L’HOMME ROUGE--NAPOLEON’S SUPERSTITION.
This ends the caricatures for the year 1813, at the close of which
Napoleon was in Paris. Wellington and Soult were fighting their
prolonged duel in Spain, to the great advantage of the former. One
after another did the French garrisons surrender, until, at the
close of the year, Santona alone remained to the French. His troops,
shut up in garrison in Germany and Prussia, were in very evil case,
from hardships and sickness. St. Cyr abandoned Dresden, and all the
garrison were made prisoners of war. Stettin surrendered, and the Dutch
revolted; whilst at home the life-blood of the nation was being drained
by a new conscription of 300,000 men, and the taxes were increased by
one half.
And here, as well as at any other place, I may introduce Napoleon’s
familiar spirit, ‘_l’Homme Rouge_.’ The belief in ‘the red man,’ in
connection with the Emperor, was very widely spread; but details of his
personal appearance, and the times of his visits, are rarely to be met
with, and are invariably contradictory. Napoleon’s success had been so
marvellous, that it is easily to be imagined it was popularly ascribed
to supernatural agency.
In a small and very rare French book,[34] is an account of ‘_The
little red and green men, or the genius of Evil triumphing over the
genius of Good_. Many persons, astonished at the success of Buonaparte
in all which he undertook, asked by what tutelary divinity he was
protected?
‘Some said, It is Europe which is being destroyed by itself, an effect
natural to every country, over-populated, and too flourishing--Was it
not thus with Egypt, Greece, Judea, and Rome? Others, less philosophic,
but easier given to conjecture, said, When he was in Egypt he several
times absented himself from his staff.--Somebody generally came to him
before he fought a battle, or undertook any enterprise.
‘He frequently repeated, _God has given me the strength and the will
to overcome all obstacles_. There was something supernatural ... and
thenceforth endless questions were asked of those who were with him in
the Egyptian expedition. At length, by dint of research, a part of the
truth was discovered, which is as follows:--
‘On the eve of the battle of the Pyramids, Buonaparte, at the council
which was held in the morning, formally opposed the proposition to give
battle. In the afternoon of that day, having gone, with some of the
officers of his suite, to make a reconnaissance, and having approached
one of the monuments of the pride of the Pharaohs,[35] he suddenly saw,
coming out from it, a little man clothed in a long red robe, his head
being adorned with a pointed cap of the same colour, after the manner
of the priests of Isis, or the Chaldean sages, known under the name of
Magi. He carried a little ring in his hand.
‘This mysterious man only said these words to him: “Approach, young
man, and learn the high destinies to which you are called, if you wish
to be prudent and wise.”
‘Immediately, Buonaparte, as if he had been drawn by a supernatural
force, descended from his horse, and followed him into the interior of
the pyramid, where he remained more than an hour.
‘The officers of his suite, at first, paid little attention to this
_rencontre_, taking the red man to be one of those charlatans,
with which the world abounds, to the detriment of science and real
knowledge; they were even astonished that their general, to whom they
accorded so much merit, lost precious time in interviewing a wretched
cheat; but, when they saw Buonaparte come out, all radiant with joy,
saying to them, “Friends, let us give battle; we shall conquer!” and
when they saw, that in spite of the inferiority of their forces, they
should gain the most complete victory, they could only think of _the
red man_. Is he a God? Is he a Genius? That was what they asked.
‘Thenceforth the French, in Egypt, only marched from victory to
victory, until the departure of Napoleon for France.
‘We believe that all the deeds with which _the red man_ has been
credited are only fables which conjecturors have invented; but, at
least, in him they discover the emblem of a good Genius, who pointed
out to Buonaparte what he ought to do to assure at least the love and
gratitude of the people. But an evil Genius, whom they suppose to have
been clothed in green, appeared to him at St. Cloud, at the time of
the 18th Brumaire, and gave him counsels, which prevailed, for the
misfortune of the world, over those of _the red man_, and led him to
his ruin.’
Balzac, in a delicious booklet,[36] in which an old soldier gives the
history of his beloved Emperor, makes him say, ‘There is one thing
which it would be unjust, if I did not tell you: In Egypt, in the
Desert, near Syria, THE RED MAN appeared to him, in the mountain of
Moses, to tell him, “All went well.”
‘Then at Marengo, on the evening of the Victory, he saw, standing
before him, the Red Man, who said to him:
‘“Thou shalt see the world at thy feet, and thou shalt be Emperor of
the French, King of Italy, Master of Holland, Sovereign of Spain,
Portugal, the Illyrian Provinces, Protector of Germany, Saviour of
Poland, First Eagle of the Legion of Honour.”
‘This Red Man, do you see, was his idea, his own: a kind of lackey, who
helped him, as many say, to communicate with his star. I, myself, have
never believed that but the Red Man is a veritable fact, and Napoleon
has spoken of him himself, and has said that he visits him in troublous
moments, and that he stays at the palace of the Tuileries, in the upper
apartments. Then at his Coronation, Napoleon saw him, in the evening,
for the third time, and they were in deliberation about many things.
Then the Emperor went straight to Milan to crown himself King of
Italy....
‘At length we found ourselves, one morning, encamped at Moskowa.[37]
It was there that I gained the Cross, and I take the liberty of saying
that it was a cursed battle! The Emperor was uneasy: he had seen the
Red Man, who said to him:
‘“My child, thou art going too fast, men will fail thee, and friends
will betray thee.”’
And the old soldier, almost at the end of his story, says, ‘The
remainder is sufficiently well known. The Red Man passed over to the
Bourbons, like a scoundrel, as he is. France is crushed,’ &c.
It is needless to say that this legend was known in England, and was
not lost sight of by the satirist.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AND THE RED MAN.]
Poor Bonaparte, now, every day,
Endeavoured to be wondrous gay;
To concerts, plays, and balls, he went,
To hide, it seems, his discontent.
Folks thought hostilities would cease,
For gaiety’s a sign of peace.
But soon, alas! returned his gloom,
And now our hero kept his room.
One day he wish’d to be alone,
And said he was at home to none,
When suddenly there came a knock,
Which dealt around a dreadful shock--
His counsellor of State, ’tis said,
Saw a tall man dressed all in red!
‘Your business, Sir?’--‘A secret that--
I must see Bonaparte, that’s flat’--
‘He’s not at home,’ was the reply,
The red man answer’d--‘that’s a lie!’
The Counsellor to Boney ran,
Apprising Nap of this red man--
How very great the Emp’ror’s dread--
‘Art sure? and was he dress’d in red?’
Affecting then a kind of grin--
‘No matter--shew the red man in.’
The red man, tho’, as people say,
Ne’er waited to be shewn the way,
For in he bolted--and, what’s more,
Immediately he clos’d the door--
The Counsellor of State, so shock’d
His ear, then, at the keyhole cock’d,
And tho’ the red, tall, man he fear’d,
This conversation he o’erheard--
‘Well, Emp’ror Boney--pray how do you?
This is my third appearance to you,
At Egypt once--next at Wagram--
You must remember who I am.’
‘Yes, I remember, but what is it
Has now induced this sudden visit?’
‘What is it! Nap, how can you ask?
Have you accomplish’d, pray, your task?
Four years, I for that purpose granted,
It was the very time you wanted;
And then I said--and say it now--
No longer time wou’d I allow;
’Twas quite sufficient, as you said,
And solemnly a vow you made,
That either Europe you’d subdue,
Or peace shou’d in that time ensue;
I told you, if I tricks foresaw,
That my protection I’d withdraw,
And therefore am I come again
To tell you but three months remain;
If Europe then, you have not got,
Or peace confirm’d--you’ll go to _pot_.’
Our hero seem’d quite panic struck,
‘Alas!’ said he, ‘I’ve had no luck--
I can’t in three months undertake
An honourable peace to make--
A longer period, therefore, fix,
Let the three months, I pray, be six.’
‘It cannot be--I’ll grant no more’--
Nap followed him unto the door--
‘Five months, I’m sure, you may allow’--
‘I won’t--mark well your sacred vow,
One or the other you must do--
Or else, depend on it you’ll rue.’
‘Then grant _four_ months.’--‘It cannot be--
Conquer, or be at peace, in _three_--
Such was the task you undertook’--
Then giving a contemptuous look,
‘_Three months_--no longer--so good-bye’--
He said--nor waited a reply.
With indignation Boney burn’d,
While to his cab’net he return’d--
And there, as many people say,
He sullenly remain’d all day.
The English gave Napoleon the character of being very superstitious,
and I believe, even now, ‘Napoleon’s Book of Fate,’ and ‘Napoleon’s
Dream Book,’ are procurable.
In 1795 it is said that Napoleon paid a visit to a sorcerer named
Pierre le Clerc, and expressed some doubt of his power. ‘You are
wrong,’ said the magician, ‘to doubt my art. I know more than you
probably imagine. There was a prophecy of a certain Count Cagliostro,
uttered ten years ago, on the French Revolution, which was not then
thought of. This announced that a Corsican voted or elected by the
people, would finish it, probably by a Dictatorship.’ Napoleon left the
old man, and, it is said, did not visit him again until the eve of the
fateful 18th Brumaire.
The seer gave him a number of cards, on each of which he was to write
one letter of the question he wanted to ask, which was: ‘What will
become of the Corsican Napoleon Bonaparte, general, on account of the
_Coup d’Etat_ risked by him, at Paris, the 18th Brumaire, 1799?’ These
cards were well mixed and handed to the conjurer, who, after some
manipulation, settled on thirteen cards, having the letters B, O, P,
P, I, A, I, B, I, P, A, U, F, each of which letters he interpreted as
the commencement of a Latin word; and, on this basis, he constructed
the following sentence: ‘Bis Oriens, Populi Princeps, In Altum Incedit;
Bis Incidit; Per Anglos Ultima Fata,’--or, He rises twice Prince of the
People, and hovers over the heights; twice he falls; his last fatality
will come from the English.
Napoleon then took fresh cards, and wrote: ‘Josephine Marie Rose
de Tascher de la Pagerie, wife of the General Napoleon Bonaparte.’
Of these Pierre le Clerc selected three letters, H, E, A, which he
interpreted as ‘Herois Extinctus Amor,’--or, Love extinguishes itself
in the heart of a hero.
There was a curious article in the ‘Frankfurter Journal’ of September
21, 1870, on the influence of the letter M on the life of Napoleon:
‘Marbeuf was the first to recognise the genius of Napoleon at the
Military College. Marengo was the first great battle won by General
Bonaparte, and Melas made room for him in Italy. Mortier was one of
his best generals, Moreau betrayed him, and Marat was the first martyr
to his cause. Maria Louisa shared his highest fortunes; Moscow was the
abyss of ruin into which he fell. Metternich vanquished him in the
field of diplomacy. Six marshals (Massena, Mortier, Marmont, Macdonald,
Murat, Moncey) and twenty-six generals of division under Napoleon had
the letter M for their initial. Marat, Duke of Bassano, was his most
trusted counsellor. His first battle was that of Montenotte, his last
Mont St. Jean, as the French term Waterloo. He won the battles of
Millesimo, Mondovi, Montmirail, and Montereau; then came the storming
of Montmartre. Milan was the first enemy’s capital, and Moscow the
last, into which he entered victorious. He lost Egypt through Menou,
and employed Miellis to take Pius VII. prisoner. Mallet conspired
against him; Murat was the first to desert him, then Marmont. Three
of his ministers were Maret, Montalivet, and Mallieu; his first
chamberlain was Montesquieu. His last halting place in France was
Malmaison. He surrendered to Captain Maitland of the _Bellerophon_, and
his companions at St. Helena were Montholon and his valet Marchand.’