failed to appear, and it was announced that he was indisposed. After
dining with the Emperor as usual at six o’clock, Joséphine had gone to
her room to change her dress for the evening. When she was ready for
the reception a chamberlain came to tell her that the Emperor was ill,
and she rushed to his side. She found Napoleon in a state of great
nervous excitement. He wept, and pressed her in his arms, without any
regard for her elegant toilette, crying: “No, my poor Joséphine, I
can never leave thee!” Instead of joining her guests, Joséphine was
compelled to pass the night with her husband, and it was not until
morning that he recovered his equanimity. “What a devil of a man!”
said Talleyrand in disgust, when the astonished assembly was curtly
dismissed, “what a devil of a man, to give way continually to his first
impulse, and never to know what he wants to do!”
On the first of February, at the hôtel of Queen Hortense, Rue Cerutti,
was celebrated the marriage of Prince d’Arenberg and Mlle. Stéphanie de
Tascher, Joséphine’s cousin and goddaughter, who had been created an
Imperial princesse by the Emperor on the occasion of the signing of
the contract. During the Consulate her hand had been asked in marriage
by General Rapp, one of the favorite aides de camp of Napoleon, but
Joséphine, who retained many of the prejudices of the Ancien Régime,
refused her consent. This Arenberg marriage was not a success; the
princesse could not endure her husband and refused to live with him. At
a later date the marriage was annulled and she espoused Comte de Guitry.
In the midst of his domestic preoccupations the Emperor had not ceased
to follow closely the course of events in Spain. The Spanish Bourbons
were descended from a grandson of Louis the Fourteenth, Philip of
Anjou, who became King of Spain in 1700 under the title of Philip the
Fifth. At the beginning of 1808 the royal family of Spain comprised
the King, Charles the Fourth, a man of sixty; his wife, Marie-Louise,
who was three years younger, and their son, Ferdinand, Prince of the
Asturias, a boy of twenty. To this interesting group must be added the
Queen’s lover, Godoy, Prince of the Peace. Ferdinand had formed a plan
of seizing the government, but the plot was betrayed to the King, and
he was put under arrest.
Portugal had refused to accept the Berlin Decree of Napoleon,
prohibiting the importation of English goods, and Napoleon had arranged
with the Czar at Tilsit for the occupation and dismemberment of that
country. While the above events were happening at Madrid, Junot, at
the head of a French army of 25,000 men, had advanced to the gates of
Lisbon. Before his arrival, the royal family embarked on the fleet and
sailed for Brazil.
On the 20 February 1808 the Emperor appointed Murat his lieutenant
to command the French troops in Spain, and a week later he announced
to the Court of Madrid his intention to annex to the French Empire
all of Spain north of the Ebro, giving the Spanish Crown, by way of
compensation, all of Portugal. Alarmed at this proposition Charles made
preparations to flee the country, but the news became known, there was
a popular uprising, and he abdicated the throne in favor of his son.
In the meantime the French army under Murat was advancing on Madrid,
and on the 23 March it entered the city. Charles now wrote the
Emperor that his abdication had been forced upon him, and asked to be
reinstated upon his throne. Ferdinand also presented his claims at the
same time, and Napoleon invited all of the interested parties to meet
him at Bayonne for a conference.
On the second day of April the Emperor quietly left Saint-Cloud,
ostensibly for a visit to the South of France. He was not accompanied
by Joséphine, but it was arranged that she was to follow him a few days
later. Napoleon reached Bordeaux on the fourth, and Joséphine on the
tenth. On the 13 April the Emperor proceeded to Bayonne. Two days after
his arrival he inspected the château of Marrac, located about a league
from the city, which he arranged to purchase for his residence. It was
only an ordinary country mansion, and altogether too small to lodge
comfortably the Emperor and his suite.
During his sojourn at Bayonne the Emperor held frequent reviews of his
troops, passing through on their way to Spain, as many as a hundred
thousand men defiling under his eyes. He went out daily and loved the
promenades upon the Adour towards Boucau. He never announced in advance
either the hour or the course of these excursions, often changing the
direction and returning to the château from the point where he was
least expected. Often he directed his steps towards a dove-cote in the
form of a small tower, which was located at the extremity of the outer
wall of the park. From there he descended to the banks of the Nive, and
went nearly every day, sometimes on foot, and sometimes in a boat, to
visit his sister Caroline, who was living at Lauga.
On the 20 April the Emperor received Prince Ferdinand, who arrived that
day, and entertained him at dinner. Six days later the Prince de la
Paix appeared, and had a long conference with Napoleon. On the 27 April
Joséphine came from Bordeaux. During this fortnight the Emperor sent
Joséphine four letters:
_To the Empress, at Bordeaux_
BAYONNE, 16 April 1808
I arrived here very well, but somewhat fatigued by the route,
which is dismal and very poor.
I am very glad that you remained, for the houses here are very
small and very bad.
I am going to-day to a little house in the country, half a
league from the city.
Adieu, mon amie; good health.
NAPOLEON
17 April 1808
I have your letter of the 15 April. What you tell me of the
country landowner gives me pleasure; go sometimes and pass the
day there.
I have given orders to add 20,000 francs a month to your
allowance, during the trip, to date from the first of April.
I am horribly lodged. In a half-hour I am going to change, and
take up my residence in a small country house at a distance of
half a league. The infante Don Carlos, and five or six Spanish
grandees are here; the Prince of the Asturias is twenty leagues
away. King Charles and the Queen are arriving. I do not know
where I shall lodge all these people. Everything is still at the
inn. My troops in Spain are well.
It took me a moment to understand your _gentillesses_; I
laughed over your souvenirs. You women certainly have a memory!
My health is quite good, and I love you very dearly. It is my
desire that you be very friendly with everybody at Bordeaux; my
affairs did not permit me to do so personally.
NAPOLEON
21 April 1808
I have your letter of the 19 April. Yesterday I had the Prince
of the Asturias and his suite to dinner; that gave me much
trouble. I await Charles the Fourth and the Queen.
My health is good. I am now quite well established in the
country.
Adieu, mon amie; I always receive news of you with the greatest
pleasure.
NAPOLEON
BAYONNE, 23 April 1808
Mon amie, Hortense has a son; this has greatly rejoiced me. I am
not surprised that you do not speak of it, for your letter is
dated the twenty-first, and she was confined during the night of
the twentieth.
You can set out the twenty-sixth, pass the night at
Mont-de-Marsan, and arrive here the twenty-seventh. I am
arranging for you here a small country house beside the one
which I occupy. My health is good.
I am looking for Charles the Fourth and his wife.
Adieu, mon amie.
NAPOLEON
The child referred to in the Emperor’s last letter was Louis-Napoleon,
the future Napoleon the Third, Emperor of the French. He was born in
Paris on the 20 April 1808 at the town-house of Queen Hortense, in
Rue Cerutti, and not at the Tuileries, as erroneously stated by many
historians. By the express orders of the Emperor, who sent Hortense a
letter of congratulations, he was called Charles-Louis-Napoleon, in
honor of his grandfather Bonaparte, his father, and his uncle.
Joséphine’s first letter to her daughter, written on the 23 April,
begins in a jubilant tone: “I am at the summit of joy, my dear
Hortense.... I know Napoleon is consoled at not having a sister and
that he already loves his brother very much. Kiss them both for me.”
Two days later she wrote again: “I am just in receipt, my dear
Hortense, of a letter from the Emperor...; he is perfectly delighted.
At the same time he summons me to rejoin him at Bayonne. You can
imagine, my dear daughter, that it is a great pleasure for me not
to be away from the Emperor, so I set out early to-morrow morning.
I am pleased at the news I receive of your health. I beg you always
to take good care of yourself, and above all not to receive company
these first few days. I cannot write you again for two or three days,
but shall think of you every moment. I embrace you. Adieu, my dear
Hortense.”
Joséphine had the great satisfaction of finding Napoleon in a most
loving mood toward her. He spent all of his spare time with her
and displayed unusual signs of good humor. One day, on the beach,
undeterred by the presence of the escort, he chased her over the sands
and pushed her into the water; another time, he picked up a shoe which
fell off her foot as she got into a carriage, and flung it away, in
great glee over the idea that she would have to go home without one.
On the last day of April the Spanish sovereigns arrived at the
government palace at Bayonne; the Emperor immediately called on them,
and that evening entertained them at dinner at Marrac.
On the 5 May, when the Emperor, after déjeuner, was riding with Savary,
he received the news of the uprising at Madrid three days before. He
immediately galloped to Bayonne, where he had a spirited interview with
Charles and his son. To Ferdinand he said: “Prince, up to this moment I
have taken no stand in the controversy which has brought you here, but
the blood shed at Madrid ends my irresolution. I shall never recognize
as King of Spain the person who, by ordering the murder of French
soldiers, has been the first to break the alliance which has so long
united our two countries.... I have no ties except with your father: I
recognize him as King, and will escort him to Madrid if he so desires.”
The Prince made no reply, but Charles, with the visions of Charles
the First and Louis the Sixteenth ever troubling his thoughts, had no
desire to remount his precarious throne. That same evening, by a treaty
signed for the Emperor by Duroc, and for the King by the Prince de la
Paix, Charles ceded to Napoleon the crown of Spain and of the Indies in
exchange for the use of the château and forest of Compiègne, the title
in perpetuity to the château of Chambord, and a civil list of seven
millions and a half to be paid by the French Government. By another
convention, signed on the 10 May, Ferdinand also ceded his rights to
the crown. He was accorded the title in France of Royal Highness;
received for himself and his descendants the château of Navarre; and
was given an allowance of a million francs. Such was the price of the
magnificent heritage of Charles-Quint!
On the 4 June, by an official act, Napoleon ceded to his brother Joseph
all of the rights acquired under the above treaties. Three days later
the new King of Spain arrived at Bayonne, and that evening attended a
grand dinner given by the Emperor at Marrac, at which were also present
the members of the Grand Junta of Spain, who had been summoned by
Napoleon two weeks before.
Napoleon had reached the turning point of his career. With easy
confidence and a light heart he embarked on an enterprise which was to
baffle him at every stage, to drain his resources, to cost him three
hundred thousand valuable lives, and to end in absolute failure. At
Saint Helena he said: “It was the Spanish ulcer which ruined me!”
The first week in July the Junta accepted the new constitution drawn up
for Joseph under Napoleon’s orders, and a few days later the new king
left for Madrid.
Napoleon started homeward again in company with Joséphine. It was
arranged that they should travel together as far as Toulouse, whence
the Emperor was to go to Bordeaux, and Joséphine to take the waters
at Barèges. The Emperor reached Bordeaux on the 31 July, and there he
learned, two days later, of the capitulation of Dupont at Baylen with
an army of 20,000 men, and the flight of King Joseph from Madrid. It
was the first serious disaster to the imperial arms, and Napoleon was
wild with rage at this blow to his prestige.
The Emperor at once realized the necessity of his own presence in the
Peninsula, but before going there he wished to organize a well-equipped
army, and also to assure himself of the solidarity of his alliance with
the Czar. This meant a return to Paris, and Joséphine received orders
to abandon her trip to Barèges and rejoin the Emperor.
On his way home the Emperor visited Rochefort and La Rochelle, and then
in company with Joséphine, who had rejoined him, he proceeded by way
of Tours and Blois to Saint-Cloud, where he arrived on the eve of his
fête.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
1808–1809
A YEAR OF ANXIETY
The Erfurt Conference--Joséphine Left at Paris--Napoleon
Opens His Heart to Alexander--Talleyrand Instructed to
Begin Negotiations for an Alliance--Napoleon’s Letters to
Joséphine--He Leaves for Spain--The Peninsula Campaign--Pursuit
of the English--Bad News from Paris--The Emperor’s
Correspondence--His Return to Paris--Scene at the Tuileries--The
Succession Plot--Joséphine’s Revelations--She Accompanies
Napoleon to Strasbourg--The Emperor Wounded at Ratisbon--His
Letters During the Campaign--End of the War--Napoleon Leaves for
Fontainebleau
The last year that Joséphine was destined to wear the imperial crown
was for her a period of constant anxiety. She knew that the divorce was
inevitable, and that her days upon the throne were numbered. Before the
fatal decree was passed, however, she had yet many trials to endure.
From the date that the Emperor left for Erfurt to that eventful evening
in December 1809, she saw but little of her husband, who was absent
from France the greater part of the time.
Returning from Bayonne on the 14 August, the Emperor immediately began
preparations on a large scale to put down the revolt in Spain and
restore his brother to the throne. For the sake of his own prestige
also it was necessary as soon as possible to repair the damage done by
the capitulation of General Dupont. He had therefore decided to enter
Spain himself at the head of the Grand Army, the invincible veterans
of Austerlitz, Jena and Friedland. Before leaving for the Peninsula,
however, he wished to feel certain that there would be no change in
the political situation during his absence. Above all he wanted the
assurance that his new ally, the Czar, was still as favorably disposed
towards him as when they parted at Tilsit the previous year. He
therefore suggested an interview, and Alexander accepted. The meeting
took place at the little German city of Erfurt, and lasted from the
27 September to the 14 October. All of the allies of the Emperor were
present: the kings of Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony and Westphalia; the
Prince-Primate, and all the princes of the Confederation of the Rhine.
The actors of the Comédie-Française, summoned from Paris, played before
a “parterre of kings.”
To her great regret, Joséphine was not allowed to accompany the
Emperor, and she divined that her divorce would be one of the subjects
of discussion. In this she was not mistaken. The Czar had two sisters
of a marriageable age: the grand duchesses Catherine and Anne, and
Napoleon had thought of the elder as a possible wife. At one of their
conferences the Emperor broached the subject by saying to Alexander:
“This life of agitation wearies me. I need rest, and look forward to
nothing so much as the moment when without anxiety I can seek the joys
of domestic life, which appeals to all my tastes. But this happiness is
not for me. What domesticity is there without children? And can I have
any? My wife is ten years older than myself. I must ask your pardon. It
is perhaps ridiculous of me to tell you all this, but I am yielding to
the impulse of my heart which finds pleasure in opening itself out to
you.”
It is perhaps unnecessary to state that Napoleon was not yielding to
the impulse of his heart, but to the calculations of his ambition,
or the demands of his policy. He was broaching the subject, which he
proposed to have followed up by Talleyrand, whom he had brought to
Erfurt for that very purpose. He was about to commit these delicate
negotiations to that wily diplomat, who had already made up his mind to
betray him.
The evening of that same day the Emperor had a long conversation with
Talleyrand, regarding the divorce. As reported by Talleyrand in his
_Mémoires_, he said:
“My destiny requires it, and the tranquillity of France demands it.
I have no successor. Joseph amounts to nothing, and he has only
daughters. It is I who must found the dynasty, and I cannot do so
without allying myself to a princess who belongs to one of the great
ruling houses of Europe. The Emperor Alexander has sisters: one of
them is of suitable age. Take the matter up with Romantzoff; tell him
that as soon as this Spanish affair is settled, I will enter into all
the Czar’s plans for the partition of Turkey. You will not lack for
other arguments, for I know that you are a partisan of the divorce: the
Empress Joséphine is also aware of the fact, I can inform you.”
Talleyrand said in reply that he thought it would be better for him
to take the matter up directly with the Czar, instead of his minister,
and Napoleon acquiesced. Talleyrand, who well knew the feelings of the
mother of Alexander, instead of loyally furthering the plans of his
master, suggested to the Czar a dilatory policy, which would thwart the
plans of Napoleon, without arousing his resentment. The unprincipled
minister embraced this opportunity to begin to weave the plot which
was finally to bring about the fall of the man he had always secretly
detested.
During his absence the Emperor sent Joséphine only three letters,
all of them brief and insignificant. In the first, written two days
after his arrival, he expressed his satisfaction with the Czar. In
the second, ten days later, he says: “I have just hunted on the
battle-field of Jena. We took breakfast on the spot where I passed
the night at my bivouac. I attended a ball at Weimar. The Emperor
Alexander dances; but I, no: forty years are forty years!” In his last
letter, which bears no date, he again speaks of his satisfaction with
Alexander, and says, “if the Czar were a woman I should be in love with
him.”
In spite of his great genius Napoleon was the dupe of this young
Emperor, who, he thought, was his friend. From this interview he gained
nothing except a breathing spell during which he could proceed, without
danger of immediate interruption, to regulate his affairs in Spain.
Between his return from Erfurt, and his departure for Spain, Napoleon
spent only ten days with Joséphine at Saint-Cloud. During this
time their relations were somewhat strained. The Emperor appeared
embarrassed in the presence of his wife, as though he feared that,
through some indiscretion, a report of his matrimonial projects might
have reached her ears; and Joséphine, who both desired and feared to
know the truth, did not venture to ask any questions. As usual, she
wished to accompany the Emperor to the frontier, and it was almost by
main force that he prevented her from entering the carriage which bore
him away.
Leaving Saint-Cloud on the 29 October, the Emperor reached Bayonne on
the 3 November; a month later he was at the gates of Madrid, and the
city capitulated the following day. During the three weeks which he
spent at the capital, Napoleon resided at a small country mansion,
Chamartin, a few miles north of the city. He was constantly occupied
with plans for the upbuilding of the country. He had reinstated
his brother on the throne, and if there had been time for the new
institutions to take root, Spain to-day would be a far more progressive
country.
In the meantime, an English army under Sir John Moore had advanced on
Burgos to cut the French line of communications, and on the 22 December
the Emperor left Madrid with his Guard, to meet this new offensive.
Moore learned of his danger in time and beat a hasty retreat. When he
was at Astorga, on the first day of January 1809, Napoleon received a
despatch from his old friend and aide de camp Lavalette, telling him
of the intrigues of Talleyrand and Fouché with Murat and Caroline, and
the armament of Austria. He turned over the pursuit of the English to
Ney and Soult, and started for Valladolid. On the 17 January he set out
for Paris, covering the distance of thirty leagues from Valladolid
to Burgos in the remarkable time of six hours, upon his own horses,
arranged in six relays. The following day he left this country, which
he alone could have conquered, which he never was to see again, and
which was destined to ruin his Empire. At eight o’clock on the morning
of the 23 January he was back in the Tuileries.
* * * * *
During his absence of twelve weeks Napoleon sent Joséphine fourteen
letters, some of them brief and insignificant. The first five, from
Marrac, Tolosa, Vittoria, Burgos, and Arranda, tell only of his
progress, and the state of his health. After this, his letters are
longer and more interesting.
_To the Empress, at Paris_
(CHAMARTIN), 7 December 1808
I am in receipt your letter of the 28 (November). I am glad to
hear that you are well.... My health is good. The weather here
is like the last half of May at Paris. It is warm, and we have
no fire, unless the night is cool.
Madrid is tranquil. All my affairs are going well.
Adieu, mon amie.
Tout à toi
NAPOLEON
(CHAMARTIN), 10 December 1808
Mon amie, I have your letter. You tell me that the weather is
bad at Paris; here we are having the finest in the world. Tell
me, I pray you, what Hortense means by her reforms: they say she
is discharging her servants? Has any one refused her what she
needs? Send me a word on the subject; the reforms are not in
good taste.
Adieu, mon amie.... All here goes very well, and I pray you to
take good care of yourself.
NAPOLEON
(CHAMARTIN), 21 December 1808
You should have returned to the Tuileries the 12 (December). I
hope that you have been satisfied with your apartments....
Adieu, mon amie. I am well: the weather is rainy, and a little
cold.
NAPOLEON
(CHAMARTIN), 22 December 1808
I leave immediately to manœuvre the English, who appear to have
received their reinforcements, and to desire to make their
swagger (_faire les crânes_). The weather is fine; my
health perfect. Have no anxiety.
NAPOLEON
BENEVENTE, 31 December 1808
Mon amie, I have been in pursuit of the English for several
days, but they flee in terror. In order not to retard their
retreat for a half-day, they have basely abandoned the wreck
of the Romana army. More than one hundred baggage-wagons have
already been taken. The weather is very bad.
Adieu, mon amie. Bessières with 10,000 cavalry is at Astorga.
Happy New Year to everybody!
NAPOLEON
BENEVENTE, 5 January 1809
Mon amie, I am writing only a line. The English are completely
routed. I have ordered the Duc de Dalmatie (Soult) to pursue
them vigorously (_l’épée dans les reins_). I am well. The
weather is bad.
Adieu, mon amie.
NAPOLEON
(VALLODOLID), 8 January 1809
I have your letters of the 23 and 26 (December). I am sorry
to hear that you are suffering from your teeth. I have been
here for two days. The weather is seasonable. The English are
embarking. I am well.
Adieu, mon amie.
I am writing to Hortense. Eugène has a daughter.
Tout à toi
NAPOLEON
(VALLODOLID), 9 January 1809
Moustache (a courier) has brought me your letter of the 31
December. I see, my friend, that you are sad, and that you are
very anxious. Austria will not go to war with me. If she does, I
have 150,000 men in Germany, as many on the Rhine, and 400,000
Germans to meet her. Russia will not abandon me. They are mad in
Paris; all goes well.
I shall be in Paris as soon as I think it necessary. I warn you
to beware of apparitions; one of these fine days at two o’clock
in the morning....
But adieu, mon amie; I am well, and ever yours
NAPOLEON