_Change in Napoleon's Domestic Life--Causes which led to it--His
anxiety for an Heir--A Son of his brother Louis is fixed upon, but
dies in Childhood--Character and influence of Josephine--Strong
mutual attachment betwixt her and Napoleon--Fouché opens to
Josephine the Plan of a Divorce--her extreme Distress--On 5th
December, Napoleon announces her Fate to Josephine--On 15th they are
formally separated before the Imperial Council--Josephine retaining
the rank of Empress for life--Espousals of Buonaparte and Maria
Louisa of Austria take place at Vienna, 11th March, 1810._
[Sidenote: CHANGE IN NAPOLEON'S DOMESTIC LIFE.]
There is perhaps no part of the varied life of the wonderful person of
whom we treat, more deeply interesting, than the change which took place
in his domestic establishment, shortly after the peace of Vienna. The
main causes of that change are strongly rooted in human nature, but
there were others which arose out of Napoleon's peculiar situation. The
desire of posterity--of being represented long after our own earthly
career is over, by those who derive their life and condition in society
from us, is deeply rooted in our species. In all ages and countries,
children are accounted a blessing, barrenness a misfortune at least, if
not a curse. This desire of maintaining a posthumous connexion with the
world, through the medium of our descendants, is increased, when there
is property or rank to be inherited; and, however vain the thought,
there are few to which men cling with such sincere fondness, as the
prospect of bequeathing to their children's children the fortunes they
have inherited from their fathers, or acquired by their own industry.
There is kindness as well as some vanity in the feeling; for the
attachment which we bear to the children whom we see and love, naturally
flows downward to their lineage, whom we may never see. The love of
distant posterity is in some degree the metaphysics of natural
affection.
It was impossible that the founder of so vast an empire as that of
Napoleon, could be insensible to a feeling which is so deeply grafted in
our nature, as to influence the most petty proprietor of a house and a
few acres--it is of a character to be felt in proportion to the extent
of the inheritance; and so viewed, there never existed in the world
before, and, it is devoutly to be hoped, will never be again permitted
by Providence to arise, a power so extensive, so formidable as
Napoleon's. Immense as it was, it had been, moreover, the work of his
own talents; and, therefore, he must have anticipated, with the greater
pain, that the system, perfected by so much labour and blood, should
fall to pieces on the death of him by whom it had been erected, or that
the reins of empire should be grasped after that event "by some unlineal
hand,"
"No son of his succeeding."
The drop of gall, which the poet describes so naturally as embittering
the cup of the Usurper of Scotland, infused, there is no doubt, its full
bitterness into that of Napoleon.
[Sidenote: JOSEPHINE.]
The sterility of the Empress Josephine was now rendered, by the course
of nature, an irremediable evil, over which she mourned in hopeless
distress; and conscious on what precarious circumstances the continuance
of their union seemed now to depend, she gave way occasionally to fits
of jealousy, less excited, according to Napoleon,[24] by personal
attachment, than by suspicion that her influence over her husband's mind
might be diminished, in case of his having offspring by some paramour.
She turned her thoughts to seek a remedy, and exerted her influence over
her husband, to induce him to declare some one his successor, according
to the unlimited powers vested in him by the Imperial constitution. In
the selection, she naturally endeavoured to direct his choice towards
his step-son, Eugene Beauharnois, her own son by her first marriage; but
this did not meet Buonaparte's approbation. A child, the son of his
brother Louis, by Hortense Beauharnois, appeared, during its brief
existence, more likely to become the destined heir of this immense
inheritance. Napoleon seemed attached to the boy; and when he
manifested any spark of childish spirit, rejoiced in the sound of the
drum, or showed pleasure in looking upon arms and the image of war, he
is said to have exclaimed--"_There_ is a child fit to succeed, perhaps
to surpass me."[25]
The fixing his choice on an heir so intimately connected with herself,
would have secured the influence of Josephine, as much as it could
receive assurance from any thing save bearing her husband issue herself;
but she was not long permitted to enjoy this prospect. The son of Louis
and Hortense died of a disorder incident to childhood; and thus was
broken, while yet a twig, the shoot, that, growing to maturity, might
have been reckoned on as the stay of an empire. Napoleon showed the
deepest grief, but Josephine sorrowed as one who had no hope.[26]
Yet, setting aside her having the misfortune to bear him no issue, the
claims of Josephine on her husband's affections were as numerous as
could be possessed by a wife. She had shared his more lowly fortunes,
and, by her management and address during his absence in Egypt, had
paved the way for the splendid success which he had attained on his
return. She had also done much to render his government popular, by
softening the sudden and fierce bursts of passion to which his
temperament induced him to give way. No one could understand, like
Josephine, the peculiarities of her husband's temper--no one dared, like
her, to encounter his displeasure, rather than not advise him for his
better interest--no one could possess such opportunities of watching the
fit season for intercession--and no one, it is allowed on all hands,
made a more prudent, or a more beneficent use of the opportunities she
enjoyed. The character of Buonaparte, vehement by temper, a soldier by
education, and invested by Fortune with the most despotic power,
required peculiarly the moderating influence of such a mind, which could
interfere without intrusion, and remonstrate without offence.
To maintain this influence over her husband, Josephine made not only
unreluctantly, but eagerly, the greatest personal sacrifices. In many of
the rapid journeys which he performed, she was his companion. No
obstacle of road or weather was permitted to interfere with her
departure. However sudden the call, the Empress was ever ready; however
untimely the hour, her carriage was in instant attendance. The influence
which she maintained by the sacrifice of her personal comforts, was used
for the advancement of her husband's best interests--the relief of those
who were in distress, and the averting the consequences of hasty
resolutions, formed in a moment of violence or irritation.
Besides her considerable talents, and her real beneficence of
disposition, Josephine was possessed of other ties over the mind of her
husband. The mutual passion which had subsisted between them for many
years, if its warmth had subsided, seems to have left behind
affectionate remembrances and mutual esteem. The grace and dignity with
which Josephine played her part in the Imperial pageant, was calculated
to gratify the pride of Napoleon, which might have been shocked at
seeing the character of Empress discharged with less ease and
adroitness; for her temper and manners enabled her, as one early
accustomed to the society of persons of political influence, to conduct
herself with singular dexterity in the intrigues of the splendid and
busy court, where she filled so important a character. Lastly, it is
certain that Buonaparte, who, like many of those that affect to despise
superstition, had a reserve of it in his own bosom, believed that his
fortunes were indissolubly connected with those of Josephine; and loving
her as she deserved to be beloved, he held his union with her the more
intimate, that there was attached to it, he thought, a spell affecting
his own destinies, which had ever seemed most predominant when they had
received the recent influence of Josephine's presence.
Notwithstanding all these mutual ties, it was evident to the politicians
of the Tuileries, that whatever attachment and veneration for the
Empress Napoleon might profess and feel, it was likely, in the long-run,
to give way to the eager desire of a lineal succession, to which he
might bequeath his splendid inheritance. As age advanced, every year
weakened, though in an imperceptible degree, the influence of the
Empress, and must have rendered more eager the desire of her husband to
form a new alliance, while he was yet at a period of life enabling him
to hope he might live to train to maturity the expected heir.
[Sidenote: DIVORCE OF JOSEPHINE.]
Fouché, the minister of police, the boldest political intriguer of his
time, discovered speedily to what point the Emperor must ultimately
arrive, and seems to have meditated the ensuring his own power and
continuance in favour, by taking the initiative in a measure in which,
perhaps, Napoleon might be ashamed to break the ice in person.[27]
Sounding artfully his master's disposition, Fouché was able to discover
that the Emperor was struggling betwixt the supposed political
advantages to be derived from a new matrimonial union on the one hand,
and, on the other, love for his present consort, habits of society which
particularly attached him to Josephine, and the species of superstition
which we have already noticed. Having been able to conjecture the state
of the Emperor's inclinations, the crafty counsellor determined to make
Josephine herself the medium of suggesting to Buonaparte the measure of
her own divorce, and his second marriage, as a sacrifice necessary to
consolidate the empire, and complete the happiness of the Emperor.
One evening at Fontainbleau, as the Empress was returning from mass,
Fouché detained her in the embrasure of a window in the gallery, while,
with an audacity almost incomprehensible, he explained, with all the
alleviating qualifications his ingenuity could suggest, the necessity of
a sacrifice, which he represented as equally sublime and inevitable. The
tears gathered in Josephine's eyes--her colour came and went--her lips
swelled--and the least which the counsellor had to fear, was his advice
having brought on a severe nervous affection. She commanded her
emotions, however, sufficiently to ask Fouché, with a faltering voice,
whether he had any commission to hold such language to her. He replied
in the negative, and said that he had only ventured on such an
insinuation from his having predicted with certainty what must
necessarily come to pass; and from his desire to turn her attention to
what so nearly concerned her glory and happiness.[28]
In consequence of this interview, an impassioned and interesting scene
is said to have taken place betwixt Buonaparte and his consort, in which
he naturally and truly disavowed the communication of Fouché, and
attempted, by every means in his power, to dispel her apprehensions. But
he refused to dismiss Fouché, when she demanded it as the punishment due
to that minister's audacity, in tampering with her feelings; and this
refusal alone might have convinced Josephine, that though ancient
habitual affection might for a time maintain its influence in the
nuptial chamber, it must at length give way before the suggestions of
political interest, which were sure to predominate in the cabinet. In
fact, when the idea had once been started, the chief objection was
removed, and Buonaparte, being spared the pain of directly communicating
the unkind and ungrateful proposal to Josephine, had now only to afford
her time to familiarise herself with the idea of a divorce, as that
which political combinations rendered inevitable.
The communication of Fouché was made before Napoleon undertook his
operations in Spain; and by the time of the meeting at Erfurt, the
divorce seems to have been a matter determined, since the subject of a
match betwixt Buonaparte and one of the archduchesses, the possibility
of which had been anticipated as far back as the treaty of Tilsit, was
resumed, seriously treated of, and if not received with cordiality by
the Imperial family of Russia, was equally far from being finally
rejected. The reigning Empress, and the Empress Mother, were, however,
opposed to it. The ostensible motive was, as we have elsewhere said, the
difference of religion; but these high-minded princesses rejected the
alliance chiefly on account of the personal character of the suitor. And
although it must have been managed with the greatest secrecy imaginable,
it seems probable that the idea of substituting an Archduchess of
Austria for her whose hand was refused him, was started in the course of
the treaty of Schoenbrun, and had its effects in providing lenient terms
for the weaker party. Napoleon himself says, that he renounced his
purpose of dismembering Austria when his marriage was fixed upon. But
the conditions of peace were signed on the 15th of October, and
therefore the motive which influenced Napoleon in granting them must
have had existence previous to that period.
Yet the contrary is boldly asserted. The idea of the match is said to
have been suggested by the Austrian government at a later period, upon
understanding that difficulties had occurred in Napoleon's negotiation
for a matrimonial alliance in the family of Alexander. Fouché ascribes
the whole to the address of his own agent, the Comte de Narbonne, a
Frenchman of the old school, witty, pliant, gay, well-mannered, and
insinuating, who was ambassador at Vienna in the month of January
1810.[29]
But, whether the successor of Josephine were or were not already
determined upon, the measures for separating this amiable and
interesting woman from him whose fortunes she had assisted to raise, and
to whose person she was so much attached, were in full and public
operation soon after her husband's return from the campaign of Wagram.
Upon the 3d of December, Buonaparte attended the solemn service of Te
Deum for his victories. He was clad with unusual magnificence, wearing
the Spanish costume, and displaying in his hat an enormous plume of
feathers. The Kings of Saxony and Wirtemberg, who attended as his
satellites on this occasion, were placed beside him in full uniform, and
remained uncovered during the ceremony.
From the cathedral, Napoleon passed to the opening of the Legislative
Body, and boasted, in the oration he addressed to them, of the victories
which he had achieved, and the trophies which he had acquired; nay, he
vaunted of his having reunited Tuscany to the empire--as if the spoiling
the inoffensive and unresisting widow and orphan could ever be a
legitimate subject of triumph. From the existing affairs of Spain, no
direct reason for gratulation could be derived; but when Napoleon could
no longer claim praise from things as they presently stood, he was
profuse in his promises of a rapid change to the better, and spoke as a
prophet when he ceased to be the reporter of agreeable facts. "When I,"
he said, "show myself on the other side of the Pyrenees, the terrified
Leopard shall plunge into the ocean, to avoid shame, defeat, and
destruction. The triumph of my arms shall be that of the Genius of Good
over the Genius of Evil, of moderation, order, and morals, over civil
war, anarchy, and the malevolent passions." With such fair colouring
will ambition and injustice attempt to screen their purposes. A poetical
reply from M. de Fontanes assured the Emperor, that whatever was
connected with him must arise to grandeur, whatever was subjected to any
other influence was threatened with a speedy fall. "It was therefore
necessary," he continued, "to submit to your ascendency, whose counsels
are at once recommended by heroism and by policy." To this speech
Buonaparte made a rejoinder, in which, resuming the well-worn themes of
his own praises, he alluded to the obstacles which he had surmounted,
and concluded, "I and my family will always know how to sacrifice our
most tender affections to the interests and welfare of the Great
Nation." These concluding words, the meaning of which was already
guessed by all who belonged to the Court, were soon no riddle to the
public in general.
Two days afterwards, Napoleon made Josephine acquainted with the cruel
certainty, that the separation was ultimately determined upon. But not
the many months which had passed since the subject was first touched
upon by Fouché--not the conviction which she must have long since
received from various quarters, that the measure was unalterably
resolved upon, could strengthen her to hear the tongue of her beloved
husband announce what was in fact, though not in name, a sentence of
repudiation. She fell into a long and profound swoon. Napoleon was much
affected, but his resolution was taken, and could not be altered. The
preparations for the separation went on without delay.
On the 15th December, just ten days after the official communication of
her fate had been given to the Empress, Napoleon and Josephine appeared
in presence of the Arch-Chancellor, the family of Napoleon, the
principal officers of state--in a word, the full Imperial Council. In
this assembly, Napoleon stated the deep national interest which required
that he should have successors of his own body, the heirs of his love
for his people, to occupy the throne on which Providence had placed him.
He informed them, that he had for several years renounced the hope of
having children by his well-beloved Empress Josephine; and that
therefore he had resolved to subject the feelings of his heart to the
good of the state, and desire the dissolution of their marriage. He was,
he said, but forty years old, and might well hope to live to train up
such children as Providence might send him, in his own sentiments and
arts of government. Again he dwelt on the truth and tenderness of his
beloved spouse, his partner during fifteen years of happy union. Crowned
as she had been by his own hand, he desired she should retain the rank
of Empress during her life.
Josephine arose, and with a faltering voice, and eyes suffused with
tears, expressed in a few words[30] sentiments similar to those of her
husband. The Imperial pair then demanded from the Arch-Chancellor a
written instrument in evidence of their mutual desire of separation; and
it was granted accordingly, in all due form, with the authority of the
Council.
The Senate were next assembled; and on the 16th December, pronounced a
consultum, or decree, authorising the separation of the Emperor and
Empress, and assuring to Josephine a dowry of two millions of francs,
and the rank of Empress during her life. Addresses were voted to both
the Imperial parties, in which all possible changes were rung on the
duty of subjecting our dearest affections to the public good; and the
conduct of Buonaparte in exchanging his old consort for a young one, was
proclaimed a sacrifice, for which the eternal love of the French people
could alone console his heart.
The union of Napoleon and Josephine being thus abrogated by the supreme
civil power, it only remained to procure the intervention of the
spiritual authorities. The Arch-Chancellor, duly authorised by the
Imperial pair, presented a request for this purpose to the Diocesan of
the Officiality, or ecclesiastical court of Paris, who did not hesitate
to declare the marriage dissolved, assigning, however, no reason for
such their doom. They announced it, indeed, as conforming to the decrees
of councils, and the usages of the Gallican Church--a proposition which
would have cost the learned and reverend officials much trouble, if they
had been required to make it good either by argument or authority.
When this sentence had finally dissolved their union, the Emperor
retired to St. Cloud, where he lived in seclusion for some days.
Josephine, on her part, took up her residence in the beautiful villa of
Malmaison, near St. Germains. Here she principally dwelt for the
remaining years of her life, which were just prolonged to see the first
fall of her husband; an event which might have been averted had he been
content to listen more frequently to her lessons of moderation. Her life
was chiefly spent in cultivating the fine arts, of which she collected
some beautiful specimens, and in pursuing the science of botany; but
especially in the almost daily practice of acts of benevolence and
charity, of which the English _détenus_, of whom there were several at
St. Germains, frequently shared the benefit.[31] Napoleon visited her
very frequently, and always treated her with the respect to which she
was entitled. He added also to her dowry a third million of francs, that
she might feel no inconvenience from the habits of expense to which it
was her foible to be addicted.
[Sidenote: MARIA LOUISA.]
This important state measure was no sooner completed, than the Great
Council was summoned, on the 1st February, to assist the Emperor in the
selection of a new spouse. They were given to understand, that a match
with a Grand Duchess of Russia had been proposed, but was likely to be
embarrassed by disputes concerning religion. A daughter of the King of
Saxony was also mentioned, but it was easily indicated to the Council
that their choice ought to fall upon a Princess of the House of Austria.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Eugene, the son of the repudiated
Josephine, was commissioned by the Council to propose to the Austrian
ambassador a match between Napoleon and the Archduchess Maria
Louisa.[32] Prince Schwartzenberg had his instructions on the subject;
so that the match was proposed, discussed, and decided in the Council,
and afterwards adjusted between plenipotentiaries on either side, in the
space of twenty-four hours.[33] The espousals of Napoleon and Maria
Louisa were celebrated at Vienna, 11th March, 1810. The person of
Buonaparte was represented by his favourite Berthier, while the Archduke
Charles assisted at the ceremony, in the name of the Emperor Francis. A
few days afterwards, the youthful bride, accompanied by the Queen of
Naples, proceeded towards France.
With good taste, Napoleon dispensed with the ceremonies used in the
reception of Marie Antoinette, whose marriage with Louis XVI., though
never named or alluded to, was in other respects the model of the
present solemnity. Near Soissons, a single horseman, no way
distinguished by dress, rode past the carriage in which the young
Empress was seated, and had the boldness to return, as if to reconnoitre
more closely. The carriage stopped, the door was opened, and Napoleon,
breaking through all the tediousness of ceremony, introduced himself to
his bride, and came with her to Soissons.[34] The marriage ceremony was
performed at St. Cloud by Buonaparte's uncle, the Cardinal Fesch. The
most splendid rejoicings, illuminations, concerts, festivals, took place
upon this important occasion. But a great calamity occurred, which threw
a shade over these demonstrations of joy. Prince Schwartzenberg had
given a distinguished ball on the occasion, when unhappily the
dancing-room, which was temporary, and erected in the garden, caught
fire. No efforts could stop the progress of the flames, in which several
persons perished, and amongst them even the sister of Prince
Schwartzenberg. This tragic circumstance struck a damp on the public
mind, and was considered as a bad omen, especially when it was
remembered that the marriage of Louis XVI. with a former Princess of
Austria had been signalized by a similar disaster.[35]
As a domestic occurrence, nothing could more contribute to Buonaparte's
happiness than his union with Maria Louisa. He was wont to compare her
with Josephine, by giving the latter all the advantages of art and
grace; the former the charms of simple modesty and innocence. His former
Empress used every art to support or enhance her personal charms; but
with so much prudence and mystery, that the secret cares of her toilette
could never be traced--her successor trusted for the power of pleasing,
to youth and nature. Josephine mismanaged her revenue, and incurred debt
without scruple. Maria Louisa lived within her income, or if she desired
any indulgence beyond it, which was rarely the case, she asked it as a
favour of Napoleon. Josephine, accustomed to political intrigue, loved
to manage, to influence, and to guide her husband; Maria Louisa desired
only to please and to obey him. Both were excellent women, of great
sweetness of temper, and fondly attached to Napoleon.[36] In the
difference between these distinguished persons, we can easily
discriminate the leading features of the Parisian, and of the simple
German beauty; but it is certainly singular that the artificial
character should have belonged to the daughter of the West Indian
planter; that marked by nature and simplicity, to a princess of the
proudest court in Europe.
Buonaparte, whose domestic conduct was generally praiseworthy, behaved
with the utmost kindness to his princely bride. He observed, however,
the strictest etiquette, and required it from the Empress. If it
happened, for example, as was often the case, that he was prevented from
attending at the hour when dinner was placed on the table, he was
displeased if, in the interim of his absence, which was often prolonged,
she either took a book or had recourse to any female occupation--if, in
short, he did not find her in the attitude of waiting for the signal to
take her place at table. Perhaps a sense of his inferior birth made
Napoleon more tenacious of this species of form, as what he could not
afford to relinquish. On the other hand, Maria Louisa is said to have
expressed her surprise at her husband's dispensing with the use of arms
and attendance of guards, and at his moving about with the freedom of an
individual;[37] although this could be no great novelty to a member of
the Imperial Family of Austria, most of whom, and especially the Emperor
Francis, are in the habit of mixing familiarly with the people of
Vienna, at public places, and in the public walks.
As it influenced his political fate, Buonaparte has registered his
complaint, that the Austrian match was a precipice covered with flowers,
which he was rashly induced to approach by the hopes of domestic
happiness.[38] But if this proved so, it was the fault of Napoleon
himself; his subjects and his allies augured very differently of its
consequences, and to himself alone it was owing that these auguries were
disappointed. It was to have been expected, that a connexion formed with
the most ancient Imperial Family in Christendom, might have induced
Buonaparte to adopt some of those sentiments of moderation which regard
rather the stability than the increase of power. It constituted a point
at which he might pause. It might have been thought that, satiated with
success, and wearied with enterprise, he would have busied himself more
in consolidating the power which he desired to transmit to his expected
posterity, than in aiming at rendering his grandeur more invidious and
more precarious, by further schemes of ambition. Even the charms which
this union added to his domestic life, might, it was hoped, bring on a
taste for repose, which, could it have influenced that fiery imagination
and frame of iron, might have been of such essential advantage to
Europe.
Napoleon knew what was expected, and endeavoured to vindicate himself
beforehand for the disappointment which he foresaw was about to ensue.
"The good citizens rejoice sincerely at my marriage, monsieur?" he said
to Decrés, his minister.--"Very much, Sire."--"I understand they think
the Lion will go to slumber, ha?"--"To speak the truth, Sire, they
entertain some hopes of that nature." Napoleon paused an instant, and
then replied, "They are mistaken; yet it is not the fault of the Lion;
slumber would be as agreeable to him as to others. But see you not that
while I have the air of being constantly the attacking party, I am, in
fact, acting only on the defensive?" This sophism, by which Napoleon
endeavoured to persuade all men, that his constant wars arose, not from
choice, but out of the necessity of his situation, will be best
discussed hereafter.
In the meantime, we may only notice, that the Emperor Alexander judged
most accurately of the consequences of the Austrian match, when he said,
on receiving the news, "Then the next task will be, to drive me back to
my forests;" so certain he was that Napoleon would make his intimate
alliance with the Emperor Francis, the means of an attack upon Russia;
and so acute was he in seeing the germs of future and more desperate
wars, in a union from which more shortsighted politicians were looking
for the blessings of peace.
FOOTNOTES:
[24] "'A son by Josephine would have completed my happiness. It would
have put an end to her jealousy, by which I was continually harassed.
She despaired of having a child, and she in consequence looked forward
with dread to the future.'"--NAPOLEON, _Las Cases_, tom. ii., p. 298.
[25] Fouché, tom. i., p. 324.
[26] "Never did I see Napoleon a prey to deeper and more concentrated
grief; never did I see Josephine in more agonizing affliction. They
appeared to find in it a mournful presentiment of a futurity without
happiness and without hope."--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 324.
[27] "It would ill have become me to have kept within my own breast the
suggestions of my foresight. In a confidential memoir, which I read to
Napoleon himself, I represented to him the necessity of dissolving his
marriage; of immediately forming, as Emperor, a new alliance more
suitable and more happy; and of giving an heir to the throne on which
Providence had placed him. Without declaring any thing positive,
Napoleon let me perceive, that, in a political point of view, the
dissolution of his marriage was already determined in his
mind."--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 326.
[28] Fouché, tom. i., p. 328.
[29] Mémoires de Fouché, tom. i., p. 348.
[30] "By the permission of our dear and august consort, I ought to
declare, that not perceiving any hope of having children, which may
fulfil the wants of his policy and the interests of France, I am pleased
to give him the greatest proof of attachment and devotion which has ever
been given on earth. I possess all from his bounty; it was his hand
which crowned me; and from the height of this throne I have received
nothing but proofs of affection and love from the French people. I think
I prove myself grateful in consenting to the dissolution of a marriage
which heretofore was an obstacle to the welfare of France, which
deprived it of the happiness of being one day governed by the descendant
of a great man, evidently raised up by Providence, to efface the evils
of a terrible revolution, and to re-establish the altar, the throne, and
social order. But the dissolution of my marriage will in no degree
change the sentiments of my heart; the Emperor will ever have in me his
best friend. I know how much this act, demanded by policy, and by
interest so great, has chilled his heart; but both of us exult in the
sacrifice which we make for the good of the country."--_Moniteur_, Dec.
17, 1809; _Annual Register_, vol. li., p. 808.
[31] "In quitting the court, Josephine drew the hearts of all its
votaries after her: she was endeared to all by a kindness of disposition
which was without a parallel. She never did the smallest injury to any
one in the days of her power: her very enemies found in her a
protectress: not a day of her life but what she asked a favour for some
person, oftentimes unknown to her, but whom she found to be deserving of
her protection. Regardless of self, her whole time was engaged in
attending to the wants of others."--SAVARY, tom. ii., part ii., p. 177.
[32] Maria Louisa, the eldest daughter of the Emperor of Austria and
Maria Theresa of Naples, was born the 12th December, 1791. Her stature
was sufficiently majestic, her complexion fresh and blooming, her eyes
blue and animated, her hair light, and her hand and foot so beautiful,
that they might have served as models for the sculptor.
[33] Fouché, tom. i., p. 350.
[34] "She had always been given to understand that Berthier, who had
married her by proxy at Vienna, in person and age exactly resembled the
Emperor: she, however, signified that she observed a very pleasing
difference between them."--LAS CASES, tom. i., p. 312.
[35] "The most unfortunate presages were drawn from it; Napoleon himself
was struck with it."--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 355.
[36] Las Cases, tom. i., p. 310.
[37] Voice from St. Helena, vol. ii., p. 225.
[38] "Austria had become a portion of my family; and yet my marriage
ruined me. If I had not thought myself safe, and protected by this
alliance, I should have delayed the insurrection of Poland: I should
have waited until Spain was subdued and tranquil. I set foot on an
abyss, concealed by a bed of flowers!"--NAPOLEON, _Las Cases_, tom. ii.,
p. 105.