On the days of the chase the Empress and her ladies followed in the

coach. They had a special costume for this occasion, consisting of a

kind of green riding-habit, and a hat ornamented with white plumes. All

the ladies who followed the chase dined with their Majesties.

When the Empress spent the night in the Emperor's apartment, I entered in

the morning, as usual, between seven and eight o'clock, and nearly always

found the august spouses awake. The Emperor usually ordered tea, or an

infusion of orange flowers, and rose immediately, the Empress saying to

him, with a laugh, "What, rising already? Rest a little longer."--"Well,

you are not asleep, then?" replied his Majesty, rolling her over in the

covering, giving her little slaps on her cheeks and shoulders, laughing,

and kissing her.

At the end of a few moments the Empress rose also, put on a wrapper, and

read the journals, or descended by the little communicating stairway to

her own apartment, never leaving the Emperor without a few words

expressing the most touching affection and good-will.

Elegant and simple in her dress, the Empress submitted with regret to the

necessity of toilets of state. Jewels, however, were much to her taste;

and, as she had always been fond of them; the Emperor presented her with

them often and in great quantities; and she greatly enjoyed adorning

herself with them, and still more exhibiting them to the admiration of

others.

One morning, when my wife was present at her toilet, her Majesty related

that, being newly married to M. de Beauharnais, and much delighted with

the ornaments he had given her, she was in the habit of carrying them

around in her reticule (reticules were then an essential part of a

woman's dress), and showing them to her young friends.

As the Empress spoke of her reticule, she ordered one of her ladies to

hunt for one to show my wife. The lady whom the Empress addressed could

scarcely repress a laugh at this singular request, and assured her

Majesty that there was nothing similar to that now in her wardrobe; to

which the Empress replied, with an air of regret, that she would have

really liked to see again one of her old reticules, and that the years

hall brought great changes. The jewels of the Empress Josephine could

hardly have been contained in the reticule of Madame de Beauharnais,

however long or deep it might have been; for the jewel case which had

belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette, and which had never been quite full,

was too small for the Empress. One day, when she wished to exhibit all

her ornaments to several ladies who expressed a desire to see them, it

was necessary to prepare a large table on which to place the caskets;

and, as this table was not sufficient, several other pieces of furniture

were also covered with them.

Good to excess, as everyone knows, sympathetic beyond all expression,

generous even to prodigality, the Empress made the happiness of all who

surrounded her; loving her husband with a devotion which nothing ever

changed, and which was as deep in her last moments as at the period when

Madame Beauharnais and General Bonaparte made to each other a mutual

avowal of their love. Josephine was long the only woman loved by the

Emperor, as she well deserved to have ever been; and for several years

the harmony of this imperial household was most touching. Attentive,

loving, and entirely devoted to Josephine, the Emperor took pleasure in

embracing her neck, her figure, giving her taps, and calling her 'ma

grosse bete'; all of which did not prevent, it is true, his being guilty

of some infidelities, but without failing otherwise in his conjugal

duties. On her side the Empress adored him, sought by every means to

please him, to divine his wishes, and to forestall his least desires.

At first she gave her husband cause for jealousy. Having been strongly

prejudiced against her by indiscreet reports, during the campaign of

Egypt, the Emperor on his return had explanations with her, which did not

always end without lamentations and violent scenes; but peace was soon

restored, and was thereafter very rarely broken, for the Emperor could

not fail to feel the influence of so many attractions and such

loveliness.

The Empress had a remarkable memory, of which the Emperor often availed

himself; she was also an excellent musician, played well on the harp, and

sang with taste. She had perfect tact, an exquisite perception of what

was suitable, the soundest, most infallible judgment imaginable, and,

with a disposition always lovely, always the same, indulgent to her

enemies as to her friends, she restored peace wherever there was quarrel

or discord. When the Emperor was vexed with his brothers or other

persons, which often happened, the Empress spoke a few words, and

everything was settled. If she demanded a pardon, it was very rare that

the Emperor did not grant it, however grave the crime committed; and I

could cite a thousand examples of pardons thus solicited and obtained.

One occurrence which is almost personal to me will sufficiently prove how

all-powerful was the intercession of this good Empress.

Her Majesty's head valet being one day a little affected by the wine he

had taken at a breakfast with some friends, was obliged, from the nature

of his duties, to be present at the time of their Majesties' dinner, and

to stand behind the Empress in order to take and hand her the plates.

Excited by the fumes of the champagne, he had the misfortune to utter

some improper words, which, though pronounced in a low tone, the Emperor

unfortunately overheard. His Majesty cast lightning glances at M. Frere,

who thus perceived the gravity of his fault; and, when dinner was over,

gave orders to discharge the impudent valet, in a tone which left no hope

and permitted no reply.

Monsieur Frere was an excellent servant, a gentle, good, and honest man;

it was the first fault of this kind of which he could be accused, and

consequently he deserved indulgence. Application was made to the grand

marshal, who refused to intercede, well knowing the inflexibility of the

Emperor; and many other persons whom the poor man begged to intercede for

him having replied as the grand marshal had done, M. Frere came in

despair to bid us adieu. I dared to take his cause in hand, with the

hope that by seizing a favorable moment I might succeed in appeasing his

Majesty. The order of discharge required M. Frere to leave the palace in

twenty-four hours; but I advised him not to obey it, but to keep himself,

however, constantly concealed in his room, which he did. That evening on

retiring, his Majesty spoke to me of what had passed, showing much anger,

so I judged that silence was the best course to take; and therefore

waited; but the next day the Empress had the kindness to tell me that she

would be present at her husband's toilet, and that, if I thought proper

to open the matter, she would sustain me with all her influence.

Consequently, finding the Emperor in a good humor, I spoke of M. Frere;

and depicting to his Majesty the despair of this poor man, I pointed out

to him the reasons which might excuse the impropriety of his conduct.

"Sire," said I, "he is a good man, who has no fortune, and supports a

numerous family; and if he has to quit the service of her Majesty the

Empress, it will not be believed that it was on account of a fault for

which the wine was more to be blamed than he, and he will be utterly

ruined." To these words, as well as to many other suggestions, the

Emperor only replied by interruptions, made with every appearance of a

decided opposition to the pardon which I had requested. Fortunately the

Empress was good enough to come to my assistance, and said to her husband

in her own gentle tones, always so touching and full of expression, "Mon

ami, if you are willing to pardon him, you will be doing me a favor."

Emboldened by this powerful patronage, I renewed my solicitations; to

which the Emperor at last replied abruptly, addressing himself to both

the Empress and myself, "In short, you wish it; well, let him stay then."

Monsieur Frere thanked me with his whole heart, and could hardly believe

the good news which I brought him; and as for the Empress, she was made

happy by the joy of this faithful servant, who gave her during the

remainder of his life every proof of his entire devotion. I have been

assured that, in 1814, on the departure of the Emperor for the Island of

Elba, Monsieur Frere was by no means the last to blame my conduct, the

motive of which he could not possibly know; but I am not willing to

believe this, for it seems to me that in his place, if I thought I could

not defend an absent friend, I should at least have kept silence.

As I have said, the Empress was extremely generous, and bestowed much in

alms, and was most ingenious in finding occasions for their bestowal.

Many emigres lived solely on her benefactions; she also kept up a very

active correspondence with the Sisters of Charity who nursed the sick,

and sent them a multitude of things. Her valets were ordered to go in

every direction, carrying to the needy the assistance of her

inexhaustible benevolence, while numerous other persons also received

each day similar commissions; and all these alms, all these multiplied

gifts which were so widely diffused, received an inestimable value from

the grace with which they were offered, and the good judgment with which

they were distributed. I could cite a thousand instances of this

delicate generosity.

Monsieur de Beauharnais had at the time of his marriage to Josephine a

natural daughter named Adele. The Empress reared her as if she had been

her own daughter, had her carefully educated, gave her a generous dowry,

and married her to a prefect of the Empire.

If the Empress showed so much tenderness for a daughter who was not her

own, it is impossible to give an idea of her love and devotion to Queen

Hortense and Prince Eugene, which devotion her children fully returned;

and there was never a better or happier mother. She was very proud of

her children, and spoke of them always with an enthusiasm which seemed

very natural to all who knew the Queen of Holland and the Vice-King of

Italy. I have related how, having been left an orphan at a very early

age by the Revolutionary scaffold, young Beauharnais had gained the heart

of General Bonaparte by an interview in which he requested of him his

father's sword, and that this action inspired in the General a wish to

become acquainted with Josephine, and the result of that interview, all

of which events are matters of history. When Madame de Beauharnais had

become the wife of General Bonaparte, Eugene entered on a military

career, and attached himself immediately to the fortunes of his

step-father, whom he accompanied to Italy in the capacity of

aide-de-camp. He was chief of squadron in the chasseurs of the Consular

Guard, and at the immortal battle of Marengo shared all the dangers of

the one who took so much pleasure in calling him his son. A few years

later the chief of squadron had become Vice-King of Italy, the

presumptive heir of the imperial crown (a title which, in truth, he did

not long preserve), and husband of the daughter of a king.

The vice-queen (Augusta Amelia of Bavaria) was handsome and good as an

angel. I happened to be at Malmaison on the day the Empress received the

portrait of her daughter-in-law, surrounded by three or four children,

one upon her shoulder, another at her feet, and a third in her arms, all

of whom had most lovely faces. The Empress, seeing me, deigned to call

me to admire with her this collection of charming heads; and I perceived

that, while speaking, her eyes were full of tears. The portraits were

well painted, and I had occasion later to find that they were perfect

likenesses. From this time the only question was playthings and rare

articles of all sorts to be bought for these dear children, the Empress

going in person to select the presents she desired for them, and having

them packed under her own eyes.

The prince's valet has assured me that, at the time of the divorce,

Prince Eugene wrote his wife a very desponding letter, and perhaps

expressed in it some regret at not being an adopted son of the Emperor,

to which the Princess replied most tenderly, saying, among other things,

"It is not the heir of the Emperor whom I married and whom I love, but it

is Eugene de Beauharnais." The Prince read this sentence and some others

in the presence of the person from whom I have these facts, and who was

touched even to tears. Such a woman deserved more than a throne.

After that event, so grievous to the heart of the Empress, and for which

she never found consolation, she left Malmaison no more, except to make a

few visits to Navarre.

Each time that I returned to Paris with the Emperor, I had no sooner

arrived than my first duty was to go to Malmaison, though I was rarely

the bearer of a letter from the Emperor, as he wrote to Josephine only on

extraordinary occasions. "Tell the Empress I am well, and that I wish

her to be happy," were almost invariably the parting words of the Emperor

as I set out. The moment I arrived the Empress quitted everything to

speak to me; and I frequently remained an hour and often two hours with

her; during which time there was no question of anything save the

Emperor. I must tell her all that he had suffered on the journey, if he

had been sad or gay, sick or well; while she wept over the details as I

repeated them, and gave me a thousand directions regarding his health,

and the cares with which she desired I should surround him. After this

she deigned to question me about myself, my prospects, the health of my

wife, her former protegee; and at last dismissed me, with a letter for

his Majesty, begging me to say to the Emperor how happy she would be if

he would come to see her.

Before his departure for Russia, the Empress, distressed at this war, of

which she entirely disapproved, again redoubled her recommendations

concerning the Emperor, and made me a present of her portrait, saying to

me, "My good Constant, I rely on you; if the Emperor were sick, you would

inform me of it, would you not? Conceal nothing from me, I love him so

much."

Certainly the Empress had innumerable means of hearing news of his

Majesty; but I am persuaded that, had she received each day one hundred

letters from those near the Emperor, she would have read and reread them

with the same avidity.

When I had returned from Saint-Cloud to the Tuileries, the Emperor asked

me how Josephine was, and if I found her in good spirits; he received

with pleasure the letters I brought, and hastened to open them. All the

time I was traveling, or on the campaign in the suite of his Majesty, in

writing to my wife, I spoke of the Emperor, and the good princess was

delighted that she showed my letters to her. In fact, everything having

the least connection with her husband interested the Empress to a degree

which proved well the singular devotion that she still felt for him

after, as before, their separation. Too generous, and unable to keep her

expenses within her income, it often happened that the Empress was

obliged to send away her furnishers unpaid the very day she had herself

fixed for the settlement of their bills; and as this reached the ears of

the Emperor on one occasion, there ensued a very unpleasant scene between

the Empress and himself, ending in a decision, that in future no merchant

or furnisher should come to the chateau without a letter from the lady of

attire or secretary of orders; and this plan, once decided upon, was

followed very closely until the divorce. During this explanation the

Empress wept freely, and promised to be more economical, upon which the

Emperor pardoned and embraced her, and peace was made, this being, I

think, the last quarrel of this nature which disturbed the imperial

household.

I have heard that after the divorce, the allowance of the Empress having

been exceeded, the Emperor reproached the superintendent of Malmaison

with this fact, who in turn informed Josephine. His kind-hearted

mistress, much distressed at the annoyance which her steward had

experienced, and not knowing how to establish a better order of things,

assembled a council of her household, over which she presided in a linen

dress without ornament; this dress had been made in great haste, and was

used only this once. The Empress, whom the necessity for a refusal

always reduced to despair, was continually besieged by merchants, who

assured her that they had made such or such a thing expressly for her own

use, begging her not to return it because they would not be able to

dispose of it; in consequence of which the Empress kept everything they

brought, though they afterwards had to be paid for.

The Empress was always extremely polite in her intercourse with the

ladies of her household; and a reproach never came from those lips which

seemed formed to say only pleasant things; and if any of her ladies gave

her cause of dissatisfaction, the only punishment she inflicted was an

absolute silence on her part, which lasted one, two, three, or even eight

days, the time being longer or shorter according to the gravity of the

fault. And indeed this penalty, apparently so mild, was really very

cruel to many, so well did the Empress know how to make herself adored by

those around her.

In the time of the Consulate, Madame Bonaparte often received from cities

which had been conquered by her husband, or from those persons who

desired to obtain her intercession with the First Consul, quantities of

valuable furniture, curiosities of all kinds, pictures, stuffs, etc. At

first these presents delighted Madame Bonaparte greatly; and she took a

childish pleasure in having the cases opened to find what was inside,

personally assisting in unpacking them, and rummaging through all these

pretty things. But soon these consignments became so considerable, and

were so often repeated, that it was found necessary to place them in an

apartment, of which my father-in-law kept the key, and where the boxes

remained untouched until it pleased Madame Bonaparte to have them opened.

When the First. Consul decided that he would take up his residence at

Saint-Cloud, my father-in-law was obliged to leave Malmaison, and install

himself in the new palace, as the master wished him to take charge there.

Before leaving Malmaison, my father-in-law rendered an account to Madame

Bonaparte of everything committed to his care, and all the cases which

were piled up from floor to ceiling in two rooms were opened in her

presence. Madame Bonaparte was astonished at such marvelous riches,

comprising marbles, bronzes, and magnificent pictures, of which Eugene,

Hortense, and the sisters of the First Consul received a large part, and

the remainder was used in decorating the apartments of Malmaison.

The Empress's love of ornaments included for a while antique curiosities,

cut stones, and medals. M. Denon flattered this whim, and ended by

persuading the good Josephine that she was a perfect connoisseur in

antiques, and that she should have at Malmaison a cabinet, a keeper for

it, etc. This proposition, which flattered the self-love of the Empress,

was favorably received; the room was selected, M. de M---- made keeper,

and the new cabinet enriched by diminishing in the same proportion the

rich furniture of the apartments of the chateau. M. Denon, who had

originated this idea, took upon himself to make a collection of medals;

but this idea, which came so suddenly, vanished as suddenly; the cabinet

was changed into a saloon for guests, and the antiques relegated to the

antechamber of the bathing hall, while M. de M----, having no longer

anything to keep, remained constantly in Paris.

A short time after this, two ladies of the palace took a fancy to

persuade the Empress that nothing could be handsomer or more worthy of

her than a necklace of Greek and Roman antique stones perfectly matched.

Several chamberlains approved the idea, which, of course, pleased the

Empress, for she was very fond of anything unique; and consequently one

morning, as I was dressing the Emperor, the Empress entered, and, after a

little conversation, said, "Bonaparte, some ladies have advised me to

have a necklace made of antique stones, and I came to ask you to urge M.

Denon to select only very handsome ones." The Emperor burst out

laughing, and refused flatly at first; but just then the grand marshal of

the palace arrived, and the Emperor informed him of this request of the

Empress, asking his opinion. M. le due de Frioul thought it very

reasonable, and joined his entreaties to those of the Empress. "It is an

egregious folly," said the Emperor; "but we are obliged to grant it,

because the women wish it, so, Duroc, go to the cabinet of antiques, and

choose whatever is necessary."

M. le due de Frioul soon returned with the finest stones in the

collection, which the crown jeweler mounted magnificently; but this

ornament was of such enormous weight that the Empress never wore it.

Though I may be accused of making tiresome repetitions, I must say that

the Empress seized, with an eagerness which cannot be described, on all

occasions of making benefactions. For instance, one morning when she was

breakfasting alone with his Majesty, the cries of an infant were suddenly

heard proceeding from a private staircase. The Emperor was annoyed at

this, and with a frown, asked sharply what that meant. I went to

investigate, and found a new-born child, carefully and neatly dressed,

asleep in a kind of cradle, with a ribbon around its body from which hung

a folded paper. I returned to tell what I had seen; and the Empress at

once exclaimed, "O Constant! bring me the cradle." The Emperor would

not permit this at first, and expressed his surprise and disapprobation

that it should have been thus introduced into the interior of his

apartments, whereupon her Majesty, having pointed out to him that it must

have been done by some one of the household, he turned towards me, and

gave me a searching look, as if to ask if it was I who had originated

this idea. I shook my head in denial. At that moment the baby began to

cry, and the Emperor could not keep from smiling, still growling, and

saying, "Josephine, send away that monkey!"

The Empress, wishing to profit by this return of good humor, sent me for

the cradle, which I brought to her. She caressed the little new-born

babe, quieted it, and read the paper attached to which was a petition

from its parents. Then she approached the Emperor, insisting on his

caressing the infant himself, and pinching its fat little cheeks; which

he did without much urging, for the Emperor himself loved to play with

children. At last her Majesty the Empress, having placed a roll of

napoleons in the cradle, had the little bundle in swaddling clothes

carried to the concierge of the palace, in order that he might restore it

to its parents.

I will now give another instance of the kindness of heart of her Majesty

the Empress, of which I had the honor to be a witness, as well as of the

preceding.

A few days before the coronation, a little girl four and a half years old

had been rescued from the Seine; and a charitable lady, Madame Fabien

Pillet, was much interested in providing a home for the poor orphan. At

the time of the coronation, the Empress, who had been informed of this

occurrence, asked to see this child, and having regarded it a few moments

with much emotion, offered her protection most gracefully and sincerely

to Madame Pillet and her husband, and announced to them that she would

take upon herself the care of the little girl's future; then, with her

usual delicacy and in the affectionate tone which was so natural to her,

the Empress added, "Your good action has given you too many claims over

the poor little girl for me to deprive you of the pleasure of completing

your work, I therefore beg your permission to furnish the expenses of her

education. You have the privilege of putting her in boarding-school, and

watching over her; and I wish to take only a secondary position, as her

benefactress." It was the most touching sight imaginable to see her

Majesty, while uttering these delicate and generous words, pass her hands

through the hair of the poor little girl, as she had just called her, and

kiss her brow with the tenderness of a mother. M. and Madame Pillet

withdrew, for they could no longer bear this touching scene.

CHAPTER XXV.

The appointment of General Junot as ambassador to Portugal recalled to my

recollection a laughable anecdote concerning him, which greatly amused

the Emperor. While in camp at Boulogne, the Emperor had published in the

order of the day that every soldier should discard powder, and arrange

his hair 'a la Titus', on which there was much murmuring; but at last all

submitted to the order of the chief, except one old grenadier belonging

to the corps commanded by General Junot. Not being able to decide on the

sacrifice of his oily tresses or his queue, the old soldier swore he

would submit to it only in case his general would himself cut off the

first lock; and all the officers interested in this affair having

succeeded in getting no other reply, at last reported him to the general.

"That can be managed; bring the idiot to me!" replied he. The grenadier

was called, and General Junot himself applied the scissors to an oiled

and powdered lock; after which he gave twenty francs to the grumbler, who

went away satisfied to let the barber of the regiment finish the

operation.

The Emperor having been informed of this adventure, laughed most

heartily, and praised Junot, complimenting him on his condescension.

I could cite a thousand similar instances of the kindness of heart joined

to military brusqueness which characterized General Junot, and could also

cite those of another kind, which would do less honor to his name. The

slight control he had over himself often threw him into transports of

rage, the most ordinary effect of which was forgetfulness of his rank and

the dignity of demeanor which it demanded of him. Every one has heard

the adventure of the gambling-house, when he tore up the cards, upset the

furniture, and beat both bankers and croupiers, to indemnify himself for

the loss of his money; and the worst of it was, he was at that very time

Governor of Paris. The Emperor, informed of this scandal, sent for him,

and demanded of him (he was still very angry), if he had sworn to live

and die mad. This might have been, from the sequel, taken as a

prediction; for the unfortunate general died at last in a fit of mental

aberration. He replied in such improper terms to the reprimands of the

Emperor that he was sent, perhaps in order that he might have time to

calm himself, to the army of England. It was not only in gaming-houses,

however, that the governor thus compromised his dignity; for I have heard

other stories about him of a still more shocking character, which I will

not allow myself to repeat. The truth is, General Junot prided himself

much less on respecting the proprieties than on being one of the best

pistol-shots in the army. While riding in the country, he would often

put his horse into a gallop, and with a pistol in each hand, never fail

to cut off, in passing, the heads of the ducks or chickens which he took

as his target. He could cut off a small twig from a tree at twenty-five

paces; and I have even heard it said (I am far from guaranteeing the

truth of this) that on one occasion, with the consent of the party whose

imprudence thus put his life in peril, he cut half in two the stem of a

clay pipe, hardly three inches long, which a soldier held between his

teeth.

In the first journey which Madame Bonaparte made into Italy to rejoin her

husband, she remained some time at Milan. She had at that time in her

service a 'femme de chambre' named Louise, a large and very beautiful

woman, and who showed favors, well remunerated however, to the brave

Junot. As soon as her duties were ended, Louise, far more gorgeously

attired than Madame Bonaparte, entered an elegant carriage, and rode

through the city and the principal promenades, often eclipsing the wife

of the General-in-chief. On his return to Paris, the latter obliged his

wife to dismiss the beautiful Louise, who, abandoned by her inconstant

lover, fell into great destitution; and I often saw her afterwards at the

residence of Josephine begging aid, which was always most kindly granted.

This young woman, who had dared to rival Madame Bonaparte in elegance,

ended by marrying, I think, an English jockey, led a most unhappy life,

and died in a miserable condition.

The First Consul of the French Republic, now become Emperor of the

French, could no longer be satisfied with the title of President of

Italy. Therefore, when new deputies of the Cisalpine Republic passed

over the mountains, and gathered at Paris for consultation, they

conferred on his Majesty the title of King of Italy, which he accepted,

and a few days after his acceptance he set out for Milan, where he was to

be crowned.

I returned with the greatest pleasure to that beautiful country, of

which, notwithstanding the fatigues and dangers of war, I retained the

most delightful recollections. How different the circumstances now! As

a sovereign the Emperor was now about to cross the Alps, Piedmont, and

Lombardy, each gorge, each stream, each defile of which we had been

obliged in a former visit to carry by force of arms. In 1800 the escort

of the First Consul was a warlike army; in 1805 it was a peaceful

procession of chamberlains, pages, maids of honor, and officers of the

palace.

Before his departure the Emperor held in his arms at the baptismal font,

in company with Madame his mother, Prince Napoleon Louis, second son of

his brother Prince Louis. [The third son lived to become Napoleon III.]

The three sons of Queen Hortense had, if I am not much mistaken, the

Emperor as godfather; but he loved most tenderly the eldest of the three,

Prince Napoleon Charles, who died at the age of five years, Prince Royal

of Holland. I shall speak afterwards of this lovely child, whose death

threw his father and mother into the most overwhelming grief, was the

cause of great sorrow to the Emperor, and may be considered as the source

of the gravest events.

After the baptismal fetes we set out for Italy, accompanied by the

Empress Josephine. Whenever it was convenient the Emperor liked to take

her with him; but she always desired to accompany her husband, whether or

not this was the case.

The Emperor usually kept his journey a profound secret up to the moment

of his departure, and ordered at midnight horses for his departure to

Mayence or Milan, exactly as if a hunt at Saint-Cloud or Rambouillet was

in question.

On one of his journeys (I do not remember which), his Majesty had decided

not to take the Empress Josephine. The Emperor was less disturbed by

this company of ladies and women who formed her Majesty's suite, than he

was by the annoyance of the bandboxes and bundles with which they were

usually encumbered, and wished on this occasion to travel rapidly, and

without ostentation, and spare the towns on his route an enormous

increase of expense.

He therefore ordered everything to be in readiness for his departure, at

one o'clock in the morning, at which hour the Empress was generally

asleep; but, in spite of all precautions, some slight noise warned the

Empress of what was taking place. The Emperor had promised her that she

should accompany him on his first journey; but he had deceived her,

nevertheless, and was about to set out without her! She instantly called

her women; but vexed at their slowness, her Majesty sprang out of bed,

threw on the first clothing she found at hand, and ran out of her room in

slippers and without stockings. Weeping like a little child that is

being taken back to boarding-school, she crossed the apartments, flew

down the staircase, and threw herself into the arms of the Emperor, as he

was entering his carriage, barely in time, however, for a moment later he

set out. As almost always happened at the sight of his wife's tears, the

Emperor's heart was softened; and she, seeing this, had already entered

the carriage, and was cowering down in the foot, for the Empress was

scantily clad. The Emperor covered her with his cloak, and before

starting gave the order in person that, with the first relay, his wife

should receive all she needed.

The Emperor, leaving his wife at Fontainebleau, repaired to Brienne,

where he arrived at six o'clock in the evening, and found Mesdames de

Brienne and Lomenie, with several ladies of the city, awaiting him at the

foot of the staircase to the chateau. He entered the saloon, and

received most graciously all persons who were presented to him, and then

passed into the garden, conversing familiarly with Mesdames Brienne and

Lomenie, and recalling with surprising accuracy the smallest particulars

of the stay which he made during his childhood at the military school of

Brienne.

His Majesty invited to his table at dinner his hostesses and a few of

their friends, and afterwards made a party at a game of whist with

Mesdames de Brienne, de Vandeuvre, and de Nolivres. During this game, as

also at the table, his conversation was animated and most interesting,

and he displayed such liveliness and affability that every one was

delighted.

His Majesty passed the night at the chateau of Brienne, and rose early to

visit the field of la Rothiere, one of his favorite walks in former days.

He revisited with the greatest pleasure those spots where his early youth

had been passed, and pointed them out with a kind of pride, all his

movements, all his reflections, seeming to say, "See whence I set out,

and where I have arrived."

His Majesty walked in advance of the persons who accompanied him, and

took much pleasure in being first to call by their names the various

localities he passed. A peasant, seeing him thus some distance from his

suite, cried out to him familiarly, "Oh, citizen, is the Emperor going to

pass soon?"--"Yes," replied the Emperor, "have patience."

The Emperor had inquired the evening before, of Madame Brienne, news of

Mother Marguerite. Thus was styled a good woman who dwelt in a cottage,

in the midst of the forest, and on whom the, pupils of the military

academy were accustomed to make frequent visits. He had not forgotten

her name, and learning, with as much joy as surprise, that she still

lived, the Emperor, extended his morning ride, and galloping up to the

door of the cottage, alighted from his horse, and entered the home of the

good old peasant. Her sight was impaired by age; and besides, the

Emperor had changed so much since she had seen him that it would have

been difficult even for the best eyes to recognize him. "Good-day,

Mother Marguerite," said his Majesty, saluting the old woman; "so you are

not curious to see the Emperor?"--"Yes, indeed, my good sir; I am very

curious to see him; so much so, that here is a little basket of fresh

eggs that I am going to carry to Madame; and I shall then remain at the

chateau, and endeavor to see the Emperor. But the trouble is, I shall

not be able to see him so well to-day as formerly, when he came with his

comrades to drink milk at Mother Marguerite's. He was not Emperor then;

but that was nothing, he made the others step around! Indeed, you should

have seen him! The milk, the eggs, the brown bread, the broken dishes

though he took care to have me paid for everything, and began by paying

his own bill."--"What! Mother Marguerite," replied his Majesty, smiling,

"you have not forgotten Bonaparte!"--"Forgotten! my good sir; you think

that any one would forget such a young man as he, who was wise, serious,

and sometimes even sad, but always good to poor people? I am only a poor

peasant woman, but I could have predicted that this young man would make

his way. He has not done it very badly, has he? Ah, no, indeed!"

During this short dialogue, the Emperor had at first turned his back to

the door, and consequently to the light, which entered the cottage only

by that means. But, by degrees; the Emperor approached the good woman;

and when he was quite near her, with the light shining full on his face

from the door, he began to rub his hands and say, trying to recall the

tone and manner of the days of his early youth, when he came to the

peasant's house, "Come, Mother Marguerite, some milk and fresh eggs; we

are famishing." The good old woman seemed trying to revive her memories,

and began to observe the Emperor with the closest attention. "Oh, yes,

Mother, you were so sure a while ago of knowing Bonaparte again. Are we

not old acquaintances, we two?" The peasant, while the Emperor was

addressing these last words to her, had fallen at his feet; but he raised

her with the most touching kindness, and said to her, "The truth is,

Mother Marguerite, I have still a schoolboy's appetite. Have you nothing

to give me?" The good woman, almost beside herself with happiness,

served his Majesty with eggs and milk; and when this simple repast was

ended, his Majesty gave his aged hostess a purse full of gold, saying to

her, "You know, Mother Marguerite, that I believe in paying my bills.

Adieu, I shall not forget you." And while the Emperor remounted his

horse, the good old woman, standing on the threshold of her door,

promised him, with tears of joy, to pray to the good God for him.

One morning, when he awoke, his Majesty was speaking of the possibility

of finding some of his old acquaintances; and an anecdote concerning

General Junot was related to him, which amused him greatly. The General

finding himself, on his return from Egypt, at Montbard, where he had

passed several years of his childhood, had sought with the greatest care

for his companions in school and mischief, and had found several, with

whom he had talked gayly and freely of his early frolics and his

schoolboy excursions. As they went together to revisit the different

localities, each of which awakened in them some memory of their youth,

the general saw an old man majestically promenading on the public square

with a large cane in his hand. He immediately ran up to him, threw his

arms around him, and embraced him many times, almost suffocating him.

The promenader disengaged himself with great difficulty from his warm

embraces, regarded General Junot with an amazed air, and remarked that he

was ignorant to what he could attribute such excessive tenderness from a

soldier wearing the uniform of a superior officer, and all the

indications of high rank. "What," cried he, "do you not recognize

me?"--"Citizen General, I pray you to excuse me, but I have no

idea"--"Ah, morbleu, my dear master, have you forgotten the most idle,

the most lawless, the most incorrigible of your scholars?"--"A thousand

pardons, you are Monsieur Junot."--"Himself!" replied Junot, renewing

his embraes, and laughing with his friends at the singular

characteristics by which he had caused himself to be recognized. As for

his Majesty the Emperor, if any of his old masters had failed to

recognize him, it could not be by reminiscences of this kind that he

could have recalled himself to them; for every one knows that he was

distinguished at the military school for his application to work, and

the regularity and sobriety of his life.

A meeting of the same nature, saving the difference in recollections,

awaited the Emperor at Brienne. While he was visiting the old military

school, now falling to ruin, and pointing out to the persons who

surrounded him the situation of the study halls, dormitories,

refectories, etc., an ecclesiastic who had been tutor of one of the

classes in the school was presented to him. The Emperor recognized him

immediately; and, uttering an exclamation of surprise, his Majesty

conversed more than twenty minutes with this gentleman, leaving him full

of gratitude.

The Emperor, before leaving Brienne to return to Fontainebleau, required

the mayor to give him a written account of the most pressing needs of the

commune, and left on his departure a considerable sum for the poor and

the hospitals.

Passing through Troyes, the Emperor left there, as everywhere else,

souvenirs of his generosity. The widow of a general officer, living in

retirement at Joinville (I regret that I have forgotten the name of this

venerable lady, who was more than an octogenarian), came to Troyes,

notwithstanding her great age, to ask aid from his Majesty. Her husband

having served only before the Revolution, the pension which she had

enjoyed had been taken from her under the Republic, and she was in the

greatest destitution. The brother of General Vouittemont, mayor of a

commune in the suburbs of Troyes, was kind enough to consult me as to

what should be done in order to present this lady to the Emperor; and I

advised him to have her name placed on the list of his Majesty's private

audiences. I myself took the liberty of speaking of Madame de to the

Emperor; and the audience was granted, though I do not pretend to

attribute the merit of it to myself, for in traveling the Emperor was

always very accessible.

When the good lady came to attend the audience with M. de Vouittemont, to

whom his municipal scarf gave the right of entrance, I happened to meet

them, and she stopped to thank me for the little service which she

insisted I had rendered her, and mentioned that she had been obliged to

pawn the six silver plates which alone remained to her, in order to pay

the expenses of her journey; that, having arrived at Troyes in a poor

farm wagon, covered with a cloth thrown over a hoop, and which had shaken

her terribly, she could find no place in the inns, all of which were

filled on account of the arrival of their Majesties; and she would have

been obliged to sleep in her wagon had it not been for the kind

consideration of M. de Vouittemont, who had given up his room to her, and

offered his services. In spite of her more than eighty years, and her

distress, this respectable lady related her story with an air of gentle

gayety, and at the close threw a grateful glance at her guide, on whose

arm she was leaning.

At that moment the usher came to announce that her turn had come, and she

entered the saloon of audience. M. de Vouittemont awaited her return

while conversing with me; and on her return she related to us, scarcely

able to control her emotion, that the Emperor had in the kindest manner

received the memorial she presented to him, had read it attentively, and

passed it to a minister who was near him, with the order to do her

justice this very day.

The next day she received the warrant for a pension of three thousand

francs, the first year's pay being handed her at once.

At Lyons, of which Cardinal Fesch was archbishop, the Emperor lodged in

the archiepiscopal palace. [Joseph Fesch, born in Corsica, 1763, was

half-brother to Napoleon's mother. Archbishop of Lyons 1801, cardinal

1803, died 1839]

During the stay of their Majesties the cardinal exerted himself to the

utmost to gratify every wish of his nephew; and in his eagerness to

please, monseigneur applied to me many times each day to be assured that

nothing was lacking; so everything passed off admirably. The zeal of the

cardinal was remarked by all the household; but for my part I thought I

perceived that the zeal displayed by monseigneur in the reception of

their Majesties took on an added strength whenever there was a question

of all the expenses incurred by this visit, which were considerable,

being paid by them. His eminence, I thought, drew very fine interest on

his investment, and his generous hospitality was handsomely compensated

by the liberality of his guests.

The passage of Mont Cenis was by no means so difficult as had been that

of Mont St. Bernard; although the road, which has since been made by the

Emperor's orders, was not then commenced. At the foot of the mountain

they were obliged to take the carriage to pieces, and transport

it on the backs of mules; and their Majesties crossed the mountain partly

on foot, partly in very handsome sedan chairs which had been made at

Turin, that of the Emperor lined with crimson satin, and ornamented with

gold lace and fringes, and that of the Empress in blue satin, with silver

lace and fringes. The snow had been carefully swept off and removed. On

their arrival at the convent they were most warmly received by the good

monks; and the Emperor, who had a singular affection for them, held a

long conversation with them, and did not depart without leaving rich and

numerous tokens of his liberality. As soon as he arrived at Turin he

gave orders for the improvement of their hospice, which he continued to

support till his fall.

Their Majesties remained several days at Turin, where they occupied the

former palace of the kings of Sardinia, constituted the imperial

residence by a decree of the Emperor during our stay, as was also the

castle of Stupinigi, situated a short distance from the town.

The Pope rejoined their Majesties at Stupinigi; the Holy Father had left

Paris almost at the same time as ourselves, and before his departure had

received from the Emperor magnificent presents. Among these was a golden

altar with chandeliers, and holy vessels of the richest workmanship, a

superb tiara, Gobelin tapestries, and carpets from the Savonnerie, with a

statue of the Emperor in Sevres porcelain. The Empress also made to his

Holiness a present of a vase of the same manufacture, adorned with

paintings by the best artists. This masterpiece was at least four feet

in height, and two feet and a half in diameter at the mouth, and was made

expressly to be offered to the Holy Father, the painting representing, if

my memory is correct, the ceremony of the coronation.

Each of the cardinals in the suite of the Pope had received a box of

beautiful workmanship, with the portrait of the Emperor set in diamonds;

and all the persons attached to the service of Pius VII. had presents

more or less considerable, all these various articles being brought by

the furnishers to the apartments of his Majesty, where I took a list of

them, by order of his Majesty, as they arrived.

The Holy Father also made in return very handsome presents to the

officers of the Emperor's household whose duties had brought them near

his person during his stay at Paris.

From Stupinigi we went to Alexandria. The Emperor, the next day after

his arrival, rose early, visited the fortifications of the town, reviewed

all the positions of the battlefield of Marengo, and returned only at

seven o'clock, and after having broken down five horses. A few days

after he wished the Empress to see this famous plain, and by his orders

an army of twenty-five or thirty thousand men was assembled. The morning

of the day fixed for the review of these troops, the Emperor left his

apartment dressed in a blue coat with long skirts, much worn, and even

with holes in some places. These holes were the work of moths and not of

balls, as has been said in certain memoirs. On his head his Majesty wore

an old hat edged with gold lace, tarnished and frayed, and at his side a

cavalry saber, such as the generals of the Republic wore; this was the

coat, hat, and sword that he had worn on the day of the battle of

Marengo. I afterwards lent these articles to Monsieur David, first

painter to his Majesty, for his picture of the passage of Mont St.

Bernard. A vast amphitheater had been raised on this plain for the

Empress and the suite of their Majesties; the day was perfect, as is each

day of the month of May in Italy. After riding along the ranks, the

Emperor took his seat by the side of the Empress, and made to the troops

a distribution of the cross of the Legion of Honor, after which he laid

the corner stone of a monument, which he had directed to be raised on the

plain to the memory of the soldiers who had fallen on the battlefield.

When his Majesty, in the short address which he made to the army on this

occasion, pronounced in a strong voice, vibrating with emotion, the name

of Desaix, who here died gloriously for his country, a murmur of grief

ran through the ranks of the soldiers. As for me, I was moved to tears;

and as my eyes fell on this army, on its banners, on the costume of the

Emperor, I was obliged to turn from time to time towards the throne of

her Majesty the Empress, to realize that this was not the 14th of June in

the year 1800.

I think it was during this stay at Alexandria, that Prince Jerome

Bonaparte had an interview with the Emperor, in which the latter

seriously and earnestly remonstrated with his brother, and Prince Jerome

left the cabinet visibly agitated. This displeasure of the Emperor arose

from the marriage contracted by his brother, at the age of nineteen, with

the daughter of an American merchant.

His Majesty had this union annulled on the plea of minority, and made a

decree forbidding the officers of the civil state to receive, on their

registers, the record of the certificate of the celebration of the

marriage of Monsieur Jerome with Mademoiselle Patterson. For some time

the Emperor treated him with great coolness, and kept him at a distance;

but a few days after the interview at Alexandria, he sent him to Algiers

to claim as subjects of the Empire two hundred Genoese held as slaves.

The young prince acquitted himself handsomely of this mission of

humanity, and returned in the month of August to the port of Genoa, with

the captives whom he had just released. The Emperor was well satisfied

with the manner in which his brother had carried out his instructions,

and said on this occasion, that "Prince Jerome was very young and very

thoughtless, that he needed more weight in his head, but that,

nevertheless, he hoped to make something of him."

This brother of his Majesty was one among the few persons whom he really

loved, although he had often given him just cause for anger.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Their Majesties remained more than a month at Milan, and I had ample

leisure to acquaint myself with this beautiful capital of Lombardy. This

visit was a continual succession of fetes and gayeties; and it seemed

that the Emperor alone had time to give to work, for he shut himself up,

as was his custom, with his ministers, while all the persons of his suite

and of his household, whose duties did not detain them near his Majesty,

were eagerly taking part in the sports and diversions of the Milanese. I

will enter into no details of the coronation, as it was almost a

repetition of what had taken place at Paris a few months before; and as

all solemnities of this sort are alike, every one is familiar with the

least details. Amid all these fete days there was one day of real

happiness to me: it was that on which Prince Eugene, whose kindness to me

I have never forgotten, was proclaimed viceroy of Italy. Truly, no one

could be more worthy than he of a rank so elevated, if to attain it only

nobility, generosity, courage, and skill in the art of governing, were

needed; for never did prince more sincerely desire the prosperity of the

people confided to his care. I have often observed how truly happy he

was, and what genuine delight beamed from his countenance when he had

shed happiness around him.

The Emperor and Empress went one day to breakfast in the environs of

Milan, on a little island called Olona. While walking over it, the

Emperor met a poor woman, whose cottage was near the place where their

Majesties' table had been set, and he addressed to her a number of

questions. "Monsieur," replied she (not knowing the Emperor), "I am very

poor, and the mother of three children, whom I have great difficulty in

supporting, because my husband, who is a day laborer, has not always

work."--"How much would it take," replied his Majesty, "to make you

perfectly happy?"--"O Sire, it would take a great deal of money."--"But

how much, my good woman, how much would be necessary?"--"Ah, Monsieur,

unless we had twenty louis, we would not be above want; but what chance

is there of our ever having twenty louis?"

The Emperor gave her, on the spot, the sum of three thousand francs in

gold, and ordered me to untie the rolls and pour them all into the good

woman's lap.

At the sight of so much gold the latter grew pale, reeled, and I saw she

was fainting. "All, that is too much, Monsieur, that is indeed too much.

Surely you could not be making sport of a poor woman!"

The Emperor assured her that it was indeed all hers, and that with this

money she could buy a little field, a flock of goats, and raise her

children well.

His Majesty did not make himself known; for he liked, in dispensing his

benefits, to preserve his incognito, and I knew, during his life, a large

number of instances similar to the foregoing. It seems that historians

have made it a point to pass them over in silence; and yet it is, I

think, by the rehearsal of just such deeds that a correct idea of the

Emperor's character can and should be formed.

Deputations from the Ligurian Republic, with the Doge at their head, had

come to Milan to entreat the Emperor to annex Genoa and its territory to

the Empire, which demand his Majesty took care not to refuse, and by a

decree formed of the Genoese states three departments of his Italian

kingdom. The Emperor and Empress set out from Milan to visit these

departments and some others.

We had been at Mantua a short time, when one evening, about six o'clock,

Grand Marshal Duroc gave me an order to remain alone in a little room

adjoining that of the Emperor, and informed me that Count Lucien

Bonaparte would arrive soon. He came in a few moments; and as soon as he

announced himself, I introduced him into, the Emperor's bedroom, and then

knocked at the door of the Emperor's cabinet, to inform him of his

arrival. After saluting each other, the two brothers shut themselves up

in the room, and there soon arose between them a very animated

discussion; and being compelled to remain in the little saloon, much

against my will, I overheard a great part of the conversation. The

Emperor was urging his brother to get a divorce, and promised him a crown

if he would do this; but Lucien replied that he would never abandon the

mother of his children, which refusal irritated the Emperor so greatly,

that his expressions became harsh and even insulting. When this

altercation had lasted more than an hour, M. Lucien came out from it in a

deplorable condition, pale and disheveled, his eyes red and filled with

tears; and we did not see him again, for, on quitting his brother, he

returned to Rome.

The Emperor was greatly troubled by this refusal of his brother, and did

not open his mouth on retiring. It has been maintained that the

disagreement between the brothers was caused by the elevation of the

First Consul to the Empire, and Lucien's disapproval of this step; but

that is a mistake. It is indeed true that the latter had proposed to

continue the Republic under the government of two consuls, who were to be

Napoleon and Lucien, one to be at the head of the department of war and

foreign relations, the other of everything connected with the affairs of

the interior; but although the failure of this plan must have

disappointed Lucien, the avidity with which he accepted the titles of

senator and count of the Empire proved that he cared very little for a

republic of which he was not to be one of the heads. I am sure that the

marriage of Monsieur Lucien to Madame Jouberthon was the only cause of

this disagreement. The Emperor disapproved of this union because the

lady's reputation was somewhat doubtful, and she was also divorced from

her husband, who had become insolvent, and had fled to America. This

insolvency, and the divorce especially, offended Napoleon deeply, who

always felt a great repugnance for divorced people.

Before this, the Emperor had wished to raise his brother to the rank of

sovereign, by making him marry the Queen of Etruria, who had lost her

husband. Lucien had refused this alliance on several different

occasions; and at last the Emperor became angry, and said to him, "You

see how far you are carrying your infatuation and your foolish love for a

femme galante."--"At least," replied Lucien, "mine is young and pretty,"

alluding to the Empress Josephine, who had been both the one and the

other.

The boldness of this reply excited the Emperor's anger beyond all bounds.

At that moment he held in his hands his watch, which he dashed with all

his might on the floor, crying out, "Since you will listen to nothing,

see, I will break you like this watch."

Differences had arisen between the brothers before the establishment of

the Empire; and among the acts which caused the disgrace of Lucien, I

have often heard the following cited.

Lucien, being minister of the interior, received the order of the First

Consul to let no wheat go out of the territory of the Republic. Our

warehouses were filled, and France abundantly supplied; but this was not

the case in England, and the scarcity of it was beginning to be felt

there. It was never known how it happened; but the larger part of this

grain passed the Strait of Calais, and it was stated positively that the

sum of twenty millions was received for it. On learning this, the First

Consul took away the portfolio of the interior from his brother, and

appointed him ambassador to Spain.

At Madrid, Monsieur Lucien was well received by the king and the royal

family, and became the intimate friend of Don Manuel Godoy, Prince de la

Paix. It was during this mission, and by agreement with the Prince de la

Paix, that the treaty of Badajos was concluded, in order to procure which

it is said that Portugal gave thirty millions. It has been also declared

that more than this sum, paid in gold and diamonds, was divided between

the two plenipotentiaries, who did not think it necessary to render an

account of this transaction to their respective courts.

Charles IV. loved Lucien tenderly, and felt for the First Consul the

greatest veneration. After examining carefully several Spanish horses

which he intended for the First Consul, he said to his head groom: "How

fortunate you are, and how I envy your happiness! you are going to see

the great man, and you will speak to him; how I should like to take your

place!"

During his embassage Lucien had paid his court to a person of most

elevated rank, and had received her portrait in a medallion surrounded

with very fine brilliants. I have seen a hundred times this portrait

which he wore suspended from his neck by a chain of most beautiful black

hair; and far from making a mystery of it, he endeavored, on the

contrary, to show it, and bent over so that the rich medallion could be

seen hanging on his breast.

Before his departure from Madrid, the king likewise made him a present of

his own portrait in miniature, also set in diamonds.

These stones, remounted and set in the form of a hat buckle, passed to

the second wife of Lucien. I will now give an account of his marriage

with Madame Jouberthon, as related to me by a person who resided in the

same house.

The First Consul was informed each day, and very promptly, of all that

took place in the interior of the homes of his brothers, a circumstantial

account being rendered, even as to the smallest particulars and the

slightest details. Lucien, wishing to marry Madame Jouberthon, whom he

had met at the house of the Count de L----, an intimate friend of his,

wrote between two and three o'clock in the afternoon to Duquesnoy, mayor

of the tenth arrondissement, requesting him to come to his residence, Rue

Saint Dominique, about eight o'clock in the evening, and bring the

marriage register.

Between five and six o'clock Monsieur Duquesnoy, mayor of the tenth

arrondissement, received from the chateau of the Tuileries an order not

to take the register out of the municipality, and above all not to

celebrate any marriage whatever, unless, in accordance with the law, the

names of the parties thereto had been published for eight days.

At the hour indicated Duquesnoy arrived at the residence, and asked to

speak in private to the count, to whom he communicated the order

emanating from the chateau.

Beside himself with anger, Lucien immediately hired a hundred post-horses

for himself and friends; and without delay he and Madame Jouberthon, with

these friends and the people of his household, took carriages for the

chateau of Plessis-Chamant, a pleasure-house half a league beyond Senlis.

The cure of the place, who was also associate mayor, was summoned, and at

midnight pronounced the civil marriage; then, putting on his sacerdotal

robes over the scarf he wore as an officer of the civil state, he

bestowed on the fugitives the nuptial benediction. A good supper was

then served, at which the assistant and cure were present; but, as he

returned to his vicarage about six o'clock in the morning, he saw at his

gate a post-chaise, guarded by two soldiers, and on entering his house,

found there an officer of the armed police, who invited him politely to

be kind enough to accompany him to Paris. The poor curate thought

himself lost; but he was compelled to obey, under penalty of being

carried to Paris from one guard-house to another by the police.

Nothing was left for him but to enter the fatal chaise, which was drawn

at a gallop by two good horses, and soon arrived at the Tuileries, where

he was brought into the cabinet of the First Consul, who said to him in a

voice of thunder, "It is you, then, Monsieur, who marry members of my

family without my consent, and without having published the bans, as is

your duty in your double character of cure and assistant mayor. You well

know that you deserve to be deprived of your office, excommunicated, and

tried before the courts." The unfortunate priest believed himself

already in prison; but after a severe lecture he was sent back to his

curacy, and the two brothers were never reconciled.

In spite of all these differences, Lucien always counted on the affection

of his brother to obtain him a kingdom. I guarantee the authenticity of

the following incident, which was related to me by a reliable person:

Lucien had in charge of his establishment a friend of his early youth,

the same age as himself, and like him born in Corsica, who was named

Campi, and enjoyed the most confidential relations in the count's

household. On the day that the 'Moniteur' gave a list of the new French

princes, Campi was promenading in the handsome gallery of pictures

collected by Lucien, with the latter's young secretary, when the

following conversation occurred between them. "You have no doubt read

the 'Moniteur' of to-day?"--"Yes."--"You have seen that all the members

of the family have had the title of French princes bestowed on them, and

the name of monsieur le count alone is wanting to the list."--"What

matters that? There are kingdoms."--"Considering the care

that sovereigns take to keep them, there will hardly be any

vacancy."--"Ah, well, they will be made. All the royal families of

Europe are worn out, and we must have new ones." Thereupon Campi was

silent, and advised the young man to hold his tongue, if he wished to

preserve the favor of the count. However, it was not long after this

before the young secretary repeated this confidential conversation,

which, without being singularly striking, gives, however, an idea of the

amount of confidence which should be placed in the pretended moderation

of Count Lucien, and in the epigrams against his brother and his family

which have been attributed to him.

No one in the chateau was ignorant of the hostility which existed between

Lucien Bonaparte and the Empress Josephine; and to make their court to

the latter the former habitues of Malmaison, now become the courtiers of

the Tuileries; were in the habit of relating to her the most piquant

anecdotes they could collect relative to the younger brother of the

Emperor. Thus it happened that by chance one day I heard a dignified

person and a senator of the Empire give the Empress, in the gayest manner

imaginable, very minute details as to one of the temporary liaisons of

Count Lucien. I do not guarantee the authenticity of the anecdote, and I

experience in writing it more embarrassment than the senator displayed in

relating it, and omit, indeed, a mass of details which the narrator gave

without blushing, and without driving off his audience; for my object is

to throw light upon the family secrets of the imperial household, and on

the habits of the persons who were nearest the Emperor, and not to

publish scandal, though I could justify myself by the example of a

dignitary of the Empire.

Count Lucien (I do not know in what year) established himself in the good

graces of Mademoiselle Meserai, an actress of the Theatre Francais, who

was both pretty and sprightly. The conquest was not difficult, in the

first place, because this had never been her character towards any one,

and, secondly, because the artiste knew the great wealth of the count,

and believed him to be prodigal. The first attentions of her lover

confirmed her in this opinion, and she demanded a house. He at once

presented her with one richly and elegantly furnished, the deed being put

in her hands on the day she took possession; and each visit of the count

added to the actress's wardrobe or jewel-case some new gifts. This

lasted some months, at the end of which Lucien became disgusted with his

bargain, and began to consider by what means to break it without losing

too much. Among other things, he had made mademoiselle a present of a

pair of girandoles, containing diamonds of great value. In one of the

last interviews, before the count had allowed any signs of coldness to be

seen, he perceived the girandoles on the toilet-table of his mistress,

and, taking them in his hands, said, "Really, my dear, you do me

injustice; why do you not show more confidence in me? I do not wish you

to wear jewelry so much out of date as these."--"Why, it has been only

six months since you gave them to me."--"I know it; but a woman of good

taste, a woman who respects herself, should never wear anything six

months old. I will take the ear-rings and send them to de Villiers [he

was the count's jeweler] with orders to mount them as I wish." The count

was tenderly thanked for so delicate an attention, and put the girandoles

in his pocket, with one or two necklaces which had also been his gift,

and which did not appear to him sufficiently new in style, and the breach

took place before any of these had been returned.

Notwithstanding this, Mademoiselle believed herself well provided for

with her furniture and her house, until one morning the true proprietor

came to ask her wishes as to making a new lease. She ran to examine her

deed, which she had not yet thought to do, and found that it was simply a

description of the property, at the end of which was a receipt for two

years' rent.

During our stay at Genoa the heat was insupportable; from this the

Emperor suffered greatly, saying he had never experienced the like in

Egypt, and undressed many times a day. His bed was covered with a

mosquito netting, for the insects were numerous and worrying. The

windows of the bedroom looked out upon a grand terrace on the margin of

the sea, and from them could be seen the gulf and all the surrounding

country. The fetes given by the city were superb. An immense number of

vessels were fastened together, and filled with orange and citrontrees

and shrubs, some covered with flowers, some with fruits, and all combined

formed a most exquisite floating garden which their Majesties visited on

a magnificent yacht.

On his return to France, the Emperor made no halt between Turin and

Fontainebleau. He traveled incognito, in the name of the minister of the

interior, and went at such speed that at each relay they were obliged to

throw water on the wheels; but in spite of this his Majesty complained of

the slowness of the postilions, and cried continually, "Hurry up! hurry

up! we are hardly moving." Many of the servants' carriages were, left

in the rear; though mine experienced no delay, and I arrived at each

relay at the same time as the Emperor.

In ascending the steep hill of Tarare, the Emperor alighted from the

carriage, as did also Berthier, who accompanied him; the carriages of the

suite being some distance behind, as the drivers had stopped to breathe

their horses.

His Majesty saw, climbing the hill a few steps before him, an old,

decrepit woman, who hobbled along with great difficulty. As the Emperor

approached her he inquired why, infirm as she was, and apparently so

fatigued, she should attempt to travel so difficult a road.

"Sir," replied she, "they tell me the Emperor is to pass along here, and

I wish to see him before I die." His Majesty, who liked to be amused,

said to her, "Ah, but why trouble yourself about him? He is a tyrant,

like all the rest." The good woman, indignant at this remark, angrily

replied, "At least, Sir, he is our choice; and since we must have a

master, it is at least right that we should choose him." I was not an

eye-witness of this incident; but I heard the Emperor himself relate it

to Dr. Corvisart, with some remarks upon the good sense of the masses,

who, according to the opinion of his Majesty and his chief doctor, had

generally formed very correct opinions.

CHAPTER XXVII.

His Majesty the Emperor passed the month of January, 1806, at Munich and

Stuttgard, during which, in the first of these two capitals, the marriage

of the vice-king and the Princess of Bavaria was celebrated. On this

occasion there was a succession of magnificent fetes, of which the

Emperor was always the hero, and at which his hosts tried, by every

variety of homage, to express to this great man the admiration with which

his military genius inspired them.

The vice-king and vice-queen had never met before their marriage, but

were soon as much attached to each other as if they had been acquainted

for years, for never were two persons more perfectly congenial. No

princess, and indeed no mother, could have manifested more affection and

care for her children than the vice-queen; and she might well serve as a

model for all women. I have been told an incident concerning this

admirable princess which I take pleasure in relating here. One of her

daughters, who was quite young, having spoken in a very harsh tone to her

maid, her most serene highness the vice-queen was informed of it, and in

order to give her daughter a lesson, forbade the servants to render the

young princess any service, or to reply to any of her demands, from that

time. The child at once complained to her mother, who told her gravely

that when any one received, like her, the care and attention of all

around them, it was necessary to merit this, and to show her appreciation

by consideration and an obliging politeness. Then she required her to

ask pardon of the 'femme de chambre', and henceforward to speak to her

politely, assuring her that by this means she would always obtain

compliance with all reasonable and just requests she might make.

The child obeyed; and the lesson was of such benefit to her that she

became, if general report is to be believed, one of the most accomplished

princesses of Europe. The report of her perfections spread abroad even

to the New World, which contended for her with the Old, and has been

fortunate enough to obtain her. She is at this time, I think, Empress of

Brazil.

His Majesty the King of Bavaria, Maximilian Joseph, then about fifty

years of age, was very tall, with a noble and attractive physiognomy and

fascinating manners. Before the Revolution he had been colonel of an

Alsatian regiment in the service of France, under the name of Prince

Maximilian, or Prince Max as the soldiers called him, and stationed at

Strasburg, where he left a reputation for elegance and chivalrous

gallantry. His subjects, his family, his servants, everybody, adored

him. He often took long walks through the city of Munich in the morning,

went to the market, inquired the price of grain, entered the shops, spoke

to every one, especially the children, whom he persuaded to go to school.

This excellent prince did not fear to compromise his dignity by the

simplicity of his manners; and he was right, for I do not think any one

ever failed to show him respect, and the love which he inspired lessened

in no wise the veneration which was felt for him. Such was his devotion

to the Emperor, that his kindly feelings extended even to the persons who

by their functions approached nearest to his Majesty, and were in the

best position to know his needs and wishes. Thus (I do not relate it out

of vanity, but in proof of what I have just said) his Majesty the King of

Bavaria never came to see the Emperor, that he did not take my hand and

inquire first after the health of his Imperial Majesty, then after my

own, adding many things which plainly showed his attachment for the

Emperor and his natural goodness.

His Majesty the King of Bavaria is now in the tomb, like him who gave him

a throne; but this tomb is still a royal tomb, and the loyal Bavarians

can come to kneel and weep over it. The Emperor, on the contrary--

[Constant wrote this before the return, in 1840, of the ashes of

Napoleon to rest on "the banks of the Seine, amid the French people

whom he loved so well," where in a massive urn of porphyry, and

beneath the gilded dome of the Invalides, in the most splendid tomb

of the centuries, sleeps now the soldier of Lodi, Marengo,

Austerlitz, Wagram, and Waterloo.--TRANS.]

The virtuous Maximilian was able to leave to a worthy son the scepter

which he had received from him who perished an exile at St. Helena.

Prince Louis, the present King of Bavaria, and to-day perhaps the best

king in Europe, was not so tall as his august father, neither was his

face so handsome; and, unfortunately, he was afflicted with an extreme

deafness, which made him raise his voice without knowing it, and in

addition to this his utterance was impeded by a slight stammering. This

prince was grave and studious; and the Emperor recognized his merit, but

did not rely upon his friendship. This was not because he thought him

wanting in loyalty, for the prince royal was above such suspicion; but

the Emperor was aware that he belonged to a party which feared the

subjection of Germany, and who suspected that the French, although they

had so far attacked only Austria, had ideas of conquest over all the

German powers.

However, what I have just stated in regard to the prince royal relates

only to the years subsequent to 1806; for I am certain that at that epoch

his sentiments did not differ from those of the good Maximilian, who was,

as I have said, full of gratitude to the Emperor. Prince Louis came to

Paris at the beginning of this year; and I saw him many times at the

court theater in the box of the prince arch-chancellor, where they both

slept in company and very profoundly. This was also such a habit with

Cambaceres, that when the Emperor asked for him, and was told that

monseigneur was at the theater, he replied, "Very well, very well; he is

taking his siesta; let us not disturb him!"

The King of Wurtemburg was large, and so fat that it was said of him God

had put him in the world to prove how far the skin of a man could be

stretched. His stomach was of such dimensions that it was found

necessary to make a broad, round incision in front of his seat at the

table; and yet, notwithstanding this precaution, he was obliged to hold

his plate on a level with his chin to drink his soup. He was very fond

of hunting, either on horseback, or in a little Russian carriage drawn by

four horses, which he often drove himself. He was fond of horseback

riding, but it was no easy task to find a mount of size and strength

sufficient to carry so heavy a burden. It was necessary that the poor

animal should be progressively trained; and in order to accomplish this

the king's equerry fastened round the horse a girth loaded with pieces of

lead, increasing the weight daily till it equalled that of his Majesty.

The king was despotic, hard, and even cruel, ever ready to sign the

sentence of the condemned, and in almost all cases, if what is said at

Stuttgart be true, increased the penalty inflicted by the judges. Hard

to please, and brutal, he often struck the people of his household; and

it is even said that he did not spare her Majesty the queen, his wife,

who was a sister of the present King of England. Notwithstanding all

this, he was a prince whose knowledge and brilliant mind the Emperor

esteemed; for they had a mutual affection for each other, and he found

him faithful to his alliance to the very end. King Frederic of

Wurtemburg had a brilliant and numerous court, at which he displayed

great magnificence.

The hereditary prince was much beloved; he was less haughty and more

humane than his father, and was said to be just and liberal.

Besides those crowned by his hand, the Emperor, while in Bavaria,

received a great number of the princes of the Confederation; and they

usually dined with his Majesty. In this crowd of royal courtiers the

prince primate was noticeable, who differed in nothing as to manners,

bearing, and dress from the most fashionable gentlemen of Paris. The

Emperor paid him special attention. I cannot pay the same eulogy to the

toilet of the princesses, duchesses, and other noble ladies; for most of

them dressed in exceedingly bad taste, and, displaying neither art nor

grace, covered their heads with plumes, bits of gold, and silver gauze,

fastened with a great quantity of diamond-headed pins.

The equipages the German nobility used were all very large coaches, which

were a necessity from the enormous hoops still worn by those ladies; and

this adherence to antiquated fashions was all the more surprising,

because at that time Germany enjoyed the great advantage of possessing

two fashion journals. One was the translation of the magazine published

by Mesangere; and the other, also edited at Paris, was translated and

printed at Mannheim. These ridiculous carriages, which much resembled

our ancient diligences, were drawn by very inferior horses, harnessed

with ropes, and placed so far apart that an immense space was needed to

turn the carriage.

The Prince of Saxe-Gotha was long and thin. In spite of his great age,

he was enough of a dandy to order at Paris, from our hairdresser

Michalon, some pretty little wigs of youthful blonde, curled like the

hair of Cupid; but, apart from this, he was an excellent man. I

recollect, a propos of the noble German ladies, to have seen at the court

theater at Fontainebleau a princess of the Confederation who was being

presented to their Majesties. The toilet of her Highness announced an

immense progress in the elegance of civilization beyond the Rhine; for,

renouncing the Gothic hoops, the princess had adopted the very latest

fashions, and, though nearly seventy years of age, wore a dress of black

lace over red satin, and her coiffure consisted of a white muslin veil,

fastened by a wreath of roses, in the style of the vestals of the opera.

She had with her a granddaughter, brilliant with the charm of youth, and

admired by the whole court, although her costume was less stylish than

that of her grandmother.

I heard her Majesty, the Empress Josephine, relate one day that she had

much difficulty in repressing a smile when, among a number of German

princesses presented to her, one was announced under the name of

Cunegonde [Cunegonde was the mistress of Candide in Voltaire's novel of

Candide.] Her Majesty added that, when she saw the princess take her

seat, she imagined she saw her lean to one side. Assuredly the Empress

had read the adventures of Candide and the daughter of the very noble

baron of Thunder-Ten-Trunck.

At Paris, in the spring of 1806, I saw almost as many members of the

Confederation as I had seen in the capitals of Bavaria and Wurtemburg.

A French name had the precedence among these names of foreign princes.

It was that of Prince Murat, who in the month of March was made

Grand-duke of Berg and Cleves. After Prince Louis of Bavaria, arrived

the hereditary prince of Baden, who came to Paris to marry a niece of

the Empress.

At the beginning this union was not happy. The Princess Stephanie (de

Beauharnais) was a very pretty woman, graceful and witty; and the Emperor

had wished to make a great lady of her, and had married her without

consulting her wishes. Prince Charles-Louis-Frederic was then twenty

years of age, and though exceedingly good, brave, and generous, and

possessing many admirable traits, was heavy and phlegmatic, ever

maintaining an icy gravity, and entirely destitute of the qualities which

would attract a young princess accustomed to the brilliant elegance of

the imperial court.

The marriage took place in April, to the great satisfaction of the

prince, who that day appeared to do violence to his usual gravity, and

even allowed a smile to approach his lips. The day passed off very well;

but, when the time came for retiring, the princess refused to let him

share her room, and for eight days was inexorable.

He was told that the princess did not like the arrangement of his hair,

and that nothing inspired her with more aversion than a queue; upon which

the good prince hastened to have his hair cut close, but when she saw him

thus shorn, she laughed immoderately, and exclaimed that he was more ugly

a la Titus than he was before. It was impossible that the intelligence

and the kind heart of the princess could fail to appreciate the good and

solid qualities of her husband; she learned to love him as tenderly as

she was loved, and I am assured that the august couple lived on excellent

terms.

Three months after this marriage, the prince left his wife to follow the

Emperor, first on the campaign in Prussia, and afterwards in Poland. The

death of his grandfather, which happened some time after the Austrian

campaign of 1809, put him in possession of the grand duchy, whereupon he

resigned the command of his troops to his uncle the Count of Hochberg,

and returned to his government, never more to leave it.

I saw him again with the princess at Erfurt, where they told me he had

become jealous of the Emperor Alexander, who paid assiduous court to his

wife; at which the prince took alarm and abruptly left Erfurt, carrying

with him the princess, of whom it must in justice be said that there had

been on her part not the slightest imprudence to arouse this jealousy,

which seems very pardonable, however, in the husband of so charming a

woman.

The prince's health was always delicate, and from his earliest youth

alarming symptoms had been noticed in him; and this physical condition

was no doubt, in a great measure, the main source of the melancholy which

marked his character. He died in 1818, after a very long and painful

illness, during which his wife nursed him with the most affectionate

care, leaving four children, two sons and two daughters. The two sons

died young, and would have left the grand duchy of Baden without heirs,

if the Counts Hochberg had not been recognized as members of the

ducal family. The grand-duchess is to-day devoting her life to the

education of her daughters, who promise to equal her in graces and

virtues. The nuptials of the Prince and Princess of Baden were

celebrated by brilliant fetes; at Rambouillet took place a great

hunting-party, in which their Majesties, with many members of their

family, and all the princes of Baden, Cleves, etc., traversed on foot

the forests of Rambouillet.

I recollect another hunting-party, which took place about the same time

in the forest of Saint-Germain, to which the Emperor invited the

ambassador of the Sublime Porte, then just arrived at Paris. His Turkish

Excellency followed the chase with ardor, but without moving a muscle of

his austere countenance. The animal having been brought to bay, his

Majesty had a gun handed to the Turkish ambassador, that he might have,

the honor of firing the first shot; but he refused, not conceiving,

doubtless, that any pleasure could be found in slaying at short range a

poor, exhausted animal, who no longer had the power to protect itself,

even by flight.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Emperor remained only a few days at Paris, after our return from

Italy, before setting out again for the camp of Boulogne. The fetes of

Milan had not prevented him from maturing his political plans, and it was

suspected that not without good reason had he broken down his horses

between Turin and Paris. These reasons were plainly evident, when it was

learned that Austria had entered secretly into the coalition of Russia

and England against the Emperor. The army collected in the camp of

Boulogne received orders to march on the Rhine, and his Majesty departed

to rejoin his troops about the end of September. As was his custom, he

informed us only an hour in advance of his departure; and it was curious

to observe the contrast of the confusion which preceded this moment with

the silence that followed it. Hardly was the order given, than each one

busied himself hastily with his own wants and those of his Majesty; and

nothing could be heard in the corridors but the sound of domestics coming

and going, the noise of cases being nailed down, and boxes being carried

out. In the courts appeared a great number of carriages and wagons, with

men harnessing them, the scene lighted by torches, and everywhere oaths

and cries of impatience; while the women, each in her own room, were

sadly occupied with the departure of husband, son, or brother. During

all these preparations the Emperor was making his adieux to her Majesty

the Empress, or taking a few moments of repose; but at the appointed hour

he rose, was dressed, and entered his carriage. Soon after everything

was silent in the chateau, and only a few isolated persons could be seen

flitting about like shadows; silence had succeeded to noise, solitude to

the bustle of a brilliant and numerous court. Next morning this deep

silence was broken only by a few scattered women who sought each other

with pale faces and eyes full of tears, to communicate their grief and

share their apprehensions. Many courtiers, who were not of the party,

arrived to make their court, and were stupefied on learning of his

Majesty's absence, feeling as if the sun could not have risen that day.

The Emperor went without halting as far as Strasburg; and the day after

his arrival in this town, the army began to file out over the bridge of

Kehl.

On the evening before this march, the Emperor had ordered the general

officers to be on the banks of the Rhine on the following day, at exactly

six in the morning. An hour before that set for the rendezvous, his

Majesty, notwithstanding the rain which fell in torrents, went alone to

the head of the bridge, to assure himself of the execution of the orders

he had given, and stood exposed to this rain without moving, till the

first divisions commenced to file out over the bridge. He was so

drenched that the drops which fell from his clothing ran down under his

horse, and there formed a little waterfall; and his cocked hat was so wet

that the back of it drooped over his shoulders, like the large felt hats

of the coal-burners of Paris. The generals whom he was awaiting gathered

around him; and when he saw them assembled, he said, "All goes well,

messieurs; this is a new step taken in the direction of our enemies; but

where is Vandamme? Why is he not here? Can he be dead?" No one said a

word. "Answer me, what has become of Vandamme?" General Chardon,

general of the vanguard, much loved by the Emperor, replied, "I think,

Sire, that General Vandamme is still asleep; we drank together last

evening a dozen bottles of Rhine wine, and doubtless"--"He does very well

to drink, sir; but he is wrong to sleep when I am waiting for him."

General Chardon prepared to send an aide-de-camp to his companion in

arms; but the Emperor prevented him, saying, "Let Vandamme sleep; I will

speak to him later." At this moment General Vandamme appeared. "Well,

here you are, sir; you seem to have forgotten the order that I gave

yesterday."--"Sire, this is the first time this has happened,

and"--"And to avoid a repetition of it, you will go and fight under the

banner of the King of Wurtemburg; I hope you will give them lessons in

sobriety."

General Vandamme withdrew, not without great chagrin, and repaired to the

army of Wurtemburg, where he performed prodigies of valor. After the

campaign he returned to the Emperor, his breast covered with decorations,

bearing a letter from the King of Wurtemburg to his Majesty, who, after

reading it, said to Vandamme: "General, never forget that, if I admire

the brave, I do not admire those who sleep while I await them." He

pressed the general's hand, and invited him to breakfast, in company with

General Chardon, who was as much gratified by this return to favor as was

his friend.

On the journey to Augsburg, the Emperor, who had set out in advance, made

such speed that his household could not keep up with him; and

consequently he passed the night, without attendants or baggage, in the

best house of a very poor village. When we reached his Majesty next day,

he received us laughing, and threatened to have us taken up as stragglers

by the provost guard.

From Augsburg the Emperor went to the camp before Ulm, and made

preparations to besiege that place.

A short distance from the town a fierce and obstinate engagement took

place between the French and Austrians, and had lasted two hours, when

cries of 'Vive l'Empereur!' were suddenly heard. This name, which

invariably carried terror into the enemy's ranks, and always imparted

fresh courage to our soldiers, now electrified them to such an extent

that they put the Austrians to flight, while the Emperor showed himself

in the front ranks, crying "Forward," and making signs to the soldiers to

advance, his Majesty's horse disappearing from time to time in the smoke

of the cannon. During this furious charge, the Emperor found himself

near a grenadier who was terribly wounded; and yet this brave fellow

still shouted with the others, "Forward! forward!"

The Emperor drew near him, and threw his military cloak over him, saying,

"Try to bring it back to me, and I will give you in exchange the cross

that you have just won." The grenadier, who knew that he was mortally

wounded, replied that the shroud he had just received was worth as much

as the decoration, and expired, wrapped in the imperial mantle.

At the close of the battle, the Emperor had this grenadier, who was also

a veteran of the army of Egypt, borne from the field, and ordered that he

should be interred in the cloak.

Another soldier, not less courageous than the one of whom I have just

spoken, also received from his Majesty marks of distinction. The day

after the combat before Ulm, the Emperor, in visiting the ambulances, had

his attention attracted by a, cannoneer of light artillery, who had lost

one leg, but in spite of this was still shouting with all his might,

'Vive l'Empereur!' He approached the soldier and said to him, "Is this,

then, all that you have to say to me?"--"No, Sire, I can also tell you

that I, I alone, have dismounted four pieces of the Austrian cannon; and

it is the pleasure of seeing them silenced which makes me forget that I

must soon close my eyes forever." The Emperor, moved by such fortitude,

gave his cross to the cannoneer, noted the names of his parents, and said

to him, "If you recover, the Hotel des Invalides is at your service."

"Thanks, Sire, but the loss of blood has been too great; my pension will

not cost you very dear; I know well that I must soon be off duty, but

long live the Emperor all the same!" Unfortunately this brave man

realized his real condition only too well, for he did not survive the

amputation of his leg.

We followed the Emperor into Ulm after the occupation of that place, and

saw a hostile army of more than thirty thousand men lay down their arms

at the feet of his Majesty, as they defiled before him; and I have never

beheld a more imposing sight. The Emperor was seated on his horse, a few

steps in front of his staff, his countenance wearing a calm and grave

expression, in spite of which the joy which filled his heart was apparent

in his glance.

He raised his hat every moment to return the salutes of the superior

officers of the Austrian troops. When the Imperial Guard entered

Augsburg, eighty grenadiers marched at the head of the columns, each

bearing a banner of the enemy.

The Emperor, on his arrival at Munich, was welcomed with the greatest

respect by his ally, the Elector of Bavaria. His Majesty went several

times to the theater and the hunt, and gave a concert to the ladies of

the court. It was, as has been since ascertained, during this stay of

the Emperor at Munich that the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia

pledged themselves at Potsdam, on the tomb of Frederick the Great, to

unite their efforts against his Majesty.

A year later Napoleon also made a visit to the tomb of the great

Frederick.

The taking of Ulm had finished the conquest of the Austrians, and opened

to the Emperor the gates of Vienna: but meanwhile the Russians were

advancing by forced marches to the help of their allies; his Majesty

hastened to meet them, and the 1st of December the two hostile armies

found themselves face to face. By one of those happy coincidences made

only for the Emperor, the day of the battle of Austerlitz was also the

anniversary of the coronation.

I do not remember why there was no tent for the Emperor at Austerlitz;

but the soldiers made a kind of barrack of limbs of trees, with an

opening in the top for the passage of the smoke. His Majesty, though he

had only straw for his bed, was so exhausted after having passed the day

on horseback on the heights of Santon, that on the eve of the battle he

was sleeping soundly, when General Savary, one of his aides-de-camp,

entered, to give an account of the mission with which he had been

charged; and the general was obliged to touch his shoulder, and shake

him, in order to rouse him. He then rose, and mounted his horse to visit

his advance posts. The night was dark; but the whole camp was lighted up

as if by enchantment, for each soldier put a bundle of straw on the end

of his bayonet, and all these firebrands were kindled in less time than

it takes to describe it. The Emperor rode along the whole line, speaking

to those soldiers whom he recognized. "Be to-morrow what you have always

been, my brave fellows," said he, "and the Russians are ours; we have

them!" The air resounded with cries of 'Vive l'Empereur', and there was

neither officer nor soldier who did not count on a victory next day.

His Majesty, on visiting the line of battle, where there had been no

provisions for forty-eight hours (for that day there had been distributed

only one loaf of ammunition bread for every eight men), saw, while

passing from bivouac to bivouac, soldiers roasting potatoes in the ashes.

Finding himself before the Fourth Regiment of the line, of which his

brother was colonel, the Emperor said to a grenadier of the second

battalion, as he took from the fire and ate one of the potatoes of the

squad, "Are you satisfied with these pigeons?"--"Humph! They are at least

better than nothing; though they are very much like Lenten food."--"Well,

old fellow," replied his Majesty to the soldier, pointing to the fires of

the enemy, "help me to dislodge those rascals over there, and we will

have a Mardi Gras at Vienna."

The Emperor returned to his quarters, went to bed again, and slept until

three o'clock in the morning, while his suite collected around a bivouac

fire near his Majesty's barracks, and slept on the ground, wrapped in

their cloaks, for the night was extremely cold. For four days I had not

closed my eyes, and I was just falling asleep, when about three o'clock

the Emperor asked me for punch. I would have given the whole empire of

Austria to have rested another hour; but notwithstanding this, I carried

his Majesty the punch, which I made by the bivouac fire, and the Emperor

insisted that Marshal Berthier should also partake of it; the remainder I

divided with the attendants. Between four and five o'clock the Emperor

ordered the first movements of his army, and all were on foot in a few

moments, and each at his post; aides-de-camp and orderly officers were

seen galloping in all directions, and the battle was begun.

I will not enter into the details of this glorious day, which, according

to the expression of the Emperor himself, terminated the campaign by a

thunderbolt. Not one of the plans of the Emperor failed in execution,

and in a few hours the French were masters of the field of battle and of

the whole of Germany.

The brave General Rapp was wounded at Austerlitz, as he was in every

battle in which he took part, and was carried to the chateau of

Austerlitz, where the Emperor visited him in the evening, and returned to

pass the night in the chateau.

Two days after, the Emperor Francis sought an audience of his Majesty, to

demand peace; and before the end of December a treaty was concluded, by

which, the Elector of Bavaria and the Duke of Wurtemburg, faithful allies

of the Emperor Napoleon, were made kings. In return for this elevation,

of which he alone was the author, his Majesty demanded and obtained for

Prince Eugene, viceroy of Italy, the hand of the Princess Augusta Amelia

of Bavaria.

During his sojourn at Vienna, the Emperor had established his

headquarters at Schoenbrunn, the name of which has become celebrated by

the numerous sojourns of his Majesty there, and is to-day, by a singular

coincidence, the residence of his son. [The Duke de Reichstadt, born

King of Rome, died July, 1832, soon after Constant wrote.]

I am not certain whether it was during this first sojourn at Schoenbrunn

that his Majesty had the extraordinary encounter that I shall now relate.

His Majesty, in the uniform of colonel of the chasseurs of the guard,

rode every day on horseback, and one morning, while on the road to

Vienna, saw approaching a clergyman, accompanied by a woman weeping

bitterly, who did not recognize him. Napoleon approached the carriage,

and inquired the cause of her grief, and the object and end of her

journey. "Monsieur," replied she, "I live at a village two leagues from

here, in a house which has been pillaged by soldiers, and my gardener has

been killed. I am now on my way to demand a safeguard from your Emperor,

who knew my family well, and is under great obligations to them."--"What

is your name, Madame?"--"De Bunny. I am the daughter of Monsieur de

Marbeuf, former governor of Corsica."--"I am charmed, Madame," replied

Napoleon, "to find an opportunity of serving you. I am the Emperor."

Madame de Bunny remained speechless with astonishment; but Napoleon

reassured her, and continuing his route, requested her to go on and await

him at his headquarters. On his return he received her, and treated her

with remarkable kindness, gave her an escort of the chasseurs of the

guard, and dismissed her happy and satisfied.

As soon as the day of Austerlitz was gained, the Emperor hastened to send

the courier Moustache to France to announce the news to the Empress, who

was then at the chateau of Saint-Cloud. It was nine o'clock in the

evening when loud cries of joy were suddenly heard, and the galloping of

a horse at full speed, accompanied by the sound of bells, and repeated

blows of the whip which announced a courier. The Empress, who was

awaiting with the greatest impatience news from the army, rushed to the

window, opened it hurriedly, and the words victory and Austerlitz fell on

her ears. Eager to know the details, she ran down the steps, followed by

her ladies; and Moustache in the most excited manner related the

marvelous news, and handed her Majesty the Emperor's letter, which

Josephine read, and then drawing a handsome diamond ring from her finger,

gave it to the courier. Poor Moustache had galloped more than fifty

leagues that day, and was so exhausted that he had to be lifted from his

horse and placed in bed, which it required four persons to accomplish.

His last horse, which he had doubtless spared less than the others, fell

dead in the court of the chateau.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Emperor having left Stuttgard, stopped only twenty-four hours at

Carlsruhe, and forty-eight hours at Strasburg, and between that place and

Paris made only short halts, without manifesting his customary haste,

however, or requiring of the postilions the break-neck speed he usually

demanded.

As we were ascending the hill of Meaux, and while the Emperor was so

engrossed in reading a book that he paid no attention to what was passing

on the road, a young girl threw herself against the door of his Majesty's

carriage, and clung there in spite of the efforts to remove her, not very

vigorous in truth, made by the cavaliers of the escort. At last she

succeeded in opening the door, and threw herself at the Emperor's feet.

The Emperor, much surprised, exclaimed, "What the devil does this foolish

creature want with me?" Then recognizing the young lady, after having

scrutinized her features more closely, he added in very evident anger,

"Ah, is it you again? will you never let me alone?" The young girl,

without being intimidated by this rude welcome, said through her sobs

that the only favor she now came to ask for her father was that his

prison might be changed, and that he might be removed from the Chateau

d'If, the dampness of which was ruining his health, to the citadel of

Strasburg. "No, no," cried the Emperor, "don't count on that. I have

many other things to do beside receiving visits from you. If I granted

you this demand, in eight days you would think of something else you

wished." The poor girl insisted, with a firmness worthy of better

success; but the Emperor was inflexible, and on arriving at the top of

the hill he said to her, "I hope you will now alight and let me proceed

on my journey. I regret it exceedingly, but what you demand of me is

impossible." And he thus dismissed her, refusing to listen longer.

While this was occurring I was ascending the hill on foot, a few paces

from his Majesty's carriage; and when this disagreeable scene was over,

the young lady, being forced to leave without having obtained what she

desired, passed on before me sobbing, and I recognized Mademoiselle

Lajolais, whom I had already seen in similar circumstances, but where her

courageous devotion to her parents had met with better success.

General Lajolais had been arrested, as well as all his family, on the

18th Fructidor. After being confined for twenty-eight months, he had

been tried at Strasburg by a council of war, held by order of the First

Consul, and acquitted unanimously.

Later, when the conspiracy of Generals Pichegru, Moreau, George Cadoudal,

and of Messieurs de Polignac, de Riviere, etc., were discovered, General

Lajolais, who was also concerned therein, was condemned to death. His

daughter and his wife were transferred from Strasburg to Paris by the

police, and Madame Lajolais was placed in the most rigorous close

confinement, while her daughter, now separated from her, took refuge with

friends of her family. It was then that this young person, barely

fourteen years old, displayed a courage and strength of character unusual

at her age; and on learning that her father was condemned to death, she

set out at four o'clock in the morning, without confiding her resolution

to any one, alone, on foot, and without a guide, with no one to introduce

her, and presented herself weeping at the chateau of Saint-Cloud, where

the Emperor then was.

She succeeded in gaining an entrance into the chateau only after much

opposition; but not allowing herself to be rebuffed by any obstacle, she

finally presented herself before me, saying, "Monsieur, I have been

promised that you would conduct me instantly to the Emperor" (I do not

know who had told her this). "I ask of you only this favor; do not

refuse it, I beg!" and moved by her confidence and her despair, I went to

inform her Majesty the Empress.

She was deeply touched by the resolution and the tears of one so young,

but did not dare, nevertheless, to promise her support at once, for fear

of awakening the anger of the Emperor, who was very much incensed against

those who were concerned in this conspiracy, and ordered me to say to the

young daughter of Lajolais that she was grieved to be able to do nothing

for her just then; but that she might return to Saint-Cloud the next day

at five o'clock in the morning, and meanwhile she and Queen Hortense

would consult together as to the best means of placing her in the

Emperor's way. The young girl returned next day at the appointed hour;

and her Majesty the Empress had her stationed in the green saloon, and

there she awaited ten hours, the moment when the Emperor, coming out from

the council-chamber, would cross this room to enter his cabinet.

The Empress and her august daughter gave orders that breakfast, and then

dinner, should be served to her, and came in person to beg her to take

some nourishment; but their entreaties were all in vain, for the poor

girl had no other thought, no other desire, than that of obtaining her

father's life. At last, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the Emperor

appeared; and a sign being made to Mademoiselle Lajolais by which she

could designate the Emperor, who was surrounded by several councilors of

state and officers of his household, she sprang towards him; and there

followed a touching scene, which lasted a long while. The young girl,

prostrating herself at the feet of the Emperor, supplicated him with

clasped hands, and in the most touching terms, to grant her father's

pardon. The Emperor at first repulsed her, and said in a tone of great

severity, "Your father is a traitor; this is the second time he has

committed a crime against the state; I can grant you nothing."

Mademoiselle Lajolais replied to this outburst of the Emperor, "The first

time my father was tried and found innocent; this time it is his pardon I

implore!" Finally the Emperor, conquered by so much courage and

devotion, and a little fatigued besides by an interview which the

perseverance of the young girl would doubtless have prolonged

indefinitely, yielded to her prayers, and the life of General Lajolais

was spared.

[It is well known that the sentence of General Lajolais was

commuted to four years detention in a prison of state, that his

property was confiscated and sold, and that he died in the Chateau

d'If much beyond the time set for the expiration of his captivity.--

Note by CONSTANT.]

Exhausted by fatigue and hunger, the daughter fell unconscious at the

Emperor's feet; he himself raised her, gave her every attention, and

presenting her to the persons who witnessed this scene, praised her

filial piety in unmeasured terms.

His Majesty at once gave orders that she should be reconducted to Paris,

and several superior officers disputed with each other the pleasure of

accompanying her. Generals Wolff, aide-de-camp of Prince Louis, and

Lavalette were charged with this duty, and conducted her to the

conciergerie where her father was confined. On entering his cell, she

threw herself on his neck and tried to tell him of the pardon she had

just obtained; but overcome by so many emotions, she was unable to utter

a word, and it was General Lavalette

[Marie Chamans, Count de Lavalette, was born in Paris, 1769.

Entered the army 1792, made Captain at Arcola 1796, and served in

Egyptian campaign. Married Emilie de Beauharnais, a niece of

Josephine. Postmaster-general, 1800-1814. Condemned to death

during the Hundred Days, he escaped from prison in his wife's dress.

His wife was tried, but became insane from excitement. He was

pardoned 1822, and died 1830, leaving two volumes of Memoirs.]

who announced to the prisoner what he owed to the brave persistence of

his daughter. The next day she obtained, through the favor of the

Empress Josephine, the liberty of her mother, who was to have been

transported.

Having obtained the life of her father and the liberty of her mother, as

I have just related, she still further exerted herself to save their

companions in misfortune, who had been condemned to death, and for this

purpose joined the ladies of Brittany, who had been led to seek her

cooperation by the success of her former petitions, and went with them to

Malmaison to beg these additional pardons.

These ladies had succeeded in getting the execution of the condemned

delayed for two hours, with the hope that the Empress Josephine would be

able to influence the Emperor; but he remained inflexible, and their

generous attempt met with no success, whereupon Mademoiselle Lajolais

returned to Paris, much grieved that she had not been able to snatch a

few more unfortunates from the rigor of the law.

I have already said two things which I am compelled to repeat here: the

first is, that, not feeling obliged to relate events in their

chronological order, I shall narrate them as they present themselves to

my memory; the second is, that I deem it both an obligation and a duty

which I owe to the Emperor to relate every event which may serve to make

his true character better known, and which has been omitted, whether

involuntarily or by design, by those who have written his life. I care

little if I am accused of monotony on this subject, or of writing only a

panegyric; but, if this should be done, I would reply: So much the worse

for him who grows weary of the recital of good deeds! I have undertaken

to tell the truth concerning the Emperor, be it good or bad; and every

reader who expects to find in my memoirs of the Emperor only evil, as

well as he who expects to find only good, will be wise to go no farther,

for I have firmly resolved to relate all that I know; and it is not my

fault if the kind acts performed by the Emperor are so numerous that my

recitals should often turn to praises.

I thought it best to make these short observations before giving an

account of another pardon granted by his Majesty at the time of the

coronation, and which the story of Mademoiselle Lajolais has recalled to

my recollection.

On the day of the last distribution of the decoration of the Legion of

Honor in the Church of the Invalides, as the Emperor was about to retire

at the conclusion of this imposing ceremony, a very young man threw

himself on his knees on the steps of the throne, crying out, "Pardon,

pardon for my father." His Majesty, touched by his interesting

countenance and deep emotion, approached him and attempted to raise him;

but the young man still retained his beseeching posture, repeating his

demand in moving tones. "What is your father's name?" demanded the

Emperor. "Sire," replied the young man, hardly able to make himself

heard, "it is well known, and has been only too often calumniated by the

enemies of my father before your Majesty; but I swear that he is

innocent. I am the son of Hugues Destrem."--"Your father, sir, is

gravely compromised by his connection with incorrigible revolutionists;

but I will consider your application. Monsieur Destrem is happy in

having so devoted a son." The Emperor added a few consoling words, and

the young man retired with the certainty that his father would be

pardoned; but unfortunately this pardon which was granted by the Emperor

came too late, and Hugues Destrem, who had been transported to the Island

of Oleron after the attempt of the 3d Nivose, [The affair of the

infernal machine in the Rue Sainte Nicaise] in which he had taken no

part, died in his exile before he had even learned that the solicitations

of his son had met with such complete success.

On our return from the glorious campaign of Austerlitz, the commune of

Saint-Cloud, so favored by the sojourn of the court, had decided that it

would distinguish itself on this occasion, and take the opportunity of

manifesting its great affection for the Emperor.

The mayor of Saint-Cloud was Monsieur Barre, a well informed man, with a

very kind heart. Napoleon esteemed him highly, and took much pleasure in

his conversation, and he was sincerely regretted by his subordinates when

death removed him.

M. Barre had erected an arch of triumph, of simple but noble design, in

excellent taste, at the foot of the avenue leading to the palace, which

was adorned with the following inscription:

"TO HER BELOVED SOVEREIGN;

THE MOST FORTUNATE OF THE COMMUNES."

The evening on which the Emperor was expected, the mayor and his

associates, armed with the necessary harangue, passed a part of the night

at the foot of the monument. M. Barre, who was old and feeble, then

retired, after having placed as sentinel one of his associates, whose

duty it was to inform him of the arrival of the first courier; and a

ladder was placed across the entrance of the arch of triumph, so that no

one might pass under it before his Majesty. Unfortunately, the municipal

argus went to sleep; and the Emperor arrived in the early morning, and

passed by the side of the arch of triumph, much amused at the obstacle

which prevented his enjoying the distinguished honor which the good

inhabitants of Saint-Cloud had prepared for him.

On the day succeeding this event, a little drawing was circulated in the

palace representing the authorities asleep near the monument, a prominent

place being accorded the ladder, which barred the passage, and underneath

was written the arch barre, alluding to the name of the mayor. As for

the inscription, they had travestied it in this manner:

"TO HER BELOVED SOVEREIGN;

THE SLEEPIEST OF THE COMMUNES."

Their Majesties were much amused by this episode.

While the court was at Saint-Cloud, the Emperor, who had worked very late

one evening with Monsieur de Talleyrand, invited the latter to sleep at

the chateau; but the prince, who preferred returning to Paris, refused,

giving as an excuse that the beds had a very disagreeable odor. There

was no truth whatever in this statement, for there was, as may be

believed, the greatest care taken of the furniture, even in the

store-rooms of the different imperial palaces; and the reason assigned

by M. de Talleyrand being given at random, he could just as well have

given any other; but, nevertheless, the remark struck the Emperor's

attention, and that evening on entering his bedroom he complained that

his bed had an unpleasant odor. I assured him to the contrary, and told

his Majesty that he would next day be convinced of his error; but, far

from being persuaded, the Emperor, when he rose next morning, repeated

the assertion that his bed had a very disagreeable odor, and that it was

absolutely necessary to change it. M. Charvet, concierge of the palace,

was at once summoned; his Majesty complained of his bed, and ordered

another to be brought.

M. Desmasis, keeper of the furniture-room, was also called, who examined

mattress, feather-beds, and covering, turned and returned them in every

direction; other persons did the same, and each was convinced that there

was no odor about his Majesty's bed. In spite of so many witnesses to

the contrary, the Emperor, not because he made it a point of honor not to

have what he had asserted proved false, but merely from a caprice to

which he was very subject, persisted in his first idea, and required his

bed to be changed. Seeing that it was necessary to obey, I sent this bed

to the Tuileries, and had the one which was there brought to the chateau

of Saint-Cloud. The Emperor was now satisfied, and, on his return to the

Tuileries, did not notice the exchange, and thought his bed in that

chateau very good; and the most amusing part of all was that the ladies

of the palace, having learned that the Emperor had complained of his bed,

all found an unbearable odor in theirs, and insisted that everything must

be overhauled, which created a small revolution. The caprices of

sovereigns are sometimes epidemic.

CHAPTER XXX.

His Majesty was accustomed to say that one could always tell an honorable

man by his conduct to his wife, his children, and his servants; and I

hope it will appear from these memoirs that the Emperor conducted himself

as an honorable man, according to his own definition. He said, moreover,

that immorality was the most dangerous vice of a sovereign, because of

the evil example it set to his subjects. What he meant by immorality was

doubtless a scandalous publicity given to liaisons which might otherwise

have remained secret; for, as regards these liaisons themselves, he

withstood women no more than any other man when they threw themselves at

his head. Perhaps another man, surrounded by seductions, attacks, and

advances of all kinds, would have resisted these temptations still less.

Nevertheless, please God, I do not propose to defend his Majesty in this

respect. I will even admit, if you wish, that his conduct did not offer

an example in the most perfect accord with the morality of his

discourses; but it must be admitted also that it was somewhat to the

credit of a sovereign that he concealed, with the most scrupulous care,

his frailties from the public, lest they should be a subject of scandal,

or, what is worse, of imitation; and from his wife, to whom it would have

been a source of the deepest grief.