day, I could
not have presumed to search the houses, and it would have been out of my
power to prevent the inhabitants from speaking freely in their
coffee-houses, where liberty and independence prevailed even in a
greater degree than in Paris. The people yielded like slaves in all
other places; but they resolved to enjoy full liberty in their
coffee-houses, which were absolutely the citadels of freedom, the
bazaars of public opinion. Here they loudly declaimed, and passed
judgment, on the measures of the day: it would have been impossible to
close their mouths. If I happened to enter these places, all bowed
before me, it is true; but this was a mark of esteem to me personally.
No such homage was shewn to any lieutenants.
“Be this as it may,” said he, alluding to another topic, “France, when
subject to the opposing influences of many, was on the point of falling
beneath the blows of combined Europe: but she placed the helm in the
hands of one, and immediately the First Consul laid down the law to
Europe. Such is the power of unity and concentration; these are facts
which must be convincing to the meanest understandings.
“It was curious to observe that the old cabinets of Europe were unable
to conceive the importance of this change, and that they continued to
treat with unity and concentration, in the same manner as they had done
with the multitude and dispersion. It is not less remarkable that the
Emperor Paul, who was looked upon as a madman, was the first to
appreciate this difference; while the English Ministers, reputed to be
so skilful and experienced, were the very last. ‘_I set aside the
abstractions of your Revolution_,’ Paul wrote to me, ‘_I confine myself
to a fact; that is sufficient for me: in my eyes you are a government,
and I address myself to you, because we can understand each other, and I
can treat with you_.’
“With regard to the English Ministry, I was ever obliged to conquer and
force to peace, and absolutely to detach England from the rest of
Europe, before I could make them to listen to me; and even when they
opened negotiations with me, they drawled on in the ruts of the old
routine. They tried to divert my attention by delays, protocols, forms,
ceremonies, precedents, and I know not what. But I felt myself so
powerful that I could afford to laugh at all this!
“A new state of things required a new line of conduct; but the English
Ministers seemed to have no idea of the age, or of the men and things
belonging to it. My manner quite disconcerted them. I commenced in
diplomacy, as I had already commenced in arms. These are my
propositions, said I, to the English Ministry:—we are masters of Holland
and Switzerland; but I am ready to resign both, in return for the
restitutions that you make to us or our allies. We are also masters of
Italy, of which I will surrender one portion and retain the other, for
the purpose of guaranteeing the existence of all. These are my bases;
build upon them as much as you please; I care not for that; but the
object and result must remain as I have specified. I will not yield a
hair’s breadth of my determination. My object is not to purchase
concessions from you; but to enter into reasonable, honourable, and
lasting engagements. This is the circle I have traced out. It appears to
me that you have formed no notion of our respective situations or
resources. I fear not your refusal, your efforts, or any difficulties
you may throw in my way. I have a strong arm, and I only want a weight
to lift.
“This unusual language,” continued the Emperor, “produced the desired
effect. In the negotiations at Amiens, they had intended merely to
divert us; but they now began to treat seriously. Not knowing at what
point I was vulnerable, they offered to make me King of France. This was
a good idea! King, by the grace of foreigners, when I was already
Sovereign by the will of the people!...
“Such was the ascendency I had acquired that, even while the
negotiations were pending, I caused the Italians to assign to me the
Presidency of their Republic; and this circumstance, which, in the
ordinary course of European diplomacy, would naturally have created so
many obstacles, occasioned no interruption of the proceedings. Matters
were brought to a conclusion; and I gained my point by plain dealing,
better than if I had fallen into all the usual diplomatic subtleties.
Many libellous pamphlets, and manifestoes of no better character,
accused me of perfidy, and of breach of faith in my negotiations; but I
never merited these charges, which, on the contrary, might always have
been justly applied to the other cabinets of Europe.
“At Amiens, I sincerely thought that the fate of France and Europe, and
my own destiny, were permanently fixed; I hoped that war was at an end.
However, the English Cabinet again kindled the flame. England is alone
responsible for all the miseries by which Europe has since been
afflicted. For my part, I intended to have devoted myself wholly to the
internal interests of France; and I am confident that I should have
wrought miracles. I should have lost nothing in the scale of glory; and
I should have gained much in the scale of happiness. I should then have
achieved the moral conquest of Europe, which I was afterwards on the
point of accomplishing by force of arms. Of how much glory was I thus
deprived!
“My enemies always spoke of my love of war; but was I not constantly
engaged in self-defence? After every victory I gained, did I not
immediately make proposals for peace?
“The truth is that I never was master of my own actions. I never was
entirely myself. I might have conceived many plans; but I never had it
in my power to execute any. I held the helm with a vigorous hand; but
the fury of the waves was greater than any force that I could exert in
resisting them; and I prudently yielded, rather than incur the risk of
sinking through stubborn opposition. I never was truly my own master;
but was always controlled by circumstances. Thus, at the commencement of
my rise, during the Consulate, my sincere friends and warm partisans
frequently asked me, with the best intentions, and as a guide for their
own conduct, _what point I was driving at?_ and I always answered that I
did not know. They were surprised, probably dissatisfied, and yet I
spoke the truth. Subsequently, during the Empire, when there was less
familiarity, many faces seemed to put the same question to me; and I
might still have given the same reply. In fact, I was not master of my
actions, because I was not fool enough to attempt to twist events into
conformity with my system. On the contrary, I moulded my system
according to the unforeseen succession of events. This often appeared
like unsteadiness and inconsistency, and of these faults I was sometimes
unjustly accused.”
After alluding to some other subjects, the Emperor said, “One of my
great plans was the re-uniting, the concentration, of those same
geographical nations which have been separated and parcelled out by
revolution and policy. There are in Europe, dispersed, it is true,
upwards of thirty millions of French, fifteen millions of Spaniards,
fifteen millions of Italians, and thirty millions of Germans; and it was
my intention to incorporate these people each into one nation. It would
have been a noble thing to have advanced into posterity with such a
train, and attended by the blessings of future ages. I felt myself
worthy of this glory!
“After this summary simplification, it would have been possible to
indulge the chimera of the _beau ideal_ of civilization. In this state
of things, there would have been some chance of establishing, in every
country, a unity of codes, principles, opinions, sentiments, views, and
interests. Then, perhaps, by the help of the universal diffusion of
knowledge, one might have thought of attempting, in the great European
family, the application of the American Congress, or the Amphictyons of
Greece; and then what a perspective of power, greatness, happiness, and
prosperity! What a grand, what a magnificent, spectacle!