YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

From the Library of
Colonel E. Francis Riggs, U.S. A., Yale 1909
Gift of his brother
The Reverend T. Lawrason Riggs, Yale 1910

THE COMEDY AND TRAGEDY OF
THE SECOND EMPIRE

NAI'OUCON in.
IfV AUIICI.T IIUI'CI.-.KIV.

From thi' rami, lal.en l.y tlie Neulptor, l.y |n.rni_HHiori uf H.I.M. tlie Kmpm
Kugi'iiii:, immediately after llic Kmprroi'H rleatli, .lamiary !i, 1 H7:_ .
Mr. ISruee-,loy'slmnt linn nuvur lieen exhibited, ami waHHpeeially pliotoamiilie
for ti j in book in June, lull. i ji » i

<'i>l,!)rh)l,l. in all, ('iiiirili-lt-H. /:,-i, i-mliirli,,,, ji-mhlhllril.

t',-imllHi>lt-M,

THE COMEDY & TRAGEDY
OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
PARIS SOCIETY IN THE SIXTIES
INCLUDING LETTERS OF NAPOLEON III.,
M. PIETRI, AND COMTE DE LA CHAPELLE, AND
PORTRAITS OF THE PERIOD j* j» j» j» j*
By EDWARD LEGGE, author of -the empress

•i
EUGENIE: 1870-1910" J*

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
153-157 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
191 1

I DEDICITK I1I1S YOU MK
ON HIS EIGHTY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY
To THE
EMINENT STATESMAN AND HISTORIAN OF
L'EMPIRE LIBERAL
EMILE OLLIVIER
PRIME MINISTER IN' 1870
LOYAL FRIEND OF NAPOLEON III.
AND
GRAND OLD MAN OF FRANCE

Ab honesto virum bonum nihil deteiret.

A NOTE.
30 juin, 1911.
Monsieur, Non-seulement j'aceepte avec plaisir la dedicace
dont vous voulez bien m'honorer, mais je vous remercie
des termes beaucoup trop bienveillants dont vous vous
servez a mon egard. Je vous remercie aussi de l'envoi
de votre livre, que je me ferai lire, et dans lequel, je suis
sur, je trouverai beaucoup d'interet.
Agreez, Monsieur, mes sentiments les plus cordiale-
ment sympathiques. Emile Ollivier.

[Translation.]
gm June 30, 1911.
Not only do I accept with pleasure the dedica
tion with which you are good enough to honour me, but
I thank you for the much too kind terms in which you
refer to me.
I thank you also for sending me your book, which I
shall have read to me, and in which I am sure I shall
find much that is interesting.
Accept my most cordially-sympathetic sentiments.
Emile Ollivier.
P?he book referred to is "The Empress Eugenie: 1870-1910."
London : Harper and Brothers. New York : Charles Soribner's
Sons. 1910. Owing to M. Olliver's somewhat impaired vision,
books and documents are read to him.]

viii PREFACE
General Fleury by the side of the captive ; of the
Empress, and those about her, addressed to Mgr.
Goddard— all these documents, it was agreed by the
Press, threw new light upon the period of the Second
Empire. One of several appreciative American critics did
not appear quite satisfied with the evidence authen
ticating the Empress's " Case," the elaborate state
ment justifying Her Majesty's severely-criticized
political and domestic acts. If any doubt existed
on that point I will now remove it. The assertions
contained in that document were indeed those of the
Empress herself, and would never have been pub
lished without her express approval and sanction.
Sovereigns who have been traduced do not " rush
into print " with signed denials of accusations
published to their discredit. They adopt other
means of repelling attacks upon their honour, and
sometimes upon their morality. Thus, the Emperor
Napoleon, during his captivity at Wilhelmshohe,
wrote with his own hand a detailed explanation of
his pohcy as the Ruler of France. It would not
have been convenable — not in accordance with his
dignity or with the rigid etiquette which guides
Sovereigns even in their most trivial actions — for
the Emperor (who had not then been formally
deposed) to have issued that statement with his
signature appended to it. The Due de Persigny
refused to " father " the document, and it was sent
forth as " by the Marquis de Gricourt," although,
as General Count von Monts assures us, the Em
peror was the actual author of the pamphlet,* and
* This has been confirmed by M. Emile Ollivier in the "Bevue
des Deux Mondes" (1911).

PREFACE ix
gave the General a copy of it. Some extracts from
the Emperor's " Case " are printed in the present
volume. The Emperor's letters to the late Comtesse de
Mercy-Argenteau display the workings of his mind
during the crisis of his life as only intimate corre
spondence could do. This gifted and charming
woman's letters to Napoleon III. are in the Empress's
possession, and will probably, like all other corre
spondence, remain unpublished " until fifty years
after Her Majesty's death." The Emperor's letters
came into the possession of Herr Paul Linderberg,
of Berlin, by whose kindness I am privileged to
print them in this volume.
English people who had held the Emperor in holy
horror took a different view of him when they made
his personal acquaintance. Lady Westmorland,
for instance, " had always felt a great antipathy for
Napoleon III. ; to her he was a clever ' scoundrel.'
In 1863 her son was a guest at Compiegne, and there
he became seriously ill. She went over to bring him
home, and not only did she acknowledge the Em
peror's kindness, she was won by his personal charm,
and recognized, as Queen Victoria had done, the
evidence of his high-bred instinct : ' He tried to put
others at their ease, and he is always himself a
perfect gentleman.' "*
The Emperor, who lavished millions of francs
upon others, was himself very economical. The
bills of his fournisseurs show that he had his hats
done up for four francs and his coats for fourteen
francs. " Napoleon III.," says M. Andre Lefevre,
" entering France with one or two million francs of
* "Quarterly Review," April, 1910.

x PREFACE
debts, left it with twenty, thirty, or fifty millions
owing to France. . . . We must not allow even the
mummy of Chislehurst to sleep in peace." A
beautiful sentiment, essentially French.
I have essayed, with the help of others, to paint
the Pale Emperor as he was, and the Empress as she,
was, and is, and Paris Society as it was. Of those
who knew both, some will agree, others will disagree,
with me ; but it is not for this little coterie that I
write. I write for the English-speaking peoples all
over the world.
As in my first volume, " The Empress Eugenie :
1870-1910," the object primarily aimed at was to
narrate the lives of the Imperial Family in England,
I was precluded from dwelling upon the Reign. In
the following pages I have endeavoured to portray
some aspects of the Court and of Paris Society
between 1852 and 1870. These are necessarily only
bird's-eye views; brief, however, as are these parts
of the imperial story, I hope they will convey an
idea of the real life of the period. It was very gay
— not a doubt about it. Was it an " orgy " ? One
can hardly think so. Everything was New. To the
severe critics — the " sea-green incorruptibles " —
the Emperor was an " adventurer," the Empress an
" adventuress," Society " rotten."
The descriptions of Fontainebleau and Compiegne
are mainly derived from a work by M. Bouchot,*
whose encyclopaedic knowledge is only equalled by
his fascinating style. Other details of life at Com
piegne are from the brilliant pen of the Marquis de
Massa, whose unexpected death in 1910 robbed
* "Les Elegances du Second Empire." Par Henri Bouchot.
Paris : A la Librairie Illustree. 1896.

PREFACE xi
Paris Society of one of its wittiest and most delightful
figures. (The Marquis furnished the Imperial
Theatre at Compiegne with many humorous say-
netes, and was in great favour with the Emperor and
the Empress.) From a lecture delivered in 1910 by
the Marquis,* and from his entertaining and always
reliable " Souvenirs," I have selected some amusing
items. The telegrams sent by the Emperor and
Empress in August, 1870, form a history of the war
up to the eve of Sedan. These despatches are taken
from the fifth volume of M. Germain Bapst's re
markable historical work, " Le Marechal Canrobert,"
the eminent publishers of which, MM. Plon-Nourrit
et Cie., have very generously authorized me to
reproduce them. M. Bapst's running commentary
on the dissensions of the Generals, Ministers,
and politicians is deeply interesting, and I have
quoted largely from it, convinced that it will be
as fresh to Enghsh as it was to French readers.
The picture of the Empress, so vividly sketched by
M. Bapst, reveals her in a new Hght. Although
critics are against me, I hazard the assertion that
throughout that month of August she displayed
most of the qualities of a competent Regent —
qualities possessed by no other Empress or Queen
of the period, with the single exception of Queen
Victoria. But she strove to accomplish the im
possible. No human power could convert inept
Generals into strategists and tacticians, nor double
the strength of the French forces, nor remedy the
defects of organization. Every factor that makes
* " La Cour des Tuileries " (Conference prononcee a la Societe
des Conferences le 17 Janvier, 1910). Paris : "La Revue Hebdo-
madaire" (Plon), 1910. "Mes Souvenirs et Impressions." Par
le Marquis de Massa. Paris : Calmann-L6vy.

xii PREFACE
for success was lacking, or we should not have a
distinguished French soldier writing in 1910 :
The authors of most of the works inspired by the
war of 1870 have too willingly yielded to the tempta
tion of looking for the guilty, and fixing them with
the blame for all our reverses. In turn they have
chosen for scapegoats the Emperor Napoleon III.,
that dreamer, straying into the field of pohtics, that
ideologue, punished in excess of his faults by the
pitiless decrees of destiny ; Marshal Lebceuf, so
fatally lacking in foresight ; the Corps Legislatif, so
badly inspired in its contests with Marshal Niel ;
the Generals who succeeded each other in the
command of our troops, from MacMahon to Bour-
baki ; and, finally, the Government of National
Defence, especially its Delegates. How few have
recognized the fact that the French army and our
rulers in 1870-71 were purely and simply, with their
quahties and their defects, the representation, the
faithful image, of the nation !*
It was a Frenchman, again, who wrote : " The
German schoolmaster was the real conqueror of
France in 1870, for he it was who had for years
developed in the hearts of the children the idea of
Teutonic greatness." f
I recall, without in any way endorsing, a quaint
reason seriously advanced for the French defeats :
" Don't blame your late Emperor because the
Germans thrashed you ; the cause lies far deeper : it
is due to the sneakishness of your male popula
tion." J
* General Palat, author of "La Guerre de 1870-1871," com
pleted in October, 1910. In seventeen volumes. Paris and
Nancy : Levrault et Oie.
t Peladan, the "Figaro," March 19, 1910.
j Author of an article on French Children in "Blackwood's
Magazine," December, 1871.

PREFACE xiii
Quite recently I read in the Press that only two or
three days before the outbreak of war Count Bis
marck declared that he had no idea there would be a
conflict. If he really said so (I do not credit it), he
spoke in a very different strain in January, 1868, to
a prominent German socialist. " War," he is
alleged to have said, " is inevitable." And he
continued :
It will be forced upon us by the French Emperor.
I say that clearly. He is an adventurer, and will be
forced into it. We have to be ready. We are ready.
We shall win, and the result will be just the con
trary to what Napoleon aims at — the total unifica
tion of Germany outside Austria, and probably
Napoleon's downfall.*
That prediction — assuming it to have been made
—was fulfilled to the letter. Germany was ready —
France was not. It is to be noted that M. Emile
Ollivier' s new volume — the fifteenth ! — is devoted
to this question of preparedness or unpreparedness,
for the work is entitled " Were we Ready ?" f The
veteran Prime Minister (the last) of Napoleon III.
deals with three points — the military preparations,
the diplomatic preparations, and the first war
operations, down to the morning of August 6 (before
the Battles of Worth and Spicheren) :
The conclusion is that, from the military point of
view, we were sufficiently ready to conquer, and
that, despite formal promises, no alhance was con
cluded by August 6. Finally, that if, from July 31
until August 6, we had adopted a vigorous offensive
* "Reminiscences of Carl Schurz." London: John Murray.
1909. t "Etions-nousprets V Par Emile Ollivier. Tomexv. Paris:
Garnier. 1911.

xiv PREFACE
on the side of the River Sarre [i.e., at Saarbriicken};
we should have gained that first victory whichf
would have changed the conditions of the struggle.
This will strike many as a splendidly-audacious
proposition; yet it is neither audacious nor new.
The two hours' fighting at Saarbriicken on August 2
was entirely to the advantage of the French force
(overwhelmingly superior in numbers) under Fros
sard ; but the " victory " was not followed up, and
thus proved wholly fruitless. M. Ollivier is, there
fore, entitled to this expression of opinion, over-
sanguine as some war critics may deem it ; and his
view must be received with respect, even by those
who differ from it.
The " great years " of the Reign were 1855, when
Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort (the Princess
Royal and the Prince of Wales with them) returned
the visit paid to them by the Emperor and Empress
of the French ; and 1867, when " all the Sovereigns "
were the guests of the imperial pair. The events of
the latter year were brilliantly and amusingly re
corded by that most vivacious chronicler, M. Adrien
Marx, in " Les Souverains a Paris,"* from which I
have translated some salient passages.
In " L'Imperatrice Eugenie," f one of M. Pierre
de Lano's vigorous and much " documented " works
relating to the Second Empire, there are to be found
many tableaux vivants of the epoch — mordant pages,
glowing with colour, of that " Exotic " society
which, more than aught else, tended to bring the
Second Empire into disrepute ; and impressions
of the imperial lady which are nothing if not frank
* Paris : E. Dentu. 1868.
f Paris : Victor Havard. 1894. London and New York :
Harper and Brothers.

PREFACE xv
and unconventional. The extracts which I have
made from M. de Lano's valuable work cannot fail
to be appreciated by impartial readers, who, perhaps,
will be startled by the audacity of this highly-
original and exceptionally-gifted author.
Two recently-issued works — one by JM. Irenee
Mauget,* the other by M. Gaston St ieglerf — strongly
appealed to me. To the first I am indebted for1,
some diverting material ; to the second for the
dehghtful picture of the Emperor intime in the early
days of the Reign and the grim story of the Orsini
" attempt," into which M. Stiegler has infused a few
deft touches of romanticism.
The " papers " of my valued friend Mgr. Goddard
have again provided me with much material other
wise unobtainable, and have left me with a reserve
for future use.
Immediately after the death of the Emperor
Napoleon III. at Camden Place, Chislehurst, the
Empress Eugenie permitted Mr. Albert Bruce-Joy
to take a cast of the head of His Majesty. The
sculptor later executed the bust. In June, 1911, at
my request, Mr. Bruce-Joy courteously allowed a
photograph of his beautiful work to be taken for
reproduction in this volume. As the distinguished
sculptor worked from the mask taken with his own
hands, there can be no question of the perfect
fidelity of the portrait. The Empress Eugenie has
graciously accepted a photograph of the bust, which
I had the honour of sending to Her Imperial Majesty
in June.
* " LTmperatrice Eugenie." Paris : Societes des Publications
Litteraires Illustrees. 1909.
t "Amours Trasiques de Napoleon III." Paris : Albin Michel.
1910.

xvi PREFACE
On May 7, 1910, Queen Alexandra graciously
allowed Mr. Bruce-Joy to take a cast of the features
of King Edward VII. ; and the sculptor's bust of
our late beloved Sovereign was a prominent feature
of the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1911. It was
executed for Manchester University. Mr. Bruce-
Joy's most recent work is a colossal bronze statue
of the late Lord Kelvin.
Prince Roland Bonaparte has again been very
generous in sending me some very finely executed
photographs, for which I tender His Highness my
respectful thanks. These are (1) H.R.H. Princess
George of Greece, the Prince's only daughter (nee
Princesse Marie Bonaparte) ; (2) the deeply-re
gretted Marquise de Villeneuve-Esclapon (nee Prin
cesse Jeanne Bonaparte, Prince Roland's only
sister) ; and (3) Prince Roland himself, in the
costume of President of the Geographical Society of
France. These photographs are primeurs. The
portrait of the charming and gifted Consort of
Queen Alexandra's nephew is particularly a propos,
for Princess George was the solitary member of the
House of Bonaparte present at the Coronation of
King George V. as (with Prince George) a Royal
guest. I have to thank Messrs. Russell and Sons, Baker
Street, for their kindness in specially preparing, and,
allowing me to use in this volume, the beautiful
picture showing the Empress Eugenie on board the
royal yacht with our beloved King Edward, Queen
Alexandra, and other Royal personages, when, in
1902, the late King reviewed the fleet. This is the only
picture of the kind ever taken, and will be treasured
as a souvenir of the affectionate relations between

PREFACE xvii
the Empress and the principal members of our
Reigning House. Of the latter Messrs. Russell and
Sons have taken hundreds of superb photographs
during the last forty years.
In my quest for suitable portraits of the Second
Empire period I have been greatly aided by that
universally-popular lady, Mrs. Ronalds, who, with
charming courtesy, placed her valuable collection of
imperial, royal, and other photographs (all auto
graph) at my disposal. These include rare pictures
of the Emperor Napoleon, the Empress Eugenie,
and the Prince Imperial, enriched with their signa
tures. Unfortunately, I could only avail myself of
this generous offer to a limited extent, for I have
been confronted by an embarras des richesses. The
portraits I selected are those of Mrs. Ronalds and
her sister, Miss Josephine Carter. Of their beauty
and esprit the chroniclers of the epoch speak in the
most flattering terms. Mrs. Ronalds enjoyed the
distinction of being a guest of their Imperial
Majesties at the Tuileries.
Miss Carter represented " America " at the
magnificent fancy-dress ball given in 1866 at the
Ministere de la Marine. Other ladies appeared as
" Europe," " Asia," and " Africa," and I have it
on the authority of a surviving eye-witness of this
notable fete that the costumes of the fair repre
sentatives of the " five " quarters of the globe were
" gorgeous." Miss Carter was carried on a large
platform by twelve of her compatriots dressed as
Indians. She was seen reclining in a hammock
suspended from two palm-trees. Her dress was
artistically embroidered with emblems of the
victorious Republic, and her corsage was studded

xviii PREFACE
with diamond stars. On her beautiful golden hair
she wore a Phrygian cap. In the cortege of
" America " were many charming American women,
distinguished (as was " Maud ") by " dead perfec
tion." " Oceania " was represented.
I have been so fortunate as to obtain from the
Vicomte de La Chapelle some exceptionally interest
ing reminiscences of Napoleon III. and the Prince
Imperial, as well as a curious story of Marshal
Bazaine. His father — one of the comparatively few
survivors of the Bonapartist regime — was, as I well
remember, one of the stanchest and most valued
friends of the Emperor, who made him his pohtical
and Hterary collaborator and confidant. I have also
to thank the Vicomte de La Chapelle for the portrait
of his father (the venerable Comte de La Chapelle)
and the picture of the Emperor on the field of Sedan.
The welcome co-operation of the Vicomte de La
Chapelle — a popular figure in legal, City, and social
circles — has enabled me to print a number of letters
written by his aged father to the Emperor Napo
leon. I have given an outline of the Comte de La
Chapelle' s career, and I will not dwell upon it
further here except to say that he was the trusted.
and valued collaborator of the august Exile from
1871 until the unexpected happened on January 9,
1873. But I must mention the invaluable services
which he rendered to Napoleon III. at a time when
His Majesty did not know where to turn for money.
I noticed this question in my previous volume,* and
in proof of the correctness of my assertions quoted a
letter written by the great house of " Barings," and
* " The Empress Eugenie : 1870-1910." London : Harper
and Brothers. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 1910.

PREFACE xix
published in the " Times," denying the absurd state
ments that they had invested immense sums on the
Emperor's account. The accuracy of what I wrote
in 1910 is now further confirmed by my valued
friend the Comte de La Chapelle, whose letters to
the Emperor on the subject of his financial em
barrassment I am now privileged to make public.
It was the Comte de La Chapelle who, by his influ
ence, energy, and devotion to Napoleon III., suc
ceeded in raising large sums for the personal use of
the Emperor and to keep the Bonapartist cause
going. The name of one of these generous helpers
is very well known to me, and in the early seventies
it was famihar to the commercial world generally.
These letters form a most interesting chapter in the
Emperor's amazing career.
The Comtesse Edmond de Pourtales, with the
most charming and kindly grace, sent me, at my
earnest request, a very rare photograph of herself,
taken in the later period of the imperial reign.
The Empress Eugenie will, I am confident, be
gratified at seeing the portrait of this great lady
— the most lovely of all the belles dames who sur
rounded Her Imperial Majesty in the years of her
splendour, and one of the very few surviving inti
mate friends of the still radiant chatelaine of Farn
borough Hill.
The proprietors of the well-known and deservedly
popular Paris illustrated paper, "Femina," have
been exceedingly generous in this important matter
of pictures. But for their good offices I could not
have given the dehghtful and piquant portraits of
the Empress Eugenie in various costumes, or the
large picture of Her Imperial Majesty at La Mal-

XX

PREFACE

maison, with portraits of M. Franceschini Pietri
and Comte Joseph Primoli. Certain difficulties
arose in the preparation of these historically valuable
pictures, but these obstacles were overcome by the
great goodwill and liberality of the proprietors of
" Femina," to whom I shall always be grateful for
their kindness.
During the Terrible Year a " Times" leader-writer
took as his text for a powerful essay some extracts
from the Reports of Colonel Stoffel, French Mihtary
Attache at Berlin (1866-1870), to his Government;
and in the course of his article he did not hesitate
to assert that it was a puzzle how anyone who had
read those documents could ever have dreamt of
plunging France into a war with Prussia. After
reading M. Franceschini' s letters to Stoffel the
puzzle would appear greater still were it not now,
thanks to M. Emile Ollivier, matter of common
knowledge that the Emperor and his Government
were goaded into a declaration of war by the French
Press and by the nation en masse. These letters
(from which, by the great courtesy of the director
of the "Revue de Paris," I have been able to give
extracts) are in every way remarkable, but their
main importance lies in the fact that they were
written by M. Pietri. In 1866, as later, he was
the mouthpiece of Napoleon III. When he wrote
to Colonel Stoffel he expressed not only the Emperor's
views, but his own. He shows us that Stoffel's
opinions were highly valued by the Emperor and
by Marshal Niel, then Minister of War. Both
Sovereign and War Minister set special store upon
the Military Attache's Reports. The Emperor could
not hear too often from him. M. Pietri was always

PREFACE xxi
urging the Colonel to write. The Emperor dictated
to M. Pietri questions which Stoffel was required to
answer. The Prussians, in their campaign against
Austria, in 1866, used the needle-gun for the first
time in warfare, and M. Pietri sent Stoffel fluids
wherewith to purchase one of the new rifles for the
Emperor. These lettres revelatrices are further re
markable for their ardent patriotism and wide know
ledge of political and mihtary affairs. It is hardly
too much to say that in these epistles M. Fran
ceschini Pietri shines as the Admirable Crichton of
Bonapartism. Sometimes he is amusingly audacious
and delightfully humorous, but always he is " the
Emperor's man " to the backbone. With a few
hundred of such letters .it would be possible to
construct a history of the Second Empire which
only the publication of the Empress Eug6nie's
Memoirs could rival. And perhaps the Secretary's
letters would be the more historically interesting of
the two.
Proof-sheets of the chapter, " Prince Napoleon's
Pohcy," were sent to His Imperial Highness's Secre
tary, M. Beneyton, and returned to me by that
gentleman with his wonted courtesy. If I mention
these incidents, it is simply to show that I have
always taken the utmost pains to secure absolute
accuracy in all which I have written concerning the
Imperial Family. Similarly, I based my expose of
the forged " Memoires de I'imperatrice Eugenie "
on the written statements courteously furnished me
' by M. Franceschini Pietri in January, 1910.*
* Vide "The Empress Eugenie: 1870-1910." London:
Harper and Brothers. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons.
1910.

xxu

PREFACE

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PREFACE xxiii
I have been honoured by the letter of M. Pietri
conveying the Empress Eugenie's thanks, and also
by these gracious communications :
Sandringham, Norfolk,
June 29, 1911.
Dear, Sir,
I am commanded by Queen Alexandra to
thank you very much for the excellent photograph
of the Emperor Napoleon the Third's Bust, which
Her Majesty is very glad to have.
Believe me,
Yours truly,
Charlotte Knollys.
Paris. 10, Avenue d'Iena, 30 juin, 1911.
Cher Monsieur,
J'ai recu votre aimable lettre du 27 ct., ainsi
que la photographie du buste de I'Empereur
Napoleon III. et les paragraphes sur la representa
tion de la Maison Bonaparte aux fetes du couronne-
ment de S.M. le Roi Georges V.
Je me suis empresse de remettre le tout a S.A.I.
Monseigneur le Prince Roland Bonaparte, qui me
charge de vous en remercier vivement, et de vous
dire combien Elle a ete sensible a cette delicate
attention. Veuillez agreer, cher Monsieur, 1' expression de mes
sentiments les plus distingues. G. Faussez des Mares.
Translation. Paris, 10, Avenue d'Iena,
June 30, 1911.
Dear Sir,
I have received your amiable letter of the
27th inst., and also the photograph of the bust of the
Emperor Napoleon III. and the paragraphs referring

xxiv PREFACE
to the representation of the House of Bonaparte at
the Coronation fetes of H.M. King George V.
I hastened to hand the whole to H.I.H. Mon
seigneur Prince Roland Bonaparte, who directs me
to warmly thank you, and to tell you how sensible
he is of your delicate attention.
Accept, dear sir, the expression of my most
distinguished sentiments. G. Fatjssez des Mares.

I have selected for detailed treatment 1867. In
that year the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress
Eugenie entertained three Emperors, eight Kings,
one Viceroy, five Queens, nine Grand Dukes, two
Grand Duchesses, two Archdukes, twenty - four
Princes, seven Princesses, five Dukes, and two
Duchesses. The Prince of Wales (King Edward VII.),
the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Duke of Con-
naught were of the party. While 1867 is gener
ally considered to have been the " great year " of
the Imperial Reign, M. Hanotaux* inclines to the
opinion that " the climax of Napoleonic glory " came
in November, 1869, when the Empress Eugenie
inaugurated the Suez Canal — ten months before
Sedan. * "Contemporary France," by Gabriel Hanotaux. London:
Constable. 1907.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PA(IE
I. THE EMPRESS'S GIRLHOOD I
n. THE BOYHOOD AND YOUTH OF NAPOLEON III. 7
III. FROM LONDON TO HAM VIA BOULOGNE 18
IV. COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 29
V. C_ESAR'S WIFE 49
VI. APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 70
Vn. TWO EMPRESSES 90
Vm. THE TUILERIES 99
IX. FONTAINEBLEAU 113
X. COMPIEGNE 127
XI. THE FOREIGN LEGION ; AND SOJIE GREAT LADIES 137
XII. THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 165
XTTT. WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 204
XIV. ON THE EVE OF EXILE 223
XV. " THESE THINGS ARE LITTLE ; BUT, THEN, THEY'RE
ALL " - • 240
XVI. THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE DE MERCY-
ARGENTEAU 245
xvn. the emperor's correspondence 259
XVni. CITIZEN — PRESIDENT — EMPEROR 26S
XIX. THE PALE EMPEROR 274
XX. THE EMPEROR'S COLLABORATOR 300
XXV

xxvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER PA0E
XXI. FINANCING THE EMPEROR AND " THE CAUSE " 308
XXII. THE MAN WHO GAVE TSE WARNING — M. PIETRl's
LETTRES REVELATRICES 321
XXin. PRINCE NAPOLEON — THE EMPRESS IN 1910-11 339
THE PRINCE IMPERIAL (THE POET LAUREATE'S
SONNET) 400
INDEX - - - - 401

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO FACE PAGE

NAPOLEON m. - Frontispiece
the empress eugenie on board the royal yacht,
august, 1902, at the review op the fleet by
king edward 64
guests of the emperor and empress of th.e french
in the " great year," 1867 72
the empress eugenie in spanish costume 128
the empress eugenie in circassian costume 128
the empress eugenie as an odalisque (turkish
dancing-girl) 136
the empress eugenie as marie antoinette 136
mrs. ronalds 152
the comtesse edmond de pourtales 160
miss josephine carter (sister of mrs. ronalds) 176
napoleon hi. at sedan 216
mr. alfred austin (poet laureate) 272
the comte a. de la chapelle 304
h.h. prince roland bonaparte - 336
h.i.m. the empress eugenie in the empress josephine's
bedroom at la malmaison in 1910 - 368
xxvii

xxviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TO FACE PAGE
H.R.H. PRINCESS GEORGE OF GREECE (nee PRINCESSE MARIE
BONAPARTE, ONLY DAUGHTER OF H.H. PRINCE ROLAND
BONAPARTE) - 376
THE LATE MARQUISE DE VILLENEUVE (nee PRINCESSE JEANNE
BONAPARTE, ONLY SISTER OF PRINCE ROLAND, AND
AUNT OF H.R.H. PRINCESS GEORGE OF GREECE) 384
THE COMTESSE DE MERCY-ARGENTEAU 392

CHAPTER I
THE EMPRESS'S GIRLHOOD
It is August, 1840, and from the balcony of the Delesserts' house a
fair-complexioned, golden-haired girl of fourteen looks down on a
man escorted by two gendarmes. Dishevelled, unkempt, in his
shirtsleeves, the prisoner, wlw has been fished out of the salt water,
passes out of sight, unaware of the child's wistful looks and the
sympathetic glances of her sister and their mother. Perchance he
sees Goldenhair wave her handkerchief .
Mme. Delessert's husband is Prefet of Paris. The ladies on
the balcony are the Comtesse de Montijo and her daughters. The
man in custody is Prince Louis Napoleon, the derided, but una
bashed, hero of the Boulogne " attempt " ; and he is two-and-thirty .
The daughters of the Comte and Comtesse de
Montijo made their acquaintance with Paris when
they were not more than four or five. It was about
1830 or 1831 when the family went to reside there
for a while. Prosper Merimee, whose name can no
more be kept out of the history of the Empress
than could Mr. Dick suppress the mention of King
Charles's head, was there, and his friend of the
British Museum, Dr. Panizzi, was kept informed of
the strolls on the boulevards of the little Eugenie,
and of her liking, not only for the author of the story
of " Carmen," which Bizet was later to set to music,
but for the sweets given to her by Merimee.
The Monti j os seem to have been then in only
fairly easy circumstances. Three or four years later
thejr fortunes improved, the head of the family
br mg died.

2 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Eugenie's education begins at a celebrated con
vent school, on whose books she figures as Eugenie
Palafox, a name used by her for a score of years.
At the Sacre-Cceur, Rue de la Varenne, the httle
Montijo is supremely happy. Her hohdays and
those other days when she is allowed " out " she
spends with her mother's friend, the Comtesse de
Laborde, at a country house at Passy, where a park
runs down to the Seine. Mme. de Laborde has
promised Madame mere to make Eugenie's school
life as pleasant as possible, and she fulfils her promise
to the letter. The Comtesse de Laborde has three
daughters, all well married, all charming mondaines :
Mme. Delessert — who, as the wife of the Prefet, is
a personage — Mme. Bocher, and Mme. Odiar.
Eugenie is in the good graces of this captivating
trio. But the lady to whom she is particularly
attached is the Comtesse de Nadaillac, daughter of
Mme. Delessert, and grand-daughter of the Com
tesse de Laborde.
At the age of eleven (in 1837) she makes the vows
imposed upon communicants, in the stereotyped
phrase, " La fille de la Comtesse de Teba (Montijo)
fit sa premiere communion," in the chapel of the
convent school. Soon — in March, 1839 — there comes
a hurried departure for Spain, whither her parents
had returned a short time previously. Her father
has died, and the child's Parisian " schoohng " is
over. For some little time before the loss of their
father Eugenie and her eldest sister, Francisca,
familiarly " Pacca," had been in the charge, in Paris,
of an English governess, Miss Flowers,* who accom
panied them to Madrid at the time of the Count's
death. Merimee wrote : " No one would credit the-

THE EMPRESS'S GIRLHOOD 3
regret I feel at their departure " (from Paris). I
will note only in passing that Eugenie's education
was " finished " in this country at a school at
Clifton, Bristol.
Having ceased to be a schoolgirl, the Sefior ita
Eugenie de Montijo undergoes a transformation.
She is, and for some years will remain, in her teens.
At fifteen she is bewitching. In the saddle, what a
charming and picturesque figure ! Madrid has no
such fearless rider. There is no particular evidence
that now and then she gallops through the streets
riding a califourchon ; but legend has it so, and in
this case legend may possibly not wholly err. In
the forties she is heedless of criticism, perhaps be
cause only her rivals can find it in their hearts to
malign her. As yet she is not seen in the hunting-
field. She httle recks that ten years or so later
she will be arousing the undisguised hostihty of her
sex at the imperial chasses at Compiegne.
The Senorita would hardly be Spanish were she
not much in view when all Madrid foregathers at
the bull-fights. Like her companions, she has her
favourite toreadors, and is lavish of her rewards —
gold and flowers. Matadors and picadors do her
homage. She is coquette to her little finger-tips.
A smile from that sunny face and a word from those
rosebud lips are eagerly contended for, and she is
not slow in according both. Meanwhile the elegants
group themselves around her as thick as bees round
the tulips and honeysuckles. In those Southern
climes, if anywhere, flirtation is one of the fine arts.
The Senorita Eugenie — "Ugenia" in her own lan-
* This lady was at Chislehurst when, in 1873, the Emperor
passed away.

4 THE SECOND EMPIRE
guage — is not the least ardent disciple of the genus
flirt. She coquettes with this Duke and that Duke.
He of Ossuna and he of Sesto (Alganices) are rivals.
There is yet a third Duke — Alba — over whom she
essays to cast a spell ; but, alas ! the course of true
love is diverted — perhaps unconsciously — by Pacca,
the beautiful sister, and she it is who becomes
Duquesa. Around this episode of unrequited love
how many " histories " have been woven, mostly
apocryphal ! " Ugenia," some would have us be
lieve, resorts to what she thinks is a phial of poison,
and awakes from her torpor to discover — oh, horror !
— that she has swallowed a portion of the disgusting,
but harmless, contents of a blacking-bottle !
No salon in Madrid was more frequented than
the Comtesse de Montijo' s. The daughters were not
the only magnets. Madame mere was a woman of
esprit, and had a genius for making friends and
keeping them. " Theatricals " drew all Madrid to
the house. Eugenie was seen in De Musset's
" Caprice," with the enamoured Due de Sesto in the
cast. The summers — or a portion of them — were
passed on the Montijo property at Carabanchel.
Every great lady in Madrid has her circle of young
and middle-aged men, known as " polios " — literally,
chickens. Among the Comtesse de Montijo's
" polios," all more or less smitten by the radiant
Senorita Eugenie, was General Espartero's successful
rival, General Narvaly, Duke of Valencia, short,
dark, a stern soldier, as supple in the young lady's
hands as the youngest and most impressionable of
her " polios." A lady well known in social London,
the wife of a foreign diplomatist, and gifted with the
pen of a ready writer, drew this somewhat caustic

THE EMPRESS'S GIRLHOOD 5
portrait of the future Empress when she was the
most-discussed personage in Madrid :
Hardly a week passed without some fresh anec
dote being circulated of which Eugenie de Montijo
was the heroine. She justified curiosity and courted
censure by her disregard of conventionalities ; and
she certainly possessed the Alcibidian temperament
which craves for notoriety. She wielded her sceptre
of society queen with no light hand, and her
favourites of to-day were discarded by to-morrow's
caprice. In her own house she was seen devoting
herself for the whole evening to the entertainment
of some obscure musician, hanging on his arm,
speaking to no one else, and finally dropping the
curtains over a window recess to wliich she had
led him ; but the following week, if the poor in
fatuated wretch came confidently to bask in the
intoxicating favour that had bewitched him, he was
received with a supercilious arching of the lovely
eyebrows. This idol could look at him as if he
were a total stranger, and glide away from him with
the coldest inclination of her head.
The variegated life of the Spanish girl who was
destined to become Empress of the French — her life
between the ages of fifteen and twenty-six — has
never been, and never will be, described in detail.
They were " Wanderjahre," years of travel, visits
to modish Continental resorts, and one or two
sojourns in England. Once, in the summer of 1851,
she and her mother (but not " Pacca ") attended a
Court ball at Buckingham Palace — an incident
which Queen Victoria may have recalled in one or
other of her numerous meetings with the imperial
lady, but not recorded by the Queen in her " Leaves"
or her " Letters." The presence of the Spanish
ladies among the Queen's guests was, however,

6 THE SECOND EMPIRE
noted in the official list, the compiler of which, or
the printers, effectually mangled the names of both.
A week later Lord Malmesbury saw them at Cam
bridge House, Piccadilly, the town residence of
Viscount and Viscountess Palmerston, now, and for
many years past, the Naval and Military Club.
Mile, de Montijo struck Lord Malmesbury as being
" very handsome "; with the " flair " of a modern
journalist, he noted her auburn hair and her " beauti
ful skin and figure." He would have earned our
thanks had he given us the names of the social
sponsors of the Monti jos in London. It was our
Great Exhibition year, and we may be certain that
the ladies were among the hundreds of thousands
who flocked to Paxton's huge glass palace in Hyde
Park, the exact site of which is probably unknown
to all but the fogies of 1911.*
A resort which found much favour with the mother
and daughter was Eaux-Bonnes, in the Pyrenees.
At the hotel honoured by their presence was an
observant gentleman who for a full fortnight had
the felicity of dining in the company of the fair
Spaniards. He was therefore, according to one of
his friends, who made attractive " copy " of it for
a Belgian paper, able to " coldly study " the younger
lady. " C'est une tres belle et tres jolie femme, qui
tiendra fort bien sa place, attendu qu'elle a, comme
on dit, le physique de l'emploi."|
* The Exhibition building was erected at the western end of
the park, midway between Rotten Row and the Ladies' Mile.
t " She is a very beautiful woman, who will be well able to main
tain her position, inasmuch as they say she is 'made for the part.' "

CHAPTER II
THE BOYHOOD AND YOUTH OF NAPOLEON III
Few Enghsh readers are, I imagine, familiar with
the boyhood and the adolescence of Napoleon III.,
whose centenary fell on April 20, 1908. It is true
that Blanchard Jerrold has given us, in his " Life
of the Emperor" (four volumes, published in 1874
by Longmans), an admirable and detailed history
of the unfortunate Sovereign who drew his last
breath at Chislehurst in 1873 ; but, perhaps owing
to the abundance of other material officially placed
at his disposal, Mr. Jerrold devoted only a few hnes
to the eight years during which Phihppe Le Bas
was the tutor of the future Emperor.
Luckily, M. Stefane-Pol has recently produced a
volume of the greatest value, entitled " La Jeunesse
de Napoleon III.,"* containing the hitherto un
published correspondence of the Prince's tutor,
Philippe Le Bas (of the Institut), with many original
illustrations, some from the Prince's own pencil,
others by Queen Hortense and by artists familiar
with Arenenberg.
" Prince Louis Bonaparte," wrote Alphonse Karr,
in " Les Guepes," " born in Paris in 1808, educated
abroad, knew neither France nor its ways. He
spoke our language with difficulty, with a very
* Paris : Fehx Juven.
7

8 THE SECOND EMPIRE
strong German accent. His early youth has left
no souvenir, even in the mind of his most com
plaisant biographers."
Even his partisans confine themselves to gener
alities, stupidly inaccurate. " Although far from
France," says M. Stefane-Pol, "we read in a con
temporary publication describing the coup d'etat,
' the education of the young Louis Napoleon Bona
parte was entirely French. His mother imbued him
with a love of his natal land, and his father taught
him, at an early age, to sacrifice everything — life,
honours, and fortune — for the holy and sacred cause
of the people ; taught him, too, to dare and to suffer
all things for the triumph of such great interests.
Later, his parents, in order to complete his educa
tion, confided him to the care of M. Le Bas, son of
the Conventionnel of that name, from whom the
Prince acquired the wisest and most solid Republican
principles.' "
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, youngest son
of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, and of Hor
tense de Beauharnais, was born on April 20, 1808.
He was Napoleon I.'s nephew, and the Empress
Josephine's grandson. He was baptized at the
Palace of Fontainebleau by Cardinal Fesch, uncle of
Napoleon I., and held at the font by the Great
Emperor himself. In the Moniteur of April 21 his
birth was thus chronicled :
Yesterday (Wednesday) Her Majesty the Queen
of Holland was happily dehvered of a Prince. In
conformity with Article XL. of the Act of the Con
stitutions of the 20 Florial, year XII., his Serene
Highness Monseigneur the Prince Arch-Chancellor of
the Empire was present at the birth. His Highness

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 9
wrote immediately to His Majesty the Emperor and
King, to Her Majesty the Empress and Queen, and
to His Majesty the King of Holland, informing them
of the event. At 5 p.m. the certificate of birth was
received by His Serene Highness the Prince Arch-
Chancellor, assisted by His Excellency M Regnault
de St. Jean d' Angely, Minister of State and Secretary
of the Imperial Family. In the absence of His
Majesty the Emperor and King, the infant did not
receive any Christian name : this he will be given
by a later act, in accordance with His Majesty's
orders. Napoleon I. and Josephine had been divorced
previous to the birth of the child, whose godmother
was Marie Louise, Napoleon's second consort. At
the time of his birth the parents of the future
Napoleon III. were living apart. " I am sorry
Louis is not here," said the mother ; " this infant
would have reconciled us."
It was said that the King of Holland was not the
father of the young Louis Napoleon.* It is diffi
cult, however, to adduce proofs of that assertion.
There is one fact concerning which there is general
agreement. There was no physical or moral resem
blance between the brother of Napoleon I. and the
son of Hortense de Beauharnais. The infant had
neither the face nor the character of the Bonapartes ;
on the contrary, he was the image of his mother,
whose large heart, as well as many other character
istics, he inherited. Ambition and superstition were
the principal features of the life of Queen Hortense.
" She inspired her son," said Henri Martin, " with
a fanatical faith in his destiny," and circumstances
* The King himself is asserted to have declared that " not a
drop of Bonaparte blood flowed in the boy's veins."

10 THE SECOND EMPIRE
developed in both mother and son a firm behef in
their lucky star. With the exception of the King
of Rome, Louis Napoleon was the only Prince born
under the imperial regime — the only one whose
birth was greeted by military honours and the
people's homage. Was not that (asks M. Stefane-
Pol) a presage of his destiny ? A family register,
devoted to the children of the imperial dynasty, was
deposited at the Senate as the grand-hvre of the
right of succession. The name of Prince Louis was
the first to be inscribed in it, with all the pomp of
a consecration. What better auspices could there
have been for an aspirant Emperor ?
Later, when the Duchesse de Saint-Leu (Queen
Hortense), mother of Prince Louis Napoleon, occu
pied the leisure afforded her by her exile in roaming
through Switzerland with Mile. Cochelet, she had
no object in view except that wliich chance offered.
" All our distractions during these wanderings,"
wrote Mile. Cochelet, " were confined to searching
for four-leaved shamrocks, to which were attached
various ideas. ' If,' said the Duchesse, ' I find a
four-leaved shamrock, it will signify that we shall
return to France before very long, or that I shall
receive a letter from my son to-morrow,' and so on."
The author does not add, " Or perhaps I shall reign
through my son," but that is imphed in most of the
wishes of the ex-Queen of Holland.
In 1834 Louis Napoleon and his mother travelled
in Italy. They had been in Rome for some time,
when one day Hortense consulted a negress, a
somnambulist, who, according to M. de La Gueron-
niere, had produced some remarkable phenomena.
A clever magnetizer sent the negress to sleep, and

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 11
presently, in response to the eager questions of
Hortense, the somnambuhst exclaimed suddenly, as
if inspired, " I see your son happy and triumphant.
A great nation takes him for chief." " For Emperor,
you mean, do you not ?" asked the mother breath
lessly. " For chief," replied the somnambulist.
Hortense could not obtain from the negress anything
more satisfactory, but the prediction was confirmed
subsequently by what the doyen of Pai'is priests said
to Louis Napoleon, then President of the Republic :
" Monseigneur, the will of God will be fulfilled quand
meme." Louis Napoleon was imbued with all his mother's
superstitious ideas. One of his friends having asked
him why the attempt at Strasburg had failed, the
Prince smilingly furnished an explanation which
doubtless accorded with his fatalistic instincts — a
wheel of his carriage had come off between Lehr and
Strasburg ! But his instincts required guiding, and
Hortense was not equal to the task. While she was
making hnt for the wounded and weaving patriotic
romances to cheer the faint-hearted, the mother
of the future Emperor (then Queen of Holland)
inculcated in the young Louis those bellicose ideas
which were quite foreign to his calm and dreamy
nature. " Supposing you had not a sou in the world
to call your own," she said to her eldest boy one day_
" what would you do, Napoleon, to gain a livelihood ?
" I should go for a soldier," was the reply. " And
you, Louis, what would you do ?" "I should sell
violets, hke the httle boy who stands at the gates of
the Tuileries," answered the child whom Destiny had
marked out for an Emperor. There was something
in this boy's character to reform, and his mother set

12 THE SECOND EMPIRE
about the task, invoking the aid of all around her —
amongst them Napoleon I. and Mme. Bure, the faith
ful nurse, who was jealous of the attention bestowed
upon the boy by Mme. de Boubers and the Abbe
Bertrand. Henceforward the young Louis made considerable
progress. Although he was always extremely sensi
tive, he longed to share the dangers of others.
Renault, imitating Mile. Cochelet, tells this story of
him :
At this time Prince Louis Napoleon was seven years
old. One day, on the eve of the departure for that
fatal campaign which, after two striking victories,
ended with the disaster of Waterloo, Napoleon I.,
accompanied by Marshal Soult, entered his cabinet.
He appeared sad and thoughtful. The tones of his
voice, sharp and emphatic, revealed the preoccupa
tion of his mind. Suddenly a child shps into the
room. His features are stamped with grief, and he
vainly struggles to restrain his emotion. He ap
proaches, kneels before the Emperor, and, laying
his head and hands on Napoleon's knees, bursts into
tears. " What is the matter with you, Louis ?" exclaims
the Emperor, in a tone showing his annoyance at
being interrupted. " Why have you come here ?
Why are you crying ?"
The child, frightened, can only reply with sobs.
By degrees he becomes calm, and then, in a sweet,
sad voice, says : " Sire, my governess has just told
me that you are leaving for the war. Oh ! do not
go — do not go !"
The Emperor could not but be touched by this
solicitude, for the child was Prince Louis, the nephew
whom he loved above all others.
" And why do you wish me not to go ?" asked the
Emperor sadly. Then, passing his hand through the

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 13
child's golden curls, he said : " Mon enfant, it is not
the first time that I go to the war. Why should it
trouble you ? Never mind ; I shall soon return."
" Oh, my dear uncle," said the boy, again bursting
into tears, " those wicked Allies want to kill you !
Oh, uncle, let me go with you /"
For a time the Emperor did not speak. Taking
the child on his knee, he pressed him to his heart and
embraced him warmly. The Emperor was deeply
moved, but presently, when he had steadied his
voice, he called, " Hortense ! Hortense !" And as
the Queen came hurrying into the room, Napoleon
said : " Here, take my nephew out and give his
governess a severe scolding for thoughtlessly putting
such words into his mouth and exalting his sensi
bility." Then, after addressing the boy affection
ately, the Emperor, turning to Marshal Soult, who
was labouring under deep emotion, said vivaciously :
" Embrace him — he will have a good heart and a
beautiful soul. He may be the hope of my race."
Hortense must have relished these last words.
Are not great captains regarded as oracles ? When,
at Paris, as at St. Leu, some of the visitors discussed
metaphysics, or grouped themselves around Labe
doyere, reading Racine or Shakespeare ; when others
posed to Garnerey for their portraits, and others
played billiards, Louis Napoleon and his brother
listened open-mouthed to the tales of heroism which
Mile. Cochelet was instructed to tell them. Later,
in the land of exile, while the Duchesse de St. Leu
and her suite played diabolo — one room serving as
salon and salle k manger — and when the only book
at their disposal was a volume of " Anecdotes de la
Cour de Phihppe- Auguste," discovered, after a long
search, by the Abbe Bernard, the ex-Queen of Holland
would watch her sons playing at soldiers with the

14 THE SECOND EMPIRE
common children. And the day came when she saw
Louis at the military school of Thiin learning how to
command, and then at Rome, at the house of his
grandmother, Lcetitia Bonaparte — scenes which
enabled her to record the story of Prince Louis
Napoleon's youth.
The character of the Prince, according to Mile.
Cochelet, was amiable, timid, self-contained. He
spoke very little, and Le Bas (his tutor) adds that he
was naturally distrait and inactive. Thus he always
remained. Those who most flattered Napoleon III.
never concealed, in rhetorical phrases, the evident
inertness of his physical nature ; morally, he was
a docile slave.
His look of inertness and apparent insensibility is
only the mark of an ardent and powerful inner life.
His eyes are dull, but they are as deep as the thought
in which they are plunged, which appears now and
again as the flame leaps from the hearth. His fore
head is as sombre as fate, but it is large, like its
conception. The lips are white, but fine, delicate,
discreet, only sufficiently opened to allow of the
escape of sharp and precise expressions of a reflecting
and ordered will. His speech is indolent and slow,
but he is sure of himself, and his apparent indifference
is but the excess of his self-confidence. Audacity
veiled by timidity, firmness dissimulated by mildness,
inflexibility compensated for by goodness, finesse
concealed by bonhomie, hfe under the marble, fire
beneath the cinders — in a word, something of
Augustus and of Titus under the look of Werther,
that type of German dreaminess: such was the
appearance of Louis Bonaparte.*
M. de La Gueronniere finds, in this portrait which
he gives of the Prince, a justification for the various
* M. de La Gueronniere.

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 15
appreciations formulated of his mind and character.
But do we not see, on the contrary, in the portrait
a simple play of antitheses, a fantastic interpretation
of that which appeared to be the evident reality ?—
which is to say that Louis Napoleon was a young
man of average intelligence, without mental unbend
ing, and characterized by an absolute lack of will
power. Like all who hesitate and dream, he finished
by attaching an idea to himself and adopting it, in
order not to be submerged by other ideas. Thus he
deserved the title of " doux entete " given to him by
his mother. But his impassiveness, his stiffness,
were only timidity, and his resolutions to act showed
themselves only after delays or with sudden coups,
which emphasized his weakness.
He had doubtless a certain fatalistic power of
resistance, but this side of his character only showed
the absence of an active mind ; the enterprises of
Stratford and Boulogne do not contradict this view.
As to the coup d'etat, one might explain it by many
causes foreign to a ripe will. Besides, was not the
coup d'etat predicted by the " Grand Albert," and
did not that prediction give the rein to the super
stitious docility of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ?*
However this may be, whatsoever his faults may
have been, we must recognize in him who was
Napoleon III. one quahty : he had a heart. Even
his adversaries knew this, and some of them — those
who were sincere — admitted it with a good grace.
The words of Georges Sand, written when the Prince
was a prisoner in the fortress of Ham, would have
* At the Bibhotheque Nationale there is an interpretation of
the " Prediction Miraculeuse du Grand Albert sur Louis Napoldon
Bonaparte," published two years before December 2, 1851 (the
date of the coup d'etat).

16 THE SECOND EMPIRE
remained true if events, stronger than his apparent
energy, had not let loose against him hatreds at once
tenacious and justified. " Two or three of us," she
wrote, " often talk about you, and we always say,
after recognizing the dangers which would follow
your accession to power of any kind, ' He possesses
the gift of making himself loved ; it is impossible not
to love him.' "
Le Bas, who knew the Prince better than anyone
else, speaks of his excellent heart, and quotes
examples of the sensitiveness and the generous
instincts of him whom his mother and the Abbe
Bertrand long called " notre petit oui-oui."
The character of the child reflects, in an exag
gerated form, the qualities and the defects of those
by whom he was surrounded. It is sufficient to
peruse the letters of the Abbe Bertrand to understand
the hghtness and the inconsistency which vitiated
the education of the future Emperor Napoleon III.
The Republican Le Bas, on the contrary, enunciated
more severe, and at the same time more generous,
ideas, which his pupil transmitted into Utopian
reveries. Later, the Prince's initiation into military
studies gave him a taste for the profession of arms,
and inspired him with the secret hope of continuing,
by modifying and even sociahzing it, the work of
Napoleon I.
The docility of the child bent under the influence
of his preceptors, as it had previously given way
under that of his mother and the intimates of the
household. But, besides this, the fashionable life,
the soirees, the concerts, the drawing-room
theatricals, and the organization of lotteries, as well
as the excessive walks and drives, disarranged the

BOYHOOD AND YOUTH 17
carefully - elaborated programmes of education, so
that the personality of Prince Louis could not prevail
against the numerous changes of scene, to say nothing
of the drawbacks to study caused by the life in exilo
and the uncertainty of what might happen at any
moment. It would be a curious study to examine the
writings of Napoleon III., and to ascertain who
amongst those by whom he was surrounded in his
youth inspired him with the thoughts which he has
put into his book, " Idees Napoleoniennes." That
work, his essays on military subjects, and his " Ex
tinction de Pauperisme," all reveal the accurate
memory of the former pupil of the camp of Thiin, and
show how well he recollected the lessons of Le Bas
and the advice of the ambitious Hortense, while they
also give evidences of that f utility for which the Abbe
Bertrand was to some extent responsible.
" Slave of the souvenirs of his childhood," wrote
the Emperor, " the man obeys all his hfe, without
doubting them, the impressions which he received
when he was young, and the experiences and influ
ences of which he has been the object."*
If (concludes M. Stefane-Pol) circumstances had
not been stronger than the free-will of Napoleon III.,
those impressions, experiences, and influences, many
and various as they were, would never have brought
about the unheard-of metamorphosis of a man of
heart and delicacy, if not of reason, until popular
sentiment, refusing to analyze him in order to arrive
at a result, finished by execrating him.
* " Idees Napoleoniennes."

CHAPTER III
FROM LONDON TO HAM VlA BOULOGNE
Between 1839 and 1848 Prince Louis Napoleon
(allowing for the six years which he spent at Ham)
resided mostly, if not entirely, in London. In the
first part of those years — on his arrival here from
Switzerland, which he had left under pressure of
Louis Philippe's Government — he lodged at Fenton's
Hotel, St. James's Street,* soon removing to Carlton
Terrace, Pall Mall. In 1846, upon his escape from
Ham and his return to London (May 27), he stayed
for a while at the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn Street ;
then changed his quarters to King Street, St. James's,
where he was living when he acted as a special
constable during the Chartist riots, f From King
Street he wrote (February 15, 1847) to a friend,
M. Vieillard :
For the last fortnight I have been installed in a
new house, and for the first time in seven years I
enjoy the pleasure of being at home. I have
assembled here all my books, my albums, and
family portraits — in a word, all the precious objects
which have escaped shipwreck. The portrait of
* The site of the Royal Societies Club, which (1911) numbers
among its members a Bonaparte (Prince Roland).
f The Prince is also said to have had lodgings at one time at
Waterloo Place. 18

FROM LONDON TO HAM VIA BOULOGNE 19
the Emperor, by Paul Delaroche, is very fine.
This generous present has given me great pleasure,
and forms the most beautiful ornament of my
salon. An intimate friend of the Prince (the pseudony
mous " Baron d'Ambes ") asserts that Louis Napo
leon " left Lord Cardigan's house to occupy Lord
Ripon's, Carlton Gardens. He did not lose by the
change."* His drawing-rooms were " full of glorious
souvenirs and sacred relics. There were portraits
of the Emperor, the Empress, and Queen Hortense ;
the ring of the ' crowning '; the ring worn by Napo
leon I. at his marriage with Josephine ; the tricolour
cashmere scarf which he wore at the Battle of the
Pyramids ; the portraits of all the members of the
imperial family ; the famous talisman of Charle
magne, found in his tomb at Aix-la-Chapelle, and
sent to Napoleon by the cathedral clergy in 1804 ;
a medallion with two portraits, painted by Isabey ;
and other marvels, doubly dear to him who religiously
preserves them."
The Prince drove or rode every day. His
cabriolet, driven by himself, soon became famihar
in the West End ; in the Ladies' Mile it was much
remarked, for the Prince soon made a number of
friends, well-known men and pretty elegantes, some
of whom were to be seen at Lady Blessington's.
" In London he visited only important personages.
He was an assiduous frequenter of the libraries, and
a good customer of the booksellers. He now (1840)
pubhshed his volume, ' Les Idees Napoleoniennes,' a
* " Memoires inedits sur Napoleon III." Par le Baron d'Ambes ;
Recueflhs et Annotes par Charles Simond et M. C. Poinsot. Paris :
Societe des Publications Litteraires Illustrees.

20 THE SECOND EMPIRE
resume of that programme of democratic empire
which he always upheld."
About this time De Persigny appeared among the
authors. His " book " was a very small one, but
it was read in Paris by everybody, for it was a
cleverly- written account of a " visit to Prince
Louis " (it was so entitled). It was published
anonymously, but people soon gave a name to it.
De Persigny, it seems, had read Vertot's " Revolu
tions Romaines " (a favourite book of Napoleon I.),
and discovered a parallel between Prince Louis,
nephew of Napoleon, and Octavius, grandnephew
of Juhus Csesar. De Persigny' s work touched the
Prince, whose hopes were revived by its emotional
passages. Louis Napoleon's attempts — first at Strasburg
in 1836, and next at Boulogne in 1840 — to arouse
France to a sense of his merits were signal failures,
so farcical as to cover him with ridicule in a country
where that defect is popularly supposed to " kill."
He was a laughing-stock, yet he survived both con
tempt and obloquy, to say nothing of six years'
imprisonment. In the Strasburg plot the Prince
was assisted by a lady (of the same age as himself)
who called herself Mrs. Gordon, and who was born
Bruault-Eleonore Bruault. She had been a singer,
and had received lessons in Paris from Rossini.
Some time in the year 1836, beautiful and poor, she
was in London, where she came in contact with
De Persigny, who probably introduced her to the
Prince. After the fiasco at Strasburg she was quick '
enough to burn all compromising documents before
the police could seize them. Moreover, she con
trived to get De Persigny, disguised as a cook, out

FROM LONDON TO HAM VIA BOULOGNE 21
of the town. He reached London safely, and
narrated the story of the " attempt " in a pam
phlet published in London and in Paris. Fleury
joined De Persigny in London ; they shared lodgings,
belonged to the same club, and were presently joined
by the Marquis de Gricourt.*
For his attempt to make the troops at Strasburg
mutiny in his favour Louis Napoleon was deported
to America, where he arrived on March 30, 1837,
after a long voyage, which he fully described in
letters to his mother. At New York, on the evening
of his arrival, the Prince dined with two American
Generals, his brothers-in-law, and others, and later
met his cousins, Achille and Lucien Murat and
Pierre Bonaparte. Achille Murat was employed at
the post-office ; Lucien was married to a school
mistress ; Prince Pierre was leading a gay hfe. The
illness of Prince Louis' mother brought him back
from the United States. He reached London on
July 10, 1837, and, by means of a passport bor
rowed from . a Mr. Robinson, got to Arenenberg
early in August, after frequently evading the Con
tinental pohce. Queen Hortense died on October 5,
consoled in her last moments by her son's presence
and Dr. Conneau' s promise that he would never
leave him. f
One night in the first week of August, 1840, the
walls of Boulogne-sur-Mer were placarded with
proclamations signed " Napoleon." These " pos
ters," which had been printed in London, were
* The nominal author of a remarkable pamphlet written at
Wilhelmshohe by Napoleon III. ,
t This promise Conneau kept. He shared the Prmce s cap
tivity at Ham, and heard the last words spoken by Napoleon 111.
on January 9, 1873 : " Etiez-vous a Sedan ?

22 THE SECOND EMPIRE
headed respectively, " To the French People,"
" To the Army," and " To the Inhabitants of the
Department of the Pas de Calais" (Boulogne, of
course, included). The " proclamations," couched
in very lofty terms, aroused no enthusiasm, but
much merriment ; they were really as amusing as
anything in " Charivari." " Soldats, aux armes !
Vive la France !" — so ended the appeal to the
troops. Then, on the same wall, the Boulogne burgesses
stared their hardest at a " Decree " which they read
without a thrill. " Prince Napoleon, in the name
of the French people, decrees as follows : The
Dynasty of the Bourbons-d' Orleans has ceased to
reign " (excusez du peu !) " The French people has
entered into its rights. The troops are relieved
from their oath of fidelity ;" with much more similar
rhodomontade. Without a tremor — doubtless with
many a wink — Boulogne read that M. Thiers was
appointed President of the Provisional Government,
and that all who showed energetically their sym
pathy for " the national cause " would be recom
pensed "in a striking manner " in the name of the
country ! One would like to have seen the faces
of the conspirators when the " proofs " of these
grandiloquent pronunciamientos were taken to Carl
ton Terrace. How unenterprising of the Times, the
Herald, and the Post not to have obtained early
copies ! Nor could those journals have suspected
that the Prince between times — between gallivanting
at Lady Blessington's, riding one of his two saddle-
horses (there were three others) in the Row, and
"beating the town" — the aspiring, talented, and
pertinacious Nephew of the Uncle, had devoted

FROM LONDON TO HAM VIA BOULOGNE 23
himself to the onerous task of " developing his pro
gramme " —
1. Alliance of the Empire and the Democracy.
2. Free Trade.
3. The Principle of Nationalities.
All admirable ideas, and all to be carried out one
day, but not by entreating Strasburg troops to
mutiny, or by " landings " at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
The Boulogne expedition was planned at Carlton
Terrace in June, 1840. A steamer, the Edinburgh
Castle, was purchased for the Prince, ostensibly
for the use of " some gentlemen who wanted to
cruise on the Scottish coast " (the name of the good
ship seemed not altogether inappropriate). Guns
were bought at Birmingham. Uniforms were
brought over from the " Temple," in Paris — all
but the buttons ; these were bought in London,
and sewn on by Dr. Conneau ! " Servants " were
imported from France ; they had all served in the
army. Between August 3 and August 5 the Edinburgh
Castle made four trips to Boulogne. On the night
of the 5th the vessel was anchored off Wimereux.
All told, the imperial force numbered sixty-two,
including thirty ex-soldiers (the " servants "). Am
munition, money, and horses were all taken safely
across the Channel. And there was a live Eagle,
symbolizing the return of " the other." Money had
been offered to the douaniers, who scorned the prof
fered bribes — a bad omen. The audacious con
spirators went through Boulogne, shouting " Vive
I'Empereur !" They tried to get the 42nd Line
Regiment to " rise," but the honest fellows turned

24 THE SECOND EMPIRE
deaf ears to the charmers. A detachment of that
regiment attacked the conspirators. The Prince
wanted to die at the foot of the Column of the
Grande Armee, after " running-up " the imperial
flag, but he was dragged away. Pursued by a
handful of the National Guard, the conspirators took
to their heels and made for the beach. The Prince
and some of his friends jumped into the sea, hoping
to regain " the lugger." They were " shot down
like ducks." One was fatally wounded, another was
drowned, others were badly hit. It was said that a
bullet grazed the Prince " without hurting him."
Louis Napoleon, De Persigny, Dr. Conneau, and
Mesonan were picked up by gendarmes, dragged
into a boat, and taken to prison.
These things happened on August 6. On the
7th, in the afternoon, the Moniteur published a
statement, signed by the War Minister, Cubieres,
that the conspirators had been " driven into the
waves, which vomited them up again. Louis
Napoleon and all his adherents have been captured,
killed, or drowned." The Prince, on the 9th, was
taken from the chateau at Boulogne to the fortress
of Ham. On the 12th he arrived in Paris in a
carriage, escorted by departmental gendarmes and
men of the Municipal Guard. He was kept, until his
trial, in the strong-room of the Conciergerie, three
gaolers never leaving him. Even his valet, Charles
Thelin, was not allowed to see his forlorn, but not
dejected, master.
While the Prince was under lock and key his ever-
faithful valet wrote to a friend in London the sub
joined letter (cited by Baron d'Ambes in his very
remarkable volumes) :

FROM LONDON TO HAM VlA BOULOGNE 25
Paris, a la Concieroerie,
August 21, IHIO.
My dear Fritz,
You will have sent to Mr. Farquhar the letter
which the Prince left with you on his departure from
London [for Boulogne]. It contains his instructions
to sell everything except the toilette articles of His
Highness and of those persons who left them [at the
Prince's residence]. As to the cabriolet and the
horse, the two sets of harness, and the sporting
gun, Mr. Farquhar will doubtless have already told
you that they were the Prince's gifts to him. The
Prince thinks that the housemaids and the kitchen
servants have been discharged with a month's wages
[in lieu of notice].
You will remain in the house, with Lord Ripon' s
chambermaid, until further orders. The Prince will
allow you £4 a month, besides what you are now
getting, for your board. You are to preserve all the
Enghsh newspapers which have appeared since the
Prince's departure, and send them to him when he
asks for them. Keep in the house the articles
belonging to other persons, and put the name of
each on the trunks and packages. Arrange all these
things so that they may be sent off when you get
orders about them. See that the lodgings of these
gentlemen are paid, and tell all the tradespeople to
apply to Mr. Farquhar for payment of their accounts.
You are to buy two leather trunks at £3 each, and
put in them all the things which are in the wardrobe
in His Highness's bedroom, with the two pairs of
sheets, the two pillows, and the towels in the same
room which are marked with an " N " and a crown.
Put with them also the two little necessaires de
toilette, the boots, shoes, etc. The two trunks
should be got ready for sending away at any moment.
You are to take for yourself the old red shooting [or
hunting] coat, the leather breeches and the white
breeches, the large boots, the green overcoat, Ithe
green trousers, the hunting-boots, the large ^brown

26 THE SECOND EMPIRE
overcoat, the two vieilles du matin, and the hats.
In the dressing-room you will find a brand-new hat.
I left in my room a leather trunk containing my
things. You will find in a drawer a little box con
taining some papers and other things which I highly
value. Take great care of them. There is also in
my wardrobe some linen for shirts. Take care of my
paletot, my trousers (if there are any), and my little
necessaire. Do what you like with the rest of the
things. Adieu, my dear friend. The Prince is quite well.
Ch. Thelin.
On September 28, 1840, Prince Louis Napoleon
and some of his fellow-conspirators were tried at the
Luxembourg before the Cour des Pairs, M. Pasquier
presiding over the tribunal. Fifty-five persons had
been arrested at Boulogne, but only twenty-two were
proceeded against. The Prince was defended by the
ablest advocate of his day, Berryer, whose brief was
marked with a fee of £600 ; with him were MM. Marie
and Ferdinand Barrot. M. Jules Favre defended
other of the prisoners.
After President Pasquier had begun the " interro
gation of identity," the Prince rose and requested
permission to read a short written statement in his
defence. He began : " For the first time in my
life I am allowed to raise my voice in France and
to speak freely to Frenchmen."
Towards the end of his address he said : " A last
word, gentlemen. I represent before you a prin
ciple, a cause, a defeat. The principle is the
sovereignty of the people; the cause that of the
Empire ; the defeat, Waterloo. The principle you
have recognized, the cause you have served, the
defeat you wish to avenge."

FROM LONDON TO HAM VIA BOULOGNE 27
The trial lasted until October 6, when the prisoners
were sentenced : the Prince to perpetual imprison
ment in a fortress ; Montholon, Lombard, Conneau,
and De Persigny to five years' imprisonment ; one
was deported ; others were sent to gaol for fifteen,
ten, five, and two years.
The Prince heard his fate unmoved. To the
greffier he remarked spiritedly : " Sir, they said
formerly that the word ' impossible ' was not French ;
to-day the same may be said of the word ' perpetual.' "
During the trial the Prince sat in a fauteuil,
guarded by two soldiers with fixed bayonets. He
was a trim, alert-looking figure, in frock-coat and
high black stock, wearing to and fro a tall hat.
His six years' isolation at Ham — a huge fortress,
with a moat — converted Louis Napoleon into a
litterateur of almost the first rank. His industry
was excessive. Reams of paper were covered with
his stragghng, careless writing, chiefly on military
subjects. His foster-sister, Mme. Cornu, gave him
valuable assistance by forwarding books which
otherwise he would probably have been unable to
obtain, looking after his proof-sheets, writing to
his pubhshers, and sending him extracts from
volumes for which she ransacked libraries. When,
in his stonemason's or bricklayer's long blouse,
cap, and canvas trousers, carrying a plank and
smoking a pipe, he made his escape, " Badinguet "
was the father of at least two children, boys, for
whose maintenance and education he made adequate
provision.* * The mother was Alexandrine Vergeot, a maker of sabots,
who helped the prison-porter's wife to keep the canteen tidy.
She married Louis Napoleon's foster-brother, and died poor at
Paris in 1886.

28 THE SECOND EMPIRE
On May 27, 1846, Louis Napoleon reached London,
and put up at the Brunswick Hotel, where his. name
was entered as Comte d' Arenenberg. He is said to
have astonished Lady Blessington and the friends
who were dining with her by appearing at Gore
House the same evening. He wrote to the French
Ambassador (M. de Saint-Hilaire, who had been a
friend of Queen Hortense) informing him that he had
escaped from Ham solely to revisit his old father,
and that he had no intention of making any more
" attempts " against the French Government, his
previous efforts having resulted so disastrously to
himself. The Prince's widowed father, the Comte
de Saint-Leu, ex-King Louis of Holland, was resid
ing at Florence, and Louis Napoleon vainly apphed
to the Austrian Ambassador in London and to the
Grand Duke Leopold for permission to visit his
father, who passed away in the following July.
All that the Comte de Saint-Leu possessed he left
to his only surviving son, Louis Napoleon — his palace
at Florence, his landed property at Civita Nuova, his
money, and all his relics of Napoleon I. By his
father's death the Prince became a comparatively
wealthy man. D'Ambes asserts that he had to his
credit at Barings 150,000 francs (£6,000), and at
Farquhar's 3,000,000 francs (£120,000). We are led
to believe that the Prince was unmercifully " bled "
on all sides, and that he was soon deluged with
begging letters from France, Switzerland, and Poland.
" He spends a great deal. He already owns several
houses in London, and has bought a house in Berke
ley Street for Miss Howard."

CHAPTER IV
COURTSHIP AND EXGAGEMKNT
When Prince Louis Napoleon was rather over
twenty-six he wrote to his father, the Comte de
Saint-Leu :* Arenenberg, June 5, 1834.
My dear Papa,
Since I wrote to 3011, the death of Mile, de P.'s
father has somewhat changed my marriage plans, for
until now I did not know any of the ladies whose
names had been placed before me. I had given
attention only to the conventionalities, not to the
affections, which can only display themselves when
one sees people personally. Besides, the advant
ages I saw in the alhance which I desired to contract
no longer exist, and should I persist in my matri
monial views, the best thing I can do is to cast my
eyes upon Mile, de Padoue. You will give me much
pleasure by replying to me on this point, and giving
me your advice, although I am in no hurry to marry.
I enclose you a copy of a law just passed by the
Government, which has evidently been enacted
against us, for it cuts short all the claims that my
family may have respecting the debts owing to it by
the French Government. In these circumstances, I
beheve that, if it is intended to press the claim, there
is only one way of doing it — by commencing an
action against the Government. It is unfortunate
that we did not hear earher of this law, which was
* King of HoUand, 1806-1810.
29

30 THE SECOND EMPIRE
passed without any noise, so that we might not be
enabled to take any steps in reference to it.
I have received a letter from Charlotte, and am
going to answer it.
As I have not been very well for the last month, I
am going very shortly to take the waters at Baden,
near Zurich, for a month.
With sincere attachment,
Your loving and respectful son,
Napol^on-Lotjis B.
It was not until the following year, 1835, that the
question of the Prince's marriage was publicly
mooted. He was then living with his mother in
Switzerland, at the villa of Arenenberg. It was
erroneously reported that the Prince was about to
marry Queen Dona Maria of Portugal. Not sorry,
perhaps, to attract attention by denying in the Press
the report of a marriage which he knew was im
possible, the Prince wrote the following letter to a
provincial paper :
Sir, Various journals publish that I am leaving for
Portugal in the character of a pretender to the hand
of Queen Dona Maria. Flattered as I am at the
thought of an alhance with a young, beautiful, and
virtuous Sovereign, the widow of a cousin who was
dear to me, it is my duty to deny this rumour. I
may add that, despite the interest I feel in a nation
which has conquered its liberty, I should certainly
refuse to share the throne of Portugal, if, by chance,
it were offered to me. Loms Napoleon.
The historian will search in vain should he attempt
to identify the other ladies " whose names had been
placed before " the Prince.

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 31
The next heard of is the young Englishwoman,
Miss Emily Rowles, of Camden Place, Chislehurst,
the home in later years of the Emperor and Em
press and their son. Miss Rowles indignantly
terminated the engagement — which had been defini
tively arranged— when she heard of the relations
which existed between the Prince and Miss Howard.
When he was residing in London (1847) the Prince
aspired to the hand of Lady Clementina Villiers,
daughter of Lord and Lady Jersey. Lady Jersey,
however, disliked the suitor, and the affair was
nipped in the bud. The Prince had asked Lord
Malmesbury if he had any chance of success with the
young lady, and was not encouraged by the reply,
which appears to have been in the nature of a gentle
snub. Miss Burdett-Coutts was not to be won by an
adventurous French Prince, although he was the
nephew of Napoleon I.
Turn and turn about the Prince made advances
to— 1. The daughter of the Prince de Wasa, husband
of a daughter of the Grand Duchess of Baden (nee
Stephanie Louise Adrienne de Beauharnais).
2. Princess Adelaide of Hohenzollern, niece of
Queen Victoria's consort, and sister of that Prince
Leopold whose selection by Prim to occupy the
vacant throne of Spain, in 1870, led up to the war.
3. A daughter of the Prince de Wagram, who " did
not please him," and who married Prince Joachim
Murat. 4. The Infante Marie Christine, a daughter of
Don Francois de Paule, and sister of the consort of
Queen Isabelle II.

32 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Doubtless he had an affection for his cousin,
Princesse Mathilde, and felt a pang when the news
reached him, at Ham, of her marriage with the
Russian Prince, Anatole Demidoff. Neither as
President of the Republic nor as Emperor of the
French would the royal houses of Europe have
anything to do with the son of Queen Hortense.
Mile. Eugenie de Montijo, Comtesse de Teba ?
She was unheard of as yet.
There was never any question in the minds of
those who were ever so little behind the scenes that
Napoleon III. so completely " lost his head " over
" the beautiful Spaniard " that he seriously proposed
to her without knowing whither his impetuosity was
carrying him. That marriage was far from the
Emperor's intentions originally is highly probable.
When, however, he saw there was nothing for it but
to make the young lady his Empress, he allowed
himself to be led with scarcely a word of remon
strance and only the faintest of objections. His
Majesty had to deal with an experienced woman of
the world in Mme. de Montijo, and with a clever
one in the person of Mile. Eugenie de Montijo. It
was a question of " marriage or no marriage," and
the ladies gained the day. The flirtation was
remarkably strong while it lasted, and the Emperor
made himself the laughing-stock and butt of most
of his monde, whose ridicule, however, could not
divert His Majesty from pursuing his campaign with
infatuated ardour.
Numberless stories are told of this diverting love-
chase1. Every year, in October, there was a great
gathering of guests at Compiegne. On one of these
occasions a societe d' elite sat round a table playing

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 33
cards while waiting for tea. It was noticed that
MUe. de Montijo sat on the Emperor's right, and,
the wives of some of the Ministers being present,
the circumstance was regarded as a sign of tho
times. The game was vingt-et-un, and Mile, de
Montijo, who did not seem to be very expert, eon-
suited her neighbour on the left when she was in
doubt what to do. Presently, after looking at her
cards, she showed them to the Emperor, letting her
eyes play the part of an inquirer. Napoleon III.
rephed, " Keep them ; you have a very good hand."
" No," she remarked, " they're not good enough; I
want all or nothing !" and she asked for more cards,
whereupon the dealer tossed her what proved to be
an ace. Of course she won, and she took up the
stake with a smile which was interpreted by those
present as the triumph of the will over fortune.
The courting was nearly all done at Compiegne,
and MUe. de Montijo got herself much talked about
by her beauty, her grace, and her coquetry with
the Emperor, who, on his side, was driven almost
frantic by the malicious pleasantries of his uncle,
King Jerome, who, with the wickedest smile, never
omitted to ask the Emperor the first thing every
morning how matters were going. The attitude of
the ladies of the Court towards the woman whom
they regarded as a usurper will be best understood
by what follows. One night, as they were going
into dinner at Compiegne, MUe. de Montijo, con
ducted by Colonel de Toulongeon, was walking
immediately behind Mme. Fortoul, wife of the
Minister of that name. Quite by accident the
first - mentioned couple took precedence of Mme.
Fortoul, who said to her escort, in a tone which aU
3

34 THE SECOND EMPIRE
could hear, " Why did you let that woman pass
before us ?"
MUe. de Montijo heard the remark, and almost
fainted. Her blue eyes fiUed with tears, she ate
nothing for dinner, and replied to all the Emperor's
observations with a profound melancholy. After
dinner the Emperor went up to her and said :
" Are you unwell, mademoiselle ?"
" No, sire. Why do you ask ?"
" Because I noticed that you ate nothing, and I
suppose that  "
" No, sire ; I repeat, I am not suffering ; but here,
in this very room — here, chez vous, I have been
insulted in the most flagrant manner, and I think it
my duty to tell your Majesty that I intend to leave
Compiegne this very evening."
The Emperor begged her to explain, and the
young lady told him, as weU as she could through
her tears, what had happened.
" Mademoiselle," said the Emperor, " promise me
that you will not leave Compiegne, and I promise
you, in turn, that to-morrow nobody wiU dare to
insult you." And the next day came the Emperor's
offer of marriage.
The Emperor's intention to take to himself a wife
was announced on January 22, 1853, by a speech
from the throne, in the course of which His Majesty
said the union which he was about to contract was
not in accordance with political tiadition ; but that
was an advantage. " She who is the object of my
choice is of high birth. French by heart, by educa
tion, by remembrance of the blood which her father
shed for the cause of the Empire, she has, as a
Spaniard, the advantage of not having in France a

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 35
fannly upon whom it would be necessary to bestow
honours and dignities. Endowed with all the
qualities of the soul, she will be an ornament to the
throne, even as in the hour of danger she wiU become
one of its courageous supports. Catholic and pious,
she wiU address to Heaven the same prayers that I
myself offer for the happiness of France. Gracious
and good, she wiU, I firmly hope, revive, in the same
position, the virtues of the Empress Josephine.
Then, gentlemen, I say to France, ' 1 have preferred
a woman that I love and respect to an unknown
woman, whose alhance might have had advantages
mixed with sacrifices.' Presently, at Notre Dame, I
shall present the Empress to the people and to the
army. The confidence which they have in me will
cause them to give their sympathies to her whom I
have chosen ; and you, gentlemen, when you have
learnt to know her, wiU be convinced that this time
again I have been inspired by Providence."
Thus did Napoleon III. reverse the pohcy of his
uncle, who divorced and abandoned a woman who
was loved to espouse a daughter of the Caesars ; the
former renounced the possibility of a royal marriage
in order to wed a woman whom he loved. The
Court of the Tuileries was greatly divided on the
subject of the Emperor's marriage. King Jerome,
Drouyn de Lhuys (Minister of Foreign Affairs), and
Persigny (Minister of the Interior) were, with others,
in favour of a dynastic alhance ; Morny, Fould, and
the mihtary party (nicknamed " the clan of the
amoureux "), at the head of whom were Edgar Ney,
Toulongeon, etc., were for the marriage with the fair
daughter of the Montijos. The Emperor had,
however, made up his mind, and, despite his hesi-

36 THE SECOND EMPIRE
tating, uncertain character, which presently accen
tuated itself stiU more, he resisted all the pressure
put upon him by his family. In vain did Princesse
Mathilde throw herself, theatrically, at his feet,
beseeching him to abandon a marriage which could
only lower his prestige ; Csesar was immovable.
Drouyn de Lhuys felt so strongly about the marriage
that he asked the Emperor's permission to resign his
portfolio ; but he must have changed his mind when
he went to do homage to MUe. de Montijo.
" I congratulate you," she said ; "I thank you for
the advice which you have given to the Emperor
relative to his marriage. Your advice was similar to
mine." " The Emperor has betrayed me, then," said the
Minister. " No ; it is not betraying you to render homage to
your sincerity, and to teU me the opinion of a devoted
servant — one who has expressed my own sentiments.
Like you, I have represented to the Emperor that he
ought to consider the interests of his throne ; but I
have not had to be his judge, and to decide whether
he is right or wrong."
De Morny told one of his colleagues that the
Emperor, having once got an idea into his head, could
not be disabused of it. More than one of his courtiers
said : " He is mad, and this marriage is an act of the
grossest stupidity."
If the Emperor believed in his star, so did
MUe. de Montijo place an implicit rehance upon
hers. A gipsy fortune-teller once told her that she
would be a Queen. She might have made a good-
nay, a splendid — marriage long before she set her
cap at the Emperor. The Due d' Ossuna was madly

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 37
in love with her, and wished to make her his Duchess.
The Due de Sesto proposed to her, but she declared
she would only marry a Frenchman.
The Emperor's private friends were more difficult
than the Ministers to argue with, and he had many a
mauvais quart d'heure with Mme. Drouyn de Lhuys,
Mme. Fortoul,* and Mme. de St. Arnaud, the latter
the wife of the celebrated Marshal who fought with
us in the Crimea. These grandes dames sneered at
the fair interloper, as they considered Eugenie de
Montijo. When they were at Compiegne they did
all in tlieir power to snub her and make her look
small. To such a point, indeed, did they carry their
persecution that the victim complained to the
Emperor, who, observing that aU the ladies in
question were close by, broke a branch off a tree, and,
twisting it into a crown, put it on Eugenie's head,
with the remark (which aU had the satisfaction of
hearing), " Take this until I give you the other !"
Judging by those who are, or were, in a position to
know, it would seem that the Empress was somewhat
coquettish. Her Imperial Majesty, however, never
pubUcly compromised herself, as the ex-Queen
Isabella of Spain is credited with having done. She
was flirty, that was aU : the sort of woman that
" Gyp " has sketched in " Autour du Mariage " ;
perhaps " Gyp " got her idea of Paulette d'Alaly
from the former fair ruler of the Tuileries. ' You
know," said the Emperor to one of his Ministers who
had complained of the Empress's attitude towards
him — " you know the Empress is very hasty, but,
au fond, she hkes you very much." She was not,
however, hypocritical, but may be compared to a
* This lady died in 1910.

38 THE SECOND EMPIRE
child who has gat tired of a toy and cries for another.
She became possessed of all manner of fancies, and
was exceedingly romantic, while remaining perfectly
mistress of herself.
"It is a delicate question," writes one of her
biographers, " and I approach it with the greatest
circumspection ; but was the Empress the passion-
nee she was said to be, and was she faithful to the
Emperor ? Merely to ask the question was to mis
understand the Empress. Had she any love in
trigues ? Was she always the woman who is said to
have confessed to the Emperor before marriage, ' J'ai
aimee, mais je suis restee Mademoiselle de Montijo ' ?
The answer to this is — ' No ; the Empress had no
weaknesses. Yes ; the Empress always remained
the slave of her marital duties.' " There were, doubt
less, times when it seemed as if she thought of some
body of more consequence than her imperial consort ;
but her leanings in this direction appear to have
been platonic — the griserie to have been of very
slight duration. " It was with her as with a fire of
straw, which burnt and burnt, making one think and
fear that it was going to destroy everything. Then
the individual who flattered himself with having set
light to it was surprised at the flame which had
illuminated and warmed him, and turned away, his
only consolation being the parody of a celebrated
sonnet. The Empress was one of those women who
like to be made (platonic) love to. If she flirted, it
was without real peril to her honour and sans rien
ceder de son intimite." When she was a prominent
figure in the salon of the Comtesse de Laborde, it is
told of her that she was " tres libre d'aUures."
Eugenie de Montijo tutoyait people very freely,

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 39
and when she ascended the throne she made any
lady who had been a friend in former days " thou "
and " thee " her as of yore.
Much may be forgiven the Empress in considera
tion of her bringing up. From the first she knew
what opinion the Emperor really entertained of her
— how he saw in her a beautiful woman whom he had
marked down as a pretty plaything, the toy of a
week, a month, or mayhap a year. She quickly
undeceived him, and brought him to his senses
almost ere he had taken leave of them. It must not
be forgotten that she was thrown among those who
composed the gayest Court in Europe. Money was
of no more value in the Paris of the " sixties " than
it is to-day in the neighbourhood of Monte Carlo,
where a sovereign is thought less of than a fourpenny-
piece in London. That was the time when cham
pagne baths were the vogue, and beauty was worth
ten times the market value of respectability. Those
were the days when adventurers flocked to Paris as
to a promised land, when the Emperor's favourites
— the De Mornys, the De Persignys, et hoc genus omne
— got concessions for every " enterprise " that fertile
brains could devise, and when to be " in the swim "
was to be in the way of making your fortune.
At the reveiUon du jour de l'an at the Tuileries —
December-January, 1853 — the Emperor, in accord
ance with French custom, kissed all the ladies on the
cheek. He approached MUe. de Montijo with the
same agreeable object ; but she drew back, and,
curtseying, said to the astonished Sovereign, " Sire,
only my husband shaU ever kiss me." This rebuff
would have chilled most men, but the Emperor took
it very good-humouredly, although such a display of

40 THE SECOND EMPIRE
excessive modesty was a new experience for him.
Among those who had tried to put MUe. de Montijo
on her guard against the Emperor's compromising
attentions was the Duchesse de Bassano. " Take
care," said this lady ; " you are preparing either
regret or remorse for yourself. But do not forget
that I warned you." A few days later the engage
ment was known, and MUe. de Montijo was able to
write to the Duchesse : "I marry Louis without
regret and without remorse."
Towards the close of 1849 — when the poor man
whom she had seen under arrest, after the Boulogne
fiasco, was in the second year of his Presidency — a
Spanish gipsy told MUe. de Montijo that she would
marry an Emperor. The senorita knew very well
that at the moment there was not one marriageable
Emperor in existence, and she asked the gitana if
she did not mean a King or a Prince. "No," was
the reply, " I mean an Emperor — an Emperor of a
great country." " Then it must be Souloque," said
the Comte de Breda, then a French attache, " for
there is no other Emperor in the matrimonial
market, and he would not be particular as to the
number of his wives."
The proposed marriage was very obnoxious to
some of the Emperor's Ministers ; but when they
began to remonstrate, His Majesty cut them short
with that abruptness which characterized him when
his wishes were opposed. " Gentlemen, there is
nothing more to say. My marriage with Mile, de
Montijo is an arranged affair. I am resolved upon
it." The discomfited Ministers withdrew, but they did
not cease to protest. There were people whose

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 41
anger led them to say unpleasant things about both
mother and daughter. The former, they asserted,
held a very free-and-easy salon at her hotel in the
Place Vendome. People gathered there after the
opera, and the " goings-on " were of the liveliest.
" Adventures " of the young lady in former years
were fabricated, and openly discussed. People who
stuck at nothing asserted that she had had a
" past." One of the numerous malcontents was M. Thiers,
who appears to have had a sardonic kind of humour.
" There is nothing to fear from people who are only
tipsy," he murmured ; " but they are to be dreaded
when they get quite drunk." The French appre
ciate this description of wit, and the saying " went
the rounds."
Prince Napoleon, for reasons, and his sister,
Princesse Mathilde, for none, bitterly inveighed
against what they regarded as sheer lunacy on the
Emperor's part. The Prince, who, as long as there
was no legitimate son of the Emperor in existence,
stood next in the succession, had some sort of excuse
for denouncing his cousin's marriage with " a mere
femme du monde," who had nothing but her good
looks to recommend her. Princesse Mathilde, who
had contracted a most unhappy alliance with Prince
Anatole Demidoff, but had been long freed from her
tyrant, made theatrical appeals to the Emperor to
abandon his intention. What was to be done with
a man whose infatuation made him cover with kisses
Nieuwerkerke's little bust of MUe. de Montijo ?
M. Vieil-Castel, a Rochefort born out of his time.
marvelled what the Emperor would do when an
Empress was at the head of a Court numbering

42 THE SECOND EMPIRE
among the officials so many men whose lives were
the reverse of edifying. " Perhaps a day would
come when MUe. de Montijo would see herself
allegoricaUy depicted as a Hercules cleansing the
Augean stables."
The Emperor, however, was supported by a few,
among whom was the celebrated Lamartine. An
other of the friendly minority declared that His
Majesty was doing the right thing in marrying a lady
whom he loved, and refusing to bargain for " some
scrofulous German Princess with feet as large as a
man's." Before the projected marriage was officiaUy an
nounced, Princesse Mathilde gave a ball. Among
the guests were the Emperor, the Due de Morny,
the Comtesse de Montijo, and her daughter. The
Marquise de Contades wrote, in later years, of this
entertainment : " The Emperor, as usual, paid the
greatest attention to MUe. de Montijo. For more
than an hour she and the Emperor were engaged in
a confidential chat, which no one had the audacity
to interrupt. MUe. de Montijo bears herseff easily
and gracefully. She and her mother both hope for a
marriage, and all their diplomacy is directed to secur
ing it. Everybody courts Mile, de Montijo, curries
favour with her, and seeks her intervention with the
Emperor on their behalf. Ministers make much of
her. She goes to all the fetes. She is the actual
rising sun."
MUe. de Montijo, Comtesse de Teba, in November
and December, 1852, and in the following month,
monopolized attention in Paris. When she appeared
in her box at the opera (Mauget tells us) people had
no ears for the music, but they had eyes to see the

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 43
young lady's peerless loveliness and graceful bearing.
Nothing else mattered. She looked the Empress.
The courrieristes of the papers followed her about ;
nothing escaped their lynx eyes. In newspaper
argot, she made splendid " copy."
" Yesterday and to-day the Comtesse de Teba,
accompanied by her mother, the Comtesse de
Montijo, visited several shops on the boulevards and
in the Rue Vivienne. The future Empress, being
recognized by the crowd, was most sympathetically
greeted. The hearts of aU were concihated by her
simple yet distinguished manners, and by the alms
which she bestowed upon several poor women whom
she encountered during her stroU."
Sharp-tongued ladies like the Marquise de Taisey-
Chatenoy (but this amiable person is not of much
account) had an abundance of cutting things to say
of MUe. de Montijo when she had won the imperial
crown. For example : " The Empress has a great
taste for jeux d'esprit — I do not know why, for it is
not by excess of brilliancy in this direction that she
shines." And M. Irenee Mauget* is even more unflat
tering : " Of changeable disposition, she lacked judg
ment and reason. She was excessively nervous. Very
impulsive, she acted under the influence of good or
bad moods, and slighted and wounded many people
by her unjust anger, regretting afterwards the pain
she had caused. She was not untruthful. . . . Her
sudden elevation, although not unforeseen, dazzled
her — stunned her somewhat. Not having been born
to occupy a throne, the transition was too brusque.
She lacked proportion, and wanted to appear too
* " L'Imperatrice Eugenie." Paris : Societe des Publications
Litteraires Illustrees. 1909.

44 THE SECOND EMPIRE
much the Empress. She continued to be very much
attached and very faithful to some of those who had
been her intimates in early days, but she was
capricious to most of the others, giving and with
holding her favours with disconcerting fickleness.
She was not loved like the Emperor. When she
appeared in public she acknowledged with inimitable
grace the salutations she received, and the French,
very gallant, were won by this charm. . . . Had
she been solidly educated she would have been
capable of exercising the absolute power which she
coveted." M. Mauget apparently shares M. Rochefort's un
favourable opinion of the Comtesse de Montijo,
w"ho, simultaneously with her daughter's advance
ment in life, was said to have become miserly. " She
made purchases right and left, and sent the bills to
her daughter, sometimes to the Emperor. But
Napoleon, always strongly epris of Eugenie, often
shut his eyes at his mother-in-law's demands and
revelled in the delights of the honeymoon. Was it
the same with Eugenie ? We may be permitted to
doubt it. What she loved especially in her husband
was the Emperor."
The Madrid journals waxed enthusiastic over the
engagement — e.g., the Espana (January 26, 1853):
It is a Spanish woman who is going to impart to
the throne of a great nation the lustre of her grace.
The Comtesse de Teba, who was the ornament of
our aristocracy, is about to assume the purple of the
Caesars, and share the destiny of him who is at once
the heir of the man of the century and the conqueror
of anarchy. . . . The lustre of a throne, however
brilliant, will not eclipse the lustre of Marie Eugenie's
eyes, and the fortune which is crowning her with all

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 45
its gifts wiU not alter the noble serenity of her heart.
For the glory of our country we express the wish,
and have the firm expectation, that the former pearl
of Castilian aristocracy will be the best of French
women. The Duchesse de Dino wrote : Nice,
January 21, 1853.
Letters received here from Paris always turn upon
the same subject — the marriage of Louis Napoleon.
I read in the newspapers the surprising speech which
he made to the Senate and the Constituted Bodies
[announcing his marriage].
The sister of Mme. de Montijo married Lesseps,
formerly a Consul. There is a httle relationship
toute gentiUe ! Eugenie has chosen as her witnesses
the Due d' Ossuna and the Marquis de Bedmar, who
have promised to lead her to the altar. They wanted
to marry the son of Jerome* to MUe. de Wagram,
but he recoUed in view of the Clary relationship,
which he deemed beneath his dignity. That is
flattering to the King of Sweden! What tohu-
bohu aU this is ! Nice,
January 22, 1853.
It is decidedly a love marriage which Louis
Napoleon is making. They teU me that MUe. de
Montijo, who was educated at a Paris pension, is
very beautiful, and of high birth on her father's side.
Her mother is the daughter of an English Consul,
which explains the Enghsh kind of beauty — not at all
Spanish — of the neAv Empress ; for it is not a question
of morganatic forms ; so, point de princesse. I am
charmed. But what a responsibility, at the age
and with the health of the sposo, to have a young
* King of Westphalia, grandfather of Prince Victor and

f General Prince Louis Napoleon.

46 THE SECOND EMPIRE
wife, beautiful and Southern ! And that in the Bona
parte entourage and in the atmosphere which
envelopes it.
Here are some other details, which I have gleaned
from my letters from Paris, which are fuU of nothing
but the marriage.
MUe. de Montijo' s age is from twenty-five to
twenty-seven; of great beauty, with auburn hair,
which she gets from her Irish mother ; she has a bold
look. It is said that, as they were playing cache-
cache in the saturnalia of Compiegne, the Emperor
discovered her concealed behind the curtain of a
room, where, believing he was alone with her, he tried
to embrace her, and that she pushed him away,
saying, " Not before I am Empress." Another
person who was similarly concealed professes to
have heard these words.
Legitimists and Orleanists are charmed with this
matrimonal affair and with all that it promises.
Nice [after the marriage].
The Empress is very beautiful. They say her
only imperfection is that she looks much taUer when
seated than she actually is when standing up. She
says that, in sacrificing her freedom and her youth,
she gave more than she received ; but she lets herself
be adored. The ladies have a down-on-the-ground
look, but decent. The decorations of Notre Dame
were splendid, but the Cardinals did not make much
of an appearance ; in fact, excepting M. de Bonald,
not one of them is of good family.
On returning [from the cathedral to the Palace] the
imperial carriage, which was surmounted by a large
crown, was passing under the archway of the Pavilion
de l'Horloge when the horses stopped, unable to
proceed. The surprised coachman whipped them,
and then the obstacle to their progress fell : it was that
crown, which was too high to pass under the arch,
and, when it fell, was broken to atoms. Ominous !

COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT 47
Nice,
February 6, lsr.H.
Mme. d'Avenas writes to my daughter that two
days before her marriage the Empress Eug6nie went
to [the convent of] the Sacre-Coeur, Paris, in which
she had passed some years of her infancy — Mme.
d'Avenas happened to be there also, and thought the
Empress charming, natural, and simple — wanting to
see once more aU the souvenirs of her youth, even to
the lay-sister who used to wash her. This visit has
had a good effect in the pious world.
Another correspondent wrote to the Duchesse de
Dino's son (February 15), telhng him of the flood of
sonnets, pamphlets, and riddles which inundated the
Empress's salons. "As to me," this unknown
Parisian said, " the Empress made a conquest of me
at Notre Dame — not by her beauty, but by her
dignity and her pious, thoughtful bearing."
The Marechale d'Albufera gave the Duchesse a
specimen of the jokes made about the Empress.
The Marechale, after noting that " the Empress has
blue eyes, and paints her eyebrows and eyelashes
black," asked, " Do you know why the Empress
Eugenie is the best horsewoman in France ? Because
she leapt over the barriere du Trone ! This is one
of the jokes with which we amuse ourselves here."
The Duchesse, as a talented diplomatist, noted :
" The Empress, until now, decides nothing for herself.
She submits everything to the Emperor, even as to
the dress which she ought to wear."
On December 7, 1860, the Duchesse wrote :
The Empress's annoyance with Fould arose from
two causes. When the Due d'Albe came to see him
about the funeral of his wife [the Empress's sister]

48 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Fould replied, " That is a matter for the pompes
funebres." The Empress wanted to sell some of her diamonds
for "Peter's Pence." Fould heard of her intention,
and told the Emperor of it.*
The foreign Powers did not display particular
alacrity in " recognizing " Napoleon III. There
seemed to be much curiosity anent the genealogy of
the Emperor's future bride, and an elaborate state
ment was issued by the Heralds' CoUege at Paris,
informing all whom it might concern that the lady
who was about to become Empress of the French
belonged " to the House of Guzman, whose origin
dates back to the earliest times of the Spanish
Monarchy," several historians asserting that the
Guzmans were the issue of royal blood. " AU the
branches of this family have played a distinguished
part in history. Amongst them were the Dukes of
Medina, Las Torres, Medina-Sidonia, and Olivares;
the Counts of Montijo, of Teba (or Teva), and of
Villaverde ; the Marquis de Ardales, the Marquis de
la Algera, etc., grandees of Spain. The Duchesse de
Teba, Comtesse de Montijo, descends from this last
branch. This is not the first time this family has
been caUed to ascend the throne, for in 1633 a
daughter of the eighth Duke of Medina-Sidonia
married the King of Portugal, Dom Juan IV. of
Braganza. The Counts of Montijo have the same
arms as the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia ; they are near
relations, and bear the same name, which is De
Guzman."
* " Souvenirs de la Duchesse de Dino " (Chronique, tome iv.).
Paris : Plon.

CHAPTER V
CESAR'S WIFE
The Empress, to say it for the thousandth time, was
incomparably beautiful, " divine," and, like most
pretty women — although a Sovereign, and perhaps
because she was a Sovereign — hked people to occupy
themselves about her, liked to be courted. " Al
though romantic, her physical sense did not seek
emotions which are foreign to those which the most
elementary virtue imposes upon a woman. Her
heart was in no wise desirous of sensations such as
those which agitate tender and sentimental women."
She was neither " tender " nor " sentimental." She
loved the Emperor. When they were apart, her
thoughts were always with him. Her letters prove
it. Once, on her fete-day, she wrote : " This year
again I have passed to-day far from the Emperor.
This makes the day sadder ; but I hope to rejoin
him very soon."
A phrase uttered by the Empress provoked some
harsh criticism at the time, and has been, even to
this day, quoted against her. It was ungraciously
and unjustly assumed that she had special ideas on
virtue. But there is reaUy nothing in her remark
to justify the implication that she took advantage
of that moral freedom which she sometimes appar
ently seemed disposed to favour.
49 4

50 THE SECOND EMPIRE
It was at the Tuileries that, in the early years of
the reign, she was credited with saying :
One cannot guard young girls too closely, cannot
keep them too far from danger and evil. I constantly
watch over them and their surroundings. As to
married women, that is another matter, and I admit
that I am indifferent about them. Their virtues
and their weaknesses are to me perfectly equal :
that is their business. They can look after them
selves. And, besides, have they not their husbands
to protect and watch over them ?
Brought up in a milieu quite foreign to any Court
(that of Spain always excepted), the Empress, as
Sovereign, sometimes lacked that overpowering
gravity, which women destined to reign are taught
from the cradle. She beheved sincerely, and without
arriere pensee, that it was open to her to enjoy hfe
as she found it. She saw no harm in causing the
hearts of men to beat with sentiments which really
only flattered her. She was curious to read the
souls of others ; and the adulation bestowed upon
her interested and moved her as a powerful romance
would have done. In a word, she was the popular
idol. She knew that she was adored, and, receiving
all this homage in a perfectly passive manner, felt
that she was surrounding herself by friends and
devoted admirers, whose sole object was to serve
her and to love her. Besides, she was very fond of
discussion and argument, and consequently sought
the society of men capable, by their esprit, of enter
taining her.
FuUy aware that a person cannot charm and
fascinate people without taking some little trouble
over it, the Empress, before talking to a pohtician, a

CESAR'S WIFE 51
savant, an author, or an artist of any kind, " got up "
her subjects, and made up her mind as to what sho
must say in order to take the man captive. More
over, she was as careful to conquer him by the
attractions of her person as by those of her conversa
tion ; and when she had captured him, when she felt
assured that he belonged to her — " when," in her
own phrase, " she found his homage agreeable and
amusing," when she knew that she had stirred his
heart, then, and only then, she checked the pretty
poem or the half-finished sketch, and wrote with her
own fair hand at the bottom of the page which she
had read the one word " Fin !" All this was, no
doubt, imprudent, and not in conformity with the
gravity which ought to have been hers : it may even
have been cruel; but what pretty (and virtuous)
woman wiU rise to blame the Empress ? What
pretty (and virtuous) woman wiU dare to say that
she has never acted in the same way in the drawing-
rooms which she frequents ? And what man, not
entirely virtuous, but amoureux, has not been the
victim of similar feminine perfidies ? " Le peche
veniel des unes, les bourgeoises ; deviendrait-il le
peche mortel des autres, les reines ?" Shall we be
wrong in answering the question in the negative ?
From the outset the Empress displayed no little
fickleness, now lavishing attentions upon those who
pleased her, then suddenly dismissing them with a
word or a gesture, and henceforth ignoring them-
She appeared to act upon uncontrollable impulses,
the most glaring temperamental defect in her other
wise generous nature. It was one of the " defects
of her quahties," calling less for censure than for
record in an impartial narrative. With all this,

52 THE SECOND EMPIRE
however, the Empress was loyal and susceptible of
great devotion to her friends, and one sought without
finding anything approaching egotism or vain-
gloriousness in her many inconsistencies. When
she gave her hand to a woman or a man she was
perfectly sincere, and when she sealed a friendship,
or an attachment, with some signal mark of her
approbation, she did so in all good faith and in all
honour. The Emperor deplored, and with reason,
the waywardness displayed by his consort in the
choice of her friends, and had often to aUay the
bitter enmities and discontent which she heedlessly,
and perhaps unconsciously, aroused.
The cynical saying of Francois I., " Souvent
femme varie," might have been apphed to the
Empress, who was as fickle in her sensations as in her
sentiments. She was a Spaniard, and to that fact
may be attributed her somewhat eccentric manner.
Her character was truly remarkable ; she took aU
sorts of fancies into her head : was very romantic
even while remaining practical, prosaic, and mistress
of herself. In her romantic disposition the Empress,
strange to say, found a certain strength, as letters
written by her in the first year of her marriage
confirm. One of these epistles may be cited in
proof of this view of her character.
The Empress, much pressed by Mme. de M.,
one of the leading members of the Legitimist party,
to obtain for her husband a diplomatic post, did
not rest until she had gratified the applicant's wishes.
It should not be forgotten that the Emperor always
cherished the idea of rallying to his dynasty the
notabihties of the Faubourg St. Germain, and showed
every courtesy to those Legitimists who attended

CESAR'S WIFE 53
the Court of the Tuileries. It is doubtful if the
Empress seconded his efforts in this direction, but
in the matter aUuded to she certainly laid herself out
to do a kindly action.
" Mme. de M.," wrote the Empress to the Emperor,
" wants the vacancy at The Hague for her husband,
and I much wish him to have it." She added, as one
who was worried by repeated applications of this
kind : " Comme ca on me laisserait tranquiUe !"
A week afterwards the Empress wrote : "I saw
Mme. de M. on Sunday, and she seemed perfectly
satisfied." Writing immediately afterwards about another
lady — also one of the Royahst group — for whom she
had done something, Her Majesty said : " As to
Mme. de C, up to now she hasn't uttered a word of
thanks to me. If you should see her — especially
if you should see her husband — say that he does not
owe his post entirely to his personal merits. As to
gratitude, I have my own opinion about that ; and,
as I never expect any, I am never disappointed."
These letters reveal a melancholy philosophy,
throwing much hght upon the Emperor's entourage,
and showing that, if the Sovereigns did their utmost
to concihate members of aU parties, they were too
often rewarded only with ingratitude by those on
whom they had bestowed favours, or to whom they
had accorded high positions in the public service.
That the Empress, strong in her own virtue, should
have been grievously pained, and sometimes ex
asperated, by her inflammatory consort's peccadilloes
is not very surprising. That there were " scenes "
was but natural. It was, then, aU the more to her
credit that in pubhc she invariably showed the

54 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Emperor the greatest deference ; even in her own
apartments, if he appeared, as he sometimes did,
when the Empress was entertaining friends, she would
rise directly he entered the room, and make him a
profound reverence. At one time, too, she sought
to amuse the Emperor in a variety of ways, and when
one or other of her suite mustered up sufficient
courage to repeat to her the rumours and the cancans
of the hour, Her Majesty would remark : " Really,
they blame us for amusing ourselves at the
Tuileries ! Surely the very least I can do is to give
some distraction to the poor Emperor (who is
ennuye all day by politics), and show him some
pretty women !"
It need hardly be said that the observation,
coupled with what the Empress had previously said
touching the conjugal fidelity of women generaUy,
did not tend to diminish the reputation for legerete
which she had acquired even before her accession to
the throne. This frivolity, although perhaps it was
more apparent than real, was made the most of by
certain ladies, and particularly by the Princesse de
Metternich. That there were evil counsellors among his con
sort's bosom friends none knew better than the
Emperor, who said to her :
You admit to your most intimate friendship a
heap of people who do not wish either of us any good,
and who are no better than spies. You teU them a
thousand things without thinking of what you are
saying. Nigra [he was the Itahan Ambassador],
Metternich, and the rest only " spoon " you to get
your secrets out of you ! You may take it as certain
that every word you say to them, or in their hearing,

CESAR'S WIFE 55
finds its way to Turin or Vienna. You place too
much rehance in them, and in return for your
confidence they are for ever doing their best to
" pump " you.
Did not events prove that the Emperor was right ?
Quite early in the reign the Empress became a
dissatisfied and disappointed woman. Many unto
ward circumstances combined to produce, with wel
come intervals, a disorganization of the family life at
the Tuileries, or wherever the Court happened to be.
There were, too, those famous charades, remarkable
for the lavish display of feminine charms, and
resulting in much hostUe criticism at second-hand.
This entertainment was referred to by the Empress
in a letter written by her to the Emperor (July 13,
1860) :
I thank you for your welcome letter. I am much
better now than I was a few days ago. When I left
Fontainebleau I felt UI both in mind and body,
having been feverish, and suffering from an irritation
of the chest which compeUed me on two successive
days to go to bed soon after I was up. The weather
and the calm of St. Cloud have worked wonders for
me, and you wiU find me in good health and delighted
to see you.
Your philosophic reflections are very beautiful ;
the thing is to put them in practice. I am very weak
against that malice which is not based upon hatred.
When, by chance, I find in my way people endeavour
ing to make mischief out of nothing, and tearing
reputations to tatters for lack of something better
to do, I feel inexpressibly sad, because I say to
myself : " One must be very wicked to find pleasure
in vexing and injuring those with whom one shakes
hands, for not only do the blows show, but defiance
takes the place of all other sentiments, and, as the

56 THE SECOND EMPIRE
anonymous is masked by friendship, we distrust
people without knowing why." These are the reasons
why you found me so sad lately at Fontainebleau.
That innocent charade, unveiled by the papers,
was described in a manner which shows it to have
been supplied by somebody who was present at the
performance, and who got it published either out
of malice or to satisfy people's curiosity. It must
have been published by a friend, or, at least, by a
guest, and this is one of those things to which I
cannot get accustomed. I shall always be strong
against my enemies ; I cannot say I shaU ever be so
against my friends.
If those who seek to deprive us of the little time
that we have for enjoying the air and for hberty
knew how precious this time is to those who are
condemned to the preoccupations of the present and
fears for the future, they would leave us this oasis,
where we try to forget that we must march, always
march, with the passions of some and the fears of
others. I have written you this long letter to explain to
you that the little tear in the corner of my eye has
not even dropped. My eight pages are sprinkled
with orthographical blunders, which give originality
to my letter, and prove that when I write to you I
forget myself.
Does not this letter show the Empress at her best ?
MUe. de Montijo, wrote M. de Mazade in the Revue
des Deux Mondes shortly after her engagement,
" impressed one by a sort of virile grace, which
might easily have made her a heroine of romance, and
before assuming the imperial diadem she proudly
wore that crown of hair whose colour a Venetian
painter would have loved."
The relations which existed between the Emperor
and Empress used to be discussed in the most un-

CESAR'S WIFE 57
reserved fashion, not only in Paris clubs and salons,
but in many London circles. All manner of stories
were told about their Majesties. Some strong side
lights are thrown upon the lives of the imperial
couple by Mme. Carette, in her entertaining " Souve
nirs." If that estimable woman be accurate (and
as she was " reader " to the Empress for several
years, she should be, and, I have been recently in
formed, is, a competent witness), the trouble began
some eight years after the marriage, by which time
" the Empress had known more than one sadness."
" The Emperor," says Mme. Carette, whose re
semblance to the Empress seems to have been very
marked, " led away by his old habits of pleasure, by
the easy manners of some of those by whom he was
surrounded, was not invariably mindful of his
consort's feehngs as Sovereign and wife. The
Empress, in aU the splendour of her youth and beauty,
had made acquaintance with the subtle poison which
corrupts aU which is most dehcate in woman's heart.
After distractions, some of which had a regrettable
notoriety, the Emperor, who, hke many men,
attached no importance to his fleeting liaisons,
appeared to be always surprised that he had wounded
his wife's feehngs at a time when she occupied the
largest place in his Ufe. Sisterly friendship had sup
ported the Empress in these trying experiences.
The Duchesse d'Albe, aU sweetness and tenderness,
consoled her sister, whose ardent nature increased
her sufferings tenfold. She helped the Empress to
reconcile herself to her hours of trouble and bitterness
and to find strength to pardon [the Emperor]. When
the Duchesse d'Albe died, the Empress felt for the
first time the loneUness which grandeur brings with

58 THE SECOND EMPIRE
it. She remained alone with her grief, with nothing
to distract her, having no courage to fulfil her worldly
duties. Her health suffered greatly, and the doctors
urged the Emperor to persuade her to travel in
order to remove the painful strain which she was
enduring. The Empress accordingly left on a visit
to Scotland, where she remained a few weeks.*
She returned to Paris much improved in health,
ready to take up the duties of her position, but she
had been irremediably touched by her melancholy
situation. From that time dated a profound change
in her tastes, as well as in her habits. Her youthful
ness seemed to have vanished, and under the
charming features of the woman ripened by sorrow
appeared the Sovereign whom one had not hitherto
seen." When Napoleon III. was writing his " Life of
Csesar," and casting ambitious glances at a chair in
the Academy, a poet wrote a few verses on the
Emperor's work, referring to him as the " greatest
Csesar of these later years." In return for this
compliment the Emperor sent his panegyrist a
diamond ring and an invitation to call at the
Tuileries. The Emperor received him very gra
ciously, and, after some casual talk, asked him if he
were married. " No, sire," was the reply. " Why
don't you marry ? Would you marry a lady who
is young, beautiful, of ardent disposition, and with
a handsome dowry, if you met such a one who was
willing to have you ?" The young man began to
wonder if he was in, not the Palace of the Tuileries,
* The ever-recurring infidelities of her consort prompted the
long-suffering Empress to absent herself from France for a while,
and to confide her troubles to Queen Victoria.

CESAR'S WIFE 59
of the glories of which he had heard and read so
much, but in Aladdin's cave. But, though dazed
at the prospect, he speedily recovered himself, and
rephed : " Yes, sire, I should be only too happy."
" Well, then," said the Emperor, " come hero to
morrow night at ten o'clock, and I will present you
to her."
At the appointed time the poet, still rather fancy
ing that he was dreaming, entered the Palace, and
was immediately ushered into the Emperor's cabinet.
Napoleon III. was in morning dress ; he donned a
large cloak and a hat which concealed his identity,
and led the poet to a side door. A carriage was wait
ing, and in it they were driven to a bijou viUa which
stood in spacious grounds in a retired part of Paris.
" My dear Marie," said the Emperor to the
beautiful woman, scarcely more than a girl just out
of her teens, " aUow me to present my friend,
Monsieur  , who comes as a suitor for your hand."
With this the Emperor retired, and was seen no more !
The poet found the lady quite willing to accept his
wooing, and, knowing that the imperial favour
depended upon his discretion, did not make any
inquiries as to madame' s history. A few weeks
later they were quietly married, and the husband
found that his bride's dowry was the handsome sum
of £100,000. He was never again invited to the
Tuileries, nor did he ever have another interview
with the Emperor. To his surprise, one morning he
received an appointment in the Diplomatic Service in
a distant country. Needless to say, he accepted the
post, and resided, with his wife, at the scene of his
labours until his death more than a quarter of a
century ago. His widow returned to Paris and

60 THE SECOND EMPIRE
married a Russian noble. When the news of the
poet-diplomatist's death reached Paris, General
Fleury, who knew the faiblesses of Napoleon III.
better than most men, pleasantly remarked : " Ah !
he was a lucky fellow to get such a wife ; but it
was hard luck for the Emperor to have to pay
such a price to get rid of so charming an encum
brance !"
Mile, de Montijo had not been an Empress many
weeks before her greatness and the luxe by which
she was surrounded began to be distasteful. " She
had never loved the Emperor. Her heart remained
faithful to the Marquis d'Alcanises, her former
fiance. The Marquise de Bedmar, one of Her
Majesty's Spanish friends, told me that the Empress
said to her, on the eve of the wedding : ' If Alcanises
came to fetch me, I would go away with him !' But
Alcanises never came, and, some years later, when
he was the Due de Sesto, married the widow of the
Due de Morny."*
The strict etiquette which the Emperor insisted
should be observed weighed upon the lady who had
hitherto revelled in complete independence, while
she was exasperated at the surveillance of the
Palace ladies, even the domestics. This irritation
disappeared as if by magic after she and her consort
had visited Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort,
and seen how things were done at the model Enghsh
Court. How bored she was she showed very plainly
in a letter written to one of the friends of the old
days, begging to be " thou'd " as in former times :
" Je suis seule dans mon palais, et tres chagrinee des
bouderies [sulkiness] que je sens autour de moi."
* Mme. de Ferronays.

CESAR'S WIFE 61
A coUection of what M. Mauget describes as
" Notes of a Member of the Imperial Police "
provides curious reading : March 8, 1853.
The Comtesse de Montijo is still residing in Paris,
and it is said that her influence is by no means so
trifling as some have believed it to be. At the last
soiree M. Fould* was very assiduous in his attentions
to her. That is not surprising when one recalls the
intrigante of the salon at Madrid. March 24, 1853.
Mme. de Montijo has left [Paris] on very bad terms
with the august occupants of the TuUeries.
The Journal d' Indre-et-Loire reports the arrival at
Tours of the Comtesse de Montijo, accompanied by
M. Merimee.
Everybody knows the amount of scandal talked at
Paris concerning the former relations of the author
of " Colomba " and the Comtesse de Montijo.
The same people who discuss the Comtesse also
talk a great deal about the Empress. People malici
ously pretend to pity her. They say she lives in a
state of constraint which afflicts her aU the more
because it is such a great contrast to the freedom
she enjoyed before her unexpected elevation. It is
said that letters addressed to her are first taken to
the Emperor, who, when replies are sent, himself
dictates the answers, without the Empress being
informed either that anyone has written to Jier, or
that someone has answered the letters in her name.
This manner of acting could not last long without
her becoming aware of it, and she has exhibited the
greatest irritation. Very hvely scenes between the
Emperor and his wife have taken place. Those
who know her imperious character say they would
not be surprised if the Empress, abandoning all her
grandeurs, fled to Belgium or to England.
* A prominent Minister of the period.

62 THE SECOND EMPIRE March 25, 1853.
It is asserted that if the Empress's mother left
Paris several days ago it was because she had
received a positive order to do so from the Emperor,
who had been informed of the scandalous conduct,
past and present, of his mother-in-law. The
Empress is said to have been greatly annoyed at
the compulsory departure of her mother. There had
been a women's quarrel ; Princesse Mathilde said
recently : " If the Emperor had wanted an Impera-
trice mere, he would have sought one elsewhere." April 1.
The Empress's condition is the subject of much
sympathy. To profound ennui has succeeded an
intense melancholy. April 5.
People continue to describe the Empress as being
tired of everything. She cannot forget the complete
freedom she enjoyed before her marriage. Some
times she allows herself to play childish tricks upon
the Emperor. The other day, when they were
walking together in the garden, the Emperor stooped
to examine some plants. The Empress thought it
amusing to push him from behind, so that he fell
on all fours. April 20.
It is beheved that the Empress is enceinte. May 5.
The Duchesse d'Albe is coming to Paris. It is
stated that the Comtesse de Montijo wished to
accompany her, but, by a special order, the Emperor
has forbidden her to do so. May 25.
Yesterday the Emperor went out without the
Empress. The Empress is still ailing, and people
continue to talk about it. Her sufferings are more

CESAR'S WIFE 03
mental than physical. She cannot accustom herself
to the etiquette imposed upon her by the Emperor.
He is suspicious and severe to excess. At the least
infraction by the Empress of the rules imposed upon
her she is reminded of it with a frigidity which, to
her, is worse than harshness.
When the Emperor sees that some lady has the
particular confidence of the Empress, he hastens to
get rid of her. This is what happened to Mine.
Aguado. This dame d'honneur is greatly beloved
by the Empress, and the two often talk in Spanish.
The Emperor does not know that language, so he
gave Mme. Aguado her conge. The Empress's sup
plications had no effect upon the Emperor. This has
deeply wounded her. It is said to have been one of
the causes of the fausses couches. May 28.
The Empress always occasions much talk. The
foUowing was said yesterday a propos of the an
nouncements pubUshed by the Moniteur concerning
Her Majesty's privileges :
The Empress is of a stubborn, scoffing disposition,
which adapts itself with difficulty to aU the fictions
of her imperial existence. Some are privileged to
arouse her spirit of fun. She laughed heartily when
she was informed of M. de Persigny' s report and the
imperial decree regulating her privileges, and it was
with a gaiety ill according with the event that she
signed the documents. As she scribbled her name
she turned towards the Emperor with the remark :
" You see, sire, that I somewhat imitate your Corps
Legislatif — I sign blindly."

64 THE SECOND EMPIRE
In the years that were before Chislehurst the
name " Empress Eugenie " signified the most radiant
incarnation of beauty under which a woman could
appear in order to dazzle, to touch and captivate,
assemblies of men ; it signified generosity of heart,
inexhaustible charity, virtue, modest serenity in
bearing the weight of fortune's favours, an elevated
intelligence open to the comprehension of aU great
things, a free and tolerant mind, a sweet and pitying
piety. It was no secret that she was pleased by
heroic deeds, but, as Providence had not as yet
afflicted her with the heaviest trials which the human
heart can bear, she was not thoroughly known.
To-day the same name signifies patriotism even unto
sacrifice, chivalrous abnegation, courage, disinterest
edness unexampled in history, dignity supreme
in misfortune, resignation to unhappiness, and
never-failing patience in the woes and duties of
exile. This double character of her destiny has stamped
upon the physiognomy and the person of the
Empress a pathetic expression which strikes those
who have not seen her often of late years. It is with
a tender and sympathetic respect that one contem
plates the widow of Napoleon III. and mother of
the Prince Imperial, enveloped in sombre vestments,
but, in the winter of her days, more beautiful than
ever, if the supreme expression of beauty is that
of the ideal. She evokes in our imagination the
picture of Marie Stuart at Holyrood or on the banks
of Lochleven. The look of melancholy, which has
become a second nature, cannot efface the sweetness
and charm which will be always hers. It is her
tranquU and touching majesty which reveals the

Lord Kitchener.
The Hon. Charlotte Knollys. The King of Denmark. Kiny Edward.
Queen Alexandra. The Empress. Pi-iiicuhm Beatrice of Cnljurg.
THE EMPRESS EUGKNIE ON BOARD THE ROYAL YACHT, AU(!UST,
1902, AT THE REVIEW OF THE FLEET J!Y KINO EDWARD.

From a Photograph by J. Russell _S- ,S'o»,., Bnl.i-r Strei-l, Lumluii,
Photographers to H.M. the Kt >/,/.
Specially prepared by iltssrs. Russell for this icork (1911).

To face p. 64.

CESAR'S WIFE 65
woman beneath the Sovereign, the tenderness of the
heart under the height of the rank ; but there is,
besides, the victorious prestige conferred upon her
by misfortune heroically borne. That power of
attraction which would have made Napoleon T. say
of her as he said of Josephine, "I win tho battles,
she wins the hearts," is now shown afresh by the
emotion which is aroused as we gaze upon her
venerable figure.
" Dans toute grande chose il s'est toujours ren
contre une femme," said Lamartine ; and there wiU
be found in history certain epochs — the most brilliant
ones — which are incarnated for posterity in a
feminine personahty. The Empress represents, in
the most fascinating guise, the greatness of one or
other of those epochs — the noble impulses, the
generous inspirations, the heroisms, the radiant
dawns, and the grandiose twilights. Such women
impress their personahty upon their contemporaries
by their witchery, for they are beautiful even to
ideahsm. In their souls they are stiU more perfect ;
they achieve conquest by their suffering, for, in order
that they may be quite complete in aU things, mis
fortune touches their brow with its black wing.
And behold them become, for aU mea to remember,
the eternal radiance, the eternal compassion, of
history, of poetry, of legend.
In the sixteenth century such a personality as is
here depicted was caUed Marie Stuart ; in the seven
teenth, Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henri Quatre,
and wife of Charles I. ; in the eighteenth, Marie
Antoinette. With an incontestable moral superiority
over all these, the Empress Marie Eugenie lengthens
this list by the purity of her name, and will remain 5

66 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the touching symbol of that part of the history of
France known as the Second Empire.
Writing one day to Napoleon III., the Empress
said : " My life is finished, but I live again in my
son, and I believe I shall find the truest happiness in
that which comes into my heart from his." Never
was the maternal sentiment more beautifully ex
pressed than in those pathetic words. Into the heart
of this mother entered many joys and ineffable
happiness. Who, looking upon that son of Csesar,
whose visage had all the sweetness of his mother's
united to the virility of his father's, could faU to
have believed that he, too, would be the hero of a
new and great chapter of history ? Who was not
tempted to apply to him the phrase of Virgil : " Tu
Marcellus eris " ? They had no presentiment of the
invasion, the defeats, the captivity, the vanishing
of the father, the tragedy in the mealie-fields.
In the broad ways of the once beleaguered city
there reappears ever and anon the silhouette of the
woman who aforetime filled it with her grace, her
splendid beauty, her charity, and her sohcitude.
Her letters to the Emperor before their marriage
displayed so much more hterary skill than Mile.
Eugenie de Montijo was supposed to possess that
ill-natured people asserted they were written by
that attached friend of the Montijos, Prosper
Merimee. This is to charitably suppose that Na
poleon III. invited his friends to peruse the letters
addressed to him by " the beautiful Spaniard "
during the period of his ardent wooing — a course
which would have been entirely foreign to his loyal
nature. The Emperor probably destroyed his
fiancee's letters ; if not, they must be among the

CESAR'S WIFE 67
mass of papers preserved at Farnborough HiU, to
remain unpubhshed until the expiration of fifty years
after the Empress's death.
From her own chaplet of memories I cuU these
few blossoms :
Neither the mother nor the child is responsible for the
faults of the father. ;
We should practise a policy of ideas, not of ex
pedients. Is it not too absurd to say that on September 4 (1870)
/ was afraid ? What woman, what Sovereign, seeing
her husband betrayed by fate, a prisoner ; her son
wandering about, perhaps dead ; her country invaded
and devastated ; her crown lost — who would have
thought at such a moment of her personal security, and
who would not have preferred death a hundred times to
so many sorrows ?
I have an absolute confidence in the power of truth.
I summon with my whole strength all that can hasten its
coming. It will appear — it appears already. Calum
nies arise from time to time, like the unhealthy vegeta
tion of the tropics ; but the sun kills the one, the light of
truth destroys the others, and their ephemeral and evil
life leaves no traces.
I cannot die. And God, in His clemency, will give
me a hundred years of life.
We must not destroy the legends which the peoples
weave round their Sovereigns.
I am left alone, the sole remnant of a shipwreck,
which proves how fragile and vain are the grandeurs of
this world.
I have lived ; I have been. I wish to be nothing, not
even a memory. I am the Past. I live, but am no
more ; a shadow, a phantom, a walking sorrow. . . .

68 THE SECOND EMPIRE
/ have renounced the future. I live in my youth, in
my past. And all the rest is shade, obscure shade. I
am like these trees, voyez-vous. They also, like me,
live on the memory of their past beauty. But they look
forward to the spring-time. I do not — I have nothing
more to expect. My sad winter even has come to an
end. Pray and weep with me. My sister is dead.
It is sad that after so many sorrows they will not let
me have that calm which I need so much.
I firmly believe that they that are gone are happier
than we. (In a telegram to Monsignor Goddard on
the death of his sister.)
(She had been asked at Chislehurst why, although
so many had offered to share her misfortunes, she
had accepted the devotion of only one or two persons.
And she answered :)
Quand on est au milieu de la tempHe, et qu'avec soi
on traine lafoudre, il nefaut pas laisser les autres vous
rejoindre. (When you are in the midst of the storm,
and dragging the thunder in your wake, you must not
let others be exposed to it.)
In leaving to others the honour of the defence of France
in 1870, / obeyed a sentiment of personal abnegation. I
did not wish to divide the country when the enemy might at
any moment have entered by the breach opened to it by
our internal dissensions.
I seek peace and forgetfulness.
I know how to get rid of them [General Fleury and
M. Emile Ollivier], and to deliver the Emperor from
them. Doctors try to cure the body before the soul ; but that
is impossible.

CESAR'S WIFE 69
Your philosophical reflections are very beautiful;
the thing is to put them in practice.
One must be very wicked to wound the feeling* of
those who extend their hands in friendship.
The Empress had a protegee whose relatives were
anxious that she should marry a Duke, and they
entreated Her Majesty to induce the young lady to
accept the suitor. This the Empress dechned to do.
" Greatness is purchased too dearly," she said, " and
so I wiU not persuade MUe.  to enter into this
alhance." There are etymological purists who have asserted
that Her Majesty's French is not absolutely flawless ;
but this is a reproach to which other august person
ages are subject. That the Empress's native Spanish
colours her pronunciation of certain French words,
she herself would probably be the first to admit.
Similarly, the Emperor's German education ac
counted for his amusing mispronunciation of some
French words. Did he not, for example, invariably
address his consort as " £7genie " ? And is not
Bismarck credited with having once said to him,
with well-concealed sarcasm : " I have never heard
French spoken as your Majesty speaks it "? In the
opinion of that master of phrases, a Sovereign's
education was complete if he knew French thoroughly
and could ride weU. Napoleon III. had a perfect
seat on horseback — so good, indeed, that it was said
of him that he only looked a real Emperor when he
was mounted ; and none but Bismarck would have
ventured to criticize his pronunciation.

CHAPTER VI
APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Empress has to her credit the creation of
Biarritz, which developed from a little Basque
viUage into the French Brighton, and became a seat
of the imperial Court. The Villa Eugenie was a
square, unadorned building, standing on a slope
leading to the sea, with a glorious lookout over the
waters of the Bay of Biscay. Felix Whitehurst, who
was at Biarritz in 1867, the palmy year of the
Empire, noted the curious fact that the fee-simple
of the bit of waste land on which the imperial villa
was built was acquired by the Emperor for £12;
and that just beyond the valley, to the east, there
was a model farm, worked by " Louis Napoleon,
proprietor, rentier, and Emperor."*
The Court led a primitive life in what, a few years
previously, had been no more than an insignificant
little sardine fishing village, unknown to the great
world even by name. The first thing the Daily
Telegraph's sparkling Paris correspondent saw on his
arrival was a compact crowd following the Emperor
and Empress, who were strolling up the High Street.
His Majesty wore a low two-inch-crowned white
hat with a broad brim. It was not Biarritz, but
St. Jean-de-Luz, which was " very nearly the scene
* The Emperor's description in the local records.
70

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 71
of a catastrophe which would have plunged all Europe
into mourning," as a result of the Empress (who was
a good sailor and also a good swimmer) cruising in a
small steamer in a very heavy sea. The Empress
and the Prince Imperial had to get into a small boat
to land. The boat struck on a rock, nearly capsized,
and began to fill. The Empress was up to her waist
in water, and the little Prince (then only eleven)
almost out of his depth. The pilot lost his head,
jumped into the water, and was drowned. The
Sovereign and her son (according to other chroniclers)
were carried through the boiling surf on the backs
of sailors. How the Emperor learnt of the mishap
has not been told ; but he arrived at St. Jean-de-
Luz, eight miles from Biarritz, " as fast as horses
could bring him." There was mUd scolding all
round, but the soft-hearted Emperor was too thank
ful at finding his loved ones in safety to use harsh
language to anybody.
Among the visitors at ViUa Eugenie at that time
was Baron Goltz, then Prussian Ambassador to
France ; and Mr. Whitehurst notes that " the great
cloudy German Question " was even then " the
incubus of Europe."
It was in the autumn of 1867 that Lord Lyons
became H.B.M. Ambassador to France. Mr. George
Sheffield, who enjoyed exceptional popularity for
many years, was His Excellency's Private Secretary,
and Mr. Falconer Atlee the Keeper of the Archives
and Consul. Other members of the ambassadorial
staff were the Hon. Julian Fane (another favourite
in social and diplomatic circles), Mr. Adams, Mr.
Clay Ker-Seymour, and Mr. Hildyard. All through
1867 " the Emperor was in the best possible health."

72 THEJSECOND EMPIRE
At the beginning of 1867 the " tout Paris " was
talking about the conversion of the Due de Morny's
widow (a Troubetzkoi) to Catholicism, previous to
her marriage with the Due de Sesto, who, it was said,
had been violently epris of Mile. Eugenie de
Montijo, and who died in 1910. At the " Itahan "
concert given at the Tuileries in March " the Emperor
and Empress went over to speak to all the artistes,
the Empress talking to Mme. Adelina Patti during
most of the interval."
The one house in Paris where " everybody " met
at this period appears to have been the Austrian
Embassy ; naturaUy so, for did not " the Metter-
nichs " dominate everybody, the Sovereigns in
cluded, malgre eux ? In that same " Exhibition "
year Mme. Conneau was the " star " at one of
Princesse Mathilde' s " great " receptions. The
charming wife of the Emperor's doctor was regarded
in Paris as "the finest amateur singer in Europe" ;
their son was the constant companion of the Prince
Imperial. At the opera Patti was singing in Verdi's
" Joan of Arc," and Prince Napoleon was selling his
works of art at the Hotel des Ventes.
AU the elite of the British world of sport went over
to see the race ior the Grand Prix in 1868, and the
Emperor, the Empress, and the Prince Imperial
applauded the gagnant, The Earl, owned by the
" plunging " Marquis of Hastings. The winner was
led in, amidst great excitement, by Mr. Padwick, a
notoriety of the period, who is not forgotten by a
few veterans like Mr. Chaplin and Lord Coventry.
The Prince Imperial wore his hat on one side,
and the Empress made him put it straight. " Per
haps," says Mr. Whitehurst, " the Empress thought

Ismail Pasha, Khedive of Egypt.

Leopold II.

GUESTS OF THE EMPEROR AND EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH IN
THE "GREAT YEAR," 1807.
Portraits oftheperiod by Franelc. Reproduced from "Les ¦'•-oiircrains u Purls,'-
bu Adrien Marx. Paris : E. Dentu, 186S.

To fate p. 72.

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 73
wearing it on one side was too much like Lord
Hastings." Lord Lyons (a bachelor) was not credited with
overmuch hospitality during his tenure of the Paris
Embassy, but in the June of 1868 he surprisod people
by giving dinners two or three times a week.
At one of the State balls at the Tuileries in " Lord
Hastings' year " an EngUshman was heard to remark
at the top of his voice : " I say, this is d  d bad
wine ! Not so good as Pinard's !"* Whitehurst was
a very minute recorder of events. He observed
among the guests — 4,000 or 5,000—" Mrs. Moulton,
a great American beauty, and a fine musician ; and
the Comtesse de Fernandina, glittering in a sort of
silver cloud." Also that " Napoleon III. was with
his relative, the Duchess of Hamilton, nee Princesse
de Bade. They stopped to speak to Mme. De Arcos, f
Irish, but married to a Spaniard. In the corner was
the ne plus ultra of Paris fashion." And there were
to be seen Mmes. de GaUifet, de Pourtales, and de
Sagan, and Princesse de Metternich, who " sat in
judgment on Paris society," and " out of whose
mouths came the dreaded sentence."
The mihtary review in the Bois de Boulogne on
June 6 transcended in glitter and colour all other
spectacles witnessed in Paris since the elevation of
the Prince-President to the imperial throne. " Grand
succes ! Enthousiasme enorme !" Thoughtless
people, attracted to the Bois merely by curiosity,
shed tears. Adrien Marx himself, " with his own
* M. Pinard was a prominent Minister, who died in 1910.
t Mme. De Arcos and her sister, Mrs. Vaughan, reside in
London (1911). The first-named lady represented the Empress
Eugenie at the funeral of Queen Victoria.

74 THE SECOND EMPIRE
eyes," saw these impressionable folk overcome by
their emotion. One must have had " a heart with
the famous ' triple envelope of brass ' not to have
felt feverish and overwhelmed by the deepest
national sentiment at such a scene. Quel coup
d'ceil !"
This parade of 60,000 troops was in honour of the
Emperor Alexander II. and King William of Prussia.
They were in the imperial tribune, by the side of the
Empress Eugenie, " in all the radiance of her
beauty." There, too, was the Prince Imperial, aged
eleven, regarding the crowd, drunk with joy, with
his look of former days — that look at once sweet and
naif. Behind the Empress were the imperial and
royal Princesses and all the Palace ladies. Other
tribunes were reserved for all the dignitaries, illus
trious persons, and the grandes dames that Paris
could boast. The general wear for the ladies was
light-hued taffetas, garnished with white guipures.
This, for the moment, was the " livree de la femme
distinguee." The success of the day was made by the artillery
of the guard. The other plaudits were for the
chasseurs, zouaves, guides, and cuirassiers. Marshal
Canrobert was in command, and he was " much
moved," reminding some of the chroniclers of " dra
matic authors on the night of a premiere." Was he
not also presenting to the public (" and what a
public!") an important piece? Not a piece "a
femmes," but a piece " a soixante mille hommes."
After inspecting the massed troops, the Sovereigns
and their brilhant staff rode into the centre of the
parade-ground and faced the tribunes. Then came
the great movement of the day. Thirty thousand

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 75
cavalry, ranged in one line, galloped at breakneck
speed to within five yards of their Majesties, halted,
and shouted in unison, " Vive I'Empereur !" cleaving
the air with their gleaming sabres.
With the King of Prussia were the Crown Prince,
Count von Bismarck, General Baron von Moltke,
Major-General Count von Goltz, and many person
ages less known to fame. The Tsar was accompanied
by the Tsarevitch (the late Emperor Alexander III.) ;
another of his sons, the Grand Duke Vladimir ;
Prince Basil Dolgorouki, Count Adlerberg, Count
Schouvaloff (in later years Ambassador in London),
the French Generals Leboeuf and Fave, and Baron
de Bourgoing.*
After a day's interval came the " bal des Souve-
rains " at the Hotel de ViUe. Thanks to the mag
nificent Haussmann, this entertainment echpsed the
raout offered in 1855 to Queen Victoria. The 10,000
invites agreed that such a spectacle was not to be
witnessed twice in a century. " The feeries of the
Hosteins and the Marc-Fourniers, with their sur
prises, their silks, their spangles, their velvets, their
gold, their electricity, and their mise-en-scene, will
henceforward leave us cold, dissatisfied, and eclipsed.
Place yourself before a candle after you have looked
at the sun !"
By three o'clock in the morning many of the ladies,
exhausted, sat, or otherwise reposed, on the great
stairs, waiting for their carriages, some of which,
ordered for 2 a.m., could not be got until seven.
When the sweepers, with their brooms, came in to
* His son, the present Baron, one of the doughtiest of Bona
partists, after the war married the celebrated actress, Mme.
Reichenberg, who assisted at a charitable fete in 1911.

76 THE SECOND EMPIRE
" tidy up," they found the carpets hidden by masses
of faded flowers and crushed imitation pearls,
mingled with which were scraps of lace, tuUe, and
muslin. This fete cost the municipality £36,000,
and the opposition papers lashed themselves into a
state of frenzy at the waste of public money.
More magnificent even than the entertainment at
the Hotel de Ville was the Tuileries ball on June 10.
M. Marx candidly confessed that " only the pen
which wrote the ' Arabian Nights ' could have. ade
quately described the spectacle." Had he attempted
the task, he would have been repeating himseff;
besides, he had exhausted all his finest phrases, and
his stock of adjectives had given out. At the Hotel
de ViUe it was a crowd ; at the TuUeries there were
only 600 guests, and everything " went upon wheels."
The success of the fetes to the foreign Sovereigns at
the Tuileries was asserted to be due to the " high
solicitude " and the " incessant surveiUance " dis
played by the Empress, then in her forty-first year,
and determined that the imperial and royal guests
should take away with them the most favourable
impression and the pleasantest recollection of the
Court of the "parvenu" Emperor and the lady who
was ungraciously spoken of by her detractors as " the
Spanish woman."
When the King of Prussia and the Crown Prince
visited the imperial stables in 1867, they found 360
horses and 150 carriages. The royal couple were
greeted by General Henry and Comte Davilliers,
Grand Ecuyer and Premier Ecuyer, surrounded by
an army of piqueurs, coachmen, postilions, grooms,
estafettes, and others of the personnel, aU wearing
their State liveries. The horse-boxes were in carved

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 77
oak ; the name of each animal might be read in a
medalUon at the head of its stall, and surmounted
by an imperial crown. Everything was on the
grand scale : the straw beds claimed admiration ; on
the bituminous floor were modeUed eagles with out
spread wings ; the chains and other garniture of the
boxes and mangers were of brass and steel, and
" shone like carbuncles." The light fell obliquely on
the satin coats of the horses, and on the troughs and
fountains. As the Prussian Sovereign and his only son (the
consort of our Princess Royal) passed through the
imperial ecuries, they saw, standing stiffly and
solemnly, piqueurs, postilions, and coachmen, in
their buckskin breeches, patent-leather boots, em
broidered coats and waistcoats. The green over
coats gleamed with gold braid. King and Prince
admired the coachmen, with their plumed tricornes,
powdered hair, and " respectable corpulence," as
the celebrated chroniqueur, Adrien Marx, described
it. "I beheve," he said, " their grave air and their
imposing appearance vanished when they descended
from their seats ; but there is nothing in that. When
they are on their feet they maintain a special attitude,
the majesty and chic of which are observable in their
prominent ' corporations.' Buffon said : ' Le style,
c'est I'homme ;' he might have added : ' Le ventre,
c'est le cocher.' "
The Emperor had twelve saddle-horses : Walter
Scott, Buckingham, Hero, Roncevaux, Alesia, Mer-
veiUe, Carlo, Marathon, Marignan, Perceval, Stentor,
and Marco. " Walter Scott " in particular capti
vated King WiUiam ; he found another object for
admiration in the gala carriage, aU gold without and

78 THE SECOND EMPIRE
satin lining within, which had not been brought out
since the Exhibition of 1855. Alongside was a tiny
carriage, splendidly decorated, belonging to the
Prince Imperial. In the sellerie was a gorgeous
saddle with blue velvet fringe and silver monograms
on either side ; this was preserved as a historic
souvenir : it had been used by the Emperor when he
was Prince-President of the Republic. His riding-
school was remarkable in many ways — e.g., its eight
enormous sculptured piUars supporting the Salle des
Etats, in which 10,000 people used to pack them
selves to witness the opening of the Chambers, and
its gently-sloping staircase with double banisters.
Up and down this wonderful structure the horses
walked unaffrightedly. The centre was ornamented
with flowers, and a fountain discharged its waters
through the jaws of two bronze dogs lying on marble
pedestals. King William would not leave until he
had formally called upon the Fleurys (who had a
suite of rooms in the Cour Caulaincourt), and had
complimented the charming wife of the Grand
Ecuyer in that amiable fashion which made him so
popular at the imperial Court. The King gave the
" Black Eagle " to the Marquis de Morestier, Marshal
Canrobert, and Marshal Regnault de Saint-Jean
d'Angely ; but it was remembered that he did not
decorate any of the personnel of the Prussian
Embassy. At the apogee of the Empire !
Imperialism appears to be firmly rooted. Paris
is the social centre of the civihzed world. The
" petit Prince " has already become the popular idol.
Amongst the gay throng in front of Tortoni's, the
modish cafe-restaurant of the period, may be seen

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 79
some of the makers of the Empire. The tall, hand
some man — so like the Emperor — is the Comte de
Morny, presently to be created Duke. The half-
brother of Napoleon III. is talking, in his eager, airy
fashion, to Prince de Metternich, the Austrian
Ambassador of those days, husband of Princesse
Pauhne. The renowned publicist, Emile de Girardin, hat in
hand, is telling the ladies in a carriage the last bit of
boulevard gossip, the newest mot, the freshest
scandal. There is the burly figure of Aurehen
SchoU, one of the cleverest of the chroniqueurs and
teUers of diverting stories ; and close by is the
enterprising Comte de Nieuwerkerke, of whom Prin
cesse Mathilde made so much. Seated at one of the
httle tables is the great Auber, in the fuU flush of his
fame — a grave-faced, white-haired man of huge
frame and enormous head, the kindly friend and
encourager of aU the young composers of his time.
TheophUe Gautier is here, too, and Arsene Houssaye,
who, like SchoU, has always a witty story to tell.
A notable group is composed of the Marquis de
Massa, the author of so many bagateUes which en
hvened the imperial Court at Compiegne, General
the Marquis de Galiffet, and the Due de Grammont-
Caderousse. The Turf has its representatives in Charles Lafitte
(" Major Fridohn "), the banker, and the Comte de
Lagrange ; and in a corner, under the awning of
Tortoni's, is Isabelle, the flower-girl, of whom the
Emperor and Empress now and then buy a cluster of
roses or violets.
The immortal Meyerbeer, and, at the opposite pole,
the equally immortal Jacques Offenbach ; Victorien

80 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Sardou, the brothers E. and J. de Goncourt; the
litterateur Jules Sandeau, the playwright Octave
Feuillet, the actresses Dejazet and Augustine Brohan,
sister of the incomparable Madeleine — aU are here on
the perron of Tortoni's in the golden days of the
Empire. We will assist (in 1868) at the " Sortie de l'Opera,"
the old house in the Rue Le Peletier. " Hamlet "
has been given for the first time, with Christine
Nilsson as Opheha. Here are that extraordinary
Duke of Brunswick (whose eccentric wiU was in
dispute for so many years), the Prince de Sagan,
Prince Murat, Marshal Canrobert, EmUe Ollivier,
Henri Rochefort, Baron Haussmann (who made
Paris what it is), Leon Gambetta, Paul Deroulede,
the Due de Mouchy (whose marriage with Princesse
Anna Murat was arranged by Napoleon III.), Comte
Edmond de Pourtales, M. Thiers, M. Mires (the
financier), Prince Joseph Poniatowski, the Vicomte
d'Harcourt (once French Ambassador to our Court),
the Due de Bisaccia (later Due de Doudeauville), the
Marquis de Caux (Mme. Patti' s first husband, leader
of the Empress's cotiUons), Chevaher Nigra (the
Italian Ambassador), Baron Alphonse de Rothschild,
the Due de Fitzjames, Comte Walewski, the Due de
Crussol, Comte Paul Demidoff, M. de Villemessant
(founder of the Figaro), and innumerable others — all
people with histories.
The King of HoUand (father of " Citron") conde
scended to " beat the asphalte " not seldom, and to
mingle with the gay throng at Tortoni's, the Cafe
Anglais, the Maison d'Or, and the other modish
resorts. He married, firstly, Princess Sophia of
Wurtemburg, whose mother was Queen Catherine of

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 81
Wiirtemburg, wife of King Jerome. The Quoon of
Holland was consequently cousin-german of " Plon-
Plon " and his sister Princesse Mathilde. The King
was most lavish to his numerous favoiuites, but his
wife was kept so short of money that when she went
abroad — on a visit to France, for instance — she was
accompanied only by an elderly lady as badly off as
her royal mistress. The Queen was the friend of
the Emperor and Empress. WiUiam III. would
squander thousands on the Paris actresses and opera-
singers, and refuse his wife sufficient guilders to buy
a new dress ; her cherry-coloured silk gown became
legendary, for she endeavoured to impart a new
aspect to it by substituting black lace for white, and
vice versa.
The monarch was much criticized for his intrigue
with Mme. Musard, whose husband gave popular
concerts during the brightest days of the Second
Empire on the site of what is now the " Jardin de
Paris." Mme. Musard was as weU known by the
boulevardiers and flaneurs as the Empress herself,
and more talked about, while the complacent hus
band was accorded the customary amount of chaff.
When congratulated on the improvement in his
finances, Musard, with self-satisfied air, rephed that
it had pleased Providence to remove from this
sublunary sphere a wealthy relative, who had left
him a mee httle sum. Unfortunately, Musard had
quite forgotten to keep up his pleasant deception by
putting a mourning band on his hat, so that the
explanation of his good fortune was received with a
general wink. But presently the pony-chaise which
Musard had started shortly after his wife's acquain
tance with the King of HoUand gave place to a
6

82 THE SEC0ND1EMPIRE
phaeton and a pair of horses, worth 800 guineas,
while madame' s magnificent turn-out made the
great ladies green with envy. The former head-
groom of a milord anglais had charge of the stables ;
everything was done in perfect style. There was a
house in town and a chateau, whose grounds and
flower-gardens ran down to the Seine.
To find a parallel to so much magnificence one
had to recall the days of Louis Quatorze and Mme.
de Montespan, of Louis Quinze and the Du Barry.
Paris society was greatly intriguee to know the
precise locahty of the Pactolus from whence so much
gold flowed, but it remained in blissful ignorance for
many a month. While his legitimate spouse was
vegetating in watery Holland, this King who dragged
his ermine robes through the mire with such complete
indifference to what the Mrs. Grundys of Paris and
The Hague might say was receiving the lady at a
charming cottage in a secluded spot, suggestive of
Rosamund's bower. The excellent chef d'orchestre
used to accompany his wife to the frontier, give her
a marital embrace, and then return to his beloved
Paris pour s'amuser. Not the least curious and
instructive part of the story is the fact that the
subjects of this monarch who took for his model
no less a god than Eros looked on with amused
complacence, and only the Queen suffered. There
was another lady whom Wilham of HoUand held in
the highest admiration — MUe. Abingdon, " of the
Paris theatres " ; she, however, did not appreciate
His Majesty to the extent that she might have done,
and one day, when the King wanted her to read to
him by the hour, she said she would " caU her mother,
who was a much better reader than herseff."

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 83
Mme. Musard died at the age of forty, bhnd and
insane ; but the roi galant lived to marry a charming
young wife, the sister of H.R.H. the Duchess of
Albany. In the autumn of 1857 Mr. AUsop arrived in Paris.
He spoke French perfectly ; his Itahan was singu
larly pure ; he surprised people by declaring that he
was an Enghshman — Mr. AUsop. When he " de
scended" at a highly respectable hotel it was observed
that among his luggage was a small box, rather
heavy. The servants were to take it very carefully
to his room ; they were on no account to shake it or
drop it. (Mr. AUsop had not aUowed this precious
box to be handled by the raUway porters. He had
placed it in the rack over his head, and he carried it
to the cab upon his arrival at the Northern Station.)
Presently Mr. AUsop' s groom arrived at the hotel,
and with the groom a horse, which the owner rode
daily in the Bois. Mr. AUsop remained at the hotel
a short time, then left it for an appartement.
Mr. AUsop, although a studious, grave man,
mingled in the gay life of the capital. One night he
went to a masked baU at the Opera. Two ladies —
femmes du monde — prompted by curiosity to see
what this sort of thing was hke, had gone to the
theatre, somewhat imprudently, unescorted. They
watched the scene from their box for a while ; then,
finding it " slow," left the loge, and were about to
make a tour of the great saUe, when they became the
subjects of much " chaff," humorous and good-
tempered, but sadly lacking in refinement. At an
embarrassing moment two men — gentlemen — -inter
vened, and so grateful were the ladies, that after a
moment's hesitation — for form's sake — they accepted

84 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the strangers' invitation to sup at a neighbouring
restaurant. That the two men had not known each
other previously was additionally piquant. The
names of the quartette were divulged at the supper-
table : Mr. AUsop, M. Poplu (fashionable journalist),
Mme. de Guersac, Mme. de Lubernay.
The ladies, and even M. Poplu, did not quite know
what to make of Mr. AUsop. That he was a gentle
man they felt certain. There was a great charm
about his conversation. His manners were refined,
and the ladies — Mme. de Guersac in particular —
admitted that he had " a way " with him well calcu
lated to win favour with women of sentiment. When
the talk was led by M. Poplu in the direction of the
Tuileries and its august occupants, Mr. AUsop was
much interested, just as any other inteUigent and
travelled Englishman would have been. M. Poplu
was very sarcastic and epigrammatic at the expense
of the Emperor. Mme. de Guersac allowed it to be
understood that her knowledge of the imperial
couple was not derived from books, from the chron-
iques, or from salon gossip. Mr. AUsop and M.
Poplu realized that this beautiful woman was " on
terms " with " the pale Emperor," as they had begun
to caU him.
A result of this very gay supper-party after the
Opera ball was that Mme. de Guersac and Mr. AUsop
became great friends, and that the latter learnt many
facts — mingled, perhaps, with not a httle fiction —
concerning hfe at the Tuileries. The winter weeks
passed very pleasantly for these two congenial spirits,
thanks partly to M. de Guersac being somewhere
abroad. On January 13 Mme. de Guersac casually
told Mr. AUsop that on the next evening the

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 85
Sovereigns were going to the Opera. It was an
event — a performance for the benefit of M. Massol,*
and Ristori was appearing. Mr. AUsop remarked
that the news had not been given in any of the
journals which he had read. Mme. de Guersac
rejoined that it was a titbit of information which she
had given him.
The news leaked out on the foUowing day, and
long before eight o'clock the thoroughfares near the
Opera were thronged. Just as the carriage contain
ing the Emperor and Empress approached the
entrance to the theatre an explosion threw the crowd
into a panic ; it was foUowed by another, and by a
third. Three bombs had been thrown, and they had
wrought havoc. A hundred and fifty people were
more or less seriously injured. The imperial carriage
was partly smashed ; one of the horses was killed
outright, and another was apparently lifeless. The
Emperor escaped with a very shght scratch on one
eye. The Empress's dress was spotted with blood.
The coachman u^d three footmen were badly
maimed. One of the twelve Lancers of the Guard
forming the escort was killed ; all the other troopers
suffered from the explosions.
The door on the right-hand side of the imperial
carriage opened, and the crowd saw a gentleman in
evening dress get out. He seemed to be in some
pain ; he looked rather frightened ; his face was as
white as wax. His features were convulsed, the eyes
those of a man waking from a nightmare, wondering
if his nocturnal visions were real or imaginary ; while
his hat, almost crushed out of shape, and on the back
of his head, gave him a ridiculous appearance. This
* A well-known artiste.

86 THE SECOND EMPIRE
mixture of two different characters imprinted on his
physiognomy made him look like a tragical clown,
affected by a sincere chagrin and ready to shed real
tears. It was Pierrot haunted by a spectre ; it was
His Imperial Majesty Napoleon III., Emperor of the
French. But the Emperor, courageous and cool, subdued
his emotion. He had always been calm in moments
of danger, and now he did not raise a cry of alarm,
nor utter imprecations, nor hasten his movements.
The bystanders nearest to him scarcely noticed a
shght feverishness in the gesture which he made in
taking the Empress's hand, and the tremor in his
voice when he said to her soothingly : " Come,
Eugenie, get out of the carriage."
She alighted comparatively quickly. She, too,
was livid. The diadem which encircled her golden
hair was all awry, looking as if it had been struck
by someone's fist. " Ah, mon Dieu, it is horrible !
What has happened, Louis ?"
" This blood upon thee !" the Emperor exclaimed.
" Art thou injured ?"
A long red stream trickled down her pink dress
and over her white gloves.
" No, I don't feel anything," she answered. " It
is not my blood ; it must be the General's."*
The Emperor led his wife into the vestibule of the
theatre, and here the Sovereigns questioned each
other with that sincerity which even mutual incom
patibility never completely banishes — sincerity
which, in hours of danger, springs from some un
known source.
" Why dost thou rub thy eye, Louis ?" said the
Empress. Then, closely examining his face, she
noticed a slight scratch on the Emperor's left eye.
Reassured, she said : " It is nothing. But it might
have blinded thee. God has protected thee. Fortu-
* General Roguet, who was sitting outside, had been badly
injured in the neck, and bled profusely.

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 87
nately, before we came out I offered a prayer to my
patron saint and one to St. Christopher."
The Emperor thought the protection accorded
them by the saints would have been still more com
plete had the catastrophe been prevented, but he
said nothing ; and having satisfied himself that the
Empress was unhurt, he assisted her to make the
slight readjustments of her toilette which were neces
sary to enable them to appear in the imperial box
without any visible indications of the terrible ordeal
they had undergone.*
Mr. AUsop was among the thousands who wit
nessed the explosions in the Rue Le Peletier. He
was also among the victims. He entered a phar
macy, was duly attended to, returned to his lodgings,
and went to bed. He had his own reasons for
determining to leave Paris for England the next day.
Full of this intention, he was endeavouring to get to
sleep when he was disturbed by a loud knocking at
the door. Then his room was invaded by the police,
who unceremoniously hustled him into a waiting
cab. And one head that roUed into the basket was
the head of Orsini, ahas AUsop. f
To the Republicans the Emperor remained in
1863 (the first year of the " adventure " in Mexico)
the " Sire de Framboisy." They resolved never to
come to terms with him. The Sire de Framboisy
was the hero of an inept song, to which the stupidity
* Derived from "Amours tragiques de Napoleon III.," by
Gaston Stiegler. Dedicated to M. Adrien Hebrard, redacteur-
en-chief of Le Temps.
f For what is known as " the Orsini attempt " to murder the
Emperor and Empress on January 14, 1858, Orsini and Pierri
were executed. Gomez and Count Rudio were sent to the galleys
for life, the latter having been reprieved at the last moment.
Rudio escaped from his prison, and died in California in 1910,
aged seventy-seven.

88 THE SECOND EMPIRE
of the pohce in 1859 had given a semblance of
actuality. The Sire de [or Lord of] Framboisy, on
his return to Paris from the wars, misses his wife.
He searches for, and ultimately finds, his errant
spouse in doubtful company at a bal de barriere.
He addresses her :
" Corbleu, madame, que faites- vous ici ?"
and she replies :
" J'y danse le cancan avec tous mes amis."
When the Emperor returned to St. Cloud after
the Italian campaign some of the street " loafers "
took to humming these two hnes ; the Censeur was
shocked, and ordered this " couplet a clef " to be cut
out — a step which had the natural result of increasing
the popularity of the song.
The year 1860 (says M. James de Chambrier in his
brilliant collection of studies, " Entre 1' Apogee et le
Declin ") finished under the double aureole of the
" political successes and military glories acquired for
the Second Empire as much by the personal action
of Napoleon III. as by the endurance and entrain of
his armies." The Syrian expedition had hberated
the Christians of the Lebanon. Lord John RusseU*
had occupied himself less with the security of the
Christians from Turkish attacks than with the
Emperor's aims in Syria, and perhaps in Egypt.
The Porte gradually became more reasonable, and on
June 9, 1861, signed the Act by which the Lebanon,
reorganized, had for its administrator a Christian
Governor. Six weeks later French and Enghsh were
again fighting side by side in China. By the end of
October the war was over, and the news of the success
* Then|Prime Minister.

APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE 89
of Palikao* was " received with just pride at the
Tuileries." In November and December, 1860, the Empress
was in Scotland — the result of " scenes " with her
consort at the Tuileries. She returned to Paris in
time to receive the usual New Year congratulations
(January 1, 1861), but her emotion overcame her as
she stood by the side of the Emperor in the salon,
where the members of the Diplomatic Body and of
the Household had gathered to greet the Sovereigns.
* Palikao (Montauban) was War Minister, under the Empress's
Regency, at the downfall of the Empire.

CHAPTER VII
TWO EMPRESSES
To the chateau of Bouchout, hard by Laecken, the
thoughts of the chatelaine of Farnborough HiU must
often have wandered. The beautiful avenue of
Meysse, which links the royal estates of Bouchout
and Laeken, was a favourite walk of the late King
Leopold, for it leads to his sister's house. The
Empress Eugenie has, indeed, reason to bear weU in
mind this Belgian Princess— Charlotte, Empress of
Mexico — whose widowhood is of older date than that
of the Emperor Napoleon's consort, even as her story
is still more pitifully tragic. The imperial crown of
Mexico, which Napoleon III. placed on the heads of
the Archduke Maximilian Ferdinand Joseph and the
sister of Leopold II. , cost the Emperor of Austria's
ambitious brother his life and the Belgian Princess
her reason. The Empress Eugenie must not, then,
absorb all our pity ; some of it should be bestowed
upon the demented occupant of Bouchout, aunt of
Prince Napoleon's consort, Princesse Clementine.
Seven years before the disruption of the Empire
the throne of Mexico was offered to Maximilian by
Napoleon III., who guaranteed to leave in the
country for three years an army of occupation,
25,000 strong, commanded part of the time by
Marshal Bazaine. • This engagement Napoleon ful-
90

TWO EMPRESSES 91
fiUed to the letter ; then the French troops were
withdrawn. Maximihan was in dire extremity, and
in 1867 the Empress Charlotte journeyed to Paris to
implore help. In her absence the Mexicans exocuted
the man who had been foisted upon them as their
" Emperor."* The Empress Charlotte sailed for Europe full of
hope. When she landed at Brest she looked round
to see who had come to receive her on the part
of the French Emperor. No one was visible. This
was her first disappointment. Her suite sought to
console her. There must have been a mistake.
The official reception would be in Paris. Court
carriages would be awaiting her at the railway-
station. One of the Emperor's chamberlains would
certainly be there to greet her — perhaps the Emperor
himself. " Perhaps not," she murmured.
As it had been at Brest, so it was at Paris. No one
at the station to receive her, no imperial carriage,
no bowing court chamberlain to pay her homage and
offer her the traditional bouquet, not even a strip
of red carpet on the grey asphalte. Yet she was a
King's daughter, a Kaiser's sister-in-law, and an
Empress in Mexico.
Charlotte was taken to the Grand Hotel in a
" carriage" — either a cab caUed "off the rank," or
the hotel 'bus. Miss Howard or MUe. Bellanger
would have fared better.
The Empress Charlotte shut herself up alone in her
room, refused to see anyone, and would not touch
the food which was placed before her. One of the
* The idea of Napoleon III. appears to have been to secure
what he called " the American equilibrium " by founding in
Mexico " a regenerating Empire."

92 THE SECOND EMPIRE
ladies of her small suite said: "Her Majesty has
evidently had a great shock. She has never looked
as she now looks since the death of her father, King
Leopold. She is like a dead woman."
The next day passed without any indication from
the Court that an Empress had arrived. On the
third day an imperial chamberlain brought an invita
tion to lunch with their Majesties at St. Cloud.
Charlotte disdainfully dechned it, and bade the
official say she would drive to St. Cloud during the
afternoon. She had been weeping all the morning, foreseeing
that her petition for help would be addressed to
" deaf ears and a callous heart." In the carriage
she worked herself into such a frenzy that her com
panion, the Comtesse del Bario, was on the point
of telling the coachman to return to the Grand.
However, they drove on, and entered the courtyard
of the chateau. Stiffening herself, Maximihan' s wife
walked up the great staircase and, with a firm step,
her cheeks burning, entered a salon. Napoleon was
there, waiting for her. He looked preoccupied and
annoyed, and twirled his moustache. By his side
were the Empress Eugenie and the Prince Imperial.
There were the usual greetings, official smiles, and
presentations. Etiquette being thus satisfied, the
Emperor entered his cabinet, followed by the two
Empresses. The doors were closed, and Charlotte's
suite resigned themselves to a long wait in an adjoin
ing room.
Presently came a faint sound of talking, then it
became louder, betokening an animated discussion,
and then a silence. Charlotte's friends looked at one
another anxiously, as they heard the raucous voice

TWO EMPRESSES 93
of their imperial mistress : " How can I ever have
forgotten who I am and who you are ! 1 ought to
have remembered that the blood of the Bourbons
flows through my veins, and not have disgraced my
race by humiliating myself before a Bonaparte and
negotiating with an adventurer !"
There was a sound as of someone faihng — then
dead silence. The door opened. Napoleon III.,
very pale, stood on the threshold. Glaneing at the
Comtesse del Bario, he said, " Venez done, je vous
prie." In the imperial cabinet the Comtesse saw her
mistress, stretched out on a couch, apparently life
less. The Empress Eugenie, weeping, had un
fastened Charlotte's corsage, taken off the sufferer's
boots and stockings, and was kneehng by the icy
body, rubbing Charlotte's feet with eau-de-Cologne.
Slowly recovering consciousness, Charlotte, seeing
the Comtesse, held out her hand, saying trembhngly,
" Manuehta, don't leave me."
The Emperor, looking bewildered, hovered round
the prostrate form on the couch, strode up and down
the room, left the apartment, and came back again.
He had " lost his head." He caUed for a doctor ;
then ordered a messenger to go as quickly as possible
and bring Dr. Semeleder, the Empress Charlotte's
doctor, from the Grand Hotel. Meanwhile the
Empress Eugenie, in words interrupted by sobs, told
the Comtesse what had brought about the attack —
the Emperor's refusal to grant Charlotte's request,
her prayers, her entreaties, her tears, her threats, and
her wild ejaculations. Whilst speaking soothingly,
the Empress Eugenie had prepared a glass of eau
sucree, and tried to make Charlotte drink it. But

94 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the Mexican Sovereign pushed it from her with a
furious gesture, shrieking, " Assassins ! Go away,
and take your poisoned drink with you !"
A torrent of tears followed this outburst. Throw
ing herself into the arms of the Comtesse, Charlotte
entreated her not to abandon her to " this race of
Borgias, who wanted to rid themselves of her by
making her drink a poisonous drug."
The Emperor, who had been overcome by this
agonizing scene, now returned, bringing with him
Dr. Semeleder, whose first words were to ask the
Emperor and the Empress Eugenie to leave him
alone with Charlotte. The carriage was brought,
and the sufferer was taken back to the Grand.
As she was borne past them to the landau the
terrified courtiers pretended not to have seen or
heard anything. Tears were in all eyes, even in the
Emperor's. Charlotte was insane from that moment,
and has never recovered, although she is said to
have lucid intervals.
This tragic episode remained a secret for a long
time. The next day's papers stated that the Emperor
and the Empress Eugenie had received a visit from
the Empress Charlotte at St. Cloud. " The interview
was of a very cordial nature, and lasted two hours."
If the Empress Eugenie's thoughts dwell some
times on the fates of the occupant of the chateau of
Bouchout, who will go to her grave happily uncon
scious of her husband's execution, she has many a
joyous souvenir to gladden her deehning years. I
will recall only one — that relating to her first meeting
with Queen Victoria, at Windsor Castle, in 1855.

TWO EMPRESSES 95
In later years, recording this event, the Queen
described the Emperor Napoleon's consort, then only
between thirty and thirty-one, and " in full beauty,"
as " the very gentle, graceful, and evidently very
nervous Empress." It was on that occasion that, at
a " fuU Chapter," the Order of the Garter was
conferred upon Napoleon III., with whom, on the
previous night, the Queen had danced a quadrille.
" How strange," wrote the Queen, " to think that I,
the grand-daughter of George III., should dance
with the Emperor Napoleon, nephew of England's
greatest enemy, now my nearest and most intimate
aUy, in the Waterloo Room, and this ally only six
years ago living in this country an exUe, poor and
unthought of !"
Strange was the picture, for since Prince Louis
Napoleon had occupied those modest chambers in
King Street, St. James's (now " Napoleon House "),
and had been one of the ornaments of the Gore
House reunions, chance had raised him to the proud
position which he occupied until the disaster at
Sedan overwhelmed the Empire and consigned him
to captivity. His investiture with the much prized
Order was marked by aU the dignified and grandiose
ceremony which made Queen's Victoria's Court the
world's envy. The Queen looked magnificent in her
purple velvet mantle, crimson velvet hood, and
" coUar " of the Order. By her side was her iUus
trious consort, that Prince Albert who, six years
later, was to be taken from her at a moment when
the nation had learnt to recognize his noble qualities.
The Knights Companions present who answered to
their names as they were caUed out in sonorous tones
by Sir Charles George Young, then Garter King of

96 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Arms, were the Marquis of Exeter, Duke of Rich
mond, Marquis of Lansdowne, Duke of Buckingham,
Marquis of Salisbury, Duke of Cleveland, Earl de
Grey, Marquis of Abercorn, Marquis of Hertford,
Duke of Bedford, Earl of Clarendon, Earl Spencer,
Earl Fitzwilliam, Duke of Northumberland, Earl of
EUesmere, and the Earl of Aberdeen. All these
noble knights have passed away. King Edward VII.,
who had witnessed the imposing ceremony, long
survived them.
Thanks to the " Court Circular " of the period, the
scene of April 18, 1855, can be reconstituted. The
Emperor Napoleon was conducted from his apart
ments to the Throne Room by the Prince Consort
and the Duke of Cambridge, and took a seat in the
Chair of State on the Queen's right. The Empress
Eugenie witnessed the ceremony, surrounded by the
Prince of Wales and the other members of the Royal
Family. At the fitting moment the Queen, assisted
by Prince Albert, buckled the Garter on the Em
peror's left leg, the ChanceUor of the Order (the
Bishop of Oxford ; the " Prelate " being the Bishop
of Winchester) pronouncing the admonition. Then
the Queen put the ribbon, with the " George," over
the Emperor's left shoulder, and the ChanceUor
pronounced a second admonition. Next the Queen
gave the accolade, and Napoleon III. received the
congratulations of all the Knights Companions
present. The stately function was over. "As we were
going along to the Emperor's apartments," wrote
the Queen, " he said, ' I heartily thank your Majesty.
It is one bond the more. I have given my oath of
fidelity to your Majesty, and I will keep it carefuUy.' "

TWO EMPRESSES 97
A little later in the day the Emperor said to the
Queen, " It is a great event for me, and I hope I may
be able to prove my gratitude to your Majesty and
to your country." And to a friend he observed,
" Enfin je suis gentilhomme !" The " parvenu,"
as he had styled himself, was making headway,
thanks to Queen Victoria.
No need to dweU upon the return visit paid by the
Queen and the Prince Consort in the summer of the
same year. The Enghsh Sovereign and her con
sort entertained the Emperor and Empress of the
French for the second time in 1857. The scene was
the Isle of Wight. Although it was a private, " an
even most sequestered," visit, it was said that
" matters of high import to the welfare of both
nations " were discussed at Osborne, and that
" more than one rock which threatened shipwreck
to the cordial understanding between the two
countries was removed." The suite accompanying
the French Sovereigns was limited to the Princesse
d'Essling, Comte and Comtesse Walewski, General
RoUin, and General Fleury, whose son, Comte Serge,
was in England, lecturing (and this is worthy of
note) on the Empress Eug6nie, in the summer of
1908. The imperial yacht, Reine Hortense, reached
the island at half-past eight in the morning
(August 6), and the Queen and the Prince Consort,
accompanied by Prince Alfred, the Princess Royal,
and Princess Alice, went down to the pier to welcome
the imperial pair. Lords Palmerston and Clarendon
enlivened the royal party at the dinner-table that
evening. Of aU these the sohtary survivor is the
Empress. The Empress Eugenie must often recall those
7

98 THE SECOND EMPIRE
quiet, happy days which she and her consort passed
at Osborne — the excursion to Carisbrook Castle, the
drive to Cowes to witness the conclusion of the race
for the cup, the visit, on the Sunday, to the Catholic
Church at Newport, and the gay scene on the Solent
as the Reine Hortense threaded her way between
the yachts and warships. Nor can the imperial lady
have forgotten that while she and her husband were
the Queen's guests three Italians — Tibaldi, Barto-
lotti, and Grilli — were being tried in Paris for an
attempt on the life of the Emperor. Possibly, too,
she may remember that so anxious had the Emperor
been, on the morning of their arrival, to get a good
view of Osborne that he betook himseff to the
bridge of his yacht, slipped on the ladder, and rolled
to the deck. "As we are proceeding to the con
quest of England," he said, smihng, " I ought to
have waited until landing before falling." These
were true words spoken in jest, for throughout
his reign he never lost sight of one object — the
political conquest of England. And here one recalls
what the Emperor is asserted to have said on his
arrival, with the Empress, at Windsor Castle in
1855 : "In seeing again the country in which I lived
when I was poor, and which I left to make my
fortune, I am reminded of the story of the man who,
as a boy, arrived in Paris in wooden shoes, and when
he became rich went for a day to his native village
and slept in the hovel which had sheltered him in his
boyhood."

CHAPTER VIII
THE TUILERIES
The " great " baUs at the Tuileries were given before
Lent ; the " little " baUs, otherwise known as the
Empress's " Mondays," after Easter. At the larger
of these entertainments aU the men were in uniform.
The Emperor, the Generals, and the officers of the
household wore white cashmere breeches, silk socks
of the same colour, and pumps with buckles.
Civilians were in Court dress, with embroidered
collars and cuffs, and swords ; the crush hat (claque)
was carried under the arm. One person only wore
buckskin breeches and high riding-boots of varnished
leather : this was the ecuyer on duty.
At the " Mondays " the guests were restricted to
those who had been previously " presented " ; they
were selected in rotation from a hst — this was the
" series." Court functionaries and a few of their
Majesties' most intimate friends were invited to all
the " Mondays." The regulation garb for men on
these occasions was either " shorts," or very tight-
fitting trousers, and black tail-coats. The Emperor
and the officers of the household were in evening
dress, the coat being of a dark blue cloth, with velvet
coUar, the lapels fined with white satin, and gilt
buttons bearing a crowned eagle.
Each ball was preceded by a family dinner, the
99

100 THE SECOND EMPIRE
guests being Prince Napoleon and his wife, Prin
cesse Clothilde; Princesse MathUde, the Murat
Princes and Princesses, Prince Charles and Prin
cesse Christine Bonaparte, the Marquis and the
Marquise de Roccagiovine, and Comte and Comtesse
Primoh. About ten o'clock the Emperor and Empress
entered the salon of the First Consul. Here the
guests had previously assembled, here new presenta
tions were made by the First Chamberlain, Comte
Bacciochi, and their Majesties made the tour of the
room, saying a few words to aU before the dancing
began. The Empress, who seldom danced, took up
her position in an adjoining salon, whither she was
generally followed by diplomatists like Lord Cowley
(H.B.M. Ambassador), Prince de Metternich, and
Chevaher Nigra, and by intimate friends hke Prosper
Merimee, Edouard Delessert, Onesime Aguado, and
a few others.
During the dancing the Emperor chatted for an
hour or so with his Ministers ; then, reappearing in the
ballroom, chose a partner, and himself led a " boulan-
gere," or formed a set of the " lancers," preferring
either of these to quadrilles, which he found lacking
in " go." Then came the cotiUon, led by Princesse
Anna Murat and the volatile Marquis de Caux (both
unmarried at the time, and both in high favour with
the Sovereigns), who took up their position in chaises
volantes in front of the fireplace. In the cotiUon
forty couples took part, including on one occasion
(the Marquis de Massa noted) MUes. de Heeckeren,
de Seebach, de Bassano, Harvey, de Errazu, Magnan,
Haussmann, Hamelin, and Bouvet, whose cavaliers
were MM. DaviUiers, Castelbajac, Poniatowski,

THE TUILERIES 101
d'Espeuilles, Duperre, du Bourg, Clermont-Tonnerre,
des Varannes (all of whom were either eeuyers or
officiers d'ordonnance), Arthur de Cosse-Brissac (the
Empress's Chamberlain), etc. The cotillons at the
Tuileries were very simple affairs, the presents dis
tributed being merely flowers and coloured rosettes.
The guests supped standing at a buffet, and by one
o'clock the ball was over.
At one of the first of the grand balls given at the
Tuileries before the marriage the Emperor danced in
the quadriUe of honour with Lady Cowley, wife of the
British Ambassador. " He danced another quadriUe
with MUe. de Montijo, who," Baron Imbert de Saint-
Amand has told us, " was assuredly the most beauti
ful of aU the women present. Her resplendent
beauty and extreme elegance excited general admira
tion. . . . How she would have shuddered could
she have foreseen the state in wliich she would find
this supper-room in 1870, at the beginning of the
fatal war ! Then she would instal an ambulance
there. Instead of women loaded with jewels, there
would be sisters of charity with their white
cornettes." At one of the " smaU " dances, or, as they were
caUed, " Mondays," at the TuUeries — entertain
ments which always took place before Lent — after
the author of " Colomba"* had regaled the chosen
few who had been invited to join the " circle "
with some tales drawn from the chroniques chevaler-
esques of ancient Spain, the Empress volunteered to
tell a Uttle story of herself when she was still MUe. de
Montijo. The scene was Estramadura. She was
riding a richly-caparisoned mule, and, with her little
* Prosper Merimee.

102 THE SECOND EMPIRE
party, stopped for a few minutes at an auberge, in
front of which, taking a rest, was a man, shod in
espradiUes —
Plus delabre que Job, et plus fier que Bragance
— one of those lithe mountaineers, with flash
ing eyes, the type of Victor Hugo's Don Cesar
de Bazan and Hernani. The young lady was
parched, and asked for a vaso de agua. Struck by
her beauty, the mountaineer resolved that none but
himself should have the honour of serving the fair
traveller, and, snatching from the landlord's hands
the jug of fresh water and the glass, he fiUed the
latter and offered it to MUe. de Montijo, but not
until he had knelt a moment in homage. " Muchas
gratias," said the future Empress, returning to the
gallant caballero the glass, in which some water still
remained. Raising the glass to his lips, he slowly
drained it, keeping his gaze fixed upon the lady aU
the while, and finaUy breaking the glass into frag
ments, in order that no one else should ever use it !
Of the score or more of those who have essayed
to depict the imperial vie intime during the first
years of the reign— from the marriage in January,
1853, to the " attempt " by Orsini in January,
1858 — none has surpassed M. Gaston Stiegler.*
It is early morning, and the Emperor's toilette is
being completed by his faithful valet, Charles Thelin.
The carpet is littered with opened telegrams and
newspapers. His Majesty is tired, and rubs his dull
eyes, while Thelin waxes the large fair moustache
which covers the master's mouth, and draws it into
two fine points. After his sparse locks have been
* " Amours Tragiques de Napoleon III." Par Gaston Stiegler.
Paris : Albin Michel.

THE TUILERIES 103
artisticaUy combed and brushed, " washes " and
pomades applied, and the pale cheeks brightened
with rouge — after everything has boen done as
scrupulously as the most elegant petite maitresse
could have desired— Napoleon III. rises and puts on
the severely cut frock-coat in which he is almost
invariably seen, save when he is in uniform or hunt
ing or shooting garb. His faithful companion, his
meerschaum pipe, beautifully coloured, smiles upon
him from a little table. He lights it, and joins his
secretary (M. Mocquard) and Dr. Conneau, both
blindly devoted to him. These morning moments
were generally the best parts of his day. Mocquard
and Conneau were the friends of his youth, the
friends of his mother, who, on her death-bed, made
the doctor promise never to leave her son.*
" Has your Majesty slept weU ?" asks Conneau.
" Not badly, thank you ; but not enough, my good
friend," came from the thick voice, which did not
harmonize with his air of natural distinction.
" Yes, yes ; I know. You returned late — always
too late. It is telhng upon you."
The Emperor took this scolding every morning
very amiably. The solicitude for his health pleased
him. " Youth wiU have its fling," said Mocquard,
smihng. " You chaff, Mocquard," replied the doctor. " I
am uneasy until I know the Emperor is here, in this
chateau, with the doors locked, under the eyes of the
sentinels." " I chaff faute de mieux, mon cher. I am entirely
* Dr. Conneau was with the Emperor at Sedan, at Wilholm-
shohe, and at Chislehurst until the end came in January, 187.'5.

104 THE SECOND EMPIRE
of your opinion. But morahty — that is not in my
hne. We knew nothing about it in my time. You
have taken charge of it, and it could not be in better
hands." " Well, well," said Conneau ; "let us leave him
to kiU himself — or to get killed !" And, growhng,
he put on his glasses, opened a large book which he
had just received, and plunged into its pages as if he
had had enough of the conversation.
" Charles," said the Emperor, " tell Fehx to send
the Prince down and inquire after the Empress."
Smoking his pipe, he paced up and down, his head
sunk in his shoulders, balancing his massive body on
his short, little legs, which seemed not to have been
made to bear him. He stopped before the mantel
piece ; the blazing fire absorbed his whole attention.
He seemed to see in the red and blue sparks the
reflection of the tricks played upon him by that
fortune of which he was himself the most remarkable
example, and he asked himself how long those petits
follets would last. Suddenly a huge log broke into
halves, littering the hearth. The beautiful flames
were extinguished, and in their stead came a dis
agreeable volume of smoke. He grasped the tongs,
carefully picked up the pieces of half-burnt wood,
and, while amusing himself in this patriarchal
manner, asked :
" What are you reading, Conneau ?"
" I am not reading, Sire."
" And this great book ?"
" It is a Bible, which I bought yesterday."
" Ah, yes, for your collection," said the Emperor
laughingly. " What language is it ?"
" Hebrew, Sire."

THE TUILERIES 105
" Nonsense, Conneau ! You don't know Hebrew,
and you are not the man to go into ecstasies over a
Bible, even a French one. Well ?"
" It is a magnificent edition, published at Venico
in 1551 — printed by Giustinani."
" WeU ?"
" Sire, do I laugh at you when, at Champheu, or
elsewhere — in some camp of Casar or other — you
pick up old tiles, Roman or pretended Roman ;
antique things without form or colour, broken vases
which have been used for Heaven knows what
purpose ? However, you put them carefuUy in
glass cases or in the museums, and you like people to
look at them. Everybody has his own hobby."
" Oh, my poor potteries !" sighed the Emperor.
" How they abuse you !"
He laid down the tongs, and, after roUing a
cigarette, took up a fragment of an amphora which
had been found during the excavation of a Mero
vingian tomb near Soissons. It was a common-
looking piece of clay, without a vestige of decoration.
But he held it up to the hght, and examined it with
all the tenderness of a connoisseur, while Conneau,
with loving hands, turned the leaves of his beautiful
Bible, in which some amateur had intercalated
several rudely-executed pictures.
Less than three years after the imperial nuptials
a very distinguished Enghshwoman was the guest of
their Majesties. Her son, Lord Ronald Sutherland
Gower, wrote :
In October, 1855, my mother* took me over to
Paris for the first time. We visited the Tuileries
and VersaiUes. During one of our expeditions to
* The Duchess of Sutherland.

106 THE SECOND EMPIRE
some gallery or exhibition the Empress recognized my
mother, although she only knew her from her like
ness to her portrait by Winterhalter, the lithographs
of which were in the printseUers' windows, and
immediately invited her to dine at St. Cloud, where
the Court then was. My mother had known the
Emperor slightly, for on a previous visit [of the
Duchess] to Paris he had called on her at Meurice's
Hotel. Although charmed by the beauty and grace
of the Empress, my mother had little liking for the
imperial Court of France or its master.
In the great year 1867 Lord Ronald, hke thousands
of English people, went to Paris for the Exhibition.
" It was the apogee of the Second Empire — of the
Empire that smelt half of gunpowder and half of
patchouli. Maximilian's death was not then known
at the Tuileries. Napoleon III. was then host to all
the Sovereigns of the Continent, and yet within three
short years aU was in the dust."
Later (in January, 1868) he was invited to a ball
at the Tuileries :
It was a hard winter, and aU the gay world was
skating in the Bois de Boulogne. There were Mme.
de Metternich, plain, with the exception of fine,
roguish eyes, and always beautifully dressed, and
Mme. de Galliffet, with whose looks I was dis
appointed. Thanks to some French friends — the
Boyers — I saw a ball at the Tuileries without the
trouble of a presentation to their Imperial Majesties.
As a sight the ball was interesting, unlike any other
Court ball that I have seen. Perhaps the most
striking sight was the double file of Cent Gardes, in
their gorgeous pale blue and silver uniforms, lining
the State entrance and staircase and standing sentry
at the doors. After passing the Salon de Diane and
struggling through a crowd principally composed of
officers, I got a good place in front of the dais, on

THE TUILERIES 107
which the Emperor and Empress were seated. The
Empress was all in white, and looked strikingly
handsome. The Emperor did not appear to advan
tage in his white silk tights and stockings, and seemed
tired and bored. During, and between, the dances
he walked across the open space in front of the dais
and conversed with some of the officers and diplo
matists. He was a long time in conversation with
a fat General, who I was told was Leboeuf. The
supper was admirably managed. Piles of truffes en
serviette abounded, and here there was less of a
crowd than at Buckingham Palace.
The Duchess of Sutherland was Mistress of the
Robes to Queen Victoria when the Empress paid Her
Majesty a visit at Windsor.* Lord Ronald, then at
Eton, was sent for by his mother, who was in attend
ance on the Queen. He says :
I had a ghmpse of the Empress as she passed
through a corridor in the castle, and was greatly
struck by her beauty. She had shortly before lost
her sister, the Duchesse d'Albe, and was in deep
mourning for her. An odd idea had taken her fancy
— to build on the site of her sister's house in Paris,
which, after the Duchesse' s death, she had razed to
the ground, a similar building in every respect to
Stafford House, and she had visited that house and
sent architects over to take its dimensions. But the
plan fell through ; perhaps it was thought to be
too considerable a scheme for reahzation.
When the Duchess of Sutherland was in Germany
in 1864, accompanied by Lord Ronald, the then
Crown Princess (afterwards the Empress Frederick)
invited her to dine at Potsdam, and the Duchess
* There had been serious misunderstandings between the
Emperor and Empress, and the latter came to London for a few
days, staying at Claridge's, en route to Scotland.

108 THE SECOND EMPIRE
observed that in the royal lady's sitting-room the
furniture was covered with Gobelin tapestry, the gift
of the Empress Eugenie.*
Among the diplomatists accredited to the Court
of the Tuileries until his retirement in 1867 was
Mr. John Bigelow, United States Minister, who has
put on record this not very complimentary apprecia
tion of the Emperor and Empress of the French : f
That the lesson of Louis Napoleon's hfe and death
might not be too soon lost to the memory of that
portion of the world still in need of its instruction,
his widow, whose picturesque career raises the Tales
of the Thousand and One Nights almost to the
dignity of history, though happily spared in a
measure the fate of her unfortunate sister of Belgium
[the Empress Charlotte], shares another fate scarcely
less pitiable. Like Salathiel,| she still tarries, one
of the most unhappy of mortals, an Empress without
a country. In the sous-sols of the Pavilion de Flore were the
kitchens of the Tuileries. § This annexe of the
Palace was constructed, from the modified plans of
Visconti, by Lefuel, who was interrupted in his work
by the war. He had, however, just time to finish
the great staircase, which is decorated with a beauti
ful ceihng by Cabanel and four bas-reliefs by Eugene
GuiUaume. In this immense and sumptuous temple — such as
* Napoleon III. made a somewhat similar present to the
Prince of Wales (King Edward VII.).
f " Reminiscences," 3 vols., 1910. London : Unwin.
j " Salathiel," a romance, by George Croly, on the subject of
the Wandering Jew.
§ Until the autumn of 1910 the Flora PaviUon remained un
disturbed. Then some changes were made for Government
purposes in the rez-de-chaussee and the two floors, the kitchens
being left intact, just as they were prior to 1870.

THE TUILERIES 109
BriUat - Savarin and Grimod de la Reyniere could
not have dreamt of — aU the meals required for the
imperial family and the household were prepared by
an army of cooks, male and female. We can see,
in the magnificent nave, the goings and comings of
the officiers de bouche, the patissiers, and the mar-
mitons. At the entrance of each section was a large
marble slab, inscribed, in gold letters, Vestiaire,
Controle, Porcelainerie, La voir de l'Argenterie,
Patisserie, Lavoir de la Cuisine, and so on. AU the
waUs were oak panelled, finely carved.
On great tables the sUver and porcelain vessels
were ranged — thousands of pieces. The most
marvellous sight of all — after the kitchens (all
separate) for sauces, for grills, for soups, for pastry,
and for stews — was the huge kitchen in which the
roasting was done. This occupied the whole of the
sous-sol of the " Flora " wing. Between two im
mense stoves, each having three compartments, each
compartment capable of receiving two sheep and
five or six dozen fowls, was the Brobdingnagian
fireplace, of wrought iron and varnished tiles. Each
stove measured nearly fourteen feet in width and
about sixteen feet in height, and each had two solid,
movable beams, from which hung spits. Of the
latter there were twenty, with steel racks. Here
whole oxen could be roasted. Above the fireplace
was a gigantic central motor, with a clockwork
arrangement, for turning the spits. It was a
complicated piece of machinery, subdivided, and
furnished with devices for turning joints at various
speeds. The fuel was naturaUy wood, with which
only can meat be properly roasted. The logs
used were more than twelve feet in length. The

110 THE SECOND EMPIRE
table on which the meat was cut before roasting
was of dimensions which suggested to the more
imaginative lookers-on a " viUage green " ! The
wine-cellars sloped downwards beyond the kitchens
and their annexes under the pavilion of the Salle
des Etats, which extended to the entrances to the
Carrousel.* Among the newspapers which found their way into
the Tuileries, or wherever the Court happened to be
— St. Cloud, Compiegne, or Fontainebleau — was a
very curious, very audacious, and very amusing
little sheet, published in London only during the
season and the Parliamentary Session. It was caUed
The Owl. Much of its most diverting matter
(1864-1869) had reference to Napoleon III. and his
Ministers. The most amazing diplomatic " de
spatches " were concocted, so closely resembling the
real article that it was sometimes difficult even for
experts to discriminate between the two. To
prevent mistakes I must quote the words of the
editor of The Owl, Mr. Algernon Borthwick : f
The Owls were Evelyn Ashley, Lord Wharnchffe,
Stuart Wortley, and myself. Others wrote for us
later . . . but we really started the paper. One
night I had a brilhant idea. There had been pour
parlers between the Government and the Emperor
Napoleon III. on the subject of the reduction of
armaments. He was, however, unwilling to take
the initiative, and had said, in a private conversation
with the English Ambassador, " Je ne veux pas
* Nothing remains of the cellars but the walls. All the
furniture, fittings, and utensils of the Tuileries kitchens have
been preserved intact, and this sous-sol of the Flora Pavilion
is now one of the curiosities of the Louvre.
f The late Lord Glenesk, in a conversation with Lady Dorothy
Nevill shortly before his death.

THE TUILERIES 111
encore etre snubbe " [" I don't want to be snubbed
again "]. I knew the Emperor's style in writing,
and concocted a letter supposed to be written by His
Majesty, and ending with the words, " Je ne veux
pas encore etre snubbe." . . . The Moniteur
[the official journal] telegraphed that the letter was
not written by the Emperor, but was an imper
tinent fabrication, and our fame was established. . . .
During the Congress of Paris the delegates lost their
tempers, and hot words were exchanged. We wrote
a fictitious account of it, and said that they shied the
ink at each other, and that during a lull in the pro
ceedings Lord Clarendon* got up with a bored air
and looked out of the window at an Itahan organ-
grinder. This last incident reaUy took place, so the
astonishment of those who had been present was
great. Once aU the Owls went to Paris, and spent the day
in woods near the city. We sang songs, and crowned
ourselves with ivy garlands, and finally climbed up
in a huge old tree, into whose branches we were
hauled up by ropes, ladies and aU, singing baUads the
while. The next night we were aU invited to a great
dinner and baU at the TuUeries, and the contrast
with our woodland revels was charming.
Early in June, 1865, M. Drouyn de Lhuys pre
sented to the Empress Regent, in the name of the
Paris Cricket Club — an Enghsh institution — a box
containing a complete cricketing outfit for the Prince
Imperial, then a little over nine. The Empress sent
the foUowing reply :
Monsieur, La fondation d'un club du jeu de cricket ne
peut qu'etre utile au developpement d'une bonne
hygiene pubhque, si l'exercice de ce jeu repand
* Uncle of Mrs. Borthwick (Lady Glenesk).

112 THE SECOND EMPIRE
autant que je le desire et que le font esperer les efforts
de votre societe. J' applaudi de grand coeur a cette
fondation, et j'accepte avec plaisir I'appareil de jeu
que vous voulez bien offrir au Prince Imperial. . . .
(Signe) Eugenie.
ficRiT au Palais des Tuileries,
le 7 Juin, 1865.

CHAPTER IX
FONTAINEBLEAU
Napoleon III. had a great hking for Fontainebleau,
the scene of his Uncle's abdication. It may weU
have been that he desired to banish from the place
aU that reminded him of the ill-fate of his family.
It seemed to him pleasantly audacious to make this
attempt at the outset of his reign — to instal the new
born sovereignty in the very place which had wit
nessed the shipwreck of the victor of Austerhtz.
This act pleased the nation by its audacity ; people
saw in it an evidence of disdain for the evil horo
scopes which already abounded. By this clever
coup he cast ridicule on the predictions of immediate
disaster with which the new reign had been greeted.
He left people no time to think of anything but years
of prosperity and glory. It was a bold way of
taking possession, almost equal to an 18 Brumaire.
But the days of the First Emperor at Fontaine
bleau were not recaUed merely by lugubrious legends
— by the table on which the Act of Abdication was
signed and the staircase of the farewells. Every
where in the Palace he had left the mark of his glory.
Here, as at the Tuileries, he had written his name
under the signatures of the old Kings of France :
the cahgraphy differed, it is true, but it was equaUy
bold and equally firm. Under the Restoration, as
113 8

114 THE SECOND EMPIRE
under the Monarchy of July, Fontainebleau was not
perceptibly changed. The Nephew entered into
possession of his inheritance after the lapse of forty
years. The trees had grown, and the carp in the
pond had whitened, but nothing else seemed to have
changed ; one might have expected to see the Great
Emperor's red-coated little pages and the Mamelukes,
or even, at the end of an aUey, Marie Louise and the
King of Rome. The adventurous and sceptical
temperament of Napoleon III. was allied to senti
mental reveries. His ideas forced themselves upon
him, and greatly amused him. Not that he showed
himself an artist in these things. There was nothing
of the artist about him, but there was great sim
plicity, often to the point of emotion. Formed in
the fashion of his time, he was quite capable of
pushing grave resolutions to extremes without
regret, although he would weep over a poor man's
dog or the cross worn by a peasant soldier. Fon
tainebleau had for him an interest of this kind, and
he hastened to it at the earliest moment. The
military subjects painted by Raffez, Charlet, and
Bellange greatly amused and interested Napoleon III.
To those artists he owed a considerable part of his
pohtical success. They had resuscitated the Bona
partist legend, and had made the Great Emperor
the hero of an artistic and literary cycle comparable
to Charlemagne.
At the Fontainebleau " chasses " Napoleon III.
wore the extraordinary hunting - dress which had
been devised for him ; it was, in fact, a revival of
the Louis XV. costume. The ladies and their
cavaliers were equally deUghted with it. Enghsh
" foUowers," whom the imperial couple heartily

FONTAINEBLEAU 1 1 5
welcomed both at Fontainebleau and Compiegne,
thought the costume picturesque, but theatrical.
The green tunic was worn in remembrance of
Napoleon I. The waistcoats were similar to those
worn by the roues of the Regency, as seen in the
pictures by Compte-Calix. The hat was the tri-
corne (" lampion "), which looked weU on the head
of a pretty woman, but did not accord with whiskers
or waxed moustaches ; yet it escaped criticism —
was, indeed, generaUy admired. And it was in this
curious garb that Napoleon III., flanked by the
irresistible Marshal Magnan, the head of the Im
perial Hunt, entered the chateau which the Uncle
had left in his grey redingote. Over the door of a
room at Fontainebleau there used to be a picture,
by Schoppin, representing the killing of a stag in a
pond in the forest. The Emperor is taking a gun
from the hands of Edgar Ney ; the Empress is
preparing to cover her eyes with a pocket-handker
chief ; and in the background is Marshal Magnan,
who looks as if he were thinking of anything but
the stag which the Emperor is about to shoot.
Under the new regime events advanced at a
gaUop ; everything had to be done quickly ; and, as
pohtical considerations had to be taken into account,
the odd sight was witnessed of the titular director
of the Imperial Hunt being no less a personage than
a Marshal of France, a good soldier, an exceUent
Freemason, but unlearned in the art and science of
venery. By the grace of the Marquis d'Aigle, a
ready-made pack came into being at Fontainebleau,
soon reinforced by Enghsh hounds, and La Trace,
who had been the piqueur of Napoleon I. and of the
Orleans Princes, was placed in charge. We see the

116 THE SECOND EMPIRE
newly-promoted taking lessons from the subalterns
— Napoleon I. from the piqueurs of Conde, and
Napoleon III. from his Uncle's piqueur. The worthy
La Trace was the real autocrat of the hunt, in
structing everybody who was wiUing to be taught,
and prescribing what was and what was not " good
orm "; and under his gilded " lampion " Marshal
Magnan was observed learning his lesson with comical
intentness. What was of the first importance was
that members of the imperial house should be made
to appear thorough sportsmen.
An Empress was stiU lacking when, for the first
time, Napoleon III. rode into the old and melan
choly chateau in the midst of fanfares, soon to be
foUowed by torchlight " curees " and gay " shoots."
It was a strange monde, mostly composed of very
" new " people, not devoid of naivete, and vastly
different from their predecessors. Then an Empress
came, and Fontainebleau was an Elysium.
At Fontainebleau the Empress could indulge in
dreams. Her apartments, which had been occupied
by Marie Antoinette, looked into the oval courtyard.
The cabinet de toilette was decorated by Rousseau,
the eighteenth-century architect, in honour of the
Queen, who had made of it an exquisite boudoir.
Painted in green and gold, meUowed by time, the
ceding of this room was the work of Barthelemy,
pupU of Boucher ; the door-hangings represented the
Muses. On the mahogany parquet were mosaiced
the Queen's initials; Goutiere's brasswork orna
mented the fireplace. This boudoir was more in
accord with the Empress's tastes than the bedroom,
hung with large Lyons flowered damasks, with its
gorgeous bed in the centre, recalling that of

FONTAINEBLEAU 117
Louis XIV. at Versailles. Despite the fleurs-de-lis
on the ceiling, and the winged cherubs round tho
dais, and Riesener's furniture, the Empress was
oppressed by all this parade. How different were
all these splendours from the cosy little room,
lacquered with white, which she had hoped to get
for her villegiature ! She had dreamt of a tiny
chamber with all its Uttle nothings within reach ;
waUs covered with souvenirs and medallions ; flower-
stands, low couches, bureaux no larger than grid
irons, no lustres — everything smaU and homely. At
Fontainebleau, in the midst of the woods, in the full
sunlight, the TuUeries foUowed her, just as they had
foUowed Marie Antoinette to VersaiUes. But the
Queen could fly off, alone, to Trianon in her early
happy days. That made aU the difference.
Hence her desire to break the bonds of strict
etiquette and to become " Ourenia " once again.
(" Ourenia " was Eugenie de Montijo, MUe. de Teba.)
The plainest walking dress, a simple hat, stout boots,
cane in hand. How much she would have hked to
milk a cow and to make butter ! But that would
have provoked iU-natured talk in the capital, and
songs about the Andalusian dairymaid. So she
resigned herself to sleep in that vast tabernacle,
with its gleaming lustre, its gold and its silk — like a
doll in a giant's bed. She felt thankful that she had
not, hke Marie Antoinette at VersaiUes, to don her
chemise under the gaze of her " ladies."
When the " good-nights " had been said, the
Emperor, the Empress, and the Prince were pre
ceded to their rooms by the stately " Suisses," and
followed by the members of the Court. The guests,
after the baise-main, deep curtsies, and low bows,

118 THE SECOND EMPIRE
found their way to their bedrooms without further,
or with very httle, ceremony. Octave Feuillet has
told us what these Fontainebleau bedrooms were
like : delightful beds, baths already prepared for
the morning ablutions, and the apartments bril
liantly hghted by great chandeliers. In some of the
rooms little parties of friends gathered to talk over
the day's events, finish stories which had been com
menced in the salon, and breathe fervent hopes that
the new Empire had " come to stay."
The Emperor slept in what had been the room of
Napoleon I. High above the doors were Cupids, in
grisailles, by Sauvage ; lower down, cameos of the
old times and Pompeian arabesques. Placed close
to the wall, against an immense glass, was the bed,
still decorated with the Uncle's " N " and the gilded
frontals. Louis Philippe had restored the wood
panelling with its carved figures, and had renewed
the hangings ; but the clock of Pope Pius VII. stood
on the mantelpiece, the arm-chairs were those of the
Great Emperor, and he had paced the mosaiced floor.
When Napoleon III. left his bedroom for his study
he wrote surrounded by relics of the First Empire :
the bureau carved by Jacob, the chairs, the writing-
desk — everything remained intact. One new thing
there was — Nieuwerkerke's white marble bust of
the Empress, showing her as she was at the time of
her marriage. Even she, by no means easy to
please in these matters of portraiture, was enthusi
astic over this work, revealing a face of charming
archness. The special attraction at Fontainebleau was the
forest, through which long drives in char-a-bancs
were often taken. Sometimes the Empress im-

FONTAINEBLEAU 1 1 9
provised a dinner in the open air at the gorges of
Apremont, and clambered over the rocks with an
alacrity which proved very disconcerting to those
of her suite who accompanied her on these excur
sions in the glaring sun. At other times the Empress
arrived unexpectedly in the valley of the Sole, while
the annual manoeuvres of the cavalry brigade of
the Imperial Guard were on. Then there would
be a gouter for the officers of the two regiments
engaged, the Empress herself doing the honours and
putting all at their ease. One day (and I give the
story on the authority of that popular personage,
the late Marquis de Massa) she asked if someone
would sing a mihtary ditty, " un peu Gauloise, mais
pas trop." A young officer of the Chasseurs, M. de
BatsaUe, was indicated as possessing a repertoire of
this description. When caUed upon, however, he
energeticaUy pleaded to be excused, on the ground
that the songs which he knew were not suitable for
the Empress's ears.
" But," rephed Her Majesty laughingly, " when
you come to a word which you may think rather
strong, you can substitute for it ' turlututu.' "
" But, Madame, the song contains  "
" What ? Tell us."
" There are scarcely any words in the song,
Madame, except ' turlututus '!"
The trumpet-call " a cheval " fortunately relieved
the officer from his embarrassment.
Even a cursory study of the characters of
Napoleon III. and the Comtesse de Teba shows
that they belonged to the school of " romantics."
^Esthetics they assuredly were not. Romanticism as
a cult had almost disappeared at the period of their

120 THE SECOND EMPIRE
marriage, but the " new " people (and both Sove
reigns were very " new ") were unaware of that.
The Emperor favoured the " Beaux Dunois "* or
the " Preux de Palestine," and in the spirit of
romanticism he rebuilt Pierrefonds, the chateau
which furnished the Empress with a traveUing name
which she continues to use. The Empress admired
the eighteenth century, the perfumed histories (as
Bouchot terms them) of Trianon or VersaiUes, and
had a predilection for panniers, a la Belle Fermiere.
Hence her passion for a rural life, her love of Nature,
the woods, and the fields. For the satisfaction of
this craving Fontainebleau was an ideal spot —
superior to Compiegne ; there she could revel in royal
chronicles and stories of " gallant " Courts. Fon
tainebleau had the dual qualities of Versailles and
Trianon. There the Empress — never without her
hours of melancholy — could be solitary or gay.
There she was happiest.
But Fontainebleau had to be made to breathe of
power — all must be luxurious — so that the Tuileries
might be relegated almost to the back of the stage.
All this was not to be done in a month. Even in
1860 — five years after the marriage — the work was
only beginning to be complete. The Sovereigns
spent a week or two at Fontainebleau, and gave some
visitor, like the Grand Duke Constantine, an oppor
tunity of assisting at a hunt and a curee ; but by
degrees the Empress's longing for an annual stay
there was satisfied. It was there more than any-
* " Partant pour la Syrie," composed by Queen Hortense,
became the French National Hymn under Napoleon III. It was
founded upon the imaginary exploits of a soldier, Dunois, in
Palestine, and, translated, was a very popular song in England
in the fifties and sixties.

FONTAINEBLEAU 121
where else that she could remain undisturbed and
uninterfered with in her own room, or walk or drive
out as she wished, free from all " obligations."
Upon the arrival of the Sovereigns at their summer
residence, which for splendour was not surpassed by
the most fastidious of their defunct predecessors,
the place was all movement from daylight. The
guard was in grande tenue. Officers swarmed in the
courts. From their windows peered excitedly pretty
women in hght toilettes. Then bugles blew, drums
roUed, and cannon thundered until the walls
trembled. AU this meant that the imperial train
was at the station. The Emperor ahghted from the
waggon-salon (which was surmounted by an eagle
with outspread wings), and gave his hand to the
Empress. Their Majesties entered their daumont,
preceded by Cent-Gardes, and foUowed by other
carriages. It was a rush to the Palace. In front
of the " Adieux " steps the daumont stopped, and
the officers of the household greeted the Emperor
and Empress, who had for each person a word and
a smile. At the top of the steps they turned, saluted
a la ronde, and crossed the threshold amidst cheers.
Fontainebleau signified Liberty HaU — and not only
to the Empress. How different to the Tuileries,
where the waUs heard and saw everything ! The
men of the Mihtary Household were as hght-hearted
and as fuU of fun as schoolboys on a half-holiday.
The ladies told their httle stories, of much the same
pattern as those told by the courtiers of the Valois
or of Louis XIV.
The keynote of the Ufe here was struck at one of
the first of these villegiatures. At the Emperor's
request, M. Alberic Second wrote a humorous trifle —

122 THE SECOND EMPIRE
it was called a " saynete " — for the " Theatre Im
perial, Fontainebleau." And the Due de Morny
" scored " with a witty impromptu in his best style,
he himself taking one of the two parts. In this
bagateUe the audience saw a sedate provincial, come
to Paris with the laudable object of talking seriously
to the Emperor on State affairs, to the Empress
about her charitable works, and to M. de Morny
about his able diplomacy. " How you must have
bored all three !" said the " compere " (De Morny).
" You don't seem to know much about the ways of
these people. The next time you come to Paris on
such an important errand I advise you to talk to
the Emperor about his ' Vie de Cesar,' to the
Empress about her crinolines, and to M. de Morny
about his marvellous talent as a playwright !"
The Empress and the Emperor gave the signal for
the laughter and applause which followed.
When the Emperor, wearing a hght waistcoat, a
short jacket, trousers more or less " pegtoppy," and
a small black felt hat, was told that business awaited
him, and that it was time for him to take his place on
the throne, his face underwent a pitiful change. As
a simple bourgeois he might have spent the whole
day amusing himself ; as Emperor he must go and
seat himself in a chair higher than the others — not,
perhaps, for very long, happily for himself and
everybody else.
A marked difference between the imperial Court
and that of the Kings of France was that at table
at the former the conversation was general and
almost without restriction. The Emperor, who
usually spoke in a low tone, raised his voice at
luncheon and at dinner, so that those whom he

FONTAINEBLEAU 123
addressed could hear him, and had not to guess at
some of his words. The Empress invariably spoke
loudly, and on occasion — in moments of excitement,
which were not seldom — even stridently.
During dinner the music of the Garde played
softly. The " Beau Dunois " (" Partant pour la
Syrie ") was foUowed by one of the choruses from
"Faust" or a prayer from " L'Africaine." To
please the younger people songs were arranged as
mihtary marches — the " Bouton de Billou," " Le
pied qui r'mue," or other minor works. The
Emperor had no ear for music. At the Opera he
would doze until aroused by a tap from the Empress's
fan. Something from the " Grande Duchesse," or
the duet of the " Deux Gendarmes " from " Madame
Angot " — these were his favourites. At night, when
he was going to his room, preceded by suisses, and
followed by a group of sUent personages, he would
be heard humming :
" Brigadier, repondit Pandore,
Brigadier, vous avez raison."
To the Empress, as to many of her friends and
attendants, the principal features of Ufe at Fontaine
bleau were the carriage drives, the dejeuners on the
grass in the forest, the excursions to neighbouring
viUages, and visits to the churches. When the
Emperor attended these rural outings his carriage
was drawn by six horses— two more than those of
the other vehicles. As the imperial party left the
chateau the drums beat " aux champs," the guard
presented arms, and the cavalcade swept along to
the music of the horses' bells. Neither black clouds,
threatening rain, nor mists, nor a scorching sun pre-

124 THE SECOND EMPIRE
vented an excursion if it had been arranged. One
day, after a pelting shower, the Empress waded
through muddy paths until she had reached the top
of a steep hill. The Chevalier Nigra (Italian Ambas
sador) and M. Octave Feuillet followed her as they
best could through the slush, to the ruin of their
silk hats (!) and thin boots. The Empress had not
a dry thread on her ; some of her garments were in
rags ; the dripping branches made walking a heavy
business. When in time they got back to the
carriages, the sun was shining, making the men's
coats smoke like a chimney. Never had the Empress
more enjoyed herself, never had she looked more
beautiful. A quarter of an hour after her return
to the chateau she was the first at table, laughing
at the spectacle of the Ambassador and the author
in their ruined hats, her cheeks still rosy from the
long tramp in the sodden forest paths and up the
slippery hillside. As, however, she insisted that she
was late, she had wrapped in paper ten sous, the fine
which all who were not punctual at dinner had to
pay to General Lepic before daring to seat themselves
at table. (This fine was a survival of the custom
which had prevailed at the royal Courts. The
Duchesse de Berry was so unpunctual that she was
fined every day !)
In the early days of the Franco-Mexican campaign
— after the defeat of the imperial forces in their hope
less attempt to capture Puebla— Count Bismarck
was the guest of the Emperor and Empress at
Fontainebleau. He had just been appointed Prussian
Minister to France. No one could have had a
warmer welcome than the diplomatist. Bismarck
was well known to his host and hostess, who had

FONTAINEBLEAU 125
received him in 1855, the year of the first Exhibition
— the year also of the visit to France of Queen
Victoria, the Prince Consort, the Princess Royal,
and the Prince of Wales. Next he attended the
conference held in Paris to settle the question of
Neuchatel. In 1857 Bismarck did not display any
hostihty to the Emperor Napoleon's wish for a
rapprochement between France and Prussia. The
Emperor had said to his Foreign Minister, Thouvenel :
'' These two neighbouring States (France and
Prussia), placed by their inteUectual culture and
their institutions at the head of civilization, ought
to mutuaUy support each other."
Bismarck and the Emperor had a " political
walk " through the grounds of Fontainebleau, then
in their autumnal beauty (it was October, 1862). The
Prussian Minister* had the art of making himself
agreeable, and became a general favourite with the
guests of the " series," among whom he was the
most striking figure. As the Emperor unbosomed
himself to his guest, and smoked and talked with
him, nothing could have been farther from his
thoughts than that, eight years later, he would find
in Bismarck (who had yet to earn his sobriquet, the
" Man of Blood and Iron ") his implacable enemy.
" The Emperor," said Bismarck later, " asked me
abruptly if I beheved the King was disposed to con
clude an aUiance with him. I replied : ' Circum
stances alone can enable us to appreciate the necessity
and the utility of alliances.' "
Bismarck had been almost the only man in his
country who admired Napoleon III. He had even
* Bismarck had been recalled from St. Petersburg to replace
Comte Albert de Pourtales at Paris.

126 THE SECOND EMPIRE
advised King Frederick WiUiam IV. to enter into an
aUiance with France. When he took over the Paris
Legation he was received with much favour, not
only by the Court, but by the official world ; and the
Foreign Minister (Thouvenel) wrote to the Due de
Gramont : " We are assured that Bismarck has the
most friendly feehng for us." When King William
succeeded Frederick William IV. he was not far from
sharing Bismarck's views of the French Emperor.
Those views underwent a change in 1863, the result
of the intervention of Napoleon III. in the affairs
of Poland — a step which did the Poles no good, and
temporarily ahenated the Tsar (Alexander II.) from
Napoleon. Bismarck was not slow to see how he
could utilize the Emperor's mistake, and henceforth
dismissed from his mind aU idea of a Franco-Prussian
alliance.* It was at a Ministerial Council held later at Fon
tainebleau that a dramatic incident occurred. The
Emperor had asked his consort to be present, some
what to the embarrassment of Thouvenel, whose
duty it was to present a report recommending an
early recognition of the new kingdom of Italy.
This did not at aU accord with the Empress's well-
known views. Scarcely had the Foreign Minister
concluded the reading of the report than she burst
into tears and left the Council Chamber. There was
a painful silence, broken by the Emperor saying to
Marshal Vaillant : " Please follow Her Majesty and
attend to her." * James de Chambrier.

CHAPTER X
COMPIEGNE
The social history of the Second Empire was resumed
in the Tuileries, St. Cloud, Fontainebleau, Biarritz,
and Compiegne. The name of the latter hngered
fondly on the Ups of the fine fleur of Enghsh society
between 1855 and the winter of 1869-70. It is well
to remember that it was to Queen Victoria that we
owed the entente cordiale. That, as time passed,
the mutual understanding which she secured flick
ered, and gave place to bad blood after the " at
tempt " of Orsini, Pierri, Rudio, and Gomez, was no
fault of Queen Victoria. But the bombs were de
signed by the master-mind in Belgium, and manu
factured at Birmingham, and London was the scene
of the " conspirations." It is true that the personal
relations between the Sovereigns, which had been
securely cemented in 1855 at Windsor, London,
Osborne, and St. Cloud, remained unchanged, and
naturaUy. Was not Queen Victoria the best friend
the French Sovereigns possessed in Europe ? What
angered the French nation was the shelter given to
the Italian assassins by England. Had it been other
wise, the tragedy of January 14, 1858, would have
been more difficult — perhaps impossible — of achieve
ment. Such was the French view, and not an un
reasonable one. 127

128 THE SECOND EMPIRE
But even the attempted murder of Napoleon III.
and the Empress Eugenie did not, we may assume,
cause English people who were honoured with invita
tions to Compiegne to think twice before accepting
them. Those " Compiegnes " — how many souvenirs
the mention of them evokes ! Was it not at Com
piegne that Mme. Fortoul' s gross insult had as an
immediate result the Emperor's belated " proposal "
to Mile. Eugenie de Montijo ? Was it not there
that the Prince and Princess of Wales were the
principal figures in 1868, when any Cassandra who
had ventured to predict the imminence of a
" Sedan " would have been derided and scorned ?*
The first of what came to be known as " the Com
piegnes " dates from December 18, 1852, six weeks
before the marriage, and the Comtesse de Montijo
and her daughter were of the party. The Emperor
of a fortnight had arrived at the chateau a few days
previously amidst the roar of cannon ; he had passed
under triumphal arches and between rows of troops
and the local firemen ; his unmusical ears had been
amused by the " tralalas " of the peasantry gathered
from the countryside for miles around. With him
came his cousins, Prince Jerome Napoleon (not yet
married to Princesse Clotilde, one of the survivors
of to-day) and Princesse Mathilde (who had been
long separated from her impossible husband, Prince
Anatole Demidoff), Ambassadors and Imperial Minis
ters, and, of course, many ladies — Mme. Drouyn de
Lhuys, Mme. de Persigny, and Mme. de Contades,
to mention a few.
* The Comtesse Edmond de Pourtales (who happily survives
in 1911) had, it is true, courageously uttered no vague warnings ;
but they fell on heedless ears.

THE EMIT.EKS EUGENIE IX SPAXISH COSTUME.

THE EMPRESS EUGENIE IN CIRCASSIAN COSTUME.
Her Imperial Majesty represented these characters at costume balls j,'ivi_
at the Palace of the Tuileries. The illustrations are from private photographs,
and are reproduced by permission of the proprietors of Fruit ita', the popular
illustrated Paris paper, in which they originally appeared.

To fun- p. 128.

COMPIEGNE 129
The Emperor knew what was expected of him.
He had not been four years President without learn
ing the metier. The festivities began with a ball on
the 18th ; on the 20th there was a great " meet,"
attended by two hundred ladies, all mounted, and
in Louis XV. costume — " casaque a basques " and
" chapeau mousquetaire." Of course, " the Mon-
tijos " were among the " dames chasseresses," and
provoked criticism as weU as admiration at the
" meet " at the carrefour Bourbon and in the
evening at the curee, by torchhght, in the court of
the chateau. At this stag-hunt the first of the
" boutons " made their appearance ; these were
favoured persons aUowed by the Sovereign to wear
the green uniform and three-cornered hat, which,
to unaesthetic British " pursuers," smacked of the
theatrical, just as scarlet coats may have seemed
to Frenchmen who were occasionaUy seen in our
shires. The two " foreign ladies " — Mme. and MUe. de
Montijo — were ardent sportswomen. They rode
boldly in the stag-hunts, and they appeared at the
" shoots " with guns — delicately-made weapons —
" jolis joujoux," M. Bouchot calls them. They
tramped through the coverts alongside the Emperor ;
no other ladies shared this privilege. This alone was
enough to set envious tongues wagging. Nobody
admitted the possibility of what actuaUy happened ;
nobody believed in an " engagement " ; but many
beheved in " adventures " which never occurred.
In reahty there was played in the alleys and coverts
of Compiegne a final act of diplomacy, in which Spain
wasted less powder and shot than the spectators
imagined.

130 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Between December 18 and 25 — that fateful week
for the Emperor and MUe. de Montijo — the Gymnase
company performed the " Fils de Famille," and on
Christmas Day came another big " meet " of the
imperial hounds. The " foreign ladies " assisted at
both these events, which preceded by a few days the
news of the engagement. Every year thereafter the
Court removed to Compiegne in November, and
there the Festival of Ste. Eugenie was regularly cele
brated on the 15th.
Compiegne was neither a Fontainebleau nor a
St. Cloud ; in some respects it was like the Tuileries.
The Empress's " Compiegnes " were at once sans-
gene and dignified — an amalgam of town and
country festivities ; chateau hfe carried to an excess
of luxuriousness ; an intermediate existence between
summer at Fontainebleau and winter at the Tuileries.
In the country, amongst the vast woods, with relays
of guests, the Empress was happy. In the day there
was now a " meet," anon a " shoot " ; at night there
were raouts, dances, charades, theatrical perform
ances. The invites, as a rule, remained four or five
days ; others, a week or so. On the Empress's fete-
day (Ste. Eugenie) there was a family gathering.
Towards the end of November snow or rain usually
interfered with hunting and shooting.
Each of the " series " was composed of from sixty
to eighty persons — social stars, actors and actresses,
singers, authors, painters, journalists, and mere
gens d'esprit. They left Paris by a special train
at two o'clock, and it was often dark when they
reached the chateau in the English chars-a-bancs.
Amongst the guests of every variety were some who
were not remarkable for social graces. Here and

COMPIEGNE 131
there were men who apparently did not find it easy
to tie a white cravat properly; yet for these the
sunniest smiles of the imperial host and hostess were
reserved. Some of the guests were encumbered by
baggage — huge boxes and trunks choked with uni
forms and dresses. The sorting of these, under the
superintendence of valets and suisses, provided
amusement for those who watched the scene from
the upper windows.
By a quarter-past seven the guests had to be
correctly dressed — the men in tail - coats, short
breeches, black silk stockings, and shoes with steel
buckles — and in the large drawing-room awaiting
the entry of the Sovereigns. Only the official
personages had places aUotted to them at table ;
the others sat where they pleased, or where they
could. Dinners at Courts are said to be very much
alike. But those at Compiegne had a speciality ;
everything was superlatively good, and the music
exceUent. On the stuccoed columns of the dining-
room were statues of Mme. Lcetitia and Napoleon I.
The plates were of Sevres, the girandoles of silver, a
surtout in biscuit (which faced the Emperor) was
adorned with a hunting scene. The legion of ser
vants wore coats with gold lace ; their perruques
were powdered, their stockings of pink silk. The
head - servants — maitres d' hotels — wore plum-
coloured tail-coats, embroidered with silver ; each
had a sword. The unseen orchestra played softly,
so that conversation was undisturbed. In less than
three-quarters of an hour the Emperor and Empress
rose ; the guests, passing through the salle des gardes,
returned to the salons.
When professional actors and actresses appeared

132 THE SECOND EMPIRE
at Compiegne, the great salle de spectacle was more
than usually crowded, for on these occasions the
audience was composed, not only of the Sovereigns'
guests, but of the officers of the garrison and many
of the principal residents. The comedies de salon
were represented in a gallery on the ground-floor of
the Palace, where a temporary stage — technically
known asa" fit- up " — was erected. These amateur
performances were given for the exclusive benefit of
the imperial couple's guests, the " house - party."
On evenings when there was no acting there were
" games " of various kinds, some of them very
similar to those provided for children's gatherings ;
or there was an informal dance, to the strains of a
piano-organ, " played " by the guests in turn, and
sometimes by the Emperor himself.
It was in the little theatre on the ground-floor of
the chateau that Octave Feuillet's piece, " Les
Portraits de la Marquise," was originaUy produced.
This was an event, for the Empress played the
principal part, which was " specially written " for
her. Here, too, was given M. Legouve's spirituelle
charade, the word being " anni ver saire," and the
occasion the Festival of Ste. Eugenie (November 15).
In the autumn of 1865 (says the Marquis de
Massa*) the little private theatre of the Palace of
Compiegne was placed at my disposal for the pro
duction of a revue de circonstance, the principal
scenes and the " cast " (comprising thirty char
acters !) having been approved of by the Empress
after she had suggested a few alterations. The first
volume of the Emperor's work, " Les Commentaires
de Cesar," had just been published, and this was the
title of my revue. Of the ladies who appeared in
* " Souvenirs et Impressions." Paris : Calmann-Levy.

COMPIEGNE 133
the piece, the " star " was the Princesse de Metter
nich, with such charming satellites as the Comtesse
Edmond de Pourtales, the Marquise de Galliffet, the
Baronne de Poilly, and Mme. Bartholoni.* Baron
Lambert (then " Lieutenant" of the Imperial Hunt)
was the compere [the stage butt], Edmond DaviUiers
the manager, and Viollet-le-Duc [the eminent archi
tect and antiquarian] the prompter. The " orches
tra " was a piano, played by Prince de Metternich,
who as an amateur accompanist was unexcelled.
The dresses were designed by Marcelin and by iSmile
Perrin, director of the Opera.
The prologue was a very simple one. The compere
— a worthy tradesman arriving in Paris to witness an
assault-at-arms on the Champ-de-Mars — was sur
prised to hear that the event was in honour of Julius
Csesar, who, having been recently exhumed, was
going to review our modern legions and our cen
turions. As, however, the Roman General did not
make his appearance, the mihtary review was trans
formed into a theatrical revue, in which the events
of the year were treated, with comments by the
compare. The scenes of actualite in the first act included a
parody of a kicking mule, performing every evening
at the Champs Elysees circus, the person who suc
ceeded in mounting the animal receiving 100 francs.
The requisite accessories had been lent to me by
Jules Noriac, director of the Varietes, and the mule
was represented by two of the Prince Imperial's
young friends, Conneau and Pierre de Bourgoing,
who ensconced themselves in the cardboard carcass,
one in front, the other behind. As they found it
difficult to see where they were going, Lambert, at
the first rehearsals, was obliged to raise the animal's
tail, and give them instructions by this most curious
* Of the five ladies mentioned, two survive in 1911 — Prinoesse
de Metternich and Mme. E. de Pourtales. Mme. Bartholoni
died this year.

134 THE SECOND EMPIRE
telephone. Princesse de Metternich took several
characters, her best being the one caUed " La
Chanson," containing some verses having a direct
reference to the Empress, and alluding to her
presence at the bedsides of the victims of the cholera
epidemic at Amiens.
A recent cordial meeting of the French and English
squadrons at Plymouth formed the subject of an
allegorical scene in the second act. England was
represented by Mme. Bartholoni, Imperial France by
Mme. Edmond de Pourtales. The first was accom
panied by an old sailor and a soldier in scarlet uni
form ; the second by one of the corps of the
" invalides," wearing the St. Helena medal, and a
young soldier of the 90th Foot Regiment, who had
been in the fighting at the taking of Puebla. In this
scene the Prince Imperial appeared, in a grenadier's
uniform, as the " Future " (l'Avenir).
" Les Commentaires de Cesar " was so successful
that it was performed the next night, when the
Emperor complimented me, and gave me a copy of
his book, inscribed " Souvenir du Commentateur de
' Cesar ' au commentateur de ' Cesar.' " The Em
peror added : " But you must not let your profession
of dramatic author interfere with your military
duties." "Heaven forbid, Sire," I rephed; and I
proffered a request to be sent to Mexico (where
war was then raging). " Well," said His Majesty,
" I wiU think over it." A few days later my request
was granted.
" Some may perhaps consider," said the Marquis,
" that I have availed myself of ' reportage,' sprinkled
with water blessed by the Court, but ' holy water
sprinkled sorrowfully over cinders, for what remains
to-day to represent that Court of the Tuileries which
was so splendid ? Only some disinterested partisans,
who, without conspiring, sometimes cross the frontier

COMPIEGNE 135
to salute the noble heir of the name of Napoleon.
And elsewhere Pietri, the faithful and devoted
secretary, and the Duchesse de Mouchy, a weeping
niece — two waifs, tending with pious care, forty
years after the shipwreck, an august widow, sacred
by misfortune, after having worn a crown, and
standing on the shore — a foreign shore — guarding
two tombs."
At Compiegne, in the autumn of 1861, the talk was
mainly of Mexico and its proposed Emperor. This
"Idee Napoleonienne " was quite outside the intentions
of the three Powers (France, England, and Spain)
as expressed in the Convention signed on October 31,
1861, and the Emperor's idea was not suspected by
the guests then at Compiegne. Among them were
some of the Portuguese Princes. Consternation fell
upon the Court when, in the midst of the festivities,
news arrived, first of the sudden death of the Infant
Don Fernando, then of the young King of Portugal,
Dom Pedro V. The convenances had to be ob
served ; there was an end of the programme of
entertainments arranged for that particular " series."
After the regulation period of the Court " mourn
ing " for the Infant and the King (poisoning had
been darkly hinted at), fetes were organized for the
next batch of guests and the foUowing " series," and
mingUng with Princes of the Blood were many
inteUectual lights — Octave Feuillet and Prosper
Merimee (both quite at home at the chateau), Gounod
and Meissonier, Camille Doucet and Paul de Musset
(brother of Alfred, the poet), Jules Sandeau and
Cabanel (the renowned painter). The Empress was
in exceptionally high spirits, for she was aware of
her consort's secret views concerning Mexico, and

136 THE SECOND EMPIRE
rejoiced at the coming struggle. Had not her be
loved Spain been grossly insulted and its Ambassador
expelled ? Had not Juarez disregarded treaties and
shown contempt for the two Vice-Consuls of France ?
The expedition would be at once an avenging and a
civilizing army, which would make a country in
which the flag of Castille had long floated respect
order and the Catholic faith. Vain dreams !

THE EMPRESS EUuKXIE AS AN OTULISQUE
(TURKISH DAXCTXG-GIRL).

TIIE EMPRESS EUIJENIE AS MARIE AXT0IXE1TE.

Htr Imperial Maje-tv represented these characters at costume balls given at the Palace of the Tuileries. The illustrations ai _• from
private photograph-, and' are reproduced by permission of the proprietors of Fcuuna, the popular illustrated Pari, paper, in which th-.-y
originally appeared.

Tu face •_¦. 130.

CHAPTER XI
THE FOREIGN LEGION ; AND SOME GREAT LADIES
A legion of foreigners awaited the establishment of
the Second Empire to swoop down upon Paris and
make it their happy hunting-ground. These in
vaders came from aU countries ; the majority, per
haps, from the South American Republics, the
lands then flowing in milk and honey, as typified by
gold and silver. They were caUed " Exotics," and
Paris was swamped bj^ "l'Exotisme." For counte
nancing these parasites, these nobodies, with their
riches and their low moral code, three ladies were
blamed — the Empress Eugenie, the Princesse de
Metternich, and the Comtesse de Castiglione : a
Spaniard, an Austrian, and an Itahan.
In this vulgar crowd were Princes and Princesses,
some, at least, of whom had conferred these titles
upon themselves ; a few were of princely rank, but
these were not the wealthiest. " Paradoxical as it
may appear, Exoticism was Parisian in its essence."*
The women were superb, " with Ups amorously red
and facile ; the girls had wicked eyes and undulating
forms ; the faces of the men were sufficiently bronzed
to give a suggestion of dramatic adventures afore
time. The Exotic ladies, with aU the assurance of
* " L'Imp6ratrice Eugenie." Par Pierre de Lano. Paris :
Victor-Havard. 137

138 THE SECOND EMPIRE
a ribald gang raiding a town, gave themselves great
airs " ; but their hauteur did not prevent them
from opening their arms. Parisians at first held
aloof from these besiegers, smelhng disgustingly of
money ; but the revolt did not last long, and it was
followed by new expressions of amiability. Brazihans,
Armenians, and Turks — new and unknown meteors
— came, and in a fit of remorse for their previous
disdain Paris society flocked to the abodes of the
new-comers, clamouring for champagne and sand
wiches. The spiteful talk of society, and also a natural
instinct, threw the Empress among this cosmo
politan society, which only asked to be officially
received. The salons of the Tuileries overflowed
with people who felt themselves aU the more at their
ease because nobody troubled about their ante
cedents or their morahty.
To the Empress Exoticism was hke a palhative for
the disdainful attitude of Royahst society, and it
seemed as if she surrounded herself by these crazy
people, who transformed the Palace into a sort of
Babel, to revenge herself for the aloofness of the
Royalists. Thus she was surrounded by a throng
of women throwing glances all round, and sometimes
their lips — women with hoydenish ways, eccentric
tastes, feverish desires, amorous and tempting
laughs, like an assembly of foreign and French
Sultanas, whose nationahty and difference of blood
disappeared in the supreme object, pleasure. In
the chroniques these women were qualified by the
word " Cocodettes " ; in history they are classified
as " Femmes de 1' Empire."
The latter have left a special reputation. They
remain as the absolute representation of an epoch of
voluptuous aspirations, of pleasures of the flesh, of
feverish passions. The men were merely " supers."

THE FOREIGN LEGION 139
The greater part of the responsibility fell upon the
women. The sensualism which filtered through
their bodies, the thrills of passion which animated
their bosoms, captured men. In those days they
loved readily and madly.
Young men, dominated by the intoxication of
the flesh which stole into their brains, forgot the
things of the heart ; the " male " replaced the
" man." They had not to look far for their ecstasies,
when women concealed their souls to show their
beautiful hmbs. It was an orgy — a perfumed,
coquettish, gracious orgy, all the more seductive
because it was veiled, because it was full of caresses ;
elegance was everything.
Some of these women, overcome by a thirst for
orgies and by the vertigo impelling them to seek the
unknown, roamed the boulevards by night in quest
of an adventure, or betook themselves to the Opera
masked baUs, finishing their Odyssey in a cabinet
particuher. . . . Roman history was fashionable
under the Empire, and people played at being
Romans. Others, of a more poetical temperament — perhaps
less ardent, certainly more sober outwardly — found
pleasure in intrigues with clerics. Louis XV. abbes
are not rare in Paris, and more than one priestly
hand could write interesting memoirs. These men
who hve with Christ have a magnetic influence over
some women. They do not understand the ordinary
priest — the priest of the people. They want to find
in their priest a man of fashion ; he must have a
perfumed stole, just as they demand, at the altar, a
gold or an ivory crucifix to kiss. Were it of wood it
would kill their unreasoning faith, and they would
fly from it ; a plain, severely-cut soutane would be
a terrible blow to their senses.
There were certainly radiant and pure women who
passed serenely through this cohue. Protected by
their virtue — or, what is better, for virtue is relative,

140 THE SECOND EMPIRE
protected by some chaste dream, some wifely or
motherly love — there were some who emerged im
maculate from this whirlwind. Like those hastily-
scribbled messages which shipwrecked sailors put in
a bottle and confide to the waves, these women,
after being shaken by the storm of passion which
growled around them, returned to the hearth, to the
conjugal bed, with all their grace and aU their charm
of female purity ; and to the mad shouts of the
mondains, to the sterile hymn of the fevered
throng, they answered with the sweet and simple
murmur of the song of songs of fruitful and infinite
love. But there is another side to the medal. In those
Second Empire days it was not a case of the abject
degradation of a society which, rotting, engulfs
itself. All these men, all these women, these Don
Juans and these Ninons de 1' Enclos', had healthy
blood in their veins, and fire under the skin. They
bore themselves proudly. The men were brave ;
the women were beautiful — some intelhgent. There
were women who exercised a sovereign rule over the
arts and politics. There were salons which had at
their head some feminine aristocratic personahty ;
others, swayed by some radiant bourgeoise beauty.
With their slender fingers, bourgeoises or patricians,
they led the grand farandole of the lazy. They
sought out the poets, the artists, who work in the
shade. A smile, a flower taken from a palpitating
corsage, for a sketch ; a kiss — more still, sometimes
— for a sonnet. " With very little alteration, I
would write this page, if it had to be rewritten, just
as it is given here."*
Among these ladies, two especially — " Exotics "
* M. Pierre de Lano.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 141
— are noted by M. de Lano as having preoccupied
the Empress by their actions in various ways — the
Princesse de Metternich and the Comtesse de Casti
glione. The first of these was apparently the
Empress's friend; the second openly hostile to her
Majesty, posing to her face as her rival, at one time
the Sovereign's successful rival. " On one side
[that of the Austrian Princess] was an affection
which, perhaps, still continues ; on the other, a
hatred which ended only in death."
Among the foreigners of distinction received at
the Imperial Court in 1861-62 were the members of
some leading Mexican families, who found in Paris
a haven of refuge. The Empress, as a Spaniard,
welcomed these visitors and condoled with them
when the intended expedition was no longer a secret.
They saw in her the hberator of their country. In
the minds of the Sovereigns there was already the
germ of an idea of offering Austria, in revenge for
the loss of her Itahan possessions, an Empire for one
of her Archdukes.
Very reserved at the outset concerning an eventu
ality flattering to the House of Austria, but which
might result in iUusions, the Prince de Metternich
studied the question during a visit to Vienna and
discussed it with his Emperor, who appeared to be
not unfavourable to the plans of Napoleon III.
Metternich wrote to the Empress Eugenie expressing
his enthusiasm for her personaUy, and on his return
to France co-operated zealously in an expedition for
which some have asserted the Empress was whoUy
responsible. From the year in which she first appeared in Paris
as the wife of the Austrian Ambassador, Mme. de
Metternich aroused criticism. " She gave us the
impression," says M. de Lano, " of one who had set

142 THE SECOND EMPIRE
herself the task of publicly, discrediting the im
perial Court by her eccentricities, her lightness, and
the equivocal style of dress which she made fashion
able at the Tuileries. Her influence had not a
favourable effect on the destinies and the under
takings of Napoleon III. and his consort ; and if
this were the place to inquire into the sincerity of
the sentiments professed by the Prince and Princess
for the Emperor and Empress, one might be disposed
to ask if the Ambassador and his wife did not from
the first enact a comedy— the comedy of friendship —
the better to aid in the downfall of a man whom, au
fond, they could not love."
Irreproachable as a wife, the Princess brought
" trouble, and almost indecency," to the Court of
the Tuileries. The Empress saw only with the
Princess's eyes, and heard only with that lady's ears.
The Court ought to have been able to reply to the
raillery of foreign Courts by an absolute correctness ;
but the Princess made the Tuileries a sort of school
boy's playground. Mme. de Metternich took lessons
of the cafe-concert singer, Theresa,* took her to the
Tuileries, and gave " imitations " of her at the
Palace, to the dismay of some, whom these displays
saddened, and to the amusement of not a few feather-
headed folk. Entirely owing to the influence of the
Princess, Theresa was made acceptable to — at all
events, was accepted by — some of the aristocrats of
the old Faubourg, and one night, at a ball given by
the Duchesse de GaUiera, the Princess presented her
cafe-concert' friend to the Duchess's guests, who
waxed indignant.
* The " star " of the Alcazar — the Yvette Guilbert of the
Second Empire period.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 143
As Theresa came forward to sing, a young lady,
MUe. de L  , rose, and, going up to the Due
d'H— — , a very witty man, said : " Do you think.
Monsieur le Due, that the moment has conic when
a young girl should retire ?" He smiled, and,
pointing to Mgr. Chigi (the Papal Nuncio), who did
not withdraw at the appearance of the comic singer,
said : " Why should you retire, mademoiselle ".
Where the Nuncio is to be seen, I suppose a young
lady is in no danger !"
When the incident was reported to Mme. de
Metternich, she said : " Ah ! these old heads upon
young shoulders ! It seems that I have rather upset
them !" She not only coped with the suggestive
" cancan," but one evening, in a charade, appeared
as, and in the dress of, a cabman.
M. de Lano affirms that " these incoherences,
these insane manifestations of a decadent society,
pleased the Empress, who encouraged and authorized
them with the unconsciousness of a pretty woman,
intoxicated by unforeseen happiness and her un
hoped-for royalty." The intimacy with the Em
press, resulting from Mme. de Metternich' s " origin
ality " — which perhaps was studied and calculating
— doubtless made her the clever collaboratrice of her
husband in his ambassadorial labours, enabling her,
it was said, to snatch precious secrets from one*
who regarded her as a devoted friend. " This,
apparently, is the explanation of those checks so
often sustained by the Emperor and his Ministers in
their negotiations with foreign diplomatists."
Enemies abroad, intriguing ladies at the imperial
palaces, an Emperor " using himself up " by his
indiscriminate " affairs," an unsuspecting and too-
* The Empress.

144 THE SECOND EMPIRE
good-natured Empress — what were all these but
precursors of ultimate dynastic ruin ?
It was the Princesse de Metternich who, after the
Empress had been singing the praises of Marie
Antoinette, said : " Je voudrais bien etre votre
Princesse de Lamballe " — a doubtful compliment, if
all that has been recorded of that lady can be
believed. Princesse Pauhne de Metternich is* the daughter
of Comte Sandor, a Hungarian grand seigneur, and
granddaughter of the celebrated President of the
Congress of Vienna. In the sixties she was as much
a Parisienne as a grande dame, and she had the
courage of her opinions. Needless to say, she was
severely criticized. She had her own method of
answering her assailants, one of whom she sought
out and thus addressed : " Sir, in what you have
publicly printed about me you have absolutely lied,
for you know that I am incapable of acting in the
manner you have described."
She was one of Worth's principal clients, and not
only superintended the making of her own robes at
the great man's atelier (it would be profane to call it
a " shop "), but gave him hints and advice. The
late M. Aurehen SchoU, in one of his most mordant
articles, audaciously asserted that the celebrated cou
turier of the Rue de la Paix — whom Scholl described
as a " faune de la toilette " — had dared, when
" trying on " one of the Princess's toilettes, to " lay
his mercenary hands on the bust of this patrician."
The Princess resented the expression, and Scholl, to
* She still (1911) resides at Vienna, and is one of the
rapidly-vanishing participants in the splendours of the Second
Empire.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 145
aUay her anger, wrote, and sent her, a poem of
thirty-six hnes, beginning :
"Si je vous demandai, Madame la Prinoesse,
Un pardon que le ciel n'a Jamais refuse,
Pourriez-vous me trouver seulement bien oae
Apres l'aveu loyal de ma grande detrease ?
Laissez plutot tomber, ainsi qu'une deesse,
De vos yeux si hautains un regard apais6 !"
The Marquis de Massa thinks this poetical apology
" le plus galant du monde, as they say at the Comedie
Francaise." The story goes — and it was repeated
by the Marquis shortly before his death in October,
1910 — that at the first performance of " Tann-
hauser" at the Paris Opera (March 14, 1861) the
Princess was so exasperated at the derision with
which the work was received that she broke her
fan.* Let us hear Princesse de Metternich' s own
version of how Wagner's great work came to be
represented in Paris in 1861 :
As I had been told on aU sides that no work by
Wagner would ever be performed in France, and
least of aU in Paris, I hesitated before taking any
steps to secure a representation of " Tannhauser."
One day, however, an unexpected opportunity
occurred of realizing my idea. At a ball at the
Tuileries the Emperor honoured me with a some
what long conversation. We talked about the Opera,
and I could not help expressing my regret that the
repertoire was so seldom varied, not extending
beyond " Guihaume TeU," the " Huguenots," or
the " Favorite."
" Why," I asked the Emperor, " is it not possible
to perform in Paris new works such as are produced
at the Austrian and German opera-houses ?" Arid
I said to myself, " Now or never is the moment to
* This was a pardonable exaggeration. We know from the
Prinoess's own lips that her fan was too valuable to be destroyed
in a moment of anger. 10

146 THE SECOND EMPIRE
mention Wagner and 'Tannhauser.' " I made up
my mind to do so without delay. I said, " I have
a great request to make to your Majesty."
" A request a propos of the Opera !" exclaimed
the Emperor, surprised.
" Yes, Sire, a propos of an opera which, above
all others, I should hke to see represented here. It
would be the happiness of my hfe."
" And what is this marvellous opera ?" asked the
Emperor. " It is by Richard Wagner, Sire, one of the greatest
of living composers. It is called ' Tannhauser ' ; it
is done at Vienna, and, although it is not admired
by everybody, connaisseurs regard it as a chef-
d'oeuvre." " ' Tannhauser !' Richard Wagner !" said the
Emperor, stroking his moustache in the weU-known
way. " I have never heard either of this opera or
of the composer. And you think it is reaUy a fine
work ?"
I replied affirmatively, whereupon the Emperor,
turning towards the Grand Chamberlain, Comte
Bacciochi, who superintended the imperial theatres,
said, in his simple fashion : " You hear, Bacci
ochi ? Mme. la Princesse de Metternich is interested
in an opera called ' Tannhauser,' by one Richard
Wagner ; she would hke to see it represented here.
Have it produced."
That is how " Tannhauser " came to be performed
in Paris.
While preparations were being made for introduc
ing the composer of " Tannhauser " to the Parisians
in 1861, Liszt happened to be staying in the French
capital. The Emperor and the Empress Eugenie
had heard that the Abbe was amongst them, and
they expressed to Princesse de Metternich their
desire to see and hear him. I was asked to bring
him to the Tuileries, and Liszt received an invitation
in due form. After dinner Liszt came in, and

THE FOREIGN LEGION 147
charmed everybody by his playing — notably of one
of Schubert's waltzes. The next day the Emperor
charged my husband to present the Cross of the
Legion d'Honneur to Liszt, and to thank him on
behalf of the Emperor and Empress for the delight
he had given them.
On Sunday, March 12, 1861, the eve of the pre
miere, Wagner wrote to the great eantatriee. Marie
Sass, whom he addressed " MUe. Marie Sax " :
Ma tres sainte Ehsabeth !
Ne savez-vous pas que Ton refuse meme a la cour
des places, puisqu'il n'y a plus ?
Croyez-moi, je suis dechire de tous cotes et pret &
me jeter dans l'eau !
Envoyez pourtant demain matin pour voir s'il y
avez [sic] possibilite de vous procurer une place. Je
ne parle pas de plus.
Pardonnez et soyez bonne a votre tres devoue.
RlCHAED WAGNEE.
This highly-born and highly-educated woman was,
in the opinion of many, the evil genius of the imperial
Court, while her husband took no pains to conceal
the fact that he " adored " the Empress. A merry
lady was Pauline de Metternich in those days, as
this story will show. It was at Fontainebleau, and
the pretty butterflies of the Court were dying of
ennui, when Mme. de Metternich proposed that they
should go for a walk in the neighbourhood with
shortened skirts. The suggestion found general
favour, with the Empress as well as with the ladies
by whom she was surrounded. While the majority
were arraying themselves in abbreviated drapery, it
occurred to one of the suite that the spectacle of the
Empress of the French rambling along the country

148 THE SECOND EMPIRE
roads in a frock barely covering her knees would be
a rather pitiful one, and she ventured to remonstrate
with Mme. de Metternich for proposing it.
The " fashionable monkey " was, as may be
supposed, equal to the occasion, and, with much
naivete, replied : " What harm can there possibly
be in the Empress dressing as we do, and going for
a walk with us ?"
" There may not be much harm in it, perhaps,"
observed the remonstrating lady ; " but it strikes
me that it is unsuitable for a Sovereign. We might
venture out in short skirts, but not the Empress —
decidedly not." She added : " And, besides, my
dear Pauline, pray tell me this : Would you advise
your own Sovereign, at Vienna, to dress herself up
in such a style ?"
" Oh," was Mme. de Metternich' s answer, " that
would be quite a different matter. I certainly
should not advise the Empress Elisabeth to go out
in short skirts ; but you must remember that my
Empress is a real Princess, a real Empress, while
yours, ma chere, is MUe. de Montijo !"
Some probably regarded this as clever ; others
may have deemed it impertinent, if not impudent,
and doubtless among these latter was included the
Empress Elisabeth, who often manifested her
friendly feehng for her sister-Sovereign. Let us,
however, be perfectly just and fair to the Austrian
Ambassadress. She was admittedly more than a
little mechante ; but it should not be forgotten that
she induced some of the most brilliant and beautiful
women of the time to attend the Empress's Court,
and that but for her the Palace might never have
seen within its walls such grandes dames as the

THE FOREIGN LEGION 149
Princesse de Sagan, the Comtesse de Pourtales, the
Comtesse de Beaumont, Mme. de Canisy, e tutti
quanti. If she was as " ugly as a monkey," sho
was at least, " spiritueUe comme un demon et bonno
comme un ange," the most radiant star of the con-
steUation of pretty women which graced the Tuileries.
Theresa, who was dubbed, very irreverently, " the
music-haU Patti," interpreted what later were styled
" les chansons rosses," and Mme. de Metternich was
blamed, not altogether unjustly, for having intro
duced into the salons a singer and reciter of imper
tinent " comic " effusions only to be heard in the
cafes-concerts. By most people Theresa's ditties
were regarded as highly diverting; others con
sidered them " impossible," and calculated to lower
the pubhc taste.
Mme. de Metternich' s presence in Paris certainly
gave an impetus to the reviving fashionable move
ment. On aU sides there were receptions and other
entertainments, to the complete satisfaction of the
tradespeople. Among the frequenters of the official
salons were to be found many young men from the
Government offices who were something more than
good dancers. Many of them had a future ; some
attained success, and some came to the ground when
their fortunes appeared to be brightest. One of
these latter was young Soubeyran, who reached a
high position under M. AchiUe Fould, Minister of
Finance. He was a grandson of Savary, Due de
Rovigo, and experienced all the vicissitudes of
fortune. Luckily he had a wife (daughter of the
Marquis de Saint-Aulaire) who remained devoted to
him in his darkest hours. Before he became almost
the greatest financier during the reign of Napo-

150 THE SECOND EMPIRE
leon III., Soubeyran (who, in many respects, was a
man of the Albert Grant type, although, unhke the
Enghsh speculator, he was " born ") had joined the
Credit Foncier as Deputy-Governor, his chief being
M. Fremy. The latter retired, and Soubeyran
stepped into his shoes. Unfortunately for himself,
Soubeyran embroiled the Credit Foncier so deeply
in the affairs of the Egyptian Debt that the Govern
ment removed him from his position, and ordered
him to pay his successors 40,000,000 francs, although
later it was recognized that Soubeyran' s methods
were highly beneficial to the country ! Soubeyran,
whose figure remains legendary in the world of la
haute finance, was not, however, even then, com
pletely " broke." He started afresh, founded two
large banks, and lived in sumptuous style ; then he
involved himself in dealings in the Itahan rente, and
fell, never to rise again, dragging down with him all
who had beheved in his " star."
It was a moment in the reign when the Bourse and
the great banks joined in a vast development of
commercial undertakings, among them the magasins
of the " Louvre," inaugurated in 1855, and viewed
rather sceptically by some of the leading financiers,
who did not rush to invest their capital in the huge
drapery business of MM. Heriot and Chauchart.*
They had been employes, without any other advan
tages but those accruing from exceptional intelli
gence and untiring industry, and they found their
patrons among the tout Paris of the Second Empire.
Of course, the success of Heriot and Chauchart led
to imitators of their methods, and ere many years
* M. Chauchart died in 1910, leaving an enormous fortune
and a marvellous collection of works of art.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 151
had elapsed there arose similar immense " stores "
— " Lafayette," " Dufayel," the " Printemps," and
others. It was in the reign of Napoleon III. that
the " Bon Marche " sprang up in what had been one
of the quietest quarters of Paris.* The Emperor saw
with supreme satisfaction the creation and rapid
progress of these establishments, the success of
which spelt ever-increasing national prosperity.
Of the " fast " set — composed of men of all ages —
the most conspicuous was the Due de Grammont-
Caderousse. f A fair-complexioned man, of average
height, with smaU moustache and reddish whiskers,
small head, and an abnormaUy long neck, circled by
a straight collar, his high cheek-bones, sunken
face, shghtly rouged, and cavernous voice, evidenced
the existence of phthisis. There were few more
briUiant talkers even among the men of letters whose
society he affected — Aurehen SchoU, Theodore
Barriere, d' Anatole de la Forge, Jules Noriac, and
Alphonse Cayron, to name only a few. Despite the
Enghsh cut of his clothes, he was a Frenchman to
his finger-tips. Some of the achievements of the
notable viveur whom the Duchesse de Persigny
christened " le Due Darhng " may be summarized.
He had much to do with the bringing-out of Hor
tense Schneider, the creator of the principal character
in Offenbach's " La Grande Duchesse de Gerol-
stein." He jumped his horse over a dining-table
covered with Sevres — a freak which cost him a small
fortune. " Rigolboche," the notorious dancer of
the " cancan," won the considerable bet which he
* " Entre 1' Apogee et le Declin," par James de Chambrier.
Paris : Pontremoing.
t Ludovic de Grammont (sometimes spelt with one " m "),
Due de Caderousse, died in 1865.

152 THE SECOND EMPIRE
made with her that she would not, in broad day
light, cross the boulevard from the Cafe Anglais to
the Maison Doree in Nature's own garb. " He lit
his cigar on La Marche steeplechase course with an
Enghsh thousand-pound bank-note (which he had
just won), because the rusthng of the crisp paper
grated on his nerves. He gave Cora Pearl* the
famous silver bath-tub, fiUed it with magnums of
champagne, and then got into it before the amazed
company. A few hours before his death he gave a
farewell supper-party, made his friends very drunk,
and then, very quietly and without a struggle, expired
before they had time to get sober. Had Caderousse
been properly brought up he might have made a
name for himself, but he frittered away his existence
and died, as he had lived, hke a clever clown. He
had the best opinion of himself, or, when Paul
Demidofff once asked him to take the head of the
table at a dinner-party, he would not have rephed :
' The head of the table is wherever De Grammont-
Caderousse sits.' "J
It was only when the Second Empire began to
dazzle the world — the new as weU as the old — that
the foreign colony of Paris assumed importance.
During the previous quarter of a century the societe
etrangere consisted mainly of rich bachelors, Engfish
and Russian, hke the Marquis of Hertford, Lord
Seymour, Prince Mentschikoff, and Comte Rostop-
chine. There were, however, a few distinguished
ladies, the most notable being the two Russians —
* The Irish Emma Crouch, whose father composed " Kathleen
Mavourneen." f Brother of Prince Anatole Demidoff, who married Princesse
Mathilde, aunt of the Princes Victor and Louis Napoleon.
+ "Sornette."

MRS. ROXALDS.
One of their Majesties' guests at the Palace of the Tuileries.

A 2Jrirate phntogrujih, lent for this icork
bg Mrs. Ronalds.

It, face p.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 153
the Princesse de Lieven, who inspired Guizot, and
Mme. Swetchine, the goddess of M. de Falloux. In
those pre-Bonapartist days the Parisians also wel
comed several Spanish famihes — the Aguados in
particular — who soon became naturalized.
With the advent of Napoleon III. and his consort
came the first of the foreign contingent — Spaniards,
naturally, drawn to Paris by the Empress, whose
compatriots saw with real pleasure Mme. de Montijo's
peerless daughter on the imperial throne and in the
eclat of her marveUous good-fortune. In the salons
now began to be seen a number of these fair foreigners
— young women who, as De Morny gaUantly said,
" aU had beautiful eyes, even the ughest of them."
Prominent among the most beautiful were the
Empress's sister, the Duchesse d'Albe ; the Duchesse
de Frias, the Duchesse de Rivas, and Mme. Alfonso
de Aldama (whose daughter married the Emperor's
equerry, the Comte de Castelbajac). The Spanish
division was later reinforced by Queen Isabella,
who, physicaUy, was the greatest woman in Europe,
but not enjoying a monopoly of aU the virtues ; the
Duchesse de la Torre and her two daughters, the
Marquise de Guadalmina, and Mme. De Arcos
(Spanish only by marriage — Irish by birth).
The young Spanish ladies left in Paris the happiest
souvenirs. They were gay, laughter-loving, and
tres honnetes, despite — or perhaps on account of —
their Southern expansiveness. They got up parties
and organized " tertulias," now with French gentle
men, and now with their compatriots of the epoch —
MM. Alvarez de Toledo, the Marquis de Guadalcazar,
Calderon, and joUy old Diego, the joy of Paris for
more than thirty years.

154 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Itahans rivalled the Spaniards by their beauty
as well as by their entrain. There were the Comtesse
de Castiglione, Princesse Belgiojoso, the Duchesse
Riario-Storza, the Comtesse Marcello, the Duchesse
de Bojano, to name only a few of the best known.
There were many reasons why the advent of the
Second Empire coincided with the reign of the
foreigner in Paris between 1853 and 1870. Firstly,
the Faubourg Saint-Germain would have no inter
course with the new regime. The Empress, as we
have seen, welcomed with open arms the Spanish
aristocrats. Thus the ladies from beyond the
mountains found themselves in the centre of the
social whirlpool, and to this point naturally gravi
tated other of the foreign invaders. It was this
attractive cosmopolitanism which inspired the amus
ing boutade of Meilhac and Halevy in their (and Offen
bach's) " Vie Parisienne " : " You are a foreigner —
so am I. Then, as compatriots, let us," etc.
Another reason — and the principal one — was the
facility for getting about by the multiphcation of
means of locomotion. If a new railway was to be
inaugurated the Emperor was always ready to pre
side at the ceremony, and to make one of his teUing
speeches, abounding in happy phrases, and glorifying
French genius and French enterprise. It was steam
which acted as the great conductor of the foreigner
to the Paris of the Second Empire — steam which
linked France with, first, North, and then South,
America. In 1852, when, until December, Louis
Napoleon was only Prince-President, Paris did not
contain a dozen American residents. The first
American ladies seen in Paris salons when the new
reign began were Miss Ridgway and Miss Moulton.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 155
Then came Mrs. Post and her daughters ; Mrs.
Moulton, whose daughter married Count Hatzfeldt ;
Mrs. Ronalds and her sister, Miss Josephine
Carter, both beautiful; Mrs. Pihe, one of whose
daughters became the Marquise de Chasseloup-
Laubat ; Mrs. CarroU, who found in the Comte dc
Kergorlay a husband for one of her daughters ;
Mrs. Davis, two of whose daughters married French
men ; Mrs. Payne, whose daughter became Mme.
Ferdinand Bischoffsheim ; Miss Beckwith ; and Miss
Polk, who married General Baron de Charette, the
redoubtable leader of the Papal Zouaves.*
While Princesse de Metternich had a monopoty of
notoriety, there were four ladies who enjoyed greater
social triumphs than any others — a charming quartet,
who shed lustre on the imperial Court, and were
immune from the barbed shafts of the satirists, which
is not to say that they escaped the attentions of the
gossip-mongers. They were Jeanne de Tallyerand-
Perigord, Princesse de Sagan ; the Marquise de
Galliffet, Princesse de Martignes ; Melanie, Comtesse
de Pourtales ; and the Marquise de Canisy. f In the
hves of each there is material for a chapter. Mme.
de Sagan was dubbed in her monde " Canaillette " ;
Mme. de GaUiffet, " Cochonette " ; and Mme. de
Pourtales, " Chiffonette." The Junoesque Mme.
de Canisy had no such enigmatical " fond-name."
These ladies figure in the chronique as among what
was known as the Prince of Wales's coterie, which
included a few others who do not call for particular
mention.
* It was this old soldier whose support was so anxiously
sought by Napoleon III. after Sedan.
f Mme. (Edmond) de Pourtales is (1911) the sole survivor of
these four charmeuses.

156 THE SECOND EMPIRE
One of the most noted speculators of the epoch
was Baron Seilliere, father of the Princesse de Sagan.
Her husband was the eldest son and heir of the
Due de Valencay ; the great Talleyrand, Bishop of
Autun, was of this family. If the Princess lacked
beauty, she had exceptional inteUectual gifts, and
was prized for the staunchness of her friendships
and her never-failing good nature. It was not
her brilhant mental equipment that attracted the
Prince ; she had a very large dowry, or she might
never have been presented by De Sagan with his
hand, his heart (or what remained of it), and his
title. The De Sagans' princely abode, in the Fau
bourg Saint-Germain, had belonged to an Englishman
— Mr. Hope, the banker, whose London residence
was converted into the Junior Athenaeum Club, from
whose upper rooms the Crystal Palace is visible.
The Princesse de Sagan used to assemble her
relations and friends round her hospitable table
every Sunday. Although she sprang from the
wealthy middle class, Madame la Princesse, by her
marriage, was immediately accorded a place in the
forefront of the aristocracy, and she was one of the
most notable figures at the Court of the Tuileries.
One would have thought she had been born, if not
in the actual purple, at all events very near it. They
said of her that her husband, grand seigneur as he
was to the finger-tips, developed her instincts, and
that " she formed herself in his school."
The immense wealth which this fascinating woman
brought her husband enabled them to outshine the
great majority of even the richest members of the
French aristocracy. Her magnificent toilettes were
the envy of all the women — the De Sagans' horses

THE FOREIGN LEGION 157
and carriages exceUed those of everybody else. The
purple Uveries, braided in gold, were singled out for
special admiration by the crowd at Longchamp,
where the Prince of Wales was seen fairly often. I
have heard that the stables were not inferior to
those of the Emperor. The luxe of the De Sagans'
residence was amazing. Very few, if any, royal
palaces could show anything equal to it. There
were said to be twelve hundred silver plates and
dishes, and everything else was on a similarly regal
scale. A striking feature of the De Sagans' hotel was
the principal staircase, suggestive of the grand
escaher at the Royal Palace at Madrid. The marble
steps, covered with rich Aubusson carpeting ; the
cushions on the balustrades ; the beautifully-
decorated salons on the first floor ; the bibelots of
every kind ; the white-and-gold adornments of the
apartments ; the galerie des glaces, scarcely less
beautiful than the mirrored corridors at VersaiUes ;
the immense dining-room in wliich a hundred guests
were often entertained ; the rez-de-chaussee reserved
for the use of the family; the park-like garden
stretching over an immense area of the Faubourg
Saint-Germain — how often did not our Prince see
and admire aU these !
The Princess had been the spoilt child of her
wealthy father, who indulged her every caprice and
humoured her every whim. Her jewels were the
world's talk at the time I am speaking of — and after.
During one of her visits to London she made up her
mind to appear at some great gathering in all her
diamonds, and a telegram to Paris brought over one
of the secretaries of her father (Baron Seilliere) laden

158 THE SECOND EMPIRE
with the gems ! Needless to describe the sensation
which these bewildering stones, valued at many
thousands of pounds, made in London.
Before very long the Prince and the Princess were
living apart. Of the Prince and Baron Hirsch* this
story is told by a friend of mine who was in the
Bonapartist set during the reign.
The Prince de Sagan was offered by Baron Hirsch
the liberal fee of £40,000 to go to Constantinople and
conduct a business " deal." Needless to say, the
Prince closed with the tempting offer at once. The
news soon reached the ears of the Princess, for, as
M. de Blowitz very wittily said, " In Paris the fish
talk — in Berlin the parrots are dumb." Mme. de
Sagan was furious, and, bursting in upon her
husband at his bachelor's " diggings " near the Petit
Club (his favourite cercle), angrily exclaimed : " Is
what I have heard true, Boson ?" " What, ma
chere ?" innocently inquired the dandy. " That
you are going to sell your name — going to be the
commission agent and tout of that Jew Hirsch for
some speculation of his in Turkey ? Is it true ?"
" Helas, ma chere, it is only too true. As I have
but little money, and can hardly make both ends
meet on what you allow me, I am forced to take
advantage of any opportunity which arises to add
to my scanty store." " Oh, you are going to Turkey
for the sake of the money which that Hirsch gives
you ?" "Of course ; why else should I take the
trouble of going aU the way to Constantinople about
this wretched railway business, dont je m'en fiche
comme de l'annee quarante ?" (Which I care no
* The wealthy gentleman who adopted the Baron de Forest
as his son.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 159
more for than for the year forty.) " Well, then,"
continued the Princess, now somewhat mollified,
" if you got the same amount as that which Hirsch
offers you, you would give up all idea of going ?"
" Ma foi, oui," smiled the Prince. " Will you
promise ?" asked " Canaille^e," suspiciously.
" Yes, I will promise." " How much did Hirsch
say he would give you ?" " Oh, a bagatelle to you,
but a large sum to me — a miUion francs." " Indeed !
WeU, I will send you a cheque for the million this
afternoon, on condition that you give up this absurd,
degrading trip to Turkey. Is it a bargain ?" The
Prince, much amused at his wife's earnestness, kissed
her hand, thanked her, and accepted the terms.
That afternoon De Sagan received Madame' s pro
mised cheque, and the next morning saw him with
one for a similar amount in his pocket from Baron
Hirsch on his way to Constantinople !
To Mme. de Sagan we owe this epigram : "A
husband can only hope to be a hero in his wife's
eyes for two months — the month before he is married,
and the month after his death."
Frank SeiUiere, brother of the Princesse de Sagan,
married MUe. Diane de Galliffet, of whose mother,
the Marquise (the wife of the famous General), a few
words must now be said.
The Marquise de Galliffet was half English, her
father, M. Lafitte, the banker (" Major Fridohn," of
Turf celebrity), having married an English lady.
The blonde Marquise was truly beautiful — " as
beautiful as the Empress," some enthusiasts vowed ;
" blonde comme les bles," as my friend " Sornette "
wrote of her " in the days that were earlier." " Her
few faults," he asserted, " for all of which she was

160 THE SECOND EMPIRE
most bitterly punished, proceeded from her tender
ness of heart. The beautiful and dainty Marquise
could not find it in that sweet little cardiac arrange
ment which I suppose she called her heart to say
' No ' to anybody who did not ask too audacious a
favour, the result being that her generosity was
abused." The Marquise was in great favour with the Em
press, and the Emperor spoke of her in the most
rapturous, but perfectly respectful, terms. Her
nickname, " Cochonette," to which she never
objected, is said to have been conferred upon her
because she was supposed to pay less attention to
soap and water than she might have done. De
Grammont - Caderousse (according to " Sornette,"
the all - knowing and ever-humorous) used to tell
this story of Mme. de Galliffet :
Her husband,* having reason to beheve that his
wife did not care over-much for soap and water,
played upon her a practical joke in order to satisfy
himself whether his suspicions were or were not well
founded. One night, after they had returned from
a baU at the Tuileries, he went into his wife's dress
ing room, and, lighting a cigarette, began to talk
over the events at the Palace before retiring to bis
own rooms. He found Madame taking off her jewels
and (hke the Empress) throwing them about on the
carpet, for her maids to pick up in the morning.
After a brief talk, the Marquis kissed his wife's hand
and retired for the night. On the foUowing morning
he came in again, and asked the Marquise to let him
take a ruby bracelet to Boucheron's to be reset, as
they had previously arranged he should do. The
Marquise told one of her maids to bring the bracelet,
but, after a long search in aU the rooms, the jewel
* One of the heroes of the historical cavalry charge at Sedan.

THE COMTESSE EDMOND DE POURTALES.
The Author is indebted to the Comtesse for the loan of this beautiful lmrtratt.

Le Jeune, L. Jollot Succr., Purls.

Tit face p. 10U_

THE FOREIGN LEGION 161
was not to be found. " You must have been
robbed," said the Marquis ; " but never mind — I
must get you another like it."
A week or so later he again entered his wife's room
in the morning, and nonchalantly inquired if the ruby
bracelet had been found. " No," replied the Mar
quise innocently, " of course not, or I should have
told you." " Oh, ' Cochonette,' " laughingl y exclaimed
the hero of Puebla ; then, taking her by the hand, he
led her to the washing-stand, which closed with a hd
to keep out the dust. Lifting the cover, he showed
his bewildered spouse the bracelet lying in the basin,
where he had put it on the night he had gone into
her bedroom after the Tuileries ball ! A week
without a visit to the hand-basin was (said Cader-
ousse) proved against the Marquise by this trick ;
for, had she lifted the cover, she would have found
her missing bracelet.
The imperial couple would have readily admitted,
had they been asked, that they had no better friend,
and that France did not possess a more patriotic
soul, than the Comtesse de Pourtales (who was born
Melanie de Bussiere), who was always most warmly
welcomed by the Emperor and Empress at the
Tuileries entertainments, at the chasses and thea
tricals at Compiegne, and wherever else there
Majesties happened to be. In that beautiful house
in the Rue Tronchet, a museum and gallery of art
combined, were to be found many English who were
in Paris in obedience to the imperial invitation, the
Prince of Wales not seldom being among them. It
was Mme. de Pourtales who, upon her return to
Paris from a visit to Berfin, warned the Emperor
and Empress of the high state of efficiency of the
German forces. But she only had her trouble for
her pains. The self-satisfied Generals made light of
11

162 THE SECOND EMPIRE
her forebodings of evil. Only Colonel Stoffel listened
to her sympathetically, for he, better than anybody,
knew how right she was. Who does not remember
the portrait of Mme. de Pourtales, garbed a l'Alsa-
cienne, which, when France was humbled to the
dust, evoked emotion all over the world ? Who
can forget the practical help which she hastened to
extend to the Empress after her flight from the
Tuileries ?
At the amateur theatricals at Compiegne none of
the ladies outshone the Comtesse de Pourtales. In
the Marquis de Massa' s Revue de l'annee 1867 she
represented the River Seine, magnificently dressed,
of course. A phrase, sublime in its audacity, was
put into her mouth, and was delivered with
such charming naivete that the little theatre re
sounded with peals of laughter. Prudhomme (Baron
Lambert) exclaimed rapturously, "Mais, quelsuperbe
costume vous avez, belle dame !" a compliment to
which Mme. de Pourtales had to reply, " Oh, j'en
ai un beaucoup plus beau par-dessous /" (I have
a much more beautiful one underneath.)
In the last years of the reign there figured at the
Court of the Tuileries (and equally in the Royalist
salons of the Faubourg Saint-Germain), among the
pleiade of dazzhng forms, the Baronne Alphonse de
Rothschild.* The hotel of the Baron and Baroness
Alphonse in the Rue St. Florentin, which had been
acquired from the heirs of the Prince de Talley
rand, was not only the rendezvous of the brilliant
society of the Second Empire and of the intran-
sigeante aristocracy of the ancien regime, but
* Daughter of Baron Lionel, sister of Lord Rothschild, and
widow of Baron Alphonse. She died on January 6, 1911.

THE FOREIGN LEGION 163
frequently opened its doors to foreign Princes, who,
with lesser mortals, were also entertained at the
magnificent chateau of Ferri eres (a landmark in
1870-71) and at the fairy-like home at Cannes
Like the other (Continental) Rothschilds, the Baron
and Baroness Alphonse hked to be surrounded by
the artistic element. In their Paris hotel were to be
seen the leading Ughts of literature, science, and art.
Of course, the Baron and Baroness were what is
caUed " keen " on every kind of sport, otherwise
they would not have been Rothschilds. Alexandre
Dumas fils, calling on the Baroness Alphonse one
Monday afternoon, was met with the inquiry :
" WeU, Monsieur Dumas, were you at the races
yesterday ?" " At the races, Madame la Baronne!
Oh no ; I never go to them." " Never go to the
races !" exclaimed the Baroness, surprised, if not
horrified, at such an avowal ; " then what on earth
do you do with yourself on Sundays ?"*
Mme. de Courtval was weU known to the Court
coterie, as any intimate friend of the Princesse de
Sagan was bound to be. After dinner one night, at
her viUa at DeauviUe, she and her guests sat down
at the whist-table. Presently there was a loud
knocking and ringing at the door of the viUa, and,
to the dismay of the servants, a much-whiskered
and moustached gentleman forced his way into the
salon. Questioned as to his right to intrude upon
the privacy of Mme. de Courtval and her guests —
the Prince of Wales included — the stranger, in very
aggressive tones, rephed, " I have the honour to be
* Needless to say, Sunday is the great race-day in Paris : the
reason why " the Prince " — the King — of happy memory never
'" witnessed the contest for the Grand Prix.

164 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the Mayor of DeauviUe !" and, unbuttoning his
overcoat, he displayed to the stupefied party his
scarf of office. He apologized for having to dis
charge a painful duty, and proceeded to say that the
fair hostess, by permitting card-playing, had con
verted her villa into a tripot, or gaming-house, and
had brought herself within the meshes of the law.
The farce continued for some little time, to the great
amusement of " the Prince " and Mme. de Sagan,
who were the only members of the party in the
secret. Then the whiskers of " M. le Maire " fell
off, and revealed the features of a gentleman who
was well known to the hostess and her friends. To
complete the story, it must be added that the joke
which had so perturbed Mme. de Courtval and most
of her guests was due to the ingenuity of the Prin
cesse de Sagan and — the Prince of Wales !
I pass from the recital of these frivolities to the
Tragic Year. We shall see precisely how the
Empress fulfiUed the duties of the Regency, and
hear the conversations of the Sovereigns.

CHAPTER XII
THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES
To the Comtesse de Montijo, Madrid.
St. Cloud,July 28, 1870.
The Emperor and Louis have left. I am fuU of
confidence as to the final issue. Everybody well.
Eugenie.

The Prince Imperial to his Mother. Metz, Same date.
We have had a magnificent reception at Metz, and
all along the railway, Papa and I. We are quite
well. Your affectionate and respectful son,
Louis Napoleon.

The Empress to the Prince Imperial. St. Cloud, Same date.
I hope thou art not over-fatigued, and that the
emotions of the day will not make thee unwell. I
am always thinking of thee. I am happy and proud
to see thee sharing the fatigues and dangers of our
brave troops. Euge'nie.
165

166 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Prince to his Mother.
Metz,
Same date.
Everything goes weU. I am not tired. I have
just been to see the camps. All the soldiers are
delighted. I embrace you with aU my heart. Your
affectionate and respectful son, Louis Napoleon.
On July 29 the Empress writes a long letter to
the Emperor concerning the negotiations between
France, Austria, and Italy. These appear to her to
be proceeding favourably, having regard to a tele
gram received from Count Beust (Vienna), an
analysis of which the Empress encloses in her letter ;
and to another telegram from the Marquis Visconti
Venosta (from Turin), stating that the Roman
Question* is about to be settled. The Empress, in
her letter to her consort, congratulates herseff upon
having opposed the demands of the Emperor of
Austria and his Minister (Beust), whose advice was
that France should leave the Pope to his fate. The
Emperor received this news very calmly, and on the
following day rephed by telegraph as under :
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,
July 30, 7.35 a.m.
Louis is very weU. He slept sixteen hours straight
off. I have received thy letter of the 29th and the
copy of the other [letter]. The intention is good,
but I want to see deeds. We embrace thee tenderly.
* In other words, the question of protecting the Pope.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 167
4 p.m.
I am very well, but fatigued by the heat. We
embrace thee tenderly. Napoleon.
On the 31st Captain Guzman, one of the Em
peror's orderly officers, takes to Metz news from the
Empress. His sterhng character has gained him
Her Majesty's confidence, and she teUs him to inform
the Emperor that she wishes to visit Metz ! Without
an instant's delay the foUowing telegram is de
spatched : The Emperor to the Empress. Metz.
July 31.
Despite my wish to see thee again, I think it will
be best for you not to come. Besides, we shall
possibly be leaving here to-morrow. We have just
come from Mass. The Bishop was very agreeable.
We embrace thee tenderly. Napoleon.
On July 31 and August 1 the Emperor contem
plates an attack upon Saarlouis, but changes his
mind, and aU the plans which had been in the air
end with the Uttle affair at Saarbriicken* on August
2, which the Emperor describes to his wife by tele
graph as soon as he returns to Metz.
The Emperor to the Empress, St. Cloud.
Metz,
August 2, 3.55 p.m.
Louis has had his baptism of fire. His sang-froid
was admirable. He was in no wise disconcerted,
and seemed as if he were walking in the Bois de
* The Prince Imperial's so-called " baptism of fire."

168 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Boulogne. One of General Frossard's divisions
captured the heights dominating the left bank of
Saarbriicken. The Prussians made a feeble resist
ance. There was only rifle-fire and a cannonade.
We were in the front line. But baUs [sheUs] and
bullets fell at our feet. Louis has a baU [buUet]
which fell close to him. There were soldiers who
wept at seeing him so cool. We embrace thee
tenderly. I know the sort of language to use to
Vimercati.* Napoleon.
This last phrase (says M. Germain Bapst) was
important ; it showed that the Empress, knowing
that Count Vimercati was at Metz with a treaty,
approved by the Emperor of Austria and the King
of Italy, which Napoleon III. was to be asked to
sign, had insisted that her consort should ignore it.
When the telegram reporting the engagement at
Saarbriicken reached the Empress at St. Cloud she
was walking in the park. Someone took the de
spatch to her. She read and re-read it aloud, very
happy, and proud of her son. She hastened to the
voltigeurs who were on guard and read it to them —
then sent it, marked " private," to M. Emile Ollivier,
President of the Council [since January 2]. M. Olli
vier perhaps forgot that the despatch was marked
" private " ; at all events, he showed it to a " Gaulois "
reporter, and it appeared in large print in that paper
the next day. The Empress, upon seeing it, declared
that its appearance in the journal was the result of
an " indiscretion." Unfortunately, the telegram was
not read by the public in the right light, and the
little Prince was made the subject of ridicule.
* Count Vimercati, one of the Emperor of Austria's repre
sentatives.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 169
Leaving the voltigeurs, the Empress went to her
httle study and wrote these telegrams :
The Empress to the Emperor. August 2, 6.32 p.m.
I am very happy at the news you give me. It
compensates me for my disquietude during so many
days. You tell me nothing about yourself ; but
you well know how I have you both in my thoughts.
Are you fatigued ? I embrace you with all my
heart. The Empress to her Son.
Same date, 6.33 p.m.
I know thou hast conducted thyself weU. I am
proud and very happy. Thy telegram has greatly
pleased me. Thy cousins [MUes. d'Albe, the Em
press's nieces] congratulate thee, as does everybody.
I embrace thee with my whole soul. Eugenie.
The day foUowing the famous " baptism " was
quiet. On the next day (the 4th) Marshal Can
robert' s wife dined at St. Cloud, and she was stiU
there when the Empress received the two telegrams,
announcing the defeat at Weissemburg, sent by
Marshal MacMahon to the Emperor, who transmitted
them to the Empress without any alteration.
Marshal MacMahon to the Emperor.
1. Douay's division attacked by two divisions.
Douay seriously wounded — obhged to retreat fight
ing — ralhed near the Pigeonnier.
2. Three regiments of Douay's division — the
General killed [this was in cipher] — enemy's forces
considerable, at least two army corps [i.e., 60,000

170 THE SECOND EMPIRE
men] — one gun taken — position at rear of Frosch-
weiler — I shaU attack if necessary — to resume the
offensive at least three more divisions are necessary.
The Empress to Marshal Lebceuf, Metz.
As soon as you get news from MacMahon — no
matter at what time of night — have it ciphered by
Pietri* and send it to me. I do not want to awaken
the Emperor ; that is why I telegraph direct. Eugenie.
Half an hour after midnight Marshal Leboeuf tele
graphed to the Empress to say he had no news.
MacMahon's dread telegrams were withheld from
the pubfic for more than twenty-four hours. They
appeared in the papers on the 5th, after 3 p.m.
This unexpected news produced great irritation in
Paris. But the people's exaltation of spirit in
creased and their chauvinism was unbounded. The
Parisians comforted themselves by saying : "It
required 100,000 Prussians to defeat 8,000 French,
and our troops were not beaten until they had
inflicted greater losses on the enemy than the total
number of French engaged." The boulevards rang
with a hundred other similar stupidities on the 5th.
" However, MacMahon will take his revenge to
morrow !"
But the bad news seriously perturbed Ministers.
"If," they said, " the Crown Prince enters Alsace
with 100,000 men he will attack MacMahon, who
has only 35,000. That is grave indeed." The
night wore on without any further news. At midday
some idiot or other, or perhaps a speculator " for
the rise " — nobody ever knew which — stuck up at
* M. Franceschini Pietri, the Emperor's Secretary.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 171
the Bourse this telegram : " Great victory : 25,000
prisoners, including the Crown Prince." The Bourse
became a Bedlam ; the crowds on the boulevard yelled
and danced and sang and wept. The " Marseil
laise " was roared by men and shrieked by women
and children. The grocers' shops were cleared out
of Venetian lamps, for use in the evening. Flags
passed from hand to hand ; houses were decked with
them ; and stiU the crowds, maddened with joy,
sang themselves hoarse, and stiU they danced and
wept. Traffic was stopped, carriages and cabs
blocked the way, people climbed into them', stood
on seats, and kissed each other.
A brief hour, and it was known that no news had
been received from the frontier. The Bourse " tele
gram " was a huge " joke," a diabolical " seU."
Then the mob, spht into sections, roared, " Down
with the Ministry !" and sang " Des nouveUes, des
nouveUes !" to the air of the " Lampions." And
M. Chevandier de Valdrome (Minister of the Interior)
hastened to St. Cloud and reported to the Empress
the day's events.
Her Majesty maintained her composure, although
for hours her nerves had been unstrung by suspense.
At her suggestion Ministers met at six o'clock, and
discussed the expediency of sending M. Maurice
Richard to the Emperor with an urgent request to
His Majesty to arrange for a constant supply of
information. During the discussion a telegram
from the Emperor announced that Frossard's army
corps was engaged — with what result was unknown.
Meanwhile there were wild " demonstrations " in
front of some of the Ministries. AU night the crowds
remained on the boulevards. At midnight a thunder-

172 THE SECOND EMPIRE
bolt fell. The Government received a copy of a
telegram from the Empress announcing the double
defeat at Forbach and Froschweiler. In forwarding
this despatch the Empress ordered a meeting of
Ministers, and announced that she was returning
from St. Cloud to the TuUeries.
All this Saturday (August 6) the Empress was in
a highly nervous condition. She could not be still,
but walked in the park a few yards, then returned
to her little room and wrote these telegrams :
The Empress to the Prince Imperial.
All at St. Cloud think of you. The hours are very
long, but the idea of a better time supports our
strength and our hopes. Eugenie.
The Empress to the Emperor.
The impression produced in Paris has increased
patriotic feeling without shaking confidence. I have
already received a reply respecting General Douay's
widow. I expect to write to her by post. Eugenie.
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz, August 6, 3 p.m.
I have no news of MacMahon. This morning the
reconnoitring parties on one side of the Sarre did
not observe any movement by the enemy. I now
hear that there has been an engagement near General
Frossard's position. It is too distant for us to go
there. As soon as I have any news I will send it to
thee. Napoleon.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 173
The Empress to the Emperor. St. Cloud.
Same date.
We await your news with feverish impatience.
All seems quiet for the moment. The Council will
reassemble this evening. Do not worry yourself;
I am sure Paris will not give us any trouble.
Courage, dear friend ! Everyone must do his duty
where circumstances have placed him. I am calm
and confident. Be the same yourself. Eugenie.
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,
Same date.
The result of General Frossard's engagement is
still uncertain. I have good hopes. Napoleon.
Although over-excited by her emotions, the Em
press displayed splendid energy aU through this
terrible crisis, which was to last a full month — until
September 4.* She had not a moment's weakness ;
never abandoned her dignity. She set an example
of constancy, dignity, and courage, while around
her were many instances of weakness.
On the evening of August 6 the Due and Duchesse
de Montmorency and Prince de Metternich dined at
St. Cloud with the Empress. After dinner the two
former spent the remainder of the evening at Bou-
gival, with the Princesse de Metternich, who had
just been deUvered of a girl. When the Prince got
home he said to his wife and her guests : " The
Empress is much exhausted. No news has reached
* The day of her flight from the Tuileries.

174 THE SECOND EMPIRE
her this evening. She is resting on her bed. I hope
she will have a quiet night."
At midnight there is a dramatic scene at St. Cloud.
Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, M. Brissac, and
Prince Poniatowski are sitting up awaiting news.
At twelve o'clock they are caUed to decode a cipher
telegram from the Emperor. They read : " General
Frossard in retreat." The Admiral goes to the
Empress in her room to report this event. He
finds her lying on the bed, fully dressed in a purple
robe ; she springs up from the bed, and goes to the
salon, where Brissac reads the fateful words :
" Marshal MacMahon has been beaten. Army in
retreat [or "routed"]. Must expect the gravest
events. We must retain our composure. Paris
must be armed and a state of siege declared. AU
can be repaired. I have no news of MacMahon."
Even this violent shock in the middle of the night
does not overwhelm the Empress. " They must all
have lost their heads !" is her only comment. She
orders a copy of the Emperor's telegram to be sent
to the Minister of the Interior, tells him to caU a
meeting of the Council, and says she is returning to
the Tuileries immediately. She telegraphs to the
Emperor asking him to send further details, as she
cannot understand the last six words.
The Empress to Princesse Mathilde.
St. Cloud,
12.35 midnight.
I have bad news from the Emperor. The army
is in retreat. I am returning to Paris, where I have
caUed a meeting of Ministers. Eugenie.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 175
The Empress sends Prince Poniatowski to Bou-
gival for the Prince de Metternich, whom she wishes
to accompany her to Paris, as it is " the dead of
night." At the Metternichs' house (ViUa Staub) a
white form appears at an open window, and demands
excitedly, " What do you want ?" The Prince
dresses quickly, and the two men dash off to St.
Cloud. Upon learning from Poniatowski what has
happened, the Austrian Ambassador abruptly says,
" This is all the worse, because now an alliance is
impossible." At the chateau a landau was ready, drawn by two
Russian horses, black, with long manes and long
tails. The Empress, in traveUing dress, was waiting
for Metternich. Admiral Jurien de la Graviere,
Cosse-Brissac, and Poniatowski got into another
carriage, and the party started for Paris at top speed.
During this midnight drive not a soul was visible —
not even a solitary drunkard.
When the Empress's carriage crossed the Avenue
Marigny it stopped ; Metternich aUghted and
walked to his Embassy, which he rented from Her
Majesty, who owned the house.* Ten minutes later
the Empress reached the Tuileries ; General d' Aute-
marre and his aide-de-camp awaited her. There
was an air of desolation throughout the Palace.
The rooms through which the Empress passed were
empty. The curtains had been taken from the
windows. The furniture was covered by striped
stuff. The chairs were ranged in rows close to the
waUs. The pictures, busts, garnitures of the fire
places — aU were swathed in cloths.
* Subsequently the late Baron de Hirsch purchased this hotel,
No. 1, Rue de l'Elysee, at the corner of the Avenue Gabriel.

176 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Ministers trooped in immediately, foUowed by
Marshal Baraguay d'HiUiers, commanding the army
of Paris ; Trochu, General Chabaud-Latour, and
a few others, summoned from their beds by the
Empress's orders. The capital must be put in an
immediate state of defence. The Emperor had
said it, the Empress had said it, and now the Govern
ment said it. There was still an Ollivier Ministry ;
but its days were numbered.
It must have been verging on four o'clock, the
daylight was streaming into the Palace, when another
cipher telegram was brought to the Empress. In it
the Emperor answered his wife's request for an
explanation of the concluding words of the previous
despatch- — the last she was to receive at St. Cloud.
From the new message all learnt that no telegram
direct from Marshal MacMahon (announcing his
defeat) had been received at Metz ; that news had
come, according to the Emperor, from " General de
Laigle." What was meant was " Colonel Klein de
Kleinenburg." But it did not occur to anyone at
the Tuileries that there was no such person as
" General de Laigle," and the message, blunder
included, was sent off to the Journal Officiel, which
published it at eleven o'clock, to the mystification
of all Paris !
In this despatch the Emperor said he was about
to leave Metz and proceed to St. Avoid, if, with the
3rd and 4th Corps (the Guard), he could assume " a
vigorous offensive " with some success over the
Prussians, who had suffered severely in the battle
at Forbach (situated at a short distance from the
high ground overlooking Saarbriicken which, only
four days and a few hours before, had been the

MISS JOSEPHINE CARTER
(mntjji: of mus. Ronalds).
She represented "America" at the famous fancy ball j;ivri_
by the Marquis and Marquise de Chasseloup-Loubat al the
Ministere do la Marine, February 12, 1866.

A private photograph, h ut for this work
bg Mrs. Routtlih.

Tofuce p. 170.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 177
scene of the Prince's " baptism " and of the first
" victory " of the French).
This early-morning Council at the Tuileries was
opened by the Empress, whose freshness and vigour
amazed everybody. A diversion was caused by
General Trochu, who asked aU round, " Have you
read my book ? I foresaw all that has happened !"
Trochu' s inane query at such a moment was met
with looks of contempt and disgust. Ministers were
now convinced that the defeats of the first week of
the war meant the faU of the Empire and, with the
awakening of Paris to the facts, their own over
throw. Telegrams from the Emperor to the Empress
flowed in, reveahng the disorder prevaihng at Metz.
" Nothing is decided upon, it seems," said a Minister ;
" they are floundering about !"
WeU, the country must be told of the disasters.
But how ? In this manner : With the help of a
despatch from the Emperor and another from
Marshal Leboeuf, the Ministers composed, and all
signed, a pretended telegram, preceding it with a
statement that they were concealing nothing, and
dating the document " 6 a.m., August 7."
The Ministers were talking in low tones, as if at a
funeral, when a huge form appeared in the doorway
— that of Haussmann, the maker of the new Paris.
He had returned from a journey ; walking along
the Rue de Rivoli, he had noticed an unwonted
movement in the Palace, had inquired, and had
hastened to offer his services to the Empress. Her
Majesty asked him to give his opinion, and he did so,
clearly and emphatically. " A state of siege must be
proclaimed immediately. If there were not sufficient 12

178 THE SECOND EMPIRE
troops in Paris, those still in Algeria and the regi
ments of marine infantry at the ports must be sent
for." But at 1.30 that morning Admiral Rigault
had ordered the marines to be in Paris within forty-
eight hours. A proclamation announcing these
measures must be issued immediately. Haussmann,
asked by the Empress to draw it up, sat down at a
corner of the table and penned the document currente
calamo. Before the Council dispersed, at 6 a.m., orders
had been sent recalling to Paris aU available land
and sea forces. France had still men with heads on
their shoulders, and an indomitable Empress-Regent.
General Chabaud-Latour went straight from the
Tuileries to the Rue St. Dominique (the bureau of
the comite du genie), and told of the impression
made upon him by the " admirable and simple "
courage of the Empress, who had said, " Ne vous
occupez pas de I'Empereur et de mon fils, mais
uniquement du pays."
At 8 a.m. the Ministers were again at the Tuileries.
During their short absence the blackest news had
arrived. There was a general retreat on Chalons !
The Empress read the telegrams without a break in
her voice or a quiver of the hp.
Certain members of the Government wanted to
make General Trochu Minister of War, vice General
Dejean. A Minister proposed to the Empress the
desirability of this change, on the ground that Trochu
was an " orator " and very popular, while Dejean
was a slowcoach. Getting wind of this intrigue.
Dejean went to the Empress, who asked him to
retain his post. M. OUivier, who had approved of
the Emperor's plan to retreat from Metz and con-

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 179
centrate the army at Chalons, now changed his mind
and telegraphed to the Emperor to say that the
Government did not Uke the idea, and to request
permission to replace Dejean by Trochu.
The Empress to the Emperor. Paris, August 7.
In your mihtary operations do not consider the
opinion of Paris. The important thing is not to act
quickly, but properly. In three days we shaU have
here 29,000 good troops, besides the four regiments
from Africa. With the National Guard it will be
easy to increase this force to 40,000. We can easily
defend ourselves should an army [the enemy] hold
the country. The audacity which they are showing
wiU be fatal to them, if we do not take our revenge
too quickly. Eugenie.

The Empress rushed away from a Cabinet meeting
to dictate some telegrams to the Emperor and to
write others herseU. She was stiU the moving spirit
— restless, never giving way to fatigue, indefatigable.
AU her combative spirit, inherited from an iUustrious
ancestry, manifested itseU. She was in her element.
Her consort was reigning, but she was governing,
and those around her — not aU friends — could not
withhold their admiration. Ministers thought the
young Prince should be brought back to Paris.
They were perturbed by the Emperor's bad health,
and asked themselves if he was in a fit state to hold
the supreme command of the army.

180 THE SECOND EMPIRE
M. Ollivier to the Emperor.
The Council of Ministers and the Privy Council
are unanimously of opinion that the Prince Imperial
should return to Paris. Ollivier.
The Empress added the words : " I do not think
it my duty to oppose this." Then she sent the
foUowing telegram, in her special cipher :
The Empress to the Emperor.
For reasons which I cannot explain in this de
spatch I desire that Louis should remain with the
army, and that the Emperor should promise that
he [the Prince] should be sent back, but should keep
him with the army. . . . Eugenie.
The Government knew nothing of this subterfuge.
The Empress's next step was to summon from
Cherbourg Charles Duperre (then commanding the
frigate Taureau), in whom she had fuU confidence.
He was to go to Metz and teU the Emperor what she
could not telegraph to him.
Trochu bluntly told Olhvier he would not accept
the headship of the War Office.
Hearing from the Emperor that the enemy was
at no point pursuing the French, and that Frossard's
army corps was concentrated at Puttelange, the
Empress telegraphed :
The Empress to the Emperor. August 6.
I have received your despatch, and am quite
satisfied with it. It is evident to me that we shall
have a success, if we do not press forward.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 181
The Empress's Second Telegram to her Consort.
Same date.
Opinion in Paris increases against Marshal
Leboeuf and General Frossard. They are accused
of having brought about the defeats. Speak to
Marshal Bazaine respecting future operations.
The Empress had not previously mentioned
Bazaine's name. The Emperor telegraphed to her
that at the moment only " very vague details " about
the fighting had reached Metz. " It was said that
there had been several cavalry charges." Such was
the state of the French " inteUigence " department —
if it ever had more than a shadowy existence.
Paris was naturaUj' indignant. " The Ministers
ought to be arrested ! They are to blame for aU
that has happened."
" Those who remember those days," says M. Ger
main Bapst, " can recaU the terrible anguish which
tortured aU hearts." And, with admirable fairness
to the Empress and the Emperor, he adds these
significant words :
Overwhelmed, deceived in our blind confidence —
for all, it must be said, had wished for the war, believing
in the invincibility of our army — we cursed the
Ministers. Since Sadowa all the Deputies, the
spokesmen of the country, had opposed those arma
ments which were declared by the Emperor, Marshal
Niel, and M. Thiers to be indispensable. Those who
became Ministers six months ago [the Ollivier
Cabinet] reduced the contingent and declared loudly
for disarmament. Now they are reproached for our
defeats, and it is impossible for them to govern owing
to their unpopularity. One sole authority remained
in Paris — that of Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers.

182 THE SECOND EMPIRE

The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,
August 7, 8.30 a.m.
To support us here it is necessary for Paris and
France to make great patriotic efforts. Here we do
not lose sang-froid or confidence, but we are sorely
tried. After the Battle of Reichshoffen MacMahon
retired, covering the road to Nancy. Frossard's
corps has been determinedly attacked. Energetic
measures are being taken to defend that corps. The
Major-General is with the outposts.
While, that afternoon (August 7), the Empress was
presiding at the Council, the Opposition Deputies
demanded the immediate convocation of the
Chambers. Jules Favre was at their head.
One of the best-informed Ambassadors perceived
what was coming — what, in fact, did come less than
a month later. He telegraphed to his Government
these inspired words :
The Repubhcan party is agitating. Should there
be another check, the worst is to be feared — deche-
ance of the Emperor, proclamation of the Republic,
and the rest.
The Emperor, on August 8, ordered the junction
of the Lorraine army corps at Metz and the creation
of a new army in Paris.
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,

The retreat upon Chalons is dangerous. I can be
more useful by remaining at Metz, with 100,000
well - organized men. Canrobert must return to

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 183
Paris and be the kernel of a new army. Then there
will be two great centres — Paris and Metz. Such is
our opinion. Let the Council know. There is no
news. Napoleon.
The Empress replied by trying to persuade the
Emperor that Paris was quiet, and that there was
" no fear of a revolution." She was preoccupied
with the hope of concentrating, to face the enemy,
the largest possible number of troops.
The Empress to the Emperor. Paris,
August 9.
Do not worry about Paris ; I wiU answer for it.
We are also trying to form an army here. Do not
get rid of Canrobert. You have not too large a
force. We have caUed upon Pafikao to form an
army here. Opinion points to him.
On August 7 and 8 M. Maurice Richard saw the
Emperor at Metz. His Majesty was much cast down,
absorbed in studying a map, and made no answer
when spoken to. Sighing, and pressing his hand
upon his left side, he said every now and then,
" What a misfortune !" But no words of recrimina
tion escaped him. His bent figure and slow move
ments gave M. Richard the impression of a man who
was at his last gasp — whose illness made him unfit
to command. General Lebrun, M. DaviUiers, and
M. Franceschini Pietri advised the Emperor to return
to Paris and hand over the command to Marshal
Bazaine. The Government shared that opinion.
The Empress also advised the transfer of the com
mand to Bazaine. Pietri telegraphed to her pro-

184 THE SECOND EMPIRE
posing the Emperor's return to Paris. Her
Majesty's reply was telegraphed direct to the Em
peror, and ran : " Have you thought of all the
consequences of your return to Paris after two
defeats ?"
Faced by this pregnant question, the suffering
Emperor gave way, as always, for he dreaded above
all his wife's anger. One week of warfare had
brought Napoleon III. to this piteous state. Bowed
down by bodily pain, tortured by defeat following
defeat, unable to " see dayUght " in any direction,
forbidden from returning to Paris, motiveless,
powerless, the nominal head of disorganized forces,
perhaps (fatalist that he was) even foreseeing what
would happen three weeks hence — how vividly these
despatches bring before us the picture of Hugo's
" Napoleon the Little" !
By comparison with her stricken, nerveless —
shall we say deluded and betrayed ? — husband, the
Wife's figure becomes almost colossal. Her hope
fulness, her tenacity, her inflexible wiU had their
effect upon some at least of those with whom she
was in feverish consultation day and night. From
the Emperor, even at this early stage, there was
nothing to hope for. What could he have done in
Paris, save precipitate the Revolution, which was
already in gestation ?
The man to whom the Empress turned for advice
was the chief of the Bonapartist Parliamentary party
—Jerome David. "In 1867," says M. Bapst,
" during the debates on the Press laws and the right
of public meeting, acting by the Empress's request,
he had endeavoured to procure the withdrawal of
the projected laws, which had originated with the

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 185
Emperor himself. David's appeal for assistance in
his task prompted a member of the Senate to reply,
with not unkindly humour, that it seemed to him to
be a question of a little Ministerial intrigue springing
into existence from under the folds of a petticoat !"
After a meeting of Ministers, a deputation from
the Chamber had an audience of the Empress, and
asked her to sanction the immediate dismissal of
Ollivier and his Ministers. To this mild request she
answered that it was a question for the Chamber,
not for her, to decide. " It would be regrettable to
cause a Ministerial crisis at a moment of such
gravity." One of the deputation, M. Durangel, remained
after his coUeagues had withdrawn. The Empress
took him aside, and, bursting into tears, said :
" What do you think of the Emperor's proposed
return to Paris ?" Then, without giving him time
to answer, she exclaimed, "It is impossible ! A
Napoleon cannot return to Paris unless he is vic
torious." The Empress kept him in conversation
until haU-past one in the morning ! She was now
taking large doses of chloral every night, but the
drug did not bring her any but the most fitful sleep.
By August 8 Captain Duperre had arrived from
Cherbourg. The Empress told him he must go to
Metz (as he did) and prevent the Emperor, and even
the Prince, from returning to Paris. " I would
rather see my son kiUed by the enemy than become
another Louis XVII. !" she exclaimed, and seemed
to gain some consolation by repeating it. It was
reported that the Times had made the Empress say,
" If the Prince returns to Paris, I will immediately
take him back to the army." To force her hand,

186 THE SECOND EMPIRE
tfie Government pubUshed an announcement that
the Prince had returned to Paris !
Some troops had been ordered to station them
selves in the courtyard of the Carrousel. The
Empress suggested to Marshal Baraguay d' HUhers
(commanding the forces in Paris) that they should
be supphed with rations from the Tuileries kitchens.
" No," said the old warrior ; " people would say
that it was the repast of the gardes du corps " — the
allusion (says M. Bapst) being to the banquet in the
Orangerie in 1789, when the appearance of Marie
Antoinette had aroused the troops to enthusiasm,
and caused them to reject the tricoloured cocardes.
Previously the Empress had told the Marshal to
prevent the mob from invading the Palais Bourbon,
should an attempt be made to " rush "it. " Rioters !
brawlers !" he exclaimed; "I would sweep them all
out, and if it was necessary to fire upon them I
would do so !" Her Majesty cut him short with
the question, " But not without orders, would you ?"
This was too much for the fiery Marshal, and he
retorted that he " did not wish to retain his
command." He remained intractable. Princesse
Mathilde, who had been asked by the Empress to
see if she could make him change his mind, told him
he was a coward to desert his post, and there was
nothing for it but to replace him by conferring
the Paris command upon General Soumain. By
August 9 Ministers had lost their authority, and
at the opening of the Chambers they were over
thrown. On the morning of August 9, at the Tuileries,
General PaUkao was announced. The Empress was
at a Council, and upon PaUkao entering the room,

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 187
she rose, shook hands with the old soldier, who had
done good service in China, and appeared to be
overjoyed at the arrival of " a Messiah, whoso coming
had been anxiously awaited." The Empress poured
forth her soul ; it was difficult for anyone else to
edge in a word, so excited was the Regent — anxious,
perhaps, to let the warrior see how well acquainted
she was with what was happening in Lorraine. So
steeped was she in military lore that, hearing her
expound theories and ideas, even experts might have
been betrayed into accepting her speculations as
facts. Would Pahkao take command of the Paris
forces ? Or would he prefer to replace Marshal
Lebceuf as Major-General of the army of the Rhine
at Metz ? He could have either post. Seeing how
the land lay, Pahkao asked abruptly, " Will you
make me a Marshal ?" The Empress hinted at
something of the kind ; but Palikao " opted " for
the army of the Rhine, and everybody was satisfied.
The Regent, bubbling over with delight, could not
keep the good news from " Louis " for a moment.
The Empress to the Emperor. Paris,
August 9, 1.13 p.m.
General Palikao accepts, and leaves immediately
for Metz. The Marshal [Leboeuf] must resign before
he [Pahkao] arrives. This step, I believe, will quiet
the Chamber. Everything going well here. Order
will not be disturbed. The Council and I do not
agree with the view brought by M. Maurice Richard
from Metz [that the Emperor should return to Paris
and form a new army]. I embrace you tenderly,
and also Louis. My affection [for you both] increases
with events.

188 THE SECOND EMPIRE
A cold douche soon arrived at the Tuileries. The
proposed sending of Pahkao to Metz surprised the
Emperor. The Emperor to the Empress. Metz, August 9.
I do not at aU understand [the meaning of] sending
Palikao to Metz. It cannot change the situation in
any way. I thought it was the resignation of the
Minister of War which was wanted. The other
[that of Major-General] is impossible. As regards
the army, nothing must be done without consulting
me. Changarnier has come here to place himself at
my disposal. Napoleon.
AU the clever combinations of the poor Regent
were thus upset. The Empress to the Emperor. Paris, August 9.
The situation would become graver than you
can imagine if Pahkao were not Minister of War.
Marshal Leboeuf is held responsible for giving orders
and counter-orders which are known in Paris.
They tell me that the Chamber desires he should be
replaced. I am in a Ministerial crisis. Do not
disturb yourself. To satisfy publio opinion it is
urgent that at the opening of the Chamber Marshal
Leboeuf s supersession should be announced. Eugenie.
The Empress to Marshal Lebo&uf.
Paris, August 9, 2 p.m.
In the name of your former devotion, give in your
resignation as Major-General. I beg you to do so.

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 189
I know how much it will cost you, but in the actual
circumstances we are all obliged to make sacrifices.
Believe that it is as hard for me to take this step as
for you. Eugenih.
The Regent does not let much, or many, stand in
her way when beset by difficulties. She causes a
communique to be sent to the Journal Officiel (in
which it appeared next day) to the effect that
Marshal Leboeuf and General Lebrun had resigned !
This was untrue. But " A la guerre comme a la
guerre." This reflection may have quieted her
moral sense, at some times not as strong as at others.
While aU this frantic telegraphing to and from
Metz was going on, events in Paris were taking an
ugly shape. While the Empress was scribbling, or
dictating, her despatches, the mob took possession
of the Place de la Concorde and the approaches to
the Palais Bourbon (the seat of the Chamber). But,
bitterly disappointed with his treatment as he had
reason to be, Baraguay d' HUhers was still miUtary
commandant at Paris. He put his foot down with
a " thus far shall you go, but no farther." The mob
was cowed, and did not rush into the Chamber, but
contented itseff with yelling in chorus (the troops
joining) : " A la frontiere ! A la frontiere !" These
fervent patriots did not, however, make any move
towards " the frontier " ; they were not " out " for
that. They heard with satisfaction that the
Deputies belonging to the Left had demanded that
an Executive Commission should be substituted for
the OUivier Government.
When one sees the stupidity, the powerlessness,
and the disgusting attitude of Parliaments at times

190 THE SECOND EMPIRE
of crisis, one cannot refrain from admiring the old
repubhcans of Rome, who estabhshed the Dictator
ship to save the Repubhc when it was in danger. —
Bapst. The Empress now set about the formation of a
new Ministry, with Jerome David at its head and
Pahkao as War Minister. Schneider objected, and
tried to persuade the Regent to include in the
Ministry some Deputies of the Left. Her Majesty
ordered Palikao to form a Government, and preside
over it as well as over the War Office. Jerome
David was again ruled out of any post, Schneider (of
the Creusot factories) hinting that David was too
much " the Empress's man." All night Pahkao was
hunting about for a Minister of the Interior — anyone
but David. The Empress to the Emperor. Paris,
August 9, 6 p.m.
What I feared has happened — a change of
Ministry. Palikao is at its head ; this is agreeable
to aU. The announcement of Marshal Bazaine's
new position has produced the best effect. Your
prestige is intact. The same cannot, unfortunately,
be said of your Major-General [Marshal Leboeuf].
Everybody is making the greatest sacrifices. Our
sole preoccupation is that you have not sufficient
troops. Eugenie.
Serious news from the Charge d' Affaires (M. de la
Boulaye) at Brussels ; General Chazal, Belgian Com
mander-in-Chief,* had removed his headquarters to
* After Sedan General Chazal conducted Napoleon III. from
Belgium to Verviers (Prussia).

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 191
Namur, and had stated that the French army of
Metz would probably be attacked by the massed
German armies. The Regent rightly insisted upon
the Metz forces being reinforced.
The Empress to the Emperor. Paris,
August 9, 6 p.m.
I think it is absolutely necessary you should
be reinforced. According to my information, the
junction of the two Prussian armies wiU put 300,000
men on your shoulders. CaU to your aid the troops
at Chalons and aU others that you can get. If you
approve, send immediate orders. Eugenie.
Not a sohtary blade of grass does the Regent aUow
to grow under her feet. Having sent that telegram,
she immediately occupies herself with the Paris
MobUes, the objects of much disquietude.
The Empress to the Emperor. August 9, 8 p.m.
The proposed law [drawn up by General Dejean]
authorizes the incorporation of the Gardes MobUes
with the army. I entreat you to order the Mobiles
to go immediately to the camp at Chalons for forma
tion in regiments.
I think the day after to-morrow I shaU be able to
send you 15,000 men from Paris. WiU you have
them ? Pahkao tells me there are too many troops
at Lyons. Should some of them be sent to you ?
Eugenie.
AU this time the Empress was reporting to the
Emperor what was taking place at the Corps Legis
latif. Through her he learns that Marshal Baraguay

192 THE SECOND EMPIRE
d'Hilliers does not wish to retain his command [of
the Paris forces] ; she would hke him replaced by
Marshal Canrobert. She insisted upon Leboeuf re
signing the position of Major-General, but the
Emperor would not let the Marshal go.
On August 9 Charles Duperre reached Metz at
8 p.m., and had an immediate interview with the
Emperor, with this result :
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,
August 9, 10.5 p.m.
I have seen Duperre, who will take my answer to
you [in reference to the return of the Emperor and
the Prince to Paris]. We seem to be returning to
the fine times of the Revolution, when they wanted
the army led by the representatives of the Conven
tion. General Dumont can have the Lyons post in
place of Montauban [Pahkao]. I would bring to
Metz, if I had the time and the means, the Chalons
corps d' armee. I could do nothing better at the
moment. I wish to keep Canrobert at the head of his corps.
As to Marshal Leboeuf, he has already resigned, but
I cannot accept it until I can get someone capable
of replacing him. D'Autemarre must replace Bara
guay d'Hilliers, and someone must be found to
command the National Guard of the Seine. We
embrace thee tenderly. Napoleon.
Commander Duperre to the Empress. Metz,
August 9, 10 p.m.
This morning the Emperor gave General (sic)
Bazaine the direction of operations and the command
of the army, nominating him Major-General. All

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 193
orders are to be transmitted and carried out by him.
Consequently the Emperor must be constantly with
him. The post of Major-General thus becomes
superfluous. It must be suppressed, and taken
from Marshal Leboeuf. This is what you must say
in answer to the Emperor's despatch. Duperre".*
Much annoyed by the Emperor's refusal to adopt
her views, Her Majesty sent a strongly-worded
despatch to Metz the same night.
The Empress to the Emperor. August 9, 11 p.m.
You do not know the situation. Only Bazaine
inspires confidence. The presence of Marshal
Leboeuf upsets things as much at Metz as here.
The difficulties are immense. M. Schneider puts a
knife to my throat for an almost impossible Ministry.
I have to face this situation without troops, with
disorder almost in the streets. D' Autemarre inspires
the National Guard with confidence. If I displace
him, they will not f oUow a new General. Canrobert
is, then, indispensable to me. Take Trochu from
his post, and you wiU satisfy pubUc opinion and give
me a devoted man, which at present I lack completely.
In forty-eight hours I shaU be betrayed by the fear
of some and the inertia of others. Eugenie.
The Empress, as her despatch proves, was bent
upon (1) getting Trochu out of Paris ; (2) having
Canrobert as Commander of the Paris force ; (3)
making Bazaine Commander-in-Chief; and (4) pre
venting the Emperor and the Prince from returning
from the front to Paris.
* This officer is now an Admiral. He visited the Empress
Eugenie at Cap Martin in February, 1911. 13

194 THE SECOND EMPIRE
She instructed Duperre to speak " discreetly " to
M. Franceschini Pietri in order that he might tele
graph directly to her, without the Emperor's know
ledge, all that would be likely to interest her.
By August 10 Palikao had practicaUy completed
his new Ministry, making the Prince de La Tour
d' Auvergne (Ambassador at Vienna) Foreign
Minister without his knowledge ! The Empress
wanted a special post created for Baron Haussmann,
but to this Ministers objected, and Her Majesty had
to abandon her idea, excellent as it was. Hauss
mann as administrator of everything relating to war
supphes and to the provisioning of Paris would have
been worth his weight in gold.
At 3 a.m. on the 9th the Empress, unable to sleep,
telegraphed to the Emperor that Canrobert must
come to Paris and replace Trochu ; and her consort
gave way !
The Empress had always admired Trochu, and it
was only when, after the defeats at Reichshoffen and
Forbach, he blamed everybody, and boasted that he
alone had foreseen all the disasters, that her eyes
were opened. The Prince Imperial to his Mother. Metz, August 10.
I have seen M. Duperre, who gave me great good
news from Paris. Papa is well. Louis.
The Empress to the Emperor. Paris, August 10.
I send you contents of a telegram which I have
reoeived [this referred to some alarming and in-

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 195
accurate news from Brussels]. Shall we send masses
of Gardes Nationales Mobiles in the direction of the
army ? We will provide them with food and arms.
The Ministry will, I hope, be formed at 3 p.m.
to-day. I shall then be able to send marine infantry
— an excellent force — to Chalons. AU my pre
occupation is that you have not enough men. Will
you authorize me to send you men whenever I can
do so, and can assure them a supply of food ? You
have not answered several telegrams which I sent
yesterday. I am quite weU. I embrace you tenderly.
Do not worry about us. All wUl come right. Eugenie.
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,
August 10.
I refuse the battahons of Mobiles. I am getting
the corps from Chalons. The Minister of War must
occupy himself especiaUy with arming the country
people who ask for weapons. Form centres with
the fourth battahons at Paris, Chalons, and Langres.
MacMahon is going to re-form his corps at Chalons.
Napoleon.
The Empress complained to her consort of tele
grams from Leboeuf and the Emperor being so con
tradictory that they produced " the most deplorable
effect " when they became known to the public (as
she asserted was the case). The Emperor explained
all this in a telegram on the 10th, concluding : "It
rained in torrents last night. No fighting. We
embrace thee tenderly."
Acting upon the advice given to her by Duperre
in his telegram of the 9th, the Empress telegraphed
to the Emperor begging him to suppress the functions
of Major-General.

196 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Emperor to the Empress. Metz,
August 10, evening.
It would be more impossible for me to do without
a Major-General than without a Minister of War.
There is no connection between those functions and
those of Marshal Bazaine. For example, if I sup
press the Major-General without advantageously
replacing him, the army would go short of food, the
cavalry would be without forage, and all the detaUs
of the service would suffer. One can know nothing
about war to think that on the eve of a battle I can
suppress the most important spoke in the wheel. I
regret to hear that the Chamber has declared that
it is sitting permanently. That is a manifest viola
tion of the Constitution. Napoleon.
The Emperor to Marshal Canrobert. Metz,
August 10, 2.35 p.m.
Continue uninterruptedly and without loss of
time the movement of all your divisions at Chalons
on Metz.
Canrobert was handed the above while he was
waiting at the Tuileries, at 11 p.m., to see the
Empress. In the face of that order how could he
abandon his corps on the eve of a battle ? He could
not, therefore, comply with the Empress's natural,
yet somewhat flighty, desire that he should remain
in Paris at the head of its troops.
The Empress was now in a state of exhaustion,
" living on her nerves and strength of wiU." All
agreed that her conduct was " admirable." She
could not eat, and, despite the large quantities of

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 197
chloral which she continued to take, she was unable
to sleep. But she slaved on. Acting on the advice
of M. Magne (the financial expert) an inventory of
the Crown jewels was made, and the various objects
were sent to the Bank of France. Pepa, the Em
press's femme de chambre, was trembling with fear,
so she was sent away. The Prince de Metternich,
who was honoured by the Sovereign with her com
plete confidence, was constantly with her. He told
her of the increasing probability of a revolution, and
depicted its horrors in terms which made her consent
to hand him her diamonds and her other jewels.*
These the Austrian Ambassador took away in his
carriage and sent them to England. Metternich' s
gloomy forebodings greatly excited the Empress.
She thought once more of Marie Antoinette, and felt
that she might share that Queen's fate on the
scaffold. The Council of August 10 finished at midnight,
and the Empress warmly thanked Canrobert for his
presence. The Marshal was grieved at her changed
appearance. In a few days she appeared to have
aged by ten years. Her features were drawn, the
wrinkles showed, her face was puffed, fever burnt in
her eyes, she was shaking with cold. As Canrobert
was there, she thought he had come to teU her he
would not leave the capital — would remain to protect
her and to keep order in the town. Taking him
apart, she said : " Marshal, I wanted to see you to
give you the command of Paris. I reckon upon
your devotion. You have influence with the troops,
and I am certain you will hold the command success-
* All these valuables were dehvered to the Empress soon after
her arrival in this country (September 8, 1870)

198 THE SECOND EMPIRE
fully." He showed her the Emperor's imperative
telegram, and said : " Madame, I cannot accept.
My corps is at this moment on the march to Metz.
There may be a battle to-morrow. If I remained
here while my men are fighting, your Majesty would
have but a worm-eaten baton which would give you
no support. Let me go and do my duty as a
soldier." She understood, and was silent. Later, she
regretted that she had not compelled the Marshal
to remain by her side, had a grudge against him for
ever, and reproached this faithful servant of the
Empire for leaving her at the moment of danger —
leaving her by command of the Emperor.
Events proved that, as regards Canrobert, she was
right, while it cannot be said that the Emperor was
wrong. Canrobert' s refusal gave Prince Napoleon,
a week later, the opportunity of making Trochu
Governor of Paris, with fatal results to the dynasty.
Canrobert to the Emperor.
Paris,
August 11, 1.10 a.m.
As the Empress and the Montauban (Pahkao)
Ministry think that my presence here is not obli
gatory, I am going to Metz, where your Majesty has
assembled all my corps for the decisive battle. I am
leaving at once. Marshal Canrobert.
At 8 a.m. Canrobert started for Metz. AU along
the railway he saw indescribable disorder. The
employes had lost their heads. The line was blocked.
There were trains full of Failly's stragglers. One
man put his head out of the window and shouted to

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 199
Canrobert : " Now it is your turn to go and get a
drubbing !" The Marshal dragged the ruffian from
the carriage, shook the life out of him, and made him
crave for pardon. At last (August 12) the Marshal,
famishing, got to the Metz station, where one of his
staff discovered a loaf, which they devoured. The
Emperor was at the Prefecture, and at seven o'clock
he gave Canrobert an audience. A conference was
proceeding with Marshal Leboeuf and General
Lebrun, and Canrobert was an eager hstener to the
talk. The Emperor, weU aware of the scarcity of
biscuits and also of cartridges, was endeavouring to
get supplies of both. He wanted to coUect 200,000
men at Metz, but Canrobert could not understand
why. The Sovereign seemed to be dreaming.
While Canrobert was with the Emperor, Com
mandant Lanclos (one of the Marshal's aides-de
camp) witnessed a strange scene at the Hotel de
l'Europe. The house was fuU of officers, all much
excited, and deeming the game lost. " See what
fifteen years of favouritism have done for us," said
a Colonel of the Staff. " The Emperor ought not to
give any more orders. He should make Bazaine
Commander-in-Chief, with fuU powers." This was
openly said by a General, one of His Majesty's aides.
Another General spoke strongly in favour of Bazaine,
in whom all appeared to have confidence. He was
" the saviour hailed by everybody." Even the
most devoted friends of the Emperor had lost their
faith in him. When he was at the Tuileries, Can
robert had observed the same feeling. Those sur
rounding the Empress no longer troubled about the
Emperor — what he did, what he said, what he
thought. He had become an embarrassment.

200 THE SECOND EMPIRE
In 1867 all the " strong places " had been well
supplied with biscuits by Marshal Niel ; but by
June, 1870, not one was left, and the Chamber
(previous to the declaration of war) had refused to
vote money for further supphes. Thus Metz and
the frontier places were now withou resources. A
hurried contract had been made with the house of
Rothschild for 2,500 tons of biscuits, which were
on board ship at various ports, until they could be
taken to Metz. The railway at Nancy and other
places was blocked, so that no food, or anything else,
could get to Metz. Plans were changed hourly.
Orders followed by counter-orders- — this was the
rule. Marshal Canrobert left the Emperor firmly con
vinced that the only plan in existence at the moment
was to concentrate 200,000 men at Metz ; what they
were to do when, if ever, they arrived there was a
mystery !
After forcing his way through the streets, which
were in a state of turmoil, Canrobert reached his
hotel, the Europe, and ordered lunch — an omelette
and a cutlet. These he could have, but only in the
room common to all comers.
In a large room, on the ground-floor, was a great
table ; around it were smaUer ones. At aU of them
were seated, pell-mell, Generals, officers of all ranks,
civilians, reporters, and women of every description
— in such costumes ! AU these people were talking,
gesticulating, and eating. Such were the avant-
coureurs of defeat.
Nothing had been seen of the enemy for many
days. Canrobert was furious, but he said nothing,
and ordered his officers to remain silent. He rode

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 201
to Woippy, saw his troops, and returned to the
Emperor. His Majesty, bombarded by telegrams
from the Empress and Palikao, gave way. By half-
past two o'clock that day Leboeuf had ceased to be
Major-General, and Bazaine was Commander-in-
Chief of the French army, vice Napoleon III., re
signed !
Canrobert saw at the Metz Prefecture the ghost
of an Emperor. Overwhelmed, pale as death,
seated at a large table, Napoleon held in one hand
a pocket-handkerchief, with which he continually
wiped his mouth. Either he had had a nephritic
attack or had taken an over-dose of extrait the-
baigne ; for he was inert.
Canrobert left Leboeuf, Bazaine, and the Emperor
together at the Prefecture. The Emperor never
told anyone what Bazaine and he had discussed.
General Lebrun has put it on record that the Em
peror told Bazaine he wished the army to retreat,
and that Bazaine made no reply. In the evening
Napoleon wrote to Bazaine : " See what can be
done, and if we are not attacked to-morrow we will
come to a decision."
Marshal Bazaine, tried by a court-martial — pre
sided over by H.R.H. the Due d'Aumale — for dere
liction of duty, was found guilty, deprived of his
military rank, and sentenced to imprisonment for
Ufe. I doubt very much whether the guilt or
innocence of Bazaine wiU ever be satisfactorily
estabUshed. The temper of the French people at
the time of his trial required a victim, and he was
freely offered up by his companions-in-arms on the
altar of National Vanity. Nothing throughout the
war was more remarkable than the discussions, the

202 THE SECOND EMPIRE
rivalries, the petty jealousies, which characterized
the relations of Napoleon's Marshals and Generals.
A friend of mine who was at Metz in the early period
of the war assured me that he had never seen any
thing more pitiable than the look of sheer despon
dency which he saw on the Emperor's face as he sat
presiding at a council of war, and listening to the"
noisy and even brutal recriminations of one General
after another as he rose to defend his own move
ments, or attack the tactics of a brother officer.
Naturally, Bazaine had few friends among the Com
manders of Corps. They were only too glad to be
able to point to his retirement on Metz, and his
subsequent surrender, as the proximate causes of
the overthrow of the French army. Each one felt
his mihtary honour less seriously impeached when
the court-martial ordered Bazaine's name to be
struck off the roll of the Legion of Honour.
I do not presume to offer an opinion on the subject
of Bazaine's crime ; but, from aU that I have been
able to gather from French mihtary experts, the
conviction is now prevalent that Bazaine was no
traitor. I know that the Empress Eugenie, who
suffered as much as anybody through his f aUing back
on Metz, had nothing worse to say of him than that
he was " ramolli," that all the thoughts of the old
soldier were centred in his young and pretty wife
and her children, and that France was secondary.
At any rate, it is pretty certain that when the
German armies got between him and Paris all the
energy and skill and bravery of the best General
France had would have been overtaxed by the effort
to pierce the barrier of fire and steel built across the
roads by the Germans. Happily, there was one

THE SOVEREIGNS' WAR DESPATCHES 203
exception. Bazaine's Chief of Staff, his devoted
friend during the siege, and subsequently his support
during the trial, his comrade in imprisonment,
ultimately his saviour, deserves honourable mention.
He it was who planned and carried out Bazaine's
escape from the Isle St. Marguerite in a little rowing-
boat, and enabled his old commander to spend thr
rest of his days in exile instead of in prison.*
* I am greatly indebted to MM. Plon-Nourrit, the eminent
Paris pubhshers, for most kindly permitting me to print the
Sovereigns' war despatches and the summary of events in
August, 1870. They are from the valuable work, " Le Marechal
Canrobert," by the well-known writer, M. Germain Bapst, an
admitted authority on the subject. Five volumes of this
brilliant historical work have already appeared through MM.
Plon-Nourrit et Cie., and M. Bapst is engaged upon the sixth
volume, to be issued in 1912.

CHAPTER XIII
WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN
"Nous sommes prets, archi-prets.
II ne nous manque pas un bouton de
guetre." — Marshal Lbbcetjf.
In the dead of the night the springless waggon con
taining two doctors of a Sanitats-Corps and myself
rumbled through the streets of hilly Clermont, at
that moment* the headquarters of King Wilham,
first German Emperor. I had made my way from
Saarbriicken (escaping in a soldiers' train) to Pont-
a-Mousson, had seen something of the Bavarian
bombardment of Toul, and had visited Commercy
and Bar-le-Duc. These eastern districts were
occupied by the German troops, and side by side
on the walls of the Hotel de Ville at Commercy were
the Emperor's placards, headed " Souscription en
faveur de 1' armee," and King WiUiam' s announce
ment, " La conscription est abolie dans toute
l'etendue du territoire Francais occupe par les
troupes AUemandes."
I found the Prussians in high feather. " We shall
be in Paris in a fortnight from now," said some of
their officers to me at table d'hote ; and I thought
of the prediction when, three weeks later, I was
" before," but not yet " in," Paris with them. My
greatest anxiety had been to catch up the royal
* August, 1870.
204

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 205
headquarters, so that I might apply for a " legitima
tion," which would enable me to move about free of
interference ; and, thanks to Count von Podbielski,
the King's Adjutant, I obtained this precious docu
ment at Clermont. It was here that I met the King
— here that, for the first time, I saw Moltke and
other giants of the sword, and Bismarck.
The one long, steep street of Clermont was ankle-
deep in white mud. Each side of it was lined by
baggage-waggons and carriages — such carriages ! In
every house soldiers were bUleted. At No. 21 in
the main thoroughfare King WiUiam was lodged.
This was the royal " haupt- quartier" — a plain,
white building, nothing hke the grand residence
which the King had had at Saarbriicken. There
was no flag flying. Two soldiers were doing " sentry
go " — that was all. As the church clock chimed
eight our hearts were stirred by the clash of music,
and a Bavarian battahon marched through the
town, their band, forty-three strong, playing the
march from " Sardanapalus," to which, four days
later (September 1), I stepped at BazeiUes, whUe
sheUs were flying and buUets whisthng, and the
mitraiUeuses furnishing a growling, snarling accom
paniment. As the Bavarians — the iU-fated King Ludwig's
Ussome Bavarians — passed No. 21 the King (he was
seventy-four then !) came to the open window and
gravely saluted the Captain of each company with
a nod of his sUvery head. " Hoch !" shouted the
men — "hoch! hoch!" Presently came another
battaUon, and then the King came downstairs and
stood in the street, chatting to his Staff as if it had
been a review day in the Tempelhof, and not a pour-

206 THE SECOND EMPIRE
ing wet morning in war-time. King WilUam was in
the uniform of a general officer — tunic and trousers
of blue, pickelhaube, low boots, cloak, and the blue-
and-gold star common to all his Generals. All the
officers of the battalion were called, to the front, and
forty or fifty were presented to His Majesty, who
made this little speech : " Gentlemen, I am very
much pleased to see the troops of Bavaria with those
of Prussia. It has also given me a great deal of
pleasure to observe the bravery which you have
displayed and the zeal you possess. I hope that this
unity of all the German armies will long endure, and
that you will gain yet more glory."
Von Moltke and two or three other officers stood
close by, and in attendance on the King was Count
von Alten, brother of the Duchess of Manchester.
(The Duke of Manchester of those days was with
the Prussians for some time in the early days of the
campaign. ) Spectators of the incident were General
Sheridan, of the United States Army, and a couple
of other Americans. As I stood in the muddy streets
of Clermont that morning, my attention riveted on
the King, I little thought that ere the week was over
I should witness two of the most sanguinary battles
of the war, and see Napoleon III. and his army
surrender to the white-haired old gentleman who
had greeted his Bavarians so pleasantly opposite
No. 21.
The hotel at Raucourt — a small town some two
or three mUes from the battlefield of Sedan — was
full of German officers on August 31, but no hint was
dropped to the three civihans (two English and one
Austrian*) in the house that the next day would be
* H. Sutherland Edwards, Edward Legge, and Victor Silberer.

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 207
an eventful one. The word " Sedan " was not even
mentioned. But the constant passage of troops, all
moving in the same direction, warned us to be on
the alert. At half-past seven on September 1 two
of us joined the procession, stimulated to hasten
forward by the continuous roar of the guns from afar.
Pontoon bridges had been built over the Meuse,
and on these we crossed with artillery and infantry
— thousands of both. Here was the battlefield,
extending over miles of ground, hill and vaUey, with
sheltering woods here and there. It was a sweltering
day — blue sky and fierce sunshine. The French
gunners were very active, and, as we skirted the
welcome coppice, their sheUs flew over our heads and
burst at a few yards' distance. Parched with thirst,
I parted company with my friend, whom I thought
rashly venturesome, and retraced my steps in the
direction of a large chateau, in the hope of getting a
glass of water. On guard at the entrance-gate was
a helmeted soldier, who barred my way. I produced
my " permit," signed only two or three days before
by the King's Adjutant, General von Podbielski ; but
this had no effect upon him, and, but for a happy
accident — or, rather, two accidents — I should never
have seen any more of the fighting. I ran up to a
mounted officer, showed him my " legitimation,"
and had the satisfaction of hearing him shout to the
man at the gate to " let me in," as I was a privileged
person, entitled to go whither I listed.
Much reheved at this recognition of my status, I
was tramping on towards the coppice, in the hope of
picking up my companion, when a sergeant in charge
of some ammunition waggons passed. To my sur
prise he stopped, inquiring, in my own tongue, " Are

208 __JHE SECOND EMPIRE
you an Englishman, sir ?" I assured him that I
was, and, moreover, a newspaper correspondent.
" WeU, then," said this friend in need, " if you
will come with me, I wiU take you to our battery,
which is in action on the top of the hill, and intro
duce you to the Captain, Von Richter, who I dare say
will allow you to be attached to us upon seeing your
' legitimation.' Otherwise you may find yourseff in
trouble." It was soon done, and I was made free of the
battery, and permitted to share its fate.
I found that this battery was part of the Fourth
Army Corps, commanded by the then Crown Prince
of Saxony, who became King Albert some years
later. The battery was pounding away all day, and
I never left it. I had smelt powder previously — at
Saarbriicken, when the fittle Prince Imperial received
his " baptism of fire," and at the battle of Beaumont,
at the end of August. Then, however, I was con
stantly moving about, and at Saarbriicken, when
Von Pestel's 1,000 fusiliers and three squadrons of
Uhlans retreated, leaving the Emperor and Fros
sard's force of 30,000 (!) masters of the field, I had
an hour's run at top speed with the defeated troops
until we were out of reach of the French fire.
It was different on September 1. I was in the
best position to see the fighting, throughout the day,
until it was all over, and I was cautioned against
roving about. On rising ground, near Richter's
battery, were the King, Moltke, Bismarck, Von
Podbielski, Von Alvensleben, and others — General
Sheridan amongst them. I should have preferred
the position of a " galloper " to that of a mere
spectator, standing up, hour after hour, as it seemed

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 209
to me, to be shot at. The firing from this one
battery alone deafened me at first, but I soon got
used to it. The time dragged on very slowly. I
cannot conscientiously say that this period of look
ing on was particularly exciting. Our battery was
engaged in a duel with a French battery on a distant
hill. To these Saxon gunners it seemed not to matter
what happened elsewhere. They were only an atom
of a vast mosaic. What our battery was doing
was being done by other batteries aU over an
illimitable area.
Down in the vaUey we watched the lines of blue-
tuniced Germans always advancing. Havoc in their
ranks was made by the mitraiUeuses, whose diaboUcal
grinding rattle was terrifying ; but the wearers of
the spiked helmets seemed to be traversing a field of
poppies, so thickly was the ground strewn by the
red-trousered kiUed and wounded. Every now and
again our battery took up a fresh position, and as
we advanced the closer we got to Bazeilles, WUlers-
Cernay, and Waldincourt, aU in flames.
We did not know the " motive " of the battle,
which, as General Pajol afterwards put it, was to
drive the French into the " mousetrap " of Sedan.
What we did know, towards the late afternoon, was
that we had assisted at a great German victory, and
that the white flag (which, from our position, we
could not see) had been hoisted within Sedan.
What we saw, about four o'clock, was the German
cavalry scouring the vaUey and cutting down the
retreating enemy. Then our battery ceased firing,
but we heard the occasional growhng of other
guns until sunset. Next morning early, when the
bands were playing " Nun danket alle Gott," General 14

210 THE SECOND EMPIRE
von Scholer told me many astounding things — how
the Emperor Napoleon had personally surrendered,
and how the whole French army had capitulated.
Von Scholer, like so many others, thought the war
was over, but on the 3rd the victorious armies began
the famous march to Paris. And that march is a
thing to remember, for by the 19th the invaders had
encircled the capital.
At 8.30 p.m. on Thursday, the never-to-be-for
gotten First of September, 1870, when Napoleon,
although he had formally surrendered, was not yet an
actual captive, General de Wimpffen said to him :
" Sire, if I have lost the battle, it is because your
Generals refused to obey my orders."
Towards the end of August the Emperor had con
fided the supreme command to Marshal Bazaine, and
left Metz for Chalons, where he found the debris of
the 1st Corps (MacMahon), the 5th (Failly), the 7th
(Douay), and the newly-formed 12th Corps (Trochu).
Napoleon followed MacMahon's corps, which was in
very indifferent case.
On August 30 the whole of the French corps were
at a point between Mouzon and Carignan. Failly,
who had just been badly beaten, found that he was
in close proximity to the greater portion of the
German forces, and felt unable to march to Metz ;
as a consequence, MacMahon ordered him to retreat
to Sedan, and told the Emperor (then at Carignan)
also to proceed to that place, now the rallying centre
of the army. When, at 11 p.m., Napoleon reached
Sedan, he was urged to continue his journey to
Mezieres, where he would have been safe, and could
have gained Paris. He refused, however, to leave
the army, declaring that he would share its fate.

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 211
The four French corps were so placed as to
surround Sedan, the left bank of the Meuse remain
ing open. This was an unfortunate disposition, as
it made it possible for the Germans to pass round
the town by that bank of the river. A Bavarian
and a Prussian corps soon occupied that position,
thus preventing a French retreat in that direction.
The battle of Sedan began at 5 a.m. on Sep
tember 1, the Germans first attacking from the
Bazeilles side, vigorously defended by the 1 2th Corps.
MacMahon immediately roused the Emperor, who
rode towards BazeUles, foUowed by his Staff. On
the road he met MacMahon, already wounded and
hors de combat. The Emperor rode on until he
came to Vassoigne's division of marine infantry, a
splendid force. The Sovereign, finding that shells
and bullets were coming from aU sides at once,
ordered the officers accompanying him to join a
battalion of foot-chasseurs, who were sheltered by a
waU, until the time came for them to advance in line.
The Emperor, anxious to see the disposition of his
troops, rode onward, accompanied only by his aide-
de-camp of the day (General Pajol), his orderly
officer (Captain d' Hendecourt, who was kiUed), his
principal ecuyer (Comte DaviUiers), and his doctor
(Baron Corvisart). Napoleon proceeded to an ex
posed point, where Commandant St. Aulaire's
battery was in position, remaining there for an
hour under a withering cannon and rifle fire.
At 6 a.m. MacMahon, wounded, had placed the
command in the hands of Ducrot, who, in order to
prevent the turning movement, which had been fatal
to the French in previous battles, and also to pre
serve the one line of retreat remaining open — viz.,

212 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the Mezieres road— had placed on the heights of
Floing two divisions of the 7th Corps, whose artillery
faced Mezieres ; and at the same time he ordered
the commander of the 12th Corps to execute his
retreat in echelons by brigades. That movement
was ably performed by General Lebrun (vice Trochu),
whose force never ceased fighting during the opera
tion. General de Wimpffen now appeared. He had
visited the outposts, had observed the admirable
attitude of the 12th Corps (Lebrun' s) and its ener
getic resistance on the Bazeilles side, and predicted
a successful issue of the battle. It was still only
nine o'clock. For three hours Ducrot had been in
supreme command. De Wimpffen now handed him
a letter, signed by the War Minister, in virtue of
which he claimed to succeed the wounded Marshal.
Ducrot at once complied, and explained to De
Wimpffen all that had been done. The new com
mander treated Ducrot' s explanation very lightly,
and expressed the opinion that the enemy's move
ments were nothing but cavalry manoeuvres !
As the Emperor now wished to proceed to the
distant heights, which were apparently the key to
the position, he led his Staff down to Givonne, where
they met General Goze and his division. Here an
officer of chasseurs-a-pied approached the Emperor,
saying: "Sire, I am a native of these parts, and
know the country perfectly. If we aUow the
Garenne wood to be turned the army wiU be sur
rounded, and will be in a most critical position."
Napoleon at once sent one of his Staff to find
De Wimpffen and give him this information, which
bore out what Ducrot had previously said. De

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 213
Wimpffen rode up to the Emperor, remarking :
" Your Majesty need not be alarmed. In two hours
I shall have thrown them into the Meuse !"
General Castelnau grasped General Pajol's hand,
exclaiming : "I hope to God we shall not be thrown
into the river !"
All were now aUve to the supreme danger of the
French forces. The ground on which the Emperor
and his Staff were standing was torn up by shells
coming from all sides. The troops had already con
centrated in the ravines which surrounded Sedan ;
the roads leading to those places were blocked by
commissariat and artiUerv waggons and by regiments
of cavalry ; all these thousands were trying to escape
from the storm of sheUs and bullets, but the majority
succumbed to the terrible fire.
The result of De Wimpffen' s change of plan was
now evident. At one o'clock the 1st and 5th Corps
got into confusion. The Generals endeavoured to
re-estabhsh order by going to the front ; but aU was
of no avail, and the troops retreated to Sedan in
such disorder that General Lebrun had the gates of
the town closed. Even this was useless, for the
defeated troops scaled the ramparts with the aid of
ropes and ladders let down by the men within the
citadel. The Emperor had fully reahzed the situation since
eleven o'clock. For five hours he had been in the
thick of the fighting, under a cross-fire. Shells burst
around him and his Staff. General de Courson and
Captain de Trecesson had fallen gravely wounded
close to the Emperor. In retiring the troops had
compelled His Majesty to fall back, and he was
jammed against the walls of the town. When, at

214 THE SECOND EMPIRE
half-past eleven, he freed himself, more than 30,000
men were heaped together in the streets of Sedan,
pell-mell. The enemy's sheUs fell in their midst, as
they were still falling on the battlefield itself, and
dealt out the same destruction. On the bridge a
shell burst two yards from the Emperor, killing
two horses by his side. The marvel was that he
escaped with his life and uninjured.
After visiting Marshal MacMahon, the Emperor
tried to remount his charger. As the confusion
rendered this impossible, His Majesty went to the
Sous-Prefecture, and there awaited the denouement.
The commanders of the various corps soon joined
him, declaring that the troops were all in such dis
order in the streets that further resistance was im
possible. General Pelle, who, next day, voted
against the capitulation, said to the Emperor :
" Sire, I am only a soldier. I want to save your
Majesty, but at this moment you cannot leave
the ramparts. To attempt to do so would be
useless." The Emperor rephed that he would not sacrifice
the Ufe of a single soldier to save his own, and that
he had made up his mind to share the fate of the
army. Having minutely questioned the Generals as to the
state of affairs, the Emperor sent General Lebrun to
find General de Wimpffen, and teU him, since it was
useless to continue the struggle, to ask for an armi
stice. A full hour having elapsed without any
answer from De Wimpffen, and the murderous fire
of the Germans continuing, while the French guns
remained silent, the Emperor himself ordered the
white flag to be hoisted on the citadel. The King

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 215
immediately sent an aide-de-camp to demand the
surrender of the town. The Emperor, believing that
in dehvering himself up to the victors he would
obtain better terms for the army and for France,
despatched one of his own aides-de-camp to the King
with the message that the Emperor placed his sword
in the Prussian Sovereign's hands. On the following
day (Friday, September 2), at a Council of War,
composed of thirty Generals, presided over by
General de Wimpffen, it was recognized that capitula
tion was inevitable, only two Generals voting
against it.
The Emperor (General Pajol asserts it most posi
tively) was entirely ignorant of the strategical move
ments which led the army from Chalons to Mouzon,
and from thence to Sedan. To charge Napoleon III.
with being militarily responsible for the capitula
tion of Sedan is an injustice, as Marshal MacMahon
was perfectly free in all his movements. The
Emperor has been personaUy charged with wrecking
the army. He could but try to save the crew of the
ship, of which he was no longer the captain. This
is what he endeavoured to do when, at three o'clock
in the afternoon, he ordered the white flag to be
hoisted. Half an hour later one or other of the
Generals would have given the order, but in the
meantime thousands more lives would have been
sacrificed. The pohticians tried to throw the whole of the
responsibUity of Sedan upon the Emperor, whom
they would certainly not have credited with a
victory, had there been one. But Marshal Mac
Mahon, whose noble simplicity and loyal character
are known to all, wrote, in October, 1870, a letter

216 THE SECOND EMPIRE
to the Emperor, dated from Pouru-aux-Bois, in
which he said : " The Emperor may be assured that
I should never think, for the purpose of defending
myself personally, of misrepresenting the events
which I witnessed in the last campaign."
These words do the Due de Magenta honour, and
cast upon each individual the responsibility of his
acts. " Such is the true story of this deplorable day. I
have given the details in sober language. Desiring
only to tell the truth, I have related only what I
myself saw."*
Were the Emperor's cheeks rouged on the day of
Sedan ? Zola has asserted that they were so
coloured " to make him appear juvenile, and even
jovial." f PersonaUy I can neither confirm nor deny
the allegation, for, although I was with the Saxons
during the battle, and remained on the field the two
following days, I failed to get a glimpse of the
Emperor, who had been within an ace of being
captured on August 29 and 30 by the troops I was
then accompanying. His Majesty (so they assured
me) was bundled into a third-class carriage of the
last train used by his forces, and so escaped capture
by the skin of his teeth.
It is quite possible that some of those numerous
informants of Zola, from whose stories he mainly
compiled his marvellous narrative, may have inadver
tently led him astray in this particular matter, if not
on some other points. I have conversed with a French
gentleman who was close to the Emperor an hour or
* The narrative of General V. Pajol, aide-de-camp of
Napoleon III. To the best of my belief it has not appeared in
any French, and certainly not in any English, volume.
f " La DeMcle."

NAPOLEON III. AT sedan.
From an unpublished photograph, privately taken at the instance of the Comte dc La Chapelle, of the picture paint. -d by the di-tin-uishe-l
French artist, Olivier Piehat. Lent for this work by the Vicomte de La Chapelle.

Tufatt p. -21,.

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 217
two before the surrender and with a Prussian officer
who was one of Napoleon's escort. Both closely
scrutinized the captive, but neither notieed any
unusual colour in his face. Zola was not the first
Frenchman to accuse Napoleon III. of cowardice
(for that is what is implied by the story of the painted
cheeks) ; he may have borrowed the idea from
Kinglake, who describes the Emperor at Magenta
turning green, yellow, and white under the Austrian
fire. Those who enjoyed the personal acquaintance of
the Emperor are unanimous in the opinion that he
was less of a poseur than most men. There was
nothing of the " roi du theatre " about him.
Throughout the short campaign wliich finished for
Napoleon III. at Sedan he was, both physically
and mentaUy, unstrung by his malady. It was
indispensable that he should begin the campaign in
good health, and be able to keep the saddle for several
hours at a stretch. Gamble, the Scotsman, who
superintended the imperial stables for many years,
and stood by the Emperor on the day of Sedan, said
that His Majesty " did his best to court death,"
despite the entreaties of his officers ; and Gamble's
testimony is confirmed by many other eye - wit
nesses. The late M. Paul de Cassagnac gave Zola credit
for his account of Sedan, but emphatically denied
the rouging story. De Cassagnac was a good
witness, for he was with the Emperor at Sedan.
" It was on my shoulder," he has told us, " that
Napoleon III. leaned when, seriously ill and suffer
ing terribly, he got into the carriage in order
to surrender himself as a prisoner."

218 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The question was even discussed by M. Melchior
de Vogue, who affirmed that Zola wa§* wrong.*
Princesse Mathilde, cousin of Napoleon III., " re
fused to believe that the Emperor would have acted
so theatrically on such a momentous occasion."
She had certainly never told anyone that her relative
was rouged. M. Robert Mitchell corroborated Paul
de Cassagnac. He was a volunteer in the 3rd
Zouaves at Sedan, often saw the Emperor, and was
certain he was not rouged. M. Mitchell argued
(and military experts will agree with him) that no
writer, " not even Zola," could adequately describe
what happened at Sedan without having been
actually in the battle. We may believe Paul de
Cassagnac and Robert Mitchell, and may be cer
tain that Zola was misinformed.
I pass on to the final phase of Sedan.
In newspapers, in magazines, in volumes of
memoirs, in histories of the war, there have appeared,
year after year, ever since the autumn of 1870, as
many different accounts of what passed the day
following the battle of Sedan, at the interviews
which Napoleon III. had, first with Bismarck, and
next with the King of Prussia, as would fill volumes.
It is natural that it should be so, for at the meeting
of the Emperor and the King no third person was
present, and the Emperor's talk with Bismarck was
heard by only one other man. What passed between
the two Sovereigns was related to his son, the then
Crown Prince, by the King, and recorded by the
Prince in his " Diary," in his royal father's own
words. The Prince-reporter's account of the inter
view is as follows :
* Revue des Deux Mondes.

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 219
The King began by saying that, as the fortune of
war had gone against the Emperor, and as the latter
had handed his sword to the King, His Majesty had
come to ask Napoleon III. his present intentions.
Napoleon rephed that he placed himself in the King's
hands. The King rejoined that it was with a feeling
of real compassion that he saw his adversary in such
a position ; the more so as he knew that it had not
been easy for the Emperor to resolve upon war.
This assertion was visibly welcome to Napoleon.
He warmly assured the King that he had given way
to public opinion when he decided upon war. There
upon the King remarked that, as public opinion had
had that tendency, those who had excited it were
the more culpable. Then, recurring to the imme
diate object of the Emperor's visit, the King asked
Napoleon if he wished to enter into negotiations.
The Emperor replied in the negative, observing
that, being a prisoner, he had no control over the
Government. And upon the King inquiring where
the Government was, Napoleon rephed, " At Paris."
The King then turned the conversation upon the
Emperor's future, and offered him the chateau of
Wilhelmshohe as a residence — an offer which he
immediately accepted. He appeared particularly
satisfied when the King said he would give him an
escort of honour which would insure his safety to the
frontier. As Napoleon, in the course of the con
versation, appeared to suppose that he had had
against him the army of Prince Frederick Charles,
the King told him that it was not so — it was the army
of the Crown Prince of Saxony and my army. The
Emperor having inquired where the army of Prince
Frederick Charles was, the King, emphasizing the
words, replied, " With the 7th Army Corps, before
Metz." The Emperor, painfuUy surprised, took a
step backwards. On his face there was a sad
expression, for now it was made clear to him that
he had not been opposed by all the German army.

220 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The King praised the bravery of the French,
which Napoleon willingly recognized. The con
versation lasted a good quarter of an hour, and then
both retired. The tall figure of the King dominated.
The Emperor saw me, and held out one hand, while
with the other he tried to dry the tears which roUed
down his face. He uttered words of gratitude to me,
and for the generous manner in which the King had
treated him. I spoke naturaUy in the same sense,
and asked him if he had been able to get some rest
during the night. He rephed that chagrin and the
thought of his family had banished all possibifity of
sleep. When I expressed my regret that the war
had been so terrible and so sanguinary, he said it was,
alas ! too true, too terrible, especiaUy as " they had
not wanted war !" He had not received any news
of the Empress and the Prince Imperial for a week,
and asked if he might send her a private telegram —
a request which was granted. We shook hands as
we parted, Boyen and Lynar accompanying him.
There was something sinister-looking about his suite
in their new uniforms, in marked contrast with ours,
so damaged by the war. When he had gone a tele
gram from the Empress arrived, and I sent it to him
by Seckendorff. . . . Some fears are expressed lest
the results of the war should not come up to the
expectations of the German people.
The only witness of the meeting (September 2,
1870) between Napoleon III. and Count Bismarck
at Donchery, the day after the battle of Sedan, was
Colonel Freiherr Josef von EUrichshausen (who died
in September, 1906). After the Colonel had ridden
out with his men to take over a convoy of wounded
French officers and prisoners, and while thus engaged,
the carriage with the Emperor in it appeared. At
the same moment several horsemen, amongst whom
was Bismarck, rode up. Von EUrichshausen re-

WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN 221
ported to the ChanceUor the presence of the Emperor,
whereupon Bismarck at once sprang from his horse,
and, in the Colonel's own words, " approached
Napoleon almost with humility, and the words,
' Sire, qu'est-ce que vous desirez ?' ' As conversa
tion in the small wayside house (the only building
near at hand) was impossible owing to the presence
of many dead and wounded soldiers, Von EUrichs
hausen and his men brought out two chairs, upon
which Napoleon and Bismarck sat while discussing
the situation.*
The late Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, accompanied
by Sir Henry James (Lord James of Hereford),
happened to be at Verviers when Napoleon III. was
being taken to Wilhelmshohe. Drummond Wolff
found the Emperor looking anything but ill, nor did
his features betray any traces of that deep emotion
which other eye-witnesses have dwelt upon so
eloquently. The Emperor " leant somewhat heavily
on the arm of the gentleman who assisted him to
alight " from the carriage which had brought him
to Verviers. His Majesty read a despatch which
was handed to him, " sat down at a table in the
waiting-room, and was engaged in writing for some
time." He then took a turn up and down the
platform, returned to the waiting-room, and read
V Independance Beige until the moment came for him
to enter the special train which took him to his
destination, Wilhelmshohe. Sir Henry Drummond
* This historical episode had an echo in 1888. The Colonel,
then a member of the Reichstag, was unexpectedly sent for by
Bismarck, who said : " The Press has been stating .that I treated
Napoleon with undue roughness upon the occasion of our meeting
at Donchery. You were the only eye-witness of the scene, so do
you tell them the truth."

222 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Wolff noted with the Emperor General Chazal, who
was in command of the Belgian army of observation
on the German frontier, and at whose earnest request
the Emperor wrote a full explanation of the causes
which, in his opinion, led to his defeat at Sedan.*
To the hst of Enghsh journahsts who suffered from the spy
mania in the Franco-German War, and whose cases were recorded
in the Star, may be added the name of Mr. Edward Legge, who
was at that time the youngest of the war " specials." As the
representative of the Irish Times he was present at the first
engagement (the " baptism of fire ") at Saarbriicken, and the next
morning started alone (the fighting having scattered the reporting
battalion) to overtake the Germans, who had retreated the
previous day. He was not long in coming up with the wearers
of the " Pickelhaube," and in being arrested by a cavalry picket.
The imaginary " French spy " was put in a springless waggon,
and taken from one place to another, and before one General
after the othe_., until he felt somewhat weary of the involuntary
promenade in full view of Konig Wilhelm's legions. Appearances
were decidedly against him, but nobody seemed disposed to
give the order to put a buUet through him, although that was
the fate which he hourly anticipated. The hectoring General von
Steinmetz first beheved and then relegated the prisoner to General
von Goeben, who liberated him on condition that he went straight
off to Cologne, and did not return to " the front " again. The
required promise was given — and broken, and a week afterwards
the correspondent was back at Saarbriicken, where he read the
news of his death in the Old Free Press (Vienna) and also in the
Times (which later contradicted it under the pleasing heading of
"A Revenant"). The youthful "special" passed scatheless
through the battles of Beaumont and Sedan, accompanying a
Saxon battery into action on the memorable First of September,
and remaining " in the thick of it " until nightfall ; and the next
day marched with the same battery to Paris, or, rather, to
Montmorency and St. Gratien, where he remained during several
weeks of the siege. — Star.
* This remarkable document appears textuaUy only in " The
Empress Eugenie : 1870 — 1910." London : Harper & Brothers.
New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 1910.

CHAPTER XIV
ON THE EVE OF EXILE
Often as the story of the Empress's escape from
the TuUeries on September 4, 1870, has been told —
perhaps with more circumstantiality by the late
Mr. T. W. Evans than by anyone else— the version
now given for the first time differs in some im
portant respects from the Evans narrative.
This account of the episode of September 4 (not
the 1st, as erroneously printed in the original French
version) appeared in UEcho du Parlement Beige of
January 28, 1871. The writer asserts that his
informant was the weU-known diplomatist, Mr.
Bancroft, who at the time in question was United
States Minister at Berhn, and who stated that he
had " had it direct from Mr. Evans " ; which, to say
the least of it, is curious.
This new version of an old story runs thus :
About nine o'clock on the morning of September 4,
1870, the Empress Eugenie was in the Pavilion
Marsan, at the TuUeries, anxiously waiting for the
domestics to come and assist her in dressing, as Her
Majesty was going to hear the grand' messe at the
church of St. Germain-l'Auxerrois. The Empress
became impatient, and was astonished that no one
had obeyed the orders which she had given. At
this moment there arrived Mme. Lebreton (sister of
223

224 THE SECOND EMPIRE
General Bourbaki), her devoted friend, who came to
report to the Empress the gloomy state of affairs in
the capital. It appeared that the people were
excitedly demanding the overthrow of the Emperor ;
everywhere menacing groups had formed ; perhaps
the Tuileries would be invaded.
With tears in her eyes, Mme. Lebreton entreated
the Empress to fly while there was still time to
escape. Her Majesty, although much perturbed by
what she had heard, tried to soothe Mme. Lebreton
with the assurance that General Trochu would watch
over her safety — that he had promised to protect
her, that he was a man of honour, that he would keep
his word, and that if there should be any real danger
he would not fail to send someone who would tell
her what course it was necessary, in his opinion, for
her to take.
Meanwhile the Revolution became more threaten
ing. The clamour of the crowd and the cries of
" Vive la Republique !" were plainly heard by the
two ladies. Mme. Lebreton renewed her appeals,
but the Empress unheeded them. " I have con
fidence in Trochu," she continued to repeat ; " he is
a soldier, and wiU not abandon me."
It was not until about one o'clock that, the Place
du Carrousel being by this time invaded, the Empress,
now finally convinced of her danger and of Trochu' s
defection, hstened to Mme. Lebreton. Her Majesty
rang for her women — rang several times ; no one
came. Mme. Lebreton, much alarmed, went into
all the neighbouring rooms. Not a soul ! AU she
saw was furniture upside down — the drawers aU open.
The Empress was abandoned — abandoned by
everybody, even by her servants ! Then the poor

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 225
woman fled, accompanied only by her devoted
friend. For a fuU hour they paced through the
galleries, the cabinets, the long passages of the
immense, deserted palace, their cheeks paling at
every noise which they fancied they heard ; not
daring to pass in front of the windows for fear that
those outside might see them ; undecided which way
to go. Finally, exhausted, they arrived under the
colonnade of the Louvre, at the top of the great
staircase. When, at last, they ventured to look into each
other's face, a cry of terror escaped from them. In
their haste and their anguish of mind they had for
gotten to put on their hats and mantles ; thus they
could not take a step without being noticed. The
Empress was en peignoir, with a simple piece of gauze
thrown over her head. At this moment, before they
had got half-way down the stairs leading to the
street, someone close to them exclaimed, " The
Empress !" Her Majesty turned pale and cried out,
" We are lost !" Mme. Lebreton, preserving her
sang-froid, turned towards the person who had
spoken ; he was a gentleman irreproachably dressed.
She cast a look of entreaty at him. He understood,
and pretended not to see them.
At the foot of the staircase a fiacre was passing.
To spring into it was the work of a moment. The
driver, astonished, and perhaps suspecting who the
two ladies were, had a good look at them. The
Empress, conquering her fears, exclaimed brusquely,
" Boulevard Haussmann, 30 !" and the fiacre moved
off. As they were driving through the streets,
feehng a ray of hope, Mme. Lebreton asked her
mistress if she had any money with her. " Ah, mon
15

226 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Dieu ! Did I think of that ?" replied the Empress.
Mme. Lebreton rummaged her pockets, while the
faces of both were bathed in a cold perspiration.
" Saved !" cried Mme. Lebreton, who had found in
her pockets two five-franc pieces !
The cab stopped at the place indicated. At the
same moment another fiacre came up. The driver
of the Empress's cab was given five francs, and when
he had disappeared the two ladies engaged the other
vehicle. " Avenue de I'imperatrice, 57 !" said the
Empress. (It was to put the first cabman off the
track that the Empress had told him to go to the
Boulevard Haussmann.)
At No. 57, Avenue de I'imperatrice lived Mr.
Evans, the Court dentist. They rang the bell, and
a valet opened the door. " Monsieur is not at
home," said the man ; " what do you want ?"
Then, surprised at the tenue of the ladies, the
servant seemed to be about to shut the door in their
faces, but the Empress, rousing herself, said : " We
are two Americans. Mr. Evans made an appoint
ment with us here at three o'clock."
They were shown into a room, where they waited
an hour. Then Mr. Evans came in. He had
returned from the Tuileries, where he had vainly
searched for the Empress.
Upon Mr. Evans's return the servant told him that
two ladies, very oddly attired, were waiting to see
him, and the dentist at once guessed who they were.
" Ah, yes," he remarked, " they have come to bother
me again. We must try to get them across the
Atlantic as soon as possible."
He had previously arranged how the Empress was
to escape. While two of his best horses were being

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 227
harnessed, the Empress and Mme. Lebreton wrapped
themselves in some plaid shawls which they found
in Mrs. Evans's wardrobe. Then they were driven
off in Mr. Evans's carriage. They stopped first at
Evreux to change horses, which had been tele
graphed for in advance ; next, at Trouvifie. Nobody
imagined that it could be the Empress of the French
who was travelhng in this fashion. Happier than
Louis XVI. at Varennes, the Empress was not
recognized anywhere, not even at the hotel at
TrouviUe, to which Mr. Evans conducted her.
When the Empress and Mme. Lebreton were
comfortably instaUed at the hotel, Mr. Evans hurried
off to the harbour, where he found two yachts moored.
Sir John Burgoyne, the owner of one of the vessels,
when first asked by Mr. Evans if he would take two
ladies to England, refused, but relented when, under
a pledge of secrecy, he learnt that it was a question
of saving the Empress.
In this version of the Empress's flight from the
Tuileries no mention is made of the prominent part
played in the episode by the then Austrian Ambas
sador (the husband of the still-living Princess Pauhne
Metternich, who gave herself the very uncompli
mentary sobriquet, the " singe a la mode"), and the
Itahan Minister, Chevaher Nigra, who died at
Rapolla in July, 1907. When Nigra' s death was
announced, the Enghsh newspapers published a
variety of versions of his share in the Empress's
escape, but I am disposed to think that the verite
vraie is to be found in the subjoined brief narrative,
from the pen of M. Maurice Dumouhn.
The gates of the Tuileries were forced open by the
excited, exasperated crowd. The decheance had

228 THE SECOND EMPIRE
been pronounced on the steps of the Corps Legislatif,
and the RepubUc proclaimed. The Empress must
quit. Early on that terrible Sunday afternoon
M. Franceschini Pietri half opened the door of the
Empress's salon and exclaimed, " Madame, there is
only just time !" Prince Richard Metternich (the
Austrian Ambassador) and Chevalier Nigra were
with him. " Make haste, Madame !" said Nigra, who
watched from the windows the progress of the emeute ;
" make haste !" The Empress snatched up a water
proof, a hat with a brown veil, and some portraits.
Nigra again exclaimed : "Be quick, Madame ! I
can hear them ; they are coming up !" The Em
press took Metternich' s arm. Nigra walked by her
side. Like a whirlwind the Empress and the Am
bassadors, foUowed by Mme. Lebreton, M. Conti, and
Dr. Conneau, flew across the saUes of the Louvre
Museum, making for St.-Germain-FAuxerrois, where
Prince Metternich' s carriage had been ordered to
wait ; but the vehicle was not there, and the Prince
went in search of it. Nigra remained alone with the
Empress and Mme. Lebreton. Meanwhile the crowd
increased. As the little group stood in the street, a
boy, who was watching them, recognized the prin
cipal figure, and cried out, " Tiens ! Voila I'impera
trice !" Nigra' s presence of mind saved the situa
tion. " What, you Uttle scamp !" exclaimed the
Ambassador ; " you dare to shout ' Vive la Prusse !'"
Just then, before the bystanders could reahze who
was in their midst at the most critical moment in her
life, an unoccupied fiacre jolted by. Securing it,
Nigra pushed the Empress and her companion into
the cab, saying : " Get in, Madame. We cannot
wait for Metternich' s brougham."

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 229
Not only was Nigra possessed of great intellectual
powers, he was the handsomest of men, and that
fact contributed in no small degree to his success in
diplomacy. Count Cavour had a great friend in the
Comtesse de Circourt, nee Anastasie de Klustine,
whose salon was the resort of many pohtical and
literary celebrities. She helped to " launch " Nigra,
to whom she wrote : " What strikes one so forcibly
is the perfect harmony of your youth with the
maturity of your look. M. D  says your profile
reminds him of a Greek statue. And he is right."
Nigra took up his abode at the hotel of the Italian
Embassy (formerly the home of the Piedmontese
Legation), at the Rond Point of the Champs-Elysees,
and was soon made much of, for his reputation had
preceded him. Cavour had written to his friends in
Paris : " Nigra knows aU my thoughts," and that
alone was sufficient to insure the young diplomatist's
success. Nigra's role was a very difficult one. He had to
conciliate French diplomatists, to keep " weU in "
with the Emperor, and to avoid creating jealousy
amongst the foreign Ambassadors and Ministers.
Above aU, he had to secure the goodwill of the
Empress Eugenie, who had no love for a Government
which was attacking the temporal power of the Pope.
But Nigra succeeded. How he did it is still a
mystery. He got on terms of intimacy with the
Emperor and Empress, and even stifled the jealousy
of Prince Metternich.
Nigra was not only a diplomatist and a handsome
man — " beau comme Apollon "—but a poet. One
afternoon (it was a soft June day in 1863) the
imperial hostess and some of her guests were trying

230 THE SECOND EMPIRE
a Venetian gondola on the lake at Fontainebleau.
The Empress asked the gondolier to sing something
appropriate ; but the man declared that Nature had
not endowed him with a voice. But Nigra was
there, and Nigra would sing. He warbled in those
beautiful, seductive tones which had struck respon
sive chords in the hearts of many before he had
bewitched the imperial lady, the favourite " Gon
dola," which he had himself written and submitted
to Prosper Merimee, who was pleased to approve it.
The singer ended with these daring lines :
Oh femme, si parfois ton lac paisible doit voir
voguant sur tes cotes le muet Empereur, dis-lui que sur
les rives de 1' Adriatique, pauvre, nue, exsangue Venise
souffre et languit. Mais elle vit . . . et eUe attend
encore. (Oh lady, if sometimes thy peaceful lake sees
wandering by thy side the dumb Emperor, tell him
that, on the shores of the Adriatic, poor, naked,
bloodless Venice suffers and languishes. But she
lives . . . and she is still expectant.)
It has been even said that it was Nigra' s poetic
skill as much as anything which impelled the " dumb
Emperor " to hand over Venetia to the young
Kingdom of Italy. What is more certain is that
Nigra made two powerful friends of the Marquis
d'Azegfio and the celebrated Signor Manzoni by
writing, when he was a humble clerk in the Sardinian
Foreign Office, a poem dedicated to d'Azeglio's
daughter on her marriage to Comte Matteo Ricci,
the Marquis at the time being Prime Minister. That
poem gave Nigra a step in the " F.O.," but had not
Cavour made him his secretary he might have had
no opportunity of showing that he could do some
thing better than pen little lyrics, copy despatches,

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 231
and warble a chanson to the Empress's eyebrow.
In his most poetical moments he could hardly have
imagined that a day would come when he would be
aiding the subject of his love-song to escape from the
fury of the mob by pushing her into a common fiacre
and refusing to " wait for Metternich's carriage."
In one of his interesting volumes Comte d'Herisson
appears to have narrated the story of the Empress
Eugenie's voyage from Trou ville to Ryde after her
flight from the Tuileries. A letter to Sir John
Burgoyne on the subject brought the French author
the foUowing reply : Cowes, Isle of Wight,
gIR December 27, 1889.
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of December 14, and I beg to express
my regret that I am obhged to reply to it in my own
language. With reference to the statements published in your
" Letters of an Aide-de-Camp " concerning the
passage of H.M. the Empress Eugenie from France
to England in 1870, I have never seen the book, but
only an extract from it, concerning myself, sent to
me by a friend, and which statements you now tell
me were communicated to you by Dr. T. W. Evans.
It is difficult to recaU details after the lapse of
so many years, but my recollection is that Lady
Burgoyne and myself were on board the Royal
Yacht Squadron cutter, Gazelle, forty-two tons, in
Deauville (Trouville) harbour during the first week
of September, 1870.
On the morning of September 6 Dr. Evans's card
was given to me ; I went on deck, and one of two
gentlemen introduced himself as Dr. Evans. He
told me that Her Majesty the Empress was in
Deauville, and he asked me to take her on board the
yacht at once, as she was in danger and in distress.

232 THE SECOND EMPIRE
I acknowledge that at the moment I thought the
story so unlikely that I did not believe one word of
it, and I have no doubt that I expressed myself to
that effect.
I asked Dr. Evans to speak to Lady Burgoyne, and
she told me that Dr. Evans was the well-known
American dentist in Paris, and that his statement
was probably true. There was but one other yacht
in the harbour, and that was a small schooner, hired
by the late Lord Charles Hamilton. No American
yacht was at or near Trouville, and the statements as
to Dr. Evans having had to threaten to embark Her
Majesty the Empress in such a vessel never occurred.
Deauville Harbour is a tidal basin, and vessels can
only enter it and leave it at the time of high water ;
and the only objection I am aware of having made
was that, as the yacht could only leave the harbour
at about seven o'clock, night and morning, it would
be injudicious to attract attention by endeavouring
to embark Her Majesty the Empress during day
light. Dr. Evans agreed to this suggestion, and it
was arranged that Her Majesty should embark at
midnight, which she did, accompanied by Mme. Lebre
ton, Dr. Evans, and a nephew of that gentleman, who
left the yacht before we sailed.
I was captain of my own yacht, and I navigated
her myself, and to the best of my recoUection the
only conversation I had with the Empress during the
time she was on board was that early in the morning
of September 7 I asked Her Majesty's permission to
get the yacht under weigh. Once during the night,
when there was a great noise on deck, owing to a boat
washing adrift, Her Majesty sent for me to ask if
anyone was hurt ; and shortly after we anchored off
Ryde, Isle of Wight. On the following morning I was
ordered to thank the crew for their exertions during
an unusually rough passage across the Channel.
I am much more amused than angry at the account
of my tears, fears, and entreaties to Dr. Evans to put

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 233
me on shore. The fact is that that eminent prac
titioner was seasick in my berth from the time we
left Trouville until just before Her Majesty the
Empress landed at Ryde, and if he had had a little
experience of the sea he would have known that
anyone who had to stand for many hours at the tiller
of a small yacht in a gale of wind (and I may mention
that this was the same night that Her Majesty's ship
Captain was lost) might charitabh' be allowed to wipe
the salt-water out of his eyes before consulting the
chart without being accused of shedding tears of fear.
I wish to add that any story wliich may have got
abroad implying what you are pleased to term a
" tardy recognition " on the part of the Empress of
the slight service it was my good fortune to render
to Her Majesty is absolutely untrue.
The Empress, on leaving Ryde, went to Hastings
for a few days. From that place she sent Lady
Burgoyne an autograph letter of thanks. This was
foUowed by a magnificent jewel, which will ever be
a cherished heirloom in my family. I may further
mention that His Majesty the Emperor sent for me
to Chislehurst a short time after his arrival in
England and thanked me in the kindest manner.
From that day to this Lady Burgoyne and myself
have received from the Empress the most unvarying
kindness and hospitahty.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
J. Montague Burgoyne.
Sir John Burgoyne subsequently made the ap
pended extracts from the logbook of his yaoht.
With this addition the narrative may, for the first
time, be considered complete :
The Empress told Lady Burgoyne how shamefully
she had been deserted by all about her at the Tuileries,
and that her very servants had pilfered things in her
apartments.

234 THE SECOND EMPIRE
2.45 a.m. — Ran close in shore off Ryde and let go
anchor. At 3 a.m., thanks to smartness of steward
and cook, had a capital supper on the table, and Her
Majesty came and joined us at supper in the main
cabin. The emotions of the previous four-and-twenty
hours produced a natural reaction, and the Empress
was very cheerful at table. Her health was drunk
in champagne, and she returned thanks in a few
hopeful words. But now that she was no longer in
danger of capture or death, and that a hundred new
possibilities in life presented themselves to her mind,
she was more reserved in talking about politics.
Here might have been a curious study for a psycho
logist. The lady who had come on board, abandoned and
almost heart-broken, complaining in the bitterness
of her heart of those by whom she had been forsaken,
was transformed once more by hope — and very
rapidly — into an Empress who looked with some
philosophical indifference upon the baseness of men.
The writer to whom Sir John Burgoyne gave these
extracts from the Gazelle's logbook adds, amongst
many other piquant details of the terrible voyage
from Deauville to Ryde, that the Empress personally
thanked the crew who had risked death in order to
save her life, and presented them with five pounds.
A story which is told of Louis XVIII., in some
what analogous circumstances, may furnish a pen
dant to the above. The King, being compeUed to
evacuate Courland, engaged the Captain of a Danish
merchant ship to convey him and his suite to Prussia.
The Captain had a cargo for the Baltic, but, antici
pating a handsome reward, he consented to change
his course. For this service the King gave the
skipper a gold watch and a written promise that, if he

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 235
regained his throne, he would liberally recompense
the Dane. As the Captain did not land his mer
chandise in time, it could not be disposed of, and the
consignees made him pay them heavy damages, with
the result that the poor man was ruined. After the
King's restoration the promissory note was presented
to His Majesty by the Danish Minister at Paris.
Louis XVIII. did not shirk his liability, but handed
to the diplomatist what he considered a suitable
reward for the Danish Captain who had rendered this
service — fifty napoleons and the Cross of the Lily !
If it was an American citizen who, at no little risk,
escorted the Empress from Paris to Deauville, it is
well to remember that it was a British officer who
really saved and brought her to our shores. Sir
John Burgoyne, Bart., entered the army in 1850}
and retired (Lieutenant-Colonel) from the Grenadier
Guards in 1861. Eton should be very proud of its
gaUant son. Sir John resides at Sutton Park, Sandy,
Bedfordshire, and is widely known in clubland as
a member of the Carlton, the Travellers', and the
Royal Yacht Squadron (Cowes).
There is yet another version of the Empress's
escape from Paris — that which Her Majesty related
at Chislehurst to Lord Ronald Sutherland-Gower,
who very kindly aUows it to appear here ;
How well she described the hurried flight through
the Palace and the galleries of the Louvre, followed
by only two or three attendants ; the respect with
which the guardians of the galleries received her, and
their emotion at seeing her almost a deserted fugitive
in the Palace of which she had been so lately the
idol ; her great danger of being recognized while
alone with Mme. Lebreton in the Rue de Rivoli,

236 THE SECOND EMPIRE
where for hours they had to remain, the street being
blocked with a mob of mobiles and the rabble forcing
their way to the Hotel de ViUe to proclaim the
Republic ; and another terrible long period of sus
pense when, at some station near Paris, her only
safety from detection while waiting hours for a train
was a newspaper that saved her from recognition and
probably death.
She said such a death as that had terrors for her
which, could she have remained and faced the
dangers in the Palace, she would not have felt ; and,
indeed, it made one shudder to think what would
have happened had that mob guessed who one of the
two ladies in black was in the cab in the roaring
street that bright September day. I believe the
Empress has regretted ever since having left the
Tuileries, and she had almost to be forced to leave
the Palace. She had the courage and the will to
stand alone against the mob, but then her fate might
have been that of Hypatia.
In the course of the story the Empress became
somewhat excited and brushed off the table an
alabaster bust of Marie Antoinette, which she had
given Lord Ronald. He picked it up, minus its head !
No one has hitherto told us the precise time at
which the Empress quitted the Tuileries on Sunday,
September 4, 1870.
She actuaUy left the Palace at 1.30 in the afternoon
by the Louvre entrance.
Towards four o'clock all the servants left, the
National Guard having previously taken possession
of the Palace.
These facts are recorded in his register* by
M. J. Maillard, chef du service de l'argenterie, who
* From the late Due de Conegliano's volume (1897), " La
Maison de I'Empereur," preface by Fred6ric Masson. Paris :
Calmann Levy.

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 237
records that the troops did not give him time to
" put things in their places." He did not fail to
observe that the National Guard had " written
everywhere " the simple words, " Death to the
thieves." It was the parting shot of the gaUant
" Nationals," whose commander was that modern
Bayard, General Trochu. Palais des Tuileries,
Septembre 4, 1870.
Depart de S.M. I'imperatrice a une heure et
demie par le Palais du Louvre.
Depart de tout le personnel du service vers quatre
heures de 1' apres- midi, apres I'occupation du Palais
des Tuileries par la garde nationale. Hs ont ecrit
partout, Mort aux voleurs. Je ne pas pu faire
remettre le materiel en place — l'on ne m'en a pas
donne le temps. J. Maillard.
[Extract from the register kept by M. Maillard,
who had charge of the silver.]
Baron Imbert de Saint-Amand holds that the
Empress would have had less prestige if the Empire
had not been overthrown. " The world is most
interested, not in the chatelaine of the Tuileries, not
the Juno reigning over an Olympus of Emperors
and Kings at the Exhibition of 1867, but in the
mother who weeps and prays in Zululand on the spot
where her son had fallen after fighting Uke a young
hon. What posterity will prefer to contemplate on
the brow of the Empress Eugenie is not a crown of
Empire, but a crown of thorns."
" The Empress's conduct after Sedan," said an
ex-Minister of the Empire, " was heroic. It is
impossible to conceive a nobler courage than she

238 THE SECOND EMPIRE
showed on September 4, 1870. When she speaks of
the Empire or the Emperor it is always with regret
that the aims of Imperial institutions had been mis
represented and that the Emperor was misunder
stood. On one occasion she observed that ' Enghsh
journalists would not understand the democratic
basis of the Empire. The Empire wanted to give a
direct voice in the government to all Frenchmen,
whereas other regimes would give a monopoly of
power to the bourgeoisie, and make the people pay
the taxes and remain voiceless. If turbulent French
men had only the calm in political matters of the
Enghsh public!'"
Immediately after the overthrow of the Empire
an amazing plot was concocted to defraud the
Empress. It was alleged that Her Majesty had
abstracted French Crown jewels valued at 6,650,000
francs (£266,000), and had sent them by one Manuel
Perez to her mother at Madrid.
M. Franceschini Pietri says :
Swindlers and exploiteurs began in 1870-71 to
benefit by our troubles and grief, and some of them
went so far as to produce forged autograph letters of
the Empress Eugenie. I have held those letters in
my hand, and I assure you that the imitation was
marveUous. The object was invariably the same —
to attract silly people or thieves by telling them of
the existence of secret treasure, and asking them to
advance money towards the expense of discovering
it, and dividing it among those who had found money
for making the search. As you will see, it was an
old and well-known trick, but it was sometimes so
well carried out that many persons feU into the trap.
I remember the case of a peasant of Metz, who,
attracted by the prospect of gain, sent 3,000 francs

ON THE EVE OF EXILE 239
to a person from whom he had heard on the subject,
and waited a long time in anticipation of news eon-
cerning the fortune which was promised to him.
Tired of the delay, he had the effrontery to eome to
Chislehurst and demand to be reimbursed the 3,000
francs which he had invested ! You can imagine
that he was sent away without the least consolation.
But that is only one out of a hundred cases. All who
believed in the existence of a secret treasure were not
dishonest people ; many of them, after receiving
mysterious letters on the subject, informed the
Empress Eugenie of what had occurred.
To give you an idea of the extent of this swindUng
affair, and of the amount of information which we
received at Chislehurst, I may teU you that we had
printed forms to answer the communications, and
put an advertisement in the Times warning the
public to be on their guard against these attempts to
obtain their money.
It may be pointed out that many of these letters
inviting the credulous to " bite " were dated from
the gaol at Madrid, and that Spain supphed the
strongest contingent of these " Imperial treasure "
swindlers. They spread themselves over all Europe
— Italy, France, England, Portugal, and other
countries. The story received so much credence in
Portugal that the King sent one of his Ministers to
Chislehurst to confer with the Empress Eugenie on
the subject ! As you see, it became a Cabinet affair.
Time passed, and these attempts at swindling
decreased ; but we occasionally get wind of timid
efforts in the same direction, and doubtless the
photograph which you have shown me comes from
the same quarter as the previous letters.*
* Statement by M. Pietri to " Le Matin " in 1910.

'*

CHAPTER XV
" THESE THINGS ARE LITTLE ; BUT, THEN,
THEY'RE ALL "
Between December 23, 1870, and January 25, 1871,
a minute record was made, by order of the new
Government, of all the objects found in the imperial
apartments at the Tuileries, and admittedly belonging
to Napoleon III., the Empress Eugenie, and the Prince
Imperial. The list was most carefuUy drawn up by
the Delegates of the Commission of Liquidation of
the former Civil List and Private Domain of their
Majesties, and when it was completed everything
was transferred to and put under seals in a room on
the fifth floor of the Pavilion of Flora.*
Not one of this heap of cherished articles was of
any particular intrinsic or artistic value, yet it was
this fact which gave, and gives, them their charm.
It is not the State decor, seen and known by all, that
we can reconstitute with the aid of these multifarious
knick-knacks, but they form the miheu intime,
comprising a thousand famihar objects, a thousand
personal souvenirs, in the midst of which the occu
pants of the Tuileries lived their daily life. It is more
than interesting or curious to handle these old-
fashioned bibelots ; it is often touching, even painful.
* This pavilion was not destroyed by the Communards in 1871.
It contains the kitchens of the Tuileries (vide p. 108).
240

THESE THINGS ARE LITTLE 241
In the Emperor's apartments were an eaglo (from
a flag) in gilded bronze, embraced by Napoleon I,
when he took farewell of Fontainebleau ; a hand of
the Empress Eugenie in white marble ; a portfolio of
music (containing the " Marche des lmperiaux,"
from the tragedy of " Jules Cesar "), by Hary de
Biilow ; a meerschaum pipe, representing Napo
leon III. and the Prince Imperial ; a silver fountain,
the gift of Queen Pomare to the Emperor ; a dagger,
with damascened blade, given to him by Ins mother-
in-law, the Comtesse de Montijo ; a walking-stick,
made of a bulrush stalk ; a crutch, in rock-crystal,
ornamented with fine stones, the Empress Catherine
of Russia's present to Frederick II. ; a tin box,
containing water from the Jordan ; a candle used at
the Prince Imperial's first Communion ; a black
leather case, containing the Emperor's costume of
Knight of the Garter ; a man's head, in crayons,
signed " Josephine " ; a plan in relief of the chateau
of Ham (the prison of Napoleon III. for six years) ;
a photograph of the Prince Imperial in his cradle ;
boxes, cases of medals, addresses, diplomas, vases,
cups, tea and coffee services ; a thousand articles
which have gone out of fashion, in all styles ; albums
of photographs and engravings, portraits of
Sovereigns, hundreds of paper-weights, inkstands,
and wafer-boxes ; a coUection of French and foreign
mihtary models in coloured plaster — amongst them
two Prussian soldiers, one Bavarian, two Wiirtem-
burgers, and a White Cuirassier ; figures of a mer
chant, a woman, five soldiers and peasants — Russian ;
and two mahogany boxes containing the plaques
and decorations of Napoleon III., with the stern
official notification, opposite the French ones, " Two
16

242 THE SECOND EMPIRE
plaques and decorations missing — taken away by the
Emperor." Among the numerous " Souvenirs intimes de
Napoleon I. et de sa famille " are a Prayer-Book
(" paroissien ") which belonged to Mme. Mere,* and a
black snuff-box with her portrait, enclosing some
locks of hair of her daughter, Princesse Pauhne ; a
gold folding lorgnette, which belonged to the Due
de Reichstadt ; a packet containing handkerchiefs
from the death-bed of Queen Hortense, and a packet
of handkerchiefs which belonged to Napoleon I. ; a
gold ring containing a tooth of Michel Montaigne,
and one of Goethe's visiting-cards ; the grey capote
of Marengo, and the scarf worn by Napoleon I. at
the battle of the Pyramids ; a morocco blotting-pad,
ornamented with a painting under glass representing
a Spanish bandit, painted by Queen Hortense ; a
blue velvet sabretache, embroidered in gold, the gift
of Prince Eugene ; two gold epaulettes ; the garni
ture of buttons, grenades, and plaques; the grey capote
worn by the Emperor at the battle of Waterloo ; a
quantity of breloques, bibelots, snuff-boxes, objects
in hair, miniatures, porcelain and crystal ornaments,
bonbonnieres, pocket-knives, etc.
In the Empress Eugenie's apartments were found
Perrault' s stories, a Spanish edition of " Paradise
Lost," an "Imitation de Jesus - Christ," the
" Memorial de Saint-Helene," and the " Chansons
Populaires du Piemont" ; photographs of the Shah
of Persia, Mme. Carette (the Empress's "reader" for
many years, and a reliable chronicler of Second Empire
days), the Princesse de Metternich, the daughters of
the Duchesse d'Albe (the Empress's nieces), the
* Mother of Napoleon I.

THESE THINGS ARE LITTLE 243
Royal Family of Spain, the Sultan Abd-el-Kader,
and Princesse Bacciochi ; a miniature of the Prince
Imperial and his " guardian angel," in a velvet
frame ; an egg, on which is painted the battle of
Malakoff ; two dumb-bells, in granite, with silver
handles ; one of Orsini's bombs, seized on the
memorable January 14, 1858, the date of the
" attempt " at the opera ; two pairs of satin shoes,
which belonged to Queen Hortense and the Empress
Josephine ; and the hat worn by Napoleon III. on
the night of his attempted assassination by Orsini.
In the Prince Imperial's apartments were statu
ettes of the Virgin and the Infant Jesus, the dome of
the InvaUdes in painted cardboard, stuffed birds,
geographical games, a three-masted vessel in a glass
case ; a rehquary, containing reUcs of St. Eugenie
and the brassard worn by the " httle Prince " at his
first Communion ; a garden rake and two hoes, in
steel ; three summer hats, in white silk, and two
black ones ; a cantata dedicated to the Prince by
Pellegrini ; trophies of the imperial hunts at Fon
tainebleau and Compiegne ; and the Prince's Orders
and decorations.
There were chairs and fauteuUs, settees (poufs) in
tapestry and red satin, with silk fringe ; etageres in
black wood and bronze ; a prie-Dieu in carved oak,
covered with blue velvet ; tables, with feet of bamboo,
covered with tapestry and adorned with fringe ; a
carved fire-screen in gilded wood ; and many other
objects. Finally, there were several boxes of cigars (" re
galias " and " Londres ") and " Imperial " cigarettes
(the Emperor was a great smoker of these), which
were sent by the Delegates of the Commission of

244 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Liquidation, by order of M. Picard, to M. Jules
Simon, at the Ministry of Public Instruction, and
sold for the benefit of the wounded soldiers. Forty
years have flown since France was weighed down by
the disasters, but the past appears so recent that, in
stirring its ashes, we fancy them still warm, still
living ; neither the tears nor the blood pOured upon
the souvenirs of so many misfortunes have yet made
them cold.

CHAPTER XVI
THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE DE
MERCY-ARGENTEAU
Although the name of the Comtesse de Mercy-
Argenteau is a very famihar one, it seems desirable
to put on record some detaUs of her family history, if
only in order to explain what might otherwise appear
somewhat of a mystery — the selection by Napo
leon III. of this beautiful and gifted woman as his
secret pohtical emissary, both during and, to a
certain extent, after his six months' captivity at
Wilhelmshohe. She is the daughter of that Prince de Chimay who
was the head of the younger branch of the Riquet-
Caramans ; she is, consequently, the granddaughter
of Mme. Talhen, whom the " Directory " named
" Notre Dame de Bon-Secours." Mme. TaUien was
the idol of Barras ; she was the divinity of the
Revolutionary epoch, the worshipped of France.
Many people speak of the Chimay family as if it were
Flemish. It is Franco-Austrian-Belgian, and had
its origin in GiUe Paul Riquet, a worthy bourgeois of
Beziers — the man who founded the Languedoc Canal,
and was ennobled by letters patent, granted by
Louis XIV., in 1666. The house of De Mercy has
been thrice ennobled, receiving from three different
heads of State the coronet which it has worn proudly
245

246 THE SECOND EMPIRE
and with dignity. The actual head of the house in
1871 was Charles Francois Joseph, whose two sons
married the Comtesse de Caraman (Marie Louise de
Riquet) and MUe. Alix de Choiseul-Praslin ; his two
daughters became the Comtesse d'Oultremont and
the Duchesse d'Harcourt.
The Comtesse de Mercy- Argenteau was, then, born
Comtesse de Caraman-Chimay. It has been said
of her that, " like Cleopatra, she would have thrown
pearls into the goblet or her heart out of window,
according to the caprice of the moment." When
she made her appearance in Paris the Second Empire
was at its zenith ; the world's gaze was riveted upon
it. All was gaiety and sunshine. It was a magnifi
cent Court, that of the Tuileries in the reign of
Napoleon III. and his consort. Only the Cassandras
of the period went about predicting, and rightly, that
it would not last.
The Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau was a con
temporary of some very celebrated women whose
names, at least, are still remembered. There were
notably the Princesse de Sagan, the Duchesse de
Mouchy, the Comtesse Edmond de Pourtales, and
the Marquise de Galliffet, wife of that dashing cavalry
man of whom so many amusing stories are told.*
Our Comtesse shone at the head of the famous
" Decameron," and was counted the most beautiful
of the lovely group. They wittily said of her that
her grandmother was a goddess, her mother a queen,
and she herself a " moderne." For the first there
was Olympus, for the second a throne, for the third
the Uttle English cart, which, said one of her sprightly
* Of these four ladies, two survive in 1911— the Duchesse de
Mouchy and the Comtesse E. de Pourtales.

THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE 247
friends, " takes to the Allee des Acacias every morn
ing our mondaines semi-garcons."
As already hinted, the young Comtesse do Mercy-
Argenteau made a sensation in Paris society — in the
Faubourg as well as at the Tuileries, at Compiegne,
and at St. Cloud. The Empress Eugenie admitted
her into close friendship. The Emperor paid her his
most respectful homage. If a particularly delicate
'mission had to be undertaken, who so fit to carry it
out as this charming woman ? We need not wonder,
then, that Napoleon III., in the hour of his despair,
appealed to her devotion, and charged her to go, as
his ambassadress, " seduire le vainqueur et tenter de
sauver la France. ' ' Many women envied the Comtesse
her mission to Berhn, foredoomed to failure as it was.
The Comtesse was renowned for her jeweUery. In
diamonds she outshone the Empress ; her pearls
were the finest in the world ; she possessed the
family jewels both of the Chimays and the De
Mercys. After the war she devoted herself to study.
She shines as a musician, in languages she is pro
ficient, she paints miniatures a merveille, and she
has always been a sportswoman.
Napoleon III. had been in captivity at Wilhelms
hohe about five months when he began an active
correspondence with the Comtesse de Mercy-Argen
teau, who, on at least one memorable occasion, acted
as the intermediary between the dethroned monarch
and the late Emperor William. The letters
addressed to the Comtesse by the Emperor Napoleon
are distinguished by their poignant interest and
frank outspokenness ; they are, indeed, a revelation
of the unhappy man's innermost thoughts, his
aspirations, his fears, and, finally, his apparent

248 THE SECOND EMPIRE
abandonment of hope, although we know that, later,
his ideas underwent a great change.
Not the least curious feature of the correspon
dence given to the world in 1906 through the
medium of an important German review, the
Verlagen und Klasing Monatshefte, is the fact that
we hear for the first time of the Comtesse de Mercy-
Argenteau as figuring prominently in the Bona
partist propaganda of the autumn of 1870, through
out 1871, and up to September, 1872, the Emperor's
final letter, surcharged with gloom, bearing date,
Chislehurst, September 9.* There is no doubt about
their authenticity, for, with one or two exceptions,
the t pistles are contained in their original envelopes,
properly stamped, and bear the postmarks " Cassel "
(Wilhelmshohe) and " Terwagne " (near which Bel
gian town the chateau of the Mercy- Argenteaus is
situated). The first letter of the series was written to the
Comtesse from the Tuileries, and is a graceful refer
ence to the Count's naturalization.
When Napoleon III. was at the Tuileries.
MADAME, November 7, 1869.
It is with pleasure that I announce to you
that yesterday I signed the Decree which gives to
your husband the rights of naturalization. I con
gratulate myself upon having one Frenchman and
one Frenchwoman more.
Believe, madame, in my affectionate and devoted
sentiments. Napoleon.
* The letters are reproduced by arrangement with Herrn Paul
Lindenberg.

THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE 249

Written at Wilhelmshohe. Wilhelmshohe,
Madame la Comtesse, February 4, 1871.
The attachment to me of which you give
evidence touches me deeply, and causes me to answer
the questions which you have put to me with all the
frankness inspired by your high-minded sentiments.
The state of France is deplorable, and I do not
see how it can be improved unless the Emperor of
Germany displays that chivalrous mind which every
body knows him to possess. To-day we are com
pletely vanquished ; the interests of Germany, how
ever, are mingled with ours. To re-estabhsh order,
to suppress the revolutionary spirit, to re-create the
prosperity which alone can enable us to pay the cost
of the war and assure peace — these are the results
which must be desired in both countries.
Unfortunately, the convocation of the National
Assembly makes all that very difficult, for that
Assembly, if it makes peace, wiU be incapable of
establishing a Government which can execute the
conditions, and if it does not do so the country will be
a prey to new convulsions.
If I were in the place of the Emperor and King,
and the Assembly had accepted peace, I would
demand that the people should be consulted for
establishing a Government sufficiently strong to
fulfil the engagements entered into. If, on the
contrary, the Assembly refused to make peace, I
would enter Paris at the head of my army ; I would
scatter the demagogues who have usurped power ;
I would decline to treat with any but the legitimate
Government ; I would propose to that Government

250 THE SECOND EMPIRE
a less onerous peace than that offered to the
Assembly, and an alliance based upon an equitable
appreciation of the interests of both countries.
It remains to consider what would be the condi
tions of such a peace and such an alhance. They
are not easy to divine ; but if the two were in accord,
doubtless a favourable solution would be arrived at,
for there are compensations when one is, like the
King of Prussia, the arbiter of Europe.
All these ideas have, I believe, been put before
Comte de Bismarck, and his high-mindedness has
led him to grasp them ; but events often upset plans,
and force even great statesmen to bend under the
yoke of stern necessity. No glory is lacking the
Emperor and King but that of making a great peace.
I mean a peace which, instead of leaving in its wake
ruin, despair, and anarchy, would display the greatness
of his character and the depth of his political views.
You see, madame, that I have permitted myself
to tell you all my thoughts. I hope you will forgive
me for this long letter, but you know how much
pleasure it affords me to talk to you.
Pray say everything good on my part to your
husband, and believe in the sentiments of high
esteem and sincere and affectionate friendship which
I have for you. Napoleon.
Napoleon III. sends a Letter to the Emperor
William I. by the Comtesse.
Wilhelmshohe,
MADAME, February 6, 1871.
The charming letter wliich you have written
to me emboldens me to tell you that I think you may

THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE 251
perhaps be able to do me a great service ; but I
hardly dare express here all that I think. It is a
question, like the dove, of carrying a message of peace.
Napoleon.
After the receipt of this letter the Comtesse de
Mercy-Argenteau journeyed to Wilhelmshohe, where
the illustrious captive gave her verbal instructions
and a letter addressed to the Emperor William. She
crossed the German hnes under an assumed name,
accompanied only by her maid, saw Count Bismarck,
through him obtained an audience of the Kaiser, and
handed to the Kaiser Napoleon's autograph letter.
These proceedings were barren of result. Napo
leon III. then sent the Comtesse the foUowing letter :
" My Gratitude is Very Sincere.'"
Wilhelmshohe,
My Dear Comtesse, February 23, 1871.
I learn with great pleasure of your arrival, and
I am happy to think that your little daughter is
quite well again. Need I teU you of the sweet
remembrances and regrets that your visit has left ?
I reaUy do not know how to recognize such loyal and
disinterested devotion as yours ; but you know at
least that my gratitude is very sincere. I await
impatiently news from the quarter to which you
have been. I often fear lest people should accept
that which is put before them without thinking of
the future. The eagerness with which the neutrals
have recognized the sovereignty of M. Thiers is a
proof of the little dignity which animates the foreign
Courts. Accept, madame, the new assurance of my sincere
and affectionate friendship. Napoleon.

252 THE SECOND EMPIRE
" Writing to Bismarck Useless."
Wilhelmshohe,
My Dear Comtesse, February 25, 1871.
I send you the Une that you wanted. It is a
pale reflex of my sentiments towards you. It is very
good of you to think of writing to M. de B  [Bis
marck], but I believe it would be useless. In the
first place, I have asked M. de F  to do so, and
he has left ; then, again, it is too late now to enable
me to profit by it. Things have taken a bad turn
for me. We must put up with the d'Orleans, who
have numerous partisans amongst the middle classes ;
and then I cannot be pardoned for having been
served so badly and so unfortunately.
Accept, dear Comtesse, etc. Napoleon.
" / admit we were the Aggressors." Wilhelmshohe,
My Dear Comtesse, March 2> 187L
How can one fail to be discouraged in presence
of the conditions of peace imposed upon France ? I
admit that we were the aggressors ; I admit that we
were defeated, and that, therefore, we were com
pelled to pay the cost of the war or abandon part of
our territory ; but to condemn us to make both
sacrifices is very hard. Where is the Government
which will be able to stand with a material and moral
burden hke that upon its shoulders ? With such
conditions it is not a peace which the Emperor of
Germany has concluded — it is to kill us ; instead of
re-estabUshing peace, it will sow hatred and distrust
in the future. Is this a good plan, even for Ger-

THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE 253
many ? I do not think so. The state of oiviUzation
in which Europe finds itself demands that the nations
bind themselves together by a crowd of common
interests which would make the ruin of one reac-t
upon all the others.
The work of France stopped for several years,
thirty-eight millions of people delivered up to
anarchy, and having in their hearts only a desire for
vengeance — this is to keep a wound open in one of
the principal members of the social body. If the
Emperor of Germany and M. de Bismarck had
thoroughly reflected upon the state of Europe ; if,
instead of aUowing themselves to be dazzled by the
extraordinary success which they have obtained,
they had desired to put an end to revolutions and to
war, they had declared that as long as France had
no stable, and consequently liberal, Government,
they would only sanction a suspension of hostilities
in the nature of a truce, and would take steps to put
themselves in a more favourable mUitary position in
case the struggle should recommence, but as soon
as there was a Government based upon law and
accepted by the whole nation they would feel more
certain of peace in the future than they could be by
holding dissatisfied departments, detached from a
nation profoundly . . . that would have been de la
grande poUtique ; the hatred against Germany would
have disappeared as though by magic, peace would
have been assured for many years, there would have
been renewed confidence, there would have been a
revival of commercial affairs, and the Emperor of
Germany would have obtained a glory far greater
than he wiU acquire by the possession of Metz and
Strasburg.

254 THE SECOND EMPIRE
I am writing to you as if you were my Minister
for Foreign Affairs ; but I find it a consolation, in the
midst of the preoccupations which beset me, to open
my heart to you.
Accept, etc. Napoleon.

Bismarck's Brusque Telegram to the
Emperor's Intermediary.
Two short letters of no particular importance
follow, and then comes this very brusque telegram
from Bismarck to the Comtesse, dated Berhn,
March 27, 1871 :
To the Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau, Chateau
of Ochain, near Terwagne, Belgium.
Your allusions to the conditions of peace surprise
me, and prevent me from replying to your letter. It
is absolutely impossible. V. Bismarck.
Letters written at Chislehurst.
" The Future is Very Dark."
That telegram probably led to the Emperor
writing to the Comtesse as follows, a few days after
his arrival in England from Wilhelmshohe :
Chislehurst,
My Dear Comtesse, AVril x> 187L
I thank you for all that you have written and
done. No one could have acted with more intelli
gence and heart. Unfortunately, we are dealing
with pitiless people. We must wait for the second
answer, but I do not think it will be better than the

THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE 255
first. I befieve it would be completely useless to
take any kind of step respecting Marshal M. [Mac
Mahon] or others. The time has not yet come for
taking any initiative whatsoever as regards internal
affairs. I thank you, nevertheless, for the intention.
The future is very dark, and one must leave Provi
dence to guide the will of men. I am very grateful
for your unfailing devotion, and I again assure you
of my affectionate friendship. Napoleon.
" I have not Forgotten You."
There is a sUence of nearly three months. The
Emperor was very iU, and unable to write to the
Comtesse between April and June. In the subjoined
letter he explains why he had not written :
Camden Place,
My Dear Comtesse, June 14> 187L
What a long time it is since I wrote to you !
Perhaps you think I have forgotten you, but it is not
so. I have been suffering so long that it was im
possible for me to write. To-day I am, happily,
well again. I will not speak of what has happened
since we met. Many of the plans have come to
naught ; but I do not regret it. Each thing must
come at its own time, and the favourable movement
which has been spontaneously produced in France
ought to make us hopeful for the future, even if it is
hopeless to charge oneself with the destinies of so
frivolous a people as the French.
Accept, my dear Comtesse, the assurance of my
affectionate friendship. Napoleon.

256 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Trap laid for the Comtesse.
Chislehubst,
My Dear Comtesse, December 9, 1871.
Your amiable letter makes me look at the
coming year in brighter colours. I have happily
convinced myself that your long silence was the
result of chance, and was not caused by forgetfulness.
I am indignant at what you teU me about the trap
which was laid for you at Brussels. It is sad to see
the pohce have recourse to such devices. I am much
touched by the offers of service made by you, but
for the moment one can only await events, and en
deavour by propaganda to obtain a plebiscite and
better election results.
Accept, etc. Napoleon.
The Emperor's Final Letters : " Clouds cover
the Horizon."
On May 5, 1872, the Emperor wrote thanking the
Comtesse for sending news. His Majesty added :
I will not speak to you about pohtics, for it is sad
to see what is happening ; but there are instances of
devotion which make one forget the ingratitude of
some and the wickedness of others.
Under date June 2, 1872, the Emperor wrote to
his fair correspondent condoling with her upon the
death of a relative, The last letter is dated Sep
tember 9, 1872, just four months prior to the Em
peror's death. He again expresses his sympathy at
her bereavement, and concludes :
The future appears to me very uncertain. Clouds
cover the horizon, and one can hardly perceive the
blue sky.

THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE 257

From the Emperor's Secretary (M. Pietri)
to the Comtesse. Camden Place,
Ohislehurst, June 16, 1871.
Madame la Comtesse,
I have just received the reply to the telegram
which I had the honour to address to you at Liege,
and I hasten to forward the letter that the Emperor
has directed me to send to you, as to which I con
gratulate myself upon not having put an incorrect
address. The Emperor is to-day entirely reoovered. He
has resumed his occupations and his usual life. He
has been crueUy pained by aU the evils which over
whelm our unfortunate country, and of which we
cannot yet see the end.
We have before our eyes only the material ruins of
Paris. They have turned our looks away from the
ruins of aU Franoe, and from the appaUing situation
which must result from the surrender of Alsaoe and
Lorraine and the occupation of Metz by the
Prussians. At VersaiUes they accuse us of conspiracy. They
are wrong, and they must know weU that it is the
contrary. We have only one way of usefuUy oon-
spiring — that is, to wait ; for time will conspire for
us, and will help Truth to come out of theweU in
which they have kept her enclosed, while those
standing upon the fid preach error and lies. They
will get tired, and then she [Truth] will appear.
Already she begins to see daylight. It is upon her
17

258 THE SECOND EMPIRE
that we must count, in not adding to the evils of the
country intrigues which could only aggravate them.
We must content ourselves with following what is
done at Versailles.
Accept, Madame la Comtesse, etc. F. Pietri.

CHAPTER XVII
THE EMPEROR'S CORRESPONDENCE
Besides the epistles addressed by Napoleon III. to the
late Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau, many interesting
letters from the imperial pen are scattered about in
the vivid pages of Comte d'Herisson, M. Pierre de
Lano, and other French authors. Those now for
the first time translated for this work from Comte
d'Herisson' s " Le Prince Imperial " and M. Pierre
de Lano's " L'Imperatrice " wiU be fresh to English
readers, who wiU obtain from their perusal a better
insight into the character of Napoleon III. than
they previously possessed.
Napoleon III. and the Press.
For the first few days after his arrival, early in
September, at Wilhelmshohe, where he remained
untU the foUowing March, the faUen Emperor seemed
to be resigned to his fate. In reply to one of his
friends, who had written to him asking to be in
formed of his plans, the Emperor wrote :
Wilhelmshohe,
September 28, 1870.
I thank you for your letter, which has given me
great pleasure. The sentiments which you express
do not surprise me, for I have always reckoned on
your friendship. In the actual state of affairs I
believe there is nothing to be done unless it be to
259

260 THE SECOND EMPIRE
correct, through the Press, erroneous statements, and
to act as much as possible upon public opinion.
Conti,* whom perhaps you have seen at Brussels (his
address is 2, Place du Trone), is very useful to me in
this respect. May God grant that the siege of Paris
be soon finished, for I dread all kinds of excesses in
the country ! Napole'on.
Against the advice of many staunch friends of the
Emperor, in November, 1870, it was determined to
make an attempt to replace Napoleon III. on the
throne, and that the movement should be directed
by the Emperor and Empress. The Imperialists
regarded the co-operation of General Changarnier as
indispensable, and the Emperor (and, later, the
Empress) worked to this end. General Fleury,
furnished with private instructions by the Emperor
himself, went to Brussels and had an interview with
Changarnier, who, after much wavering, finaUy
declined to take part in the restoration plot. The
Emperor put himself directly en rapport with
Changarnier by writing to General Fleury the sub
joined letter, which shows the ignorance in which
Napoleon III. was kept respecting the events of the
day: Napoleon III., General Changarnier, and
" V Independance Beige."
Wilhelmshohe, November 16, 1870.
... At Brussels you will see more people and
become acquainted with many things of which we
here are ignorant. I should therefore much Uke you
from time to time to send me your impressions of
what you hear talked about, and what you hope or
fear for the future. They tell me you often see our
* The Emperor's former Secretary, and later a Deputy.

THE EMPEROR'S CORRESPONDENCE 261
enemies. If it is to appease them, all the better ;
but I fear their evil influence. Already Bourbaki
and Mar6chal Canrobert have, I fear, been circum
vented by them. If you see General Changarnier.
get him to write a word to the papers in favour of
Bazaine. I have already advised him to do so,
but he rephed that the editor of " l'lndependance
Beige " did not insert his letter. Upon Changarnier
asking the reason of its non-appearance, he was told
that they could not pubfish it except by accompany
ing it with some remarks very detrimental to
Bazaine ; whereupon Changarnier withdrew his
letter. I am sorry for this, because Changarnier' s
words would have made a great noise, whilst the
attacks of the journalist would have passed un
noticed. Try to get Changarnier to change his mind.
Napoleon.
" Arrange an Interview with Changarnier."
A few weeks later the Emperor wrote to Fleury on
the same subject, but more pressingly, as foUows :
W. [Wilhelmshohe], December 11, 1870.
This letter will be handed to you by M. Levert,
formerly Prefet of MarseiUes, a very devoted and
very distinguished man. He should talk to you about
the steps to take respecting General Changarnier
to maintain him in my cause. I beg you to arrange
that he may have an interview with the General.
Napoleon.
" Keep Changarnier well disposed."
General Changarnier weakened daily in view of the
solicitations of which he was the object at Brussels,
and yet another letter to Fleury from the Emperor

262 THE SECOND EMPIRE
at Wilhelmshohe showed how necessary for the
success of their plans did the Bonapartist party
regard the General's intervention and adhesion :
[Wilhelmshohe], December 23, 1870.
I thank you for the good relations that you main
tain with General Changarnier. It is necessary to
keep him well disposed by telling him that, when the
moment comes, I shall have recourse to his advice.
According to what they tell me in letters, Claremont
[British Military Attache] said Paris cannot hold
out more than three weeks. But what will happen
then ? The attitude of certain French officers in
Germany is very bad ; but they are " worked " by
emissaries of several colours.
Napoleon.
" Everybody desires Peace."
AU endeavours to secure the active assistance of
General Changarnier failed. On January 4, 1871,
the Emperor wrote from Wilhelmshohe :
Unfortunately, you are not better informed at
Brussels than we are here respecting future events.
One does not know what to believe owing to the
diversity of the opinions on the subject of the prob
able resistance of Paris. Everybody desires peace,
but nobody knows how it can be brought about.
Napole'on.
The Emperor to Sir John Burgoyne, " The
English Moltke."
Immediately after the faU of Metz, General Sir
John M. Burgoyne, Bart., who had taken part
in the Crimean campaign, and had brought the
Empress to Ryde, wrote to Napoleon III. in sympa-

THE EMPEROR'S CORRESPONDENCE 263
thetic terms, and expressed his opinion of the causes
which had led to the French reverses. The Emperor
replied as under : Wilhelmshohe,
My dear Sir John Burgoyne, October 29> 187°-
I have received your letter, which has given
me the greatest pleasure, because it is a touching
proof of your sympathy for me, and also because
your name recaUs to me the happy and glorious time
when our two armies fought together for the same
cause. You, who are the Engfish Moltke, will have
understood that our disasters arose from the circum
stance that the Prussians were ready before us, and
that, so to speak, they surprised us en flagrant deiit
of formation.
The offensive became impossible for me. I re
solved to take the defensive, but, prevented by
political considerations, the march in retreat was
stopped, and then became impossible. Returned to
Chalons, I wished to lead to Paris the last army
which remained to us ; but again pohtical complica
tions forced us to make that most imprudent and
least strategical march which finished with the
disaster at Sedan. Such, in a few words, was the
disastrous campaign of 1870. I have given you
these explanations because I value your esteem.
Napoleon.
The Emperor's Letters to his Foster-
Sister, Mme. Cornu.
" Let us hope for Happier Days."
The five following letters appeared for the first
time in " La Revue" (Paris) in October and December,
1908, and were contributed by M. Seymour de Ricci,

264 THE SECOND EMPIRE
who is in possession of 297 letters, hitherto un
published, addressed by the Emperor to Mme. Cornu,
who visited Chislehurst in 1871. The" whole of this
interesting correspondence will be published by
M. de Ricci. Wilhelmshohe,
My dear Madame Cornu, December u, mo.
You cannot doubt the pain wliich I have felt
upon learning of the death of your husband. You
know the great friendship which I had for him for so
many years. I fully share all your emotions, and
wish to know how you are getting on in the midst of
the war which is surrounding you. I will not refer
to my troubles ; it is those of France which over
whelm me most.
The Empress and the Prince are well — this is a
great consolation to me.
Let us hope for happier days, and believe always,
my dear Hortense, in my sincere friendship. Napoleon.

._

/ am engaged upon a Work which will
explain Many Things." Chislehttkst,
My dear Madame Cornu, January 14, 1872.
It is always with pleasure that I hear from
you, for the friendship which binds us is of such
long standing that absence and misfortunes cannot
weaken it.
I was very happy also to see you once more,
and I hope you will return to us this summer. I see
by your letter that you have not been to Italy, as
you had proposed to do. Have you not been able
to sell your property ? We often have visitors from

THE EMPEROR'S CORRESPONDENCE 265
France, who are the echo of what is happening in
our unhappy country.
I am engaged upon a work whioh will explain
many things. It will not be amusing, but it will
contain the truth.
Receive, my dear Madame Cornu, the assurance
of my sincere friendship.
The Empress wrote you two letters from Spain.
Did you get them ? She sends a thousand amiable
things to you, as does the Prince. Napoleon.
" The Empress has been suffering."
Chislehurst,
My dear Madame Cornu, Mav 5> 1872-
I take advantage of a post to tell you that the
Empress has been suffering very much, but that she
has now recovered, and that the Prince and I are
quite weU.
I received your letter of the 30th [of April], but
have only time to thank you for it in the Empress's
name, and to renew the assurance of my sincere
friendship. Napoleon.
" I am Responsible to the Country."
Marshal Baraguay d'HUUers presided over a
Council of Inquiry appointed to investigate the
circumstances in which fortresses capitulated and
battahons surrendered to the invaders. It was decided
that the whole blame for the disasters at Sedan
rested with Napoleon III., " a culprit beyond reach
of the national vengeance," as he was residing at
Chislehurst. The Exile defended himself in this
letter, which he addressed to the Generals who had
served under him at Sedan :

266 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Camden Place,
Chislehurst,
General, Mav 12> 1872-
I am responsible to the country, and I can
accept no other judgment but that of the nation
regularly consulted. Nor is it for me to pass an
opinion on the report of the Commission on the
capitulation of Sedan. I shall only remind the
principal witnesses of the capitulation of the critical
position in which we found ourselves. The army
commanded by the Due de Magenta nobly did its
duty, and fought heroically against an enemy of
twice its numbers. When driven back to the walls
of the town, and into the town itself, 14,000 dead and
wounded covered the field of battle, and I saw that
to contest the position any longer was an act of
desperation. The honour of the army having been
saved by the bravery which had been displayed,
I then exercised my Sovereign right, and gave orders
to unfurl a flag of truce. I claim the entire responsi
bihty of that act. The immolation of 60,000 men
could not have saved France, and the sublime
devotion of her chiefs and soldiers would have been
uselessly sacrificed. I obeyed a cruel, but inexor
able, fate. My heart was broken, but my conscience
was easy. Napoleon.
The Emperor's Brochure.
My dear Madame Cornu, Au^mt 29' 1872"
I need not tell you how much pleasure your
wishes give me. I have been accustomed for so
many years to receive proofs of your friendship ; and
you know how they touch me.

THE EMPEROR'S CORRESPONDENCE 267
We shall return to Chislehurst towards October,
and you will not doubt the pleasure we shall have in
seeing you again.
I send you a photograph of the Prince. As to the
brochure,* they (sic) are all at Camden Place.
Receive, my dear Madame Cornu, the renewed
assurance of my sincere friendship. Napoleon.
The Emperor's Final Letter to Mine. Cornu.
Chislehurst,
My dear Madame Cornu, November 17, 1872.
I send you a line for Charles Thelin ; f to thank
you for your letter ; and to teU you that I shall be
pleased to see M. Charbet, if he comes to England.
I hope you are better, and that we shaU see you
here when it is not so cold.
My poor boy is at Woolwich, and finds the
apprenticeship somewhat hard.
Receive the renewed assurance of my sincere
friendship. Napoleon.
This was probably one of the last letters written by
the Emperor, who passed away within two months.
When writing to his foster-sister he had evidently
no presentiment that his end was so rapidly ap
proaching.
* " Les Forces Militaires de la France en 1870."
t Charles Thelin had been the Emperor's valet at Ham, and
was employed in a confidential capacity during the reign.

CHAPTER XVIII
CITIZEN— PRESIDENT— EMPEROR
The date is December 20, 1848, and M. Marrast,
President of the National Assembly, invites Citizen
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte to take the oath
required by the Constitution on his election as
President of the French Republic.
The Citizen, in evening dress, with the riband of
the Legion d'Honneur en sautoir, ascends the tribune,
raises his right hand, and, with the slightest tremor
in his voice, says, " I swear."
What is his record ?
1836. — Deported to America for attempting to
procure a military rising in his favour at Strasburg.
1840. — Sentenced to perpetual confinement in the
fortress of Ham for a similar attempt at Boulogne.
1846. — " Broke prison " and reached London.
In August, 1849, the Prince-President was at
Tours, where he opened a new raUway. Miss
Howard was of the party, and was found lodgings at
the residence of the Receiver-General, the Prefec
ture. That functionary was at " the waters " with
his wife, and when he heard that the Enghsh lady —
the Prince's " favourite " for so many years — was
actually staying under his Prefectorial roof-tree he
" made trouble." Louis Napoleon wrote on the
subject to Odillon Barrot :
268

CITIZEN— PRESIDENT— EMPEROR 269
Your brother has shown me a letter from a
M. Andre, to which I should disdain to reply did it
not contain some false statements which it is right to
refute. A lady in whom I take the highest interest, ac
companied by one of her friends (a lady) and by two
persons of my household, wished to see the carrousel
at Saumur, and from there they came to Tours.
But, fearing they might not find lodgings, they
asked me to take steps to obtain them some.
When I arrived at Tours I told a counseUor of the
Prefecture he would obhge me by looking for an
appartement for Comte Bacciochi and two ladies of
my . acquaintance. Chance, and their evil star, led
them, it appears, to the house of M. Andre, where —
I know not why — it was thought that one of them
bore the name of Bacciochi. She has never used
that name, and if such a mistake has been committed
it is by strangers, and unknown to me or to the lady
in question.
I should hke to know why M. Andre, without
having taken the trouble to ascertain the truth of the
matter, wishes to make me ^sponsible for the use
made of his house and for the false name attributed
to one of the persons. Does a proprietor make a
good use of hospitahty whose first care is to scrutinize
the past Ufe of anybody whom he receives ? How
many women, a hundred times less pure, a hundred
times less devoted, a hundred times less excusable
than the lady who lodged at M. Andre's would have
been received by him with aU possible honours
because they would have borne the name of their
husbands to conceal their culpable Uaisons !
I detest this pedantic strictness, which badly
conceals the ame seche, indulgent for himself,
inexorable for others. True rehgion is not intolerant.
It does not seek to raise storms in a glass of water,
to make a scandal for nothing, and to change into a
crime a simple accident or an excusable mistake.
, M. Andre, who I am told is a Puritan, has not

270 THE SECOND EMPIRE
sufficiently meditated upon the passage of the
Scriptures where Christ, addressing those as httle
charitable as M. Andre, says on the subject of a
woman they wished to stone, " Let him, etc." Let
him practise this teaching. As to myself, I accuse
nobody, and I admit I am culpable for seeking in
illegitimate ties an affection of which my heart is in
need. However, as until now my position has pre
vented me from marrying, as in the midst of the
cares of government I have not, alas ! in my country,
from which I have been so long absent, either
intimate friends, or youthful liaisons, or relations to
give me the sweetness of the family, I may be
pardoned, I think, for entertaining an affection
which does no harm to anybody, and to which I do
not seek to afficher myself.
To return to M. Andre, if he believes, as he
declares, his house to have been soiled by the pres
ence of an unmarried woman, I beg you will let him
know that, on my side, I greatly regret that a lady
of a devotion so pure and of a character so elevated
should have stumbled by chance into a house where,
under the mask of religion, there remains but the os
tentation of a formal virtue without Christian charity.
Make whatever use you like of this letter.*
In November, 1851, the imminence of the coup
d'etat was talked about all over Paris as being
necessary and anticipated. In the salons it was a
topic of " chaff " ; at the Elysee (the Prince-
President's abode) it was studied in detail ; the
Church hoped for it ; the people expected it ; the
army reckoned upon it. The plan (says the
pseudonymous Baron d'Ambds) was sketched at
the end of October by Saint-Arnaud and Maupas,
whom Louis Napoleon informed, about this time, of
* " Memoires inedits sur Napoleon III.," par le Baron d'Ambes.
Recueilhs et Annotes par Charles Simond et M. C. Poinsot.
Paris : Societe des Publications Litteraires Illustrees.

CITIZEN— PRESIDENT— EMPEROR 271
Changarnier's conspiracy against the Elysee. To
wait longer would be fatal. The lists of those who
were to be proscribed were prepared in September.
The programme for December 1 was drawn up to
the most minute details. From 3 to 4 a.m. the police
commissaries were to be received by the Prefet. At
5.30 the Palace of the Assembly would be occupied.
At 6 arrest of Generals, representatives of Parha
ment, heads of societies, and dangerous democrats.
At 6.30 proclamations were to be affixed to the walls,
troops to be posted near the houses of those persons
who were to be arrested, and positions for fighting
were to be taken up by the mihtary. By 7 o'clock
it was to be " all over." At 8 the Minister of the
Interior was to send instructions to the Prefets.
The " men of the coup d'etat " were divided into
three classes :
First, Saint-Arnaud, Morny, and Maupas.
Second, General Magnan, Persigny, and Fleury.
Third, Baroche, Rouher, F. Barrot, De Parieu,
Dumas, Veron, Romieu, Fould, Magne, Drouyn de
Lhuys, De Royer, Schneider, Fortoul, Espinasse,
BiUault, etc.
The programme was carried out to the letter on
December 1, and a year later the Prince-President
had exchanged that title for the supreme one of
Napoleon III., Emperor of the French. The Bona
partists' excuse for the " coup " was that it was
absolutely necessary to " sweep the board " of the
President's opponents in Parliament and out of it,
and also in the army. There was sanguinary fight
ing in the streets, it is true, and the President was
branded throughout the world as a perjurer and a
criminal of the deepest dye, who had " waded
through blood to a throne." To many historians

272 THE SECOND EMPIRE
of the period he remains the " Man of December."
To later writers, not overburdened with a knowledge
of the facts, he is the " Man of Sedan," a pitiful and
an ignominious figure, unworthy of sympathy.
The new Constitution was promulgated on
January 14, 1852. It confided the Government of
the French Republic for ten years to " Prince Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte, the present President of the
Republic." (Prince Jerome, ex-King of Westphalia,
was President of the Senate. )
On November 4 the Prince sent a message to the
Senate, saying that the nation had " loudly mani
fested its will to re-establish the Empire." This
message was dated from the Palace of St. Cloud.
The Prince had now governed France for four years.
A Committee of the Senate was appointed to draw
up a report, and on November 6 it submitted to
the Senate several resolutions, the series being
known as " Senatus Consultum." Article I declared
that the " Imperial dynasty is re-estabhshed.
Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is Emperor of the French
under the name of Napoleon III." The imperial
dignity was made hereditary from male to male,
" to the perpetual exclusion of the females and their
descendants." The Senate passed and signed all
the articles, and on Sunday, November 21, the voting
" for the Empire " began, and lasted several days.
On December 2, 1852, the anniversary of the coup
d'etat, in the afternoon, the Emperor, who had been
" proclaimed " at St. Cloud the previous evening,
made his official entry into his capital. It was wet
and cold, and, although all Paris had turned out to
see the military pageant, the enthusiasm might have
been greater than it was. The Emperor, mounted
on a showy charger, looked anything but bright. He

MR. ALFRED AUSTIN
(poet laureate)
was Special Correspondent of the Slantlm-il during thc-
Franeo-German War in 1870-71. His accounts of his inter
views with Bismarck were everywhere read. Mr. Austin is
one of the two English survivors of the campaign. Hi*
sonnet on the Prince Imperial, written a few days after the
news of the tragedy in Zululand was received, is reproduced
by the Poet Laureate's special permission . The photograph of
Mr. Austin, taken in 1870, was kindly lent by Mrs. Austin.

To face p. 272.

CITIZEN— PRESIDENT— EMPEROR 273
did not once take off his General's plumed tricorne,
but contented himself with acknowledging the saluta
tions of the crowd by occasionally touching his hat.
By his own orders he rode alone ; the escort, separated
from his own by a considerable space, front and rear.
This was an example of the pluck which he invari
ably displayed both as President and as Emperor.
During his four years' Presidency of the Republic
he had been surrounded by open foes in France and
by opponents who lay in ambush awaiting oppor
tunities to strike. Foreign opinion, however, was less
hostile prior to than it became after the coup d'etat,
which was the signal for an outburst of almost uni
versal execration. Even Queen Victoria, who, some
three years later, was entertaining, and was enter
tained by, the Emperor and Empress, condemned the
act of December, 1851. Early in 1852 the Queen, in a
letter to King Frederick Wilham of Prussia, wrote : *
The pohtical stratagem in Paris will have taken your
Majesty back to the days of your youth. . . . Louis
Napoleon had tried to freshen up the memories of all
European Governments by the reintroduction of the
eagle on the standards of the French army, and by
allusions to changes of the boundaries, etc. In
spite of this, I firmly beheve in the maintenance of
peace. But I am made much more anxious by the
thought that those Continental Governments which
have gone too far in their blind reaction, led astray
by the Paris example, are of the erroneous opinion
that a State is likely to last eternally which has been
raised on the ruins of civil liberty with the blood of
the middle classes Of France, and that they may be
encouraged to widen the breach between them and
their peoples, and completely destroy the belief in
the political morality of Governments in general.
* " Memoirs of General von Gerlach." Published, in German
only, in 1891. ,g

CHAPTER XIX
THE PALE EMPEROR
His " Explanation " : Written by Himself.
The whole House was on its feet, threatening,
shaking its fists at a man with a waxen face who
protested against this last humiliation inflicted on
his master. Like the Jews demanding of Pilate that
he should dehver Jesus to them, we cried to posterity
at the top of our voices : " Crucifige, crucifige eum !"
I do not know which of the two attitudes has left
the more painful impression on my mind — that of
Conti [the Emperor's former Secretary], surrounded,
almost struck, but meeting these threats with the
most magnificent coolness; or that of the seven
hundred and fifty representatives of the French
nation, raging against a man who for six months
had been little more than a corpse. He had been
very guilty ; but we, in our turn, were very cruel.*
The visit of the Emperor and Empress to Queen
Victoria and the Prince Consort in 1855 was
heralded by the issue of a placard thus conceived :
England's disgrace. The Real Day of Humilia
tion, f Louis Napoleon, the Murderer, the Oath-
Breaker, is coming to England.
Englishmen, do your duty !
* ' ' Men and Things of My Time," by the Marquis de Castellane.
London: Chatto and Windus. 1911.
f Probably a reference to a pubhc rehgious service in con
nection with the Crimean War. 274

THE PALE EMPEROR 275
The Empress had, we know, complained to Queen
Victoria of the bitter attacks rained upon the Em
peror by our newspapers, and was scarcely comforted
by the Queen's assurance that the Enghsh Press was
free and could not be censored.
Bismarck, who, when he was Prussian Minister to
France, professed the warmest friendship for Napo
leon III., and became a favourite of the Empress
and the Court, soon turned against the Emperor,
speaking of him shghtingly, if not contemptuously,
and deprecating Napoleon's suggestion of a Franco-
Prussian aUiance.
To Vambery Napoleon III. was " this thick-set
man, with his flabby features and pale, faded eyes."
Vambery* could not discern in the Emperor a trace
of the greatness of which he had heard so much.
" His pale eyes and artificial speech soon betrayed
the adventurer who had been elevated to his exalted
position by the inheritance of a great name and the
wantonness of the nation."
Mme. Cornu, Louis Napoleon's foster-sister, who
had had a sincere affection for him prior to the coup
d'etat, execrated him for that act, decUned to see
him when he caUed upon her, and, as he stood at the
bottom of the stairs, shouted to him from above that
she would have nothing to do with " a man whose
hands were covered with blood." Her resentment
continued for years ; then, one day, she went to the
Tuileries, saw the Emperor and Empress, took the
little Prince in her arms, and " made it up."
I would fain hope that we may find the " true
truth " in these eloquent words of the statesman who
knew the real Louis Napoleon better, perhaps, than
* " The Story of my Struggles," by Arminius Vambery.

276 THE SECOND EMPIRE
most men, excepting De Morny, De Persigny, Fleury,
Conti, and, I will add, Franceschini Pietri — I mean,
as will have been guessed, M. iSmile OUivier :
Despite all that has been written on the Emperor
Napoleon III., no personage is less known. He has
been described as un esprit nebuleux ; in reality, no
/one had a clearer mind. He has been called an
egotistical calculator : no one was more disinterested
or more preoccupied with the national grandeur.
But he placed that grandeur very high. He believed
that France was the soldier of God ; that his mission
was not to gratify miserable cupidities, but to work
for the freedom and happiness of peoples. He did
nothing on behalf of dynastic interests, but he
neglected no opportunity of advancing the principle
of nationahties, which is that of justice, peace, and
civilization. And that will be his immortal glory in
the future. He would not have sent the French
fleet to prevent the brave Cretans from uniting them
selves with Greece, if they desired to do so. He
would not have made France the synonym for
egotism and platitudes. All his dreams were those
of one of the most beautiful minds which ever ruled
over men since the days of the Antonines.*
The value of that glowing tribute, that certificate
of character, depends upon the impartiality and
capacity of the person who penned it. I myself
consider M. Emile Ollivier — Napoleon's last Prime
Minister, upon whom and his colleagues was imposed
the dire duty of declaring war — an impartial wit
ness. He may not — I fear he will not — be accepted
as such by all. Is he not the Minister who said he
entered upon the war " with a hght heart " ? He is
* In Roman history the period of the reigns of Antoninus Pius
and Marcus Aurehus was generally characterized by domestic
tranquillity.

THE PALE EMPEROR 277
the selfsame man ; only it is too often forgotten
that he qualified that expression at the moment he
uttered it by explaining that he was " light-hearted "
because of " his conviction that Prussia was in the
wrong and was deliberately attacking France."*
It must be remembered that while M Ollivier was
devoted to Napoleon III. he was regarded with not
over-friendly eyes by the Empress Eugenie. He
necessarily had frequent formal and informal
audiences of the Emperor, and that some of these
interviews took place unknown to the imperial lady
we know from the Emperor's letter asking the
statesman to enter the Tuileries on a certain occasion
by " the little door " in the garden, in order that the
Empress might not know he was in the Palace !
M. Ollivier, as the historian of " L' Empire Libe
ral," intends to be absolutely unbiassed and impartial.
He has taken upon himself the Herculean task of
defending that Liberal Empire, the Liberal Emperor,
and the Liberal Premier of 1870 (himself), and he has
had to make the best case possible for all three.
His work is a monument of research, memory, and
industry. His fifteen great volumes are for the
world's criticism ; some may see in them only a
briUiant plaidoirie, admirably conceived and in
geniously executed — the whole a phenomenal Uterary
performance, yet, of course, written with parti pris,
and as such challenging critical comment. But may
we not accept without carping, and with faith in his
sincerity, his estimate of the Man Napoleon III., the
Pale Emperor, in whose words, " The crown has
thorns, and often some of them sink deeply into the
* " The Development of Nations," by J. H. Rose. London :
Constable. 1905.

278 THE SECOND EMPIRE
head,"* we seem to see the epitaph he would have
wished ?
The responsibihty for the war of 1870 has been
laid, firstly, to the charge of the Empress Eugenie,
and, secondly, to that of the Emperor. In a previous
volume I printed the complete text of what, since
its publication in that work, has become known as
" the Empress's Case " — Her Imperial Majesty's
Reply to her Accusers. One of my numerous very
appreciative American critics took occasion to
remark that, in order to prove the Empress's blame-
lessness, something more was required than the mere
word of M. Gaston Calmette. f To remove aU mis
apprehension, I now put it on record that the docu
ment in question contained the Empress Eugenie's
ipsissima verba ; otherwise it neither could nor
would have been published.
I pass on to a consideration of the measure of the
Emperor Napoleon's responsibility for the war with
Germany. Those who have taken the trouble, and who have
the competency, to investigate the numerous causes
which were the genesis of the war have satisfied them
selves that, to employ a colloquialism, Napoleon III.
was " dead against " entering into a conflict with
Prussia. These investigators now know, although
they may not all have known it twenty, or ten,
or even five years ago, that the Emperor was forced
into the field, partly by the diplomacy of the then
Count Bismarck (other diplomatists aiding), partly
(and to a greater extent) by the practically unani
mous voice of his own subjects.
* Napoleon III., January 3, 1870.
t Editor of "Le Figaro."

THE PALE EMPEROR 279
Let there be no longer any doubt about this : the
French themselves, not primarily, but ultimately,
were responsible for the war. It was not Paris this
time, but the entire nation, and, with very few
exceptions, the Press, which made it impossible for
the Emperor and his Government to refrain from
throwing down the gauntlet. That the Empress
should have sided with the " war party " is not
surprising, for the " war party " was the country,
and she would have been voted anti-patriotic (and
we know what that means) had she not fallen into
line with those miUions who professed their anxiety
to get " to Berhn," although they knew no more how
they were to get there than they knew how to reach
the planet Mars.
We forget the vaciUations of the Emperor, we forget
his moral lapses, we forget the coup d'etat, we can
even forget the hideous Mexican blunder, when we
remember his noble hesitancy to plunge the country
into a war which he knew could have but one ending
— disaster. He knew it from Stoffel and he knew it
from Niel. As Baron de Mackau has most truly
said, Napoleon III. " submitted to the war." There
is the whole matter crystallized into four words.
The Emperor sanctioned the war because he had no
alternative. He had to submit to pressure from
within and pressure from without. If ever a
Sovereign was driven into making war it was
that most unfortunate of men the Emperor
Napoleon III.
Baron de Mackau was one of the Emperor's most
intimate friends, and after the battle of Solferino he
was entrusted with the duty of presenting Niel with
his Marshal's epaulettes. The Baron says :

280 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Emperor did not wish for war. It is only just
to him to say that he submitted to it. It would be
equitable to seek for the reasons of the defeat of
France in the refusal of Parliament to contribute,
during the years preceding the war, to the work of
national defence proposed by Marshal Niel. In
1867, after the Italian war, Niel, as Minister of War,
demanded the modification of the military law and
the creation of reservists. He was not aUowed to
finish his speech. The Magnins, the Favres, the
Simons, and all those who formed the Opposition at
that date, prevented the vote. They said to the
Marshal : " You want to make France a vast
entrenched camp." I heard the Marshal reply, with
a gravity well calculated to move those who were
present : " May you, gentlemen, not make it a huge
cemetery." On the day following the declaration of war, when
the Delegates of the Corps Legislatif took leave of
Napoleon III., His Majesty said to them : " Ah,
gentlemen, we are undertaking a heavy task !" As
he left the Emperor's study at St. Cloud, Baron de
Mackau said to his colleagues : " We are done for !"
The Baron continues :
The eagerness with which, a few days previously,
people had heard of the possibility of avoiding war ;
then the order given suddenly by Marshal Leboeuf,
the Emperor's friend and confidant, to stop all
preparations ; the Marshal's resignation when, at
the last night council, war was decided upon — these
things have been always, to me, proofs that the
Emperor only submitted to the war. The truth is
that public opinion in France, grievously over
excited, urged on the war ; and that the Left,
represented by those whose names are noted above,
and always taking heed of outside rumours, foUowed
the current of public opinion, as did, later, Marshal

THE PALE EMPEROR 281
Bazaine. The Right, as a whole, advanced hesitat
ingly and defiantly, animated by the desire to weaken
the Emperor's Government abroad, and only made
up its mind when our oolleague, Talhouet, a member
of the delegation to whom the secret documents
had been communicated, declared at the Chamber
that, as a matter of honour, war was inevitable.
While the Emperor was in his " prison " at Wil
helmshohe (September, 1870, to March, 1871) he
spent the greater part of his time at his desk.* In
this former palace of his uncle, Jerome, King of
Westphalia, Napoleon III. wrote, from memory,
aided by extracts from State papers which someone
copied for him, an elaborate statement of his policy
during his eighteen years' reign, so far as it regarded
Germany. This very frank apologia (De Persigny
having refused to figure as its '"author") was
fathered by his old friend, the Marquis de Gricourt,
who had been his companion in London when he
was awaiting the call which came to him in 1848.
That the statement was written by the Emperor him
self is guaranteed, in his Memoirs, by General Count
von Monts, to whose custody at Wilhelmshohe the
august captive was confided by King William, f
* His Majesty's own detailed statement of the causes which,
in his opinion, led to the defeat of his army at Sedan appears
textually in the volume, " The Empress Eugenie : 1870 — 1910 "
(and, I think, in no other work). London : Harper and Brothers ;
New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 1910.
f " La Captivite de Napoleon III. en Allemagne," par le
General Comte C. de Monts, Gouverneur de Cassel. " Souvenirs
traduits de PAllemand," par Paul Brack Gilbert et Paul Levy.
Preface de Jules Claretie, de 1' Academie Francaise. Paris :
Pierre Lafitte et Qe. 1910.
This positive statement of General von Monts is confirmed by
M. Emile Ollivier (" Le Figaro," October 22, 1910). The Marquis
de Gricourt was a Chamberlain of Napoleon III. and also a
Senator.

282 THE SECOND EMPIRE
General von Monts writes :
"The Press had obtained excessive liberty; the
Repubhcan party, the Empress, and the clergy had
too much power for the welfare of the Dynasty ; and
the Emperor damaged himself by obeying the
suggestions of several French Ambassadors abroad.
That Napoleon himself was also culpable for the war
against us [Germany] is a fact which cannot be
disputed, inasmuch as we know his letter of July 12,
1870, addressed to Gramont, in which he formulated
his exigencies in respect of Prussia, and begged
Gramont to explain them to Benedetti. Napoleon
never, in my presence, alluded to this letter, but he
recognized his culpability by writing, in his brochure,
' Les Relations de France et Germany sous Napo
leon III.' :
' Toutefois, nous le disons franchement, le devoir
de I'Empereur etait d'dtre plus sage que la nation, et
d'empecher la guerre, meme au prix de sa couronne.'
" The cover of the brochure gave the name of the
Marquis de Gricourt as the author ; but I know for
certain that the Emperor was the author of it, for he
wrote it during his captivity at Wilhelmshohe, and gave
me a copy of it."
This highly-interesting document is so little known
— I will venture to say it is unknown — that I will
quote some of its principal paragraphs in full,
fortified by the conviction that I shall be thereby
clearing the Emperor's memory (as I have already
cleared that of the Empress) from many reproaches
and sneers which have been accepted as gospel by
all who have not waded through M. Ollivier's fif
teen volumes, which are not hkely to be translated

THE PALE EMPEROR 283
into English, although possibly they may be issued
in German; but even that is doubtful, for the author of
" L'Empire Liberal" is a very outspoken historian.
The Emperor wisely says : " We must not judge
of things as they are, but as they might have been.
Certainly, since Konigsgratz the power of Prussia
has increased amazingly ; hence her crushing France
with considerable forces, outnumbering her own by
hundreds of thousands. . . . Before 1866 there was
no possibility of forming an alhance in the centre
of Europe. Austria was irrevocably joined to
Germany, and Italy did not then exist as a Power.
But might it not likewise be argued that in 1870,
also, France remained alone ? Central Europe then
permitted her to form alliances. The Austro-
Hungarian Empire might have been won over, and
Italy, reconstituted, led to join in the war. Had
these events taken place, the pohcy of the Second
Empire doubtless would have triumphed ; for facts
could have proved that, in spite of the augmenta
tion of Prussia, there existed in Europe a serious
counterpoise to her gigantic power. . . . From
January 2, 1870, France* became entire mistress of
her own destinies. And what use did she then make
of the liberties so largely accorded to her ? The
country desired peace ; the Chambers and Govern
ment desired peace ; and yet the climax to the
situation was War."
With these preliminary words Napoleon III.
proceeds :
When M. iSmile OUivier accepted the task of
forming a Ministry, his programme — as submitted
to the Emperor — frankly acknowledged the prin-
* Through the Liberal Empire.

284 THE SECOND EMPIRE
ciple of nationalities,* recognizing the right of
Germany to reconstitute herself in a manner thought
best suitable to her. He likewise expressed the
most pacific intentions, t Soon after the installa
tion of the Ministers on January 2, 1870, Comte
Daru, Minister for Foreign Affairs, proposed to
Prussia, through the intervention of England, a
general disarmament. To support this demand, it
was suggested, in the Chambers, to reduce the
annual contingent by 10,000 men. This last measure
was adopted ; but as to the proposition of Comte
Daru only a formal and evasive answer was re
turned. Nevertheless, it may be said that the year
1870 began under favourable auspices. Nothing
seemed to threaten the repose then enjoyed by
Europe. The only thought in France was to
develop, under a Liberal Government, the moral and
material resources of the country. X
But it has often been said, " He who sows the
whirlwind shall reap the tempest." For four years
the Opposition — including all sections — had caused
the Tribune and the Press to resound with most
bitter lamentations on the increase of Prussian
power. . . . These constant assertions, these per
petual attacks, had penetrated to the remotest parts
of the country. The army, even, had not remained
insensible to the reproaches of weakness hurled at
the Government ; it felt humbled by the successes
of Prussia, as if those very successes had been
obtained against itself.
* One of the cardinal points of the Emperor's policy, fore
shadowed by him when he was in London in 1839-40.
f M. Olhvier's critics condemn him for disregarding Marshal
Niel's earnest appeals to increase the mihtary forces of the
Empire, and so put the country in a proper state of defence.
The annual contingent was, in fact, as the Emperor notes,
reduced by 10,000 men !
J His Majesty ignores the fact that for at least two years there
had been throughout the country a growing feehng of discontent,
aroused, to a large extent, by M. Henri Rochefort's denunciations
(in the "Lanterne ") of the Emperor, the Empress, and the Court.

THE PALE EMPEROR 285
Again, when the news reached France of the likeli
hood of a Prussian Prince becoming King of Spain, it
had the effect of a spark falling on inflammable
matter ; all hatred, jealousies, and envyings were at
once aroused. This incident, which at another
time would only have provoked an exchange of
diplomatic Notes, now fired the whole nation.
The Ministry, it must be owned, committed the
serious fault of carrying to the tribune a sort of
challenge, which rendered any diplomatic arrange
ment difficult. Nevertheless, on the Prince of
Hohenzollern withdrawing his son's name as candi
date for the Spanish throne, it was hoped that peace
might still have been maintained ; but pubhc
opinion had been too violently agitated : it spurned
all conciliatory measures. The journals of nearly
every shade of opinion cried out for war. The
provinces partook of the exultations of the capital.
Whatever may be said of the confidential messages
sent by the Prefets, and of which only garbled
accounts had been given, the majority of these high
functionaries announced, in the aggregate, that in
the Departments the pubhc mind was animated
beyond precedent ; conditions of peace, however
honourable, would in no way satisfy them. Of this
we need no further proof than the following de
spatches, found by the Prussians in the Palace of
St. Cloud, and published in the " North German
Gazette" :*
" Perpignan, July 15, 1870.— The Prefet to
the Minister of the Interior, Paris. In conse
quence of the last news we have had great
excitement here. The idea of war with
Prussia is warmly received by the bulk of the
* These extracts were doubtless translated by the Emperor
himself, for not one of those who were with him at Wilhelmshohe
could speak a word or read a hne of German ! Napoleon III.
had an almost better acquaintance with German than with
French, and he spoke French as many Germans speak it, the
result of his early education in Germany and Switzerland.

286 THE SECOND EMPIRE
population. Even the Radicals say that in a
week's time hostilities will commence, and that
by August 15 our soldiers will celebrate the
Emperor's fete at Berhn. No one, for one
moment, doubts the results of the war. Every
where, in town and viUage, there is the same
confidence shown."
" Marseilles, July 16, 1870.— The Prefet to
the Minister of the Interior, Paris. There has
just been a great manifestation here, a torch
light procession parading the streets of our
town, foUowed by 10,000 to 15,000 people,
singing ' La Reine Hortense ' and the ' Mar
seillaise.' The cries of ' Vive I'Empereur !'
' A bas la Prusse !' 'A Berlin !' resounding on
all sides. The crowd is full of enthusiasm, and
no disorder."
These sentiments found expression, nearly as
energetic, in language uttered by the representatives
of the country. The wish of the Corps Legislatif
was no longer doubtful. It appears that there had
been a moment when the Ministers inchned towards
peace. An order of the day by MM. Clement-
Duvernois and Jerome David — the latter Vice-
President of the Chamber* — nearly overturned the
Cabinet. This occurred on July 13. Two days
later the Chamber was caUed upon definitively to
pronounce on the conclusions drawn up in conformity
to the Commission of which M. de Keratry was a
member, and which had been unanimously approved
of. The vote was for War ! The majority numbered
247 against 10. Seven members only were absent.
The Radical Opposition was divided in opinion. To
use the words of M. Thiers : " This was, in truth, the
expression of an overwhelming approval of the
country ; the Legislative Body siding with the
people."
* A Bonapartist intransigeant who greatly influenced the
Empress.

THE PALE EMPEROR 287
When the Emperor, in his proclamation to the
French army, foretold the difficulties of the enter
prise, so certain appeared success to all that the
sober " Journal des Debats " expressed an opinion
that His Majesty " showed too much diffidence in
his address to his troops."
*****
Every soldier in the streets was made the subject
of popular ovation. In the theatres pubhc feehng
manifested itself by the noisiest demonstrations.
Who can forget that representation at the Opera
when the whole audience rose to a man and
thundered out the " Marseillaise " '!
In Paris such was the enthusiasm felt that the
Emperor could not leave his Palace without being
cheered by an immense mob, crying out, " Vive la
guerre !" At the moment of his departure for the
army His Majesty purposely refrained from driving
through the capital owing to reports that the
populace would indulge in wUd demonstrations,
intending to unharness the horses from his carriage
and drag it themselves in triumph to the railway
station. This same people, one month later,
destroyed the emblems of the Empire and broke the
statues of their Ruler !*
If we have recaUed facts known to all, it is not to
exonerate the Emperor from the responsibilities he
assumed, but to prove what was then the state of
pubhc opinion in France.
On Sunday, July 19, 1870, Napoleon III. held, at
the Tuileries, a Council of War, which lasted several
hours. The Emperor and his Ministers agreed,
without exception, after mature deliberation, that a
declaration should be made rendering peace still
possible. But the same evening the Ministers
repaired to St. Cloud and amended their resolution
of the morning, M. OUivier informing His Majesty
that if the document agreed upon at their last
* Strictly speaking, it was exactly five weeks later.

288 THE SECOND EMPIRE
meeting had been pubhshed the disappointment
would have been such that " the Ministers would
have been received with hisses and their carriages
pelted with mud."
Certainly, although the Chief of the State was a
Constitutional Sovereign, he might have prevented
the war, but at the cost of his own popularity.
They would again have reproached him — as they
already had — for being humble to the strong and
arrogant to the weak. His conduct would have
been for ever denounced by a malevolent Opposition
as basely culpable towards a designing adversary.
At the same time, we own that the duty of the
Emperor was to have shown himself wiser than the
nation, and avoided war even at the cost of his
crown. His excuse is that he accepted the contest, but
without ardour, as a man who engages in a duel
because his honour and duty demand it, not con
sidering that his opponent may be stronger than
himself. Doubtless, he may have been carried away
at the moment by national elan ; by unhmited con
fidence in the power of his army ; and that dreams
of military glory, perhaps even of territorial aggran
dizement, then stifled in his breast the calm reason
ing of the statesman.
Without, however, ignoring the responsibility of
His Majesty in recent events, we cannot admit, as
recently stated by M. Jules Favre, that the Emperor
made war of his own accord and in the interests of
his Dynasty.
Who could believe that, after receiving a new
consecration by universal suffrage, when 7,000,000
voices freshly ratified former Plebiscites, and showed
the most incredulous how deep-rooted the Empire
was, Napoleon III. should have thought it necessary,
two months later, to have recourse to such a terrible
expedient as war to sustain his power and strengthen
his Dynasty ? Why, even successful warfare would

THE PALE EMPEROR 280
in no way have added to the security of the Empire.
Alas ! it could only lead to the disturbing of every
thing. The Emperor led the elite of his army,
leaving behind him his wife, with no armed force, no
tried and daring military chief, to guard her, in an
immense capital always in agitation, imbued with
Republican ideas, worked upon by Socialism, a prey
to 700 journals, and invested with the rights of
pubhc political meeting. On the least reverse of
arms, disorders, riotings, perhaps even a revolution,
had to be dreaded.
It is quite evident, then, that war, taken all in all,
was palpably against the interests of his Dynasty,
and it cannot be just to Napoleon III. to say that he
either desired or imposed it on the country.
Furthermore, a Vice-President of the Government
of Defence, had he not always upheld the institution
of Ministerial Responsibility as a wise and efficient
system ? Why, then, be false to his principles now ?
Why impute to the Emperor alone the errors that
have been committed in the management of State
affairs ? Surely his Ministers were equaUy blameable.
The honest truth is that the country desired the
contest, and that His Majesty, unfortunately, did not
resist the overwhelming enthusiasm of the nation.
In conclusion, let us remark with what care
Napoleon III. endeavoured, from the commence
ment, to show how consistent his conduct had been
with national sentiment.
In his Proclamation to the French people* he
says : " Frenchmen ! There are moments most
solemn in the life of nations — when the national
honour, violently excited, with irresistible force
commands all interests and directs the destinies
of the country. One of these decisive hours has
just struck for France.
" Against the new pretensions of Prussia our
* July, 1870. 19

290 THE SECOND EMPIRE
objections made themselves heard. They have
been evaded, and followed by contemptuous
proceedings. At this our country has felt a
profound irritation ; and immediately a war-
cry resounded from one end of France to the
other. Nothing is now left us but to confide our
destinies to the fate of arms."
When, on July 23, the Legislative Body took leave
of the Emperor, he answered the President's address
in these words :
" We have done all we could to avoid war. We
can now say that it is the whole nation which, by its
irresistible elan, dictated our resolutions."
Thus, then, in accepting the responsibility which
devolved upon him, the Emperor— before, as since,
his overthrow — desired to establish before the world
the following simple fact : that he did not launch
the country into a perilous enterprise on account of
contemptible motives, but felt himself encouraged,
if not compelled to it, by the determined manifesta
tions of pubhc opinion.
The reader who has followed the above recital of
the principal events of the reign of Napoleon III.
must be convinced that he who became a prisoner at
Wilhelmshohe employed eighteen years of undis
puted power in making France the most flourishing
country in Europe, in allaying international hatred,
and in protecting the independence of foreign States.
When his personal efforts appeared to him unequal
to realize all he meditated for the universal welfare,
he voluntarily gave up Authority and called on the
representatives of the people to take the most active
part in the direction of affairs, thus estabhshing in
France the widest and most complete system of
liberty. And now, because fortune has abandoned him,
this great man is only considered by some in the

THE PALE EMPEROR 291
hght of a tyrant, who, to establish a Dynasty,
ruthlessly precipitated his country into aU the
horrors of a merciless war.
We have recorded facts. Posterity will be the
judge. When the Empress read the telegram announcing
that the Hohenzollern candidature was withdrawn,
she said, in the presence of General Bourbaki, " It
is infamous ! The Empire will fall to rags !"
(" L' Empire va tomber en quenouiUe !")*
An extraordinary story, told by M. Welschinger,
makes one wonder whether some of those surround
ing the Empress in July, 1870, were in their right
minds. It was proposed that the King of Prussia
should be asked to write a letter to Napoleon III. to
satisfy the energumenes (fanatics, " of whom the
Empress was one "), and the Due de Gramont
actuaUy drafted and sent to the King a note of what
His Majesty was to say ! King WiUiam had been
very pleased when he thought that aU danger of war
had vanished by the withdrawal of the HohenzoUern
Prince from the Spanish candidature, " and in so
uselessly and gratuitously wounding him the French
Cabinet alienated the only person who could check
Bismarck." King William was disgusted. " Was there ever
such insolence ?" he wrote to Queen Augusta.
" They want me to appear before the world as a
repentant sinner."
When Benedetti asked the King to give " guar
antees " that there should be no renewal of the
HohenzoUern candidature, His Majesty said : " You
* " Les Causes et les Responsabilites de la Guerre de 1870."
Par H. Welschinger. Paris : Plon. 1910.

292 THE SECOND EMPIRE
ask me to make a promise for all time, and that, for
every reason, I cannot do."
Bismarck did the rest.
" There was neither insulter nor insulted at Ems.
There was only the Chancellor's manoeuvre." The
French Cabinet played into the hands of Bismarck,
whose one desire was that France should be re
sponsible for the declaration of war. " It was
Bismarck who wanted war, and we rendered him the
service of declaring it." M. Ollivier was pleased at
the HohenzoUern' s withdrawal, and there the affair
ought to have ended ; " but," says M. Welschinger,
" a section of Deputies and of the Court — the Em
press in particular — urged war.* While the business
world was all in favour of peace, an artificial atmo
sphere environed the Cabinet — an atmosphere com
posed of M.P.s and hot-headed journalists — and
accused Ministers of weakness. The numerical
inferiority of the army was not the fault of the
Emperor and his Ministers, but of the elected repre
sentatives of the nation. The Emperor's health
grew worse and worse, until he could no longer resist
the war party. . . . We had an army numerically
inferior, could not reckon on allies, and were in no
way prepared for war. On July 6, after the Due de
Gramont's speech, I heard on all sides, ' It is war, it
is war !' The Cabinets of Austria and of England
both blamed the declaration of war."
On the day of the departure from St. Cloud of the
Emperor and the Prince Imperial for " the front "
(July 28) gloom prevailed at the chateau. " One
would believe there was a coffin in the house," said
* To similar assertions the Empress Eugenie, in her Reply to
her Accusers, gives an emphatic denial.

THE PALE EMPEROR 293
a lackey. But the aides -de - camp who were
accompanying the Emperor were in boisterous
spirits. They were inchned to say, as Pandore said
to his brigadier, " Maj este [Brigadier], vous avez
raison."* The Emperor wore the uniform of a
General of Division de petite tenue ; the Prince Im
perial that of a Sous-Lieutenant of Voltigeurs of the
Guard. As the boy stroUed about, taking farewell of
everybody — his pretty cousins, the Empress's nieces,
daughters of the Due and Duchesse d'Albe, were
there — he tapped the scabbard of his sword and gave
himself airs, to the delight of the admiring group.
Tears were in his mother's eyes when, as the train
moved out of the special station, she exclaimed,
" Do your duty, Louis !" " We shaU all do it,"
answered the Emperor ; and to the Prime Minister
he shouted, " Ollivier ! Je compte sur vous !" It
was their last meeting.
As the imperial party left the chateau on their
way to the station there was a shout of " A Berlin !"
" Don't say that," exclaimed the Emperor reproach-
fuUy ; " the war wiU be a very long one, in any
case." And one remembers that, a few days
before, when the streets of Paris were paraded daily
and nightly by crowds yelhng " To Berlin !" the
Emperor had written to the Due de Gramont, " En
thusiasm is a fine thing, but sometimes very ridicu
lous." If the Empress had illusions, her consort
had none.
We must take it, however, that he had allowed
himself to be, I will not say actually deluded, but, to
a certain extent, led away by General Frossard, the
Prince Imperial's inflexible " governor " — a man of
* Part of the chorus of one of Nadaud's popular songs.

294 THE SECOND EMPIRE
many " plans." Plan No. 1 was to " take " Saar
briicken, and five days after the Emperor left
St. Cloud Saarbrucken was duly " taken," Napo
leon III. assisting (was he not Commander-in-
Chief ?), and the Prince Imperial being "baptized "
by shells and bullets.
Frossard (we are told by M. Emile Ollivier*) was
to cross the Saar on August 2 at daybreak, and take
possession of Saarbrucken, supported by portions of
the 2nd and 3rd corps d'armees, while the 4th corps
watched the debouchees of Saarlouis. Bazaine was
to command three corps destined to co-operate in
the scheme. As the event proved, Bazaine was
against the occupation of Saarbrucken, and " thus
revealed the fatal inertia which lost himself, the
army, and France."
Even thus early. the " hauts chefs," to fill up time,
had sent for their wives. " The camp was fuU of
them." Prince Napoleon wrote in his notes, " Trop
de femmes d' officiers. "f
M. Emile Ollivier' s exposure of the " disillusion
diplomatique " is, it goes without saying, very
illuminating. Prince Napoleon attributed tiie check
of the alliance " to our wish to save the Temporal
Power. It has become a historical commonplace to
say that if we had given Rome to the Italians we
should have had with us Italy and Austria, and we
should not have sacrificed the country by protecting
a decrepit Sovereignty." M. Ollivier continues :
It was the " Spanish fanatic," the Empress, who
determined our resolutions. " I prefer," she is
* Revue des Deux Mondes (January 1, 1911). " La Guerre de
1870 : Notre Premiere Defaite." f md-

THE PALE EMPEROR 295
reported to have said, " to see the Prussians in Paris
rather than the Itahans in Rome." De Gramont is
reported to have said : " I could do nothing. I was
tied by the Empress."
The Empress never used the abominable words
attributed to her, and De Gramont never made the
unjust accusation against her that was put in his
mouth. She approved the Cabinet's refusal of
Beust's suggestion to give Rome to Italy, but she
did not originate that refusal. The initiative was
taken apart from her by De Gramont and me. If
she had been the Ultramontane fanatic she was said
to be, she would not have supported the protesta
tions of Mackau* and his friends that it was necessary
to maintain our occupation of Rome. It was, on the
contrary, upon her eloquent demonstration that
the Council of Ministers, taking no heed of the
representations of so many of the Catholic no
bility, approved the evacuation of the Pontifical
territory. In the matter of alliances, as in other matters, the
Council did not adopt the opinion of the Empress,
except when it was in accord with its own opinion.
The Council never submitted to an influence which
the Empress never had over any of its members, and
which she never attempted to exercise. It was the
Cabinet, not the Empress, which must be held
responsible for the course foUowed in this negotia
tion. All this will come as a pleasurable surprise to the
Empress's friends, and as a disagreeable shock to her
critics — or would vilipenders be the better word ?
Moreover, the venerable Minister's clear-cut, incisive,
unanswerable statements amply confirm the Em
press's assertions in her " Case," which, in the light
of M. Ollivier' s pronouncements, is immeasurably
* The Baron de Mackau (previously referred to in this chapter).

296 THE SECOND EMPIRE
increased in importance. What is printed above
concerning the precise relations which existed be
tween the members of the last Imperial Government
(for Palikao' s " scratch " Ministry is of little, if any,
account) and the Empress is, I allow myseff to say,
particularly satisfactory to one who has been con
sidered, in a few quarters, to have unduly " bolstered
up " the consort of Napoleon III. The American
critic who desired something more than the assertion
of a journalist to make the Empress's " Case "
thoroughly acceptable now has his not unnatural
desire gratified — he has the word of honour of the
historian of " L' Empire Liberal " that the imperial
lady's vehement assertions (which, until 1910, had
been buried in the columns of a newspaper) are true
in substance and in fact, and may no longer be
questioned. But M. Ollivier has more to say on this point :
The Empress and the Due de Gramont were con
vinced that, the war over, it would have been easy
for us [the Ollivier Cabinet] to have estabhshed the
Papal Sovereignty had it been overthrown by
revolutionaries. The Emperor and the Due did not
realize the situation in which we should then have
found ourselves. . . . The withdrawal of our troops,
in the circumstances in which it took place, was
equivalent to the abandonment of what remained of
the Temporal Power.
Even had Victor Emmanuel sent troops to our
aid, he could not have done so before the first week
in September ; consequently, such help from Italy
would not have saved us from Spicheren, Worth,
and Sedan.
The real motive of the abstention of Italy was not the
refusal to give up Rome. The Italian Ministers from
the first subordinated the question of participation in the

THE PALE EMPEROR 297
war to the initiative which Austria might have taken.
Italy could do nothing without Austria.
The causes which led Austria to refuse to come to
our aid and to bring Italy with her are infinite. But
(he one cause which dominated all others was the known
intention of Russia* to put her army at the service of
Prussia if Austria sent her troops to the assistance of
France. This is confirmed by King William, who, on the
morrow of his victory, wrote to the Emperor Alex
ander II. : " Never will Prussia forget that
she owes it to you that the war did not take
extreme proportions. God bless you ! Your
grateful friend for ufe, william."
To this outburst of gratitude the Tsar replied :
" I am happy to have been able to show you by the
evidence of my sympathies that I am a devoted
friend. May the friendship which unites us assure
the happiness and the glory of the two countries ! —
Alexander." We may not question the sincerity of M. OUivier's
avowal, extorted from him by bitter memories of,
as Napoleon III. says, " what might have been " :
" La Russie a beaucoup Si reparer d notre egard."
At this point it is germane to the diplomatic
question— which, as we have seen, was at the root of
everything — to recall the doubtless forgotten fact
that on July 24, 1870 — five days after France had
declared war — a Conference took place in Paris on the
vital question of the proposed alliance of France
Austria, and Italy. Prince Napoleon and the Due
de Gramont represented France, Prince de Metter
nich (husband of the celebrated Princess Pauline)
and Count Vitzthum represented Austria, and Count
* Known at the Foreign Offices, but unknown to the outside
world, the Press included.

298 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Nigra (a great admirer of the Empress) and Count
Vimercati Italy.
The Due de Gramont produced the draft of a
proposed Treaty, which was agreed to. The Con
ference was about to break up when Prince de
Metternich and Count Nigra simultaneously intro
duced a condition making it a sine qua non that
France should give up Rome to Italy. Prince
Napoleon refused to accept the condition, and the
Due de Gramont announced that the Conference was
at an end. Napoleon III. at once informed Prince
de Metternich and Count Nigra that only in the last
extremity would he agree to a diplomatic conference
on the question of abandoning Rome to the Italian
Government. On August 1— the day before the first engagement
at Saarbrucken, when the Prince Imperial received
his " baptism of fire " — the Emperor Napoleon, at
his urgent request, was presented by Austria and
Italy with a new project of alhance, containing these
important clauses :
1. The diplomatic campaign projected against
Prussia will be commenced only after September 15
[a fortnight, as it happened, after the French defeat
at Sedan], and only if France shall have already
victoriously invaded South Germany.
2. Austria - Hungary undertakes to effectively
support Italy, in order that that country may obtain
conditions favourable to her interests in the Roman
question. In opposition to Prince Napoleon, the Emperor
demanded the withdrawal from the Treaty of the
paragraph relating to Rome and the fixing of a date
for changing the phrase " armed neutrahty " into

THE PALE EMPEROR 299
"armed co-operation." To this proposal Austria
and Italy gave a point-blank refusal. Thus France
was left to carry on the struggle single-handed.
Nevertheless, the military party at Vienna pushed
on preparations for war. The Tsar was highly in
censed, and the Austrian Ambassador at St. Peters
burg telegraphed that His Imperial Majesty had
spoken to him " very bitterly " concerning the
Austrian preparations. This had its effect at Vienna,
and the war party subsided. The result of the failure
of Austria and Italy to join France was that the
Emperor Napoleon, who had confidently reckoned
upon the armed support of those countries, took the
field, with fatal consequences.*
* From the hitherto unpublished correspondence of Count
Beust, Chancellor of Austria-Hungary, July, 1870. — "Deutsche
Rundschau," 1910.

CHAPTER XX
THE EMPEROR'S COLLABORATOR
I have told, in " The Empress Eugenie : 1870-
1910,"* how, on January 9, 1873, upon hearing of
the unexpected death of Napoleon III., I hastened
from the Temple to Chislehurst on behalf of the
" Morning Post," whose editor (he was not yet
proprietor), the late Lord Glenesk (then Mr. Borth-
wick), had for many years enjoyed the intimate
friendship and confidence of the Emperor. I told
how, on my arrival at Camden Place, I sent in my
card to Sir Henry Thompson, who blandly declined
to open his lips except to assure me that the Em
peror was dead, and that he, the eminent surgeon,
would himself relate the facts " some day" — a day
that never arrived. M. Pietri was too overcome
with grief to say anything. But there was at hand
— I have always found it so — the friend in need.
He was the Grand Chamberlain, the Due de Bassano.
All that could be hastily told he told me, between
his sobs. " Come to-morrow, ask for me, and you
shall see our dear Emperor." I went, and the
veteran led me into the chamber of death. Two
Sisters knelt by the bedside. I was alone with
them — and the Dead.
* London : Harper and Brothers. New York : Charles
Scribner's Sons. 1910. 300

THE EMPEROR'S COLLABORATOR 301
There was at Camden Place, when I sought out
Sir Henry Thompson, one who could have greatly
enhghtened me ; at the moment I did not know him,
even by name. Later I enjoyed the friendship of
the Comte de La Chapelle, and I have retained it to
this day. Moreover, I am honoured by the friend
ship of his eldest son, the Vicomte, who has rendered
me infinite service in this essay to portray the Comedy
and the Tragedy of the Second Empire.
The Comte de La ChapeUe of the sixties and
seventies — to-day, alas ! but the shadow of his
former self — was the confidant, the trusted and
devoted friend and coUaborator, of the Emperor, and
equally the ami fidele of " Napoleon IV." He was
a born fighter — with the pen, which, in his hand,
was of more account than the sword. Much of what
I thirsted to know on the Ninth of January, 1873 —
the fatal day at "Camden" — the Comte de La
ChapeUe could have told me at the moment. I
console myself with the reflection that had he told
me aU he knew, and had I written it, the " Morning
Post " would assuredly never have printed it — it
was too tragic. I pubhshed in 1910 what this
chivalrous friend of Napoleon III. knew a few
hours after those last words had been murmured —
" Etiez-vous a Sedan, Conneau ?" And it gratified
me not a little to find that many of the eminent
critics who reviewed " The Empress Eugenie " in
such generous terms selected that particular passage
for comment or for quotation.
I must explain the status of the Comte de La
Chapelle, who is the Empress Eugenie's junior by
four and M. OUivier's by five years. He descends
from an essentially French Royalist family of

302 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Perigord, in the department of the Dordogne.
His father was an officer of the bodyguard of
Louis XVIII., and it was only a few years before
his death that he forgave his son for seceding from
the Royalist party and devoting himself heart and
soul to the Imperialist cause. Perhaps it was the
surviving Count's Gascon blood which made him so
energetic in the defence of Bonapartist interests at a
time when they had fewest supporters.
After twenty years of travel in America and
Australia the Count returned to Europe in 1869,
and throughout the campaign of 1870 did the
" Standard " splendid service as one of its war
" specials," a post for which he was eminently
fitted. His admirable volume, " La Guerre de
1870," was the first war-book given to the pubhc.
In 1872 there appeared, with the Count's name on
the title-page, " Les Forces Militaires de la France
en 1870." The authorship of this striking work was
immediately attributed to Napoleon III., it being
argued that none but the Emperor could possibly
have obtained so much official information concern
ing the condition of the army at the beginning of
the war. It was generally believed that this " Comte
de La Chapelle " was a pseudonym adopted by the
Emperor. This was an error, the fact being that
the Count had become the collaborateur attitre of
the august Exile at Chislehurst, who wished his friend
to assume the nominal authorship of the volume.
In 1873 the indefatigable and versatile Count— the
most genial and generous of men — issued " Les
GEuvres Posthumes de Napoleon III." ; and among
his other works were " Paysans, on vous trompe,"*
* "Peasants, you are being deceived."

THE EMPEROR'S COLLABORATOR 303
" Les Representants du l'Appel au Peuple," and
" Declarations des Napoleon," this last containing
a characteristic message from the Prince Imperial,
whose claims to the throne were fervently and
cogently set forth by the Count.
When " Les Forces Militaires de la France en
1870 " appeared the Bonapartist journals, as well
as papers of another colour, declined to review it !
The Comte de La ChapeUe was the man to get it
" noticed." At the Emperor's request he took
several copies of the brochure to Paris, for personal
distribution among the editors and reviewers of the
leading papers. In one copy the Emperor wrote
his own name, and commended the work to the
attention of the weU-known pubUcist, M. Saint-
Genest (a nom de plume), of the " Figaro," which at
the time was hostile to Napoleon III. Saint-Genest
was himself inimical to the faUen Sovereign, but he
was an eminently just man, and a day or two after
he had received the brochure from the Count he
wrote an elaborate, and scrupulously fair, review of
it in the then unfriendly "Figaro." Other papers
followed Saint-Genest' s courageous lead, and in the
end the Emperor's convincing pamphlet was widely
reviewed. We may be certain that the Emperor
did not think the less of the Comte de La Chapelle
for this triumph.
In those days the Emperor was generally derided
by the French Press, which, as M. Emile Ollivier has
recently shown in the fifteenth volume of his
masterly work, " L' Empire Liberal," .and also in
the " Revue des Deux Mondes," drove him into the
declaration of war. The Comte de La Chapelle and
Paul de Cassagnac were almost the only supporters

304 THE SECOND EMPIRE
of the Emperor. Inertia prevailed amongst a large
section of the Bonapartists, and probably they felt
somewhat ashamed of their slackness when they
read De La ChapeUe' s fiery and pungent exhorta
tions, which afforded the Emperor the greatest
consolation. But there was reason in what the
admiring Prince Imperial said to the Count after
His Majesty's death : " Not everybody here likes
you." It is with sincere gratification that I now intro
duce as narrator the venerable Count's eldest son.

Reminiscences of Bazaine, Napoleon III., and
the Prince Imperial.*
Marshal Bazaine, f immediately after his escape
from the Island of St. Marguerite, came direct to
London, saw my father, and sought an interview
with the Empress Eugenie at Chislehurst. It was
reported at the time that the Marshal did not, as he
was originally said to have done, escape from the
fortress by means of a rope, but owed his liberty to
a friendly (and bribed) gaoler. Bazaine himself,
however, told my father that he freed himself with
* Communicated by the Vicomte de La Chapelle (1911). The
Comte de La Chapelle' s dramatic description of the painful
scene at Camden Place, Chislehurst, on the day of the Emperor's
death is given in the volume, " The Empress Eugenie : 1870-
1910." London : Harper and Brothers. New York : Charles
Scribner's Sons. 1910.
f He had been convicted of treason in December, 1870, but
the death-sentence was commuted to twenty years' imprison
ment. He escaped on August 9, 1874.

——¦"** * 7) * ,

J.y^K

THE COMTE A. DE LA CHAPELLE.
Collaborator and Friend ofthe Emperor Napoleon III.

_1 private photograph, lent for this u-ork bg llic
Vicomte de Let Chapelle.

To face p. 301.

THE EMPEROR'S COLLABORATOR 305
the aid of a rope, and he showed his much-lacerated
hands as evidence of the truth of his assertion.
My father was once discussing with Napoleon III.
the question of the Marshal's generally assumed
treachery, when the Emperor said : " Pas traitre,
pas traitre; mais, mais!" — accompanying the two
last words with a significant shake of the head and a
very serious look.
My father often had confidential talks with the
Emperor, sometimes for hours together, and at such
times Napoleon would get the Count to relate his
adventures and experiences in the various countries
which he had visited. These little stories greatly
interested and diverted the Emperor, and aroused
his old enthusiasm.
Some time before the death of Napoleon III.
determined efforts were made to bring about a
restoration of the Empire, and my father and a few
— very few — others were let into the secret.* I
remember, as a smaU boy, my father concealing in
the Uning of the hat wliich he wore when travelling
important documents entrusted to him by the Em
peror for transmission abroad, especially to Paris.
At the same time my father was " shadowed "
everywhere by the detectives of the French Re
public, and subjected to the greatest annoyance.
The propaganda for the restoration of the Empire
continued even after the Emperor's death.
When, after his release from captivity at Wilhelms
hohe, the Emperor arrived in this country, in
March, 1871, he was very short of money, and
* The Vicomte thus confirms the assertions on this point
pubhshed in " The Empress Eugenie : 1870-1910." London :
Harper and Brothers. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons.
1910. 20

306 THE SECOND EMPIRE
through my father's untiring efforts large sums were
raised for His Majesty and for the Restoration
propaganda. I mention this because it was falsely
reported that the Emperor had left France taking a
great deal of money with him. As a matter of fact,
when the Emperor reached Chislehurst his finances
were at a very low ebb. In my father's own words,
" II etait tres gene " (he was very short of cash).
The Prince Imperial, as many are probably aware,
was an excellent swordsman. He attended regularly
at Bertrand' s fencing academy, in Warwick Street,
Regent Street, where the courteous maitre d' armes,
a fencer of the old school, used to put the Prince
through his lessons with much dignity and infinite
ceremony. M. Bertrand passed away long since ; but
there may still be seen in the academy over which
he so worthily presided a bust of the Prince, his
foils, his epees de combat, and other of his weapons,
which, on one occasion, the veteran professor, with
pathetic solemnity, allowed me to handle when I
was a favoured pupil many years ago.
The Prince was also a first-rate rider, and my
father has often told me with what agility the
imperial youth would vault into the saddle. It was
really this cleverness in mounting which cost him
his life when he and his party were surprised by the
Zulus on June 1, 1879. Lieutenant Carey (who,
whatever may be said to the contrary, was in com
mand of the ill-fated reconnoitring-party) gave the
order to mount, and the Prince, in attempting to
vault into the saddle, put a great strain either on
the flap or the girth, with the result that it gave way,
and the Prince fell to the ground. By this time
the Zulus were close upon him, but were checked in

THE EMPEROR'S COLLABORATOR 307
their advance by two of the troopers (who had not
"bolted"), until they were both killed by assegais.
Then our dear, brave little Prince drew his sword,
and, with a skiUed fencer's natural instinct, en
deavoured to ward off the spears, which were now
thrown at only a few yards' distance. With his
sword he contrived to deflect some of the assegais,
but they came so rapidly and numerously that
ultimately he was struck in one of his eyes and
pierced in various places. I need say no more.
The exuberant spirits of the Prince Imperial may
be iUustrated by this Uttle story : One day, at
Camden Place, he invited my father to a bout at
singlestick. The result of a very unequal match
was that in a few minutes the Prince so belaboured
my father that he was black and blue aU over his
body, and scarcely able to move for three or four
days ! My father often laughed over this incident,
but my mother was very angry with the Prince.

CHAPTER XXI
FINANCING THE EMPEROR AND "THE CAUSE"
Comte de La Chapelle's Letters to Napoleon III.*
The "Subscription" Assured.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, Undated.
I do not know how to express to your Majesty
how grieved I am because ofthe mishap which has
occurred, and of which I am the involuntary cause.
Mr.  , instead of going to Cowes on Friday, as
had been arranged, was obliged to spend the day in
the City, and he sent word to me in the evening to
inquire whether he might present himself before
your Majesty on the following day, and whether I
could accompany him. As for me, believing that
he was going away, and thinking that I had two or
three days' time, I went to Belgium, and only
returned yesterday evening.
As Mr.  did not find me, he thought that he
ought to wait for me, and it was only this morning
that I was able to get this explanation. He is
annoyed to think that your Majesty waited for him.
He again repeated to me what he had intended to
say himself to your Majesty on the subject of the
subscription. He only requires a few more days to
* Communicated by the Vicomte de La Chapelle (1911).
308

FINANCING THE EMPEROR 309
complete his business connected with the railways.
" And then," he said, " I shall carry out my promises
to a large extent, and you can, in presenting my
humble respects and excuses to the Emperor, give
the assurance to His Majesty that I and my friends
. . . ." [The concluding words are undecipherable.]
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
Anxious Moments, but " Good Results " hoped for.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, August 6, 1872.
I have been very busy taking various
measures, but I regret to say that for some weeks
past I have encountered obstacles which seem likely
to delay the reahzation of promises.
In a number of instances the impression produced
by the [war] loan has cooled the ardour which had
been first shown, and has deferred the engage
ments ; in other cases I have to combat the ani
mosity or the actions of people who, after having
had relations with the Empire, have had the in
delicacy to borrow on their own account and to
speculate on their relations with the Emperor.
Thus I am obliged to reassure myseU of the
co-operation of those who were most inclined to
subscribe large amounts. I must confess to your
Majesty that these matters cause me anxious
moments, and the disappointments which I meet
with would discourage me if I did not summon all
my energy and call to mind that it is absolutely
necessary for me to attain the object proposed.
FinaUy, Mr.  is expected in London on Satur
day next, and as soon as I have been able to see

310 THE SECOND EMPIRE
him I shall telegraph to inquire on what day your
Majesty could receive him.
I am still in hope that all promises in this direction
will be fulfilled, and that, with his co-operation and
that of his friends, we shall obtain good results.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
£10,000 Available for the Emperor, in Instalments of £2,000.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
Sire, Undated.
I have this morning imparted to Mr.  the
idea which your Majesty had the kindness to
express in a telegram, and I explained, moreover,
how urgent it seemed to me to procure funds for the
French Press.
Mr.  replied that he would certainly bring to
a happy conclusion the combination entered into by
himself and some friends, in order to realize a sub
stantial subscription, but that he still required a
little time.
" Nevertheless," he added, " I can already place
at the Emperor's service a sum of 250,000 francs
[£10,000], as an instalment of the subscription which
I and my friends are collecting, but I should desire that
this amount be [? payable] by instalments of 50,000
francs [£2,000] each, at intervals of a few days."
Mr. — — will leave for Paris on Saturday next, to
remain there eight days, and if your Majesty would
kindly at once send his orders, the address of his
offices is. . . .
As for me, I shall await your Majesty's decision as to
whether I should go to Cowes or remain in London.
Your Majesty will, perhaps, think that [our]
success is still far from being equal to what was

FINANCING THE EMPEROR 311
looked for ; but, notwithstanding all [the] steps
taken, and all my zeal, more time is required than I
had expected ; this worries me very much.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
M. Rouher receives £2,000 for the. Emperor.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, September 8, 1872.
M. Rouher has received the 50,000 francs
[£2,000] announced, and since the Emperor will be
back at Camden Place on October 1, I shall have
the honour to explain the situation to your Majesty.
Mr.  has received his picture of the Battle of
Sedan, and he asks me to inquire of your Majesty
whether he would be aUowed to have it taken
to Camden Place for inspection by the Imperial
Family. Having been obfiged to give up the publication of
the " International," I have made arrangements to
begin next week the publication of a little daily
paper, in EngUsh and French, with the title " Paris
and London News."
The principal object which I aim at is to resus
citate the " Telegraphic Despatch," begun last year,
but appeahng to the Enghsh and French public, as
well as to the Press.
I shaU remain anonymous in order not to be
annoyed in France, and in order to lend more force
to my pathetic telegrams.
In order to keep the secret I have acquired a
little printing-office . . . for pamphlets and books.
. . . AU my plans, but altogether the desire to be
of use, which I trust your Majesty will pardon me.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.

312 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Count in Contact with " Influential Persons of all Countries."
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, September 15, 1872.
Having returned to London, I hasten to place
myself at your Majesty's disposal.
In compliance with the request made, I called on
M. Rouher on Thursday morning, the 12th inst., to
ask him at what time he would receive Mr  . I
was told that he had not arrived, and that the date
of his arrival was not known.
At Mr.  's request, I returned the next day,
the 13th, but was no more successful than the
previous day, so that Mr.  left Paris without
being able to comply with the letter which your
Majesty had the kindness to write him, and in which
your Majesty expressed the wish that he should
spend the 12th with M. Rouher. He wished to
know to-day what he ought to do.
M. de  , an intimate friend of a relation of
mine, has sent me a booklet, which I enclose for
your Majesty. He is the author of it, and he would
be glad, when publishing another edition shortly, to
insert any rectification which might be pointed out.
During my stay in Paris my business in connection
with railways brought me into contact with in
fluential persons of all countries, and I was con
vinced that solid progress had been made in favour
of our cause, and that people were looking forward
to the future. A crisis is believed to be inevitable
in connection with the interest on the loans,* and
this is thought to be the rock which will wreck
M. Thiers' s boat.
* The loans for paying the war indemnity of five milliards
(£200,000,000).

FINANCING THE EMPEROR 313
The propaganda against the Empire is prosecuted
at Paris, and as for us, we do not seem to have any
organization. (Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
" Fully Subscribed."
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, September 17, 1872.
Mr.  gives orders by this evening's post
to pay to-morrow a sum of 50,000 francs [£2,000] at
M. Rouher' s, and in a few days' time he wiU pay
200,000 francs [£8,000] ; the remainder of the sub
scription will be paid as soon as his business with
the " Era " is terminated.
I am busy with various matters which I hope will
have good results, and as soon as I have succeeded
I will hasten to inform the Emperor. May your
Majesty deign to accept the homage of my profound
respect and my perfect devotion !
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
P.S. — The funds of Mr.  's subscription will be
paid in Paris through the intermediary of Mr.  ,
his agent. Payment Delayed.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, Undated.
M.  , agent to M.  at Paris, has
several times called on M. Rouher without being
able to see him. It seems that he is in the country.
The paying of the funds is consequently delayed,
which is not our fault. I will ask them to see about
it again.

314 THE SECOND EMPIRE
The picture of the Battle of Sedan, with the
report of the Prince of Prussia, has been bought
by M.  , and as the Government has caused
the photographic negatives to be broken, I have
suggested that the picture should be reproduced in
London on a large scale, and that copies should be
distributed in France.
If the Emperor does not disapprove of the project,
it will be carried out as soon as the picture reaches
London. In a few days' time several persons who have
promised to subscribe will have returned to town,
and I shall call on them and remind them of their
promises. I have several times been tempted to go to Cowes
to have the honour to present my respects to the
Emperor, but have feared to be troublesome.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
A " Subscription," not a " Loan."
To His Majesty the Emperor.
SlRE, Undated.
Mr.  having sent for me and asked me
whether, because of a letter received from the
Emperor, he ought to change what had been
arranged between us with regard to payments, I
replied that I did not know, but that it seemed to
me that in the letter the purchase of newspapers had
been mentioned, and that he would be able to settle
the question at the rendezvous at M. Rouher' s to
which he is invited for September 12.
He then added : "I shall arrange to pay a larger
amount at one time for the needs of the cause and
the purchase of newspapers."

FINANCING THE EMPEROR 315
I take the liberty of again repeating to your
Majesty that it is here only a question of subscription,
and not a loan ; and if I dwell on this point it is
because I desire to make it plain that I have never
departed from the letter of the mission confided to me.
I intend leaving London for five or six days, but
if your Majesty had any command or instructions
for me, I should be happy to get a telegram, and to
delay my departure, which was to be to-morrow,
Saturday, evening,
My journey is connected with the reappearance of
my paper ; for I was obhged to give up the plans of
the " International," partly because promises have
not been kept, and partly in order to separate myself
from a circle which might have injured our cause.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
Telegram to "Comte de Pierrefonds."*
From Count de La Chapelle to Comte de Pierrefonds,
Marine Hotel, Cowes (Isle of Wight).
Have seen Mr.  , and have arranged matters
with him. Shall write particulars by next post.
Received telegram. Could not meet yet Mr.  .
Shall endeavour to see him to-night, and shall
telegraph his answer.
" Before long I will give you the Highest Mark of Con
fidence." — Napoleon III.
To His Highness the Prince Imperial of France.
Monseigneur, March, isr.i.
Being entirely deprived of the happiness of
seeing your Highness, I take the liberty of address
ing these few words to you.
* The Emperor.

316 THE SECOND EMPIRE
His Majesty the Emperor was kind enough to
count on my devotion, and until a few days ago* I
was honoured by His friendship and His valued
confidence. I loved the Emperor with all my soul. He
commanded my Ufe, and He knew it.
One month before the terrible catastrophe which
has so grievously befallen us, the Emperor pro
nounced these words : " Before long, dear M. de
La Chapelle, I will give you the highest mark of
confidence which I can give you." I bowed. I felt
myself the happiest of men ; I felt that I could do
anything if the Emperor commanded. These kind
words I shall always guard in my memory, and I
have long since vowed that I would be to the son
what I had desired to be to the father.
Thus you see, Monseigneur, that, happen what
may, whether or not I shall be allowed to see you
often, you will always find me ready to abandon
everything, and place my devotion and my humble
services at your disposal, only too happy if your
Majesty will deign to accept them.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
Comte de Clary to the Comte de La Chapelle.
Camden Place, Chislehurst,
Dear FRIEND, December 30, 1871.
I have duly received your letter, and I at
once handed the enclosure to the Empress. Her
Majesty read it with interest, and thanks you. More
over, she charges me to tell you that if. during your
stay in Paris, you should hear anything of interest,
* The Emperor died on January 9.

FINANCING THE EMPEROR 317
she would be pleased to hear of it. Au revoir, dear
friend. Please present my respects to Mme. de La
ChapeUe, and accept my sincerest wishes on the
occasion of the New Year. It is terribly cold here.
Very affectionately yours,
(Signed) Comte de Clary.
From the Same to the Same.
Camden Place, Chislehurst,
January 1, 1872.
Just a line, dear friend, to let you know that the
Empress and the Prince Imperial will be most
happy to see you to-morrow, Sunday, in the after
noon. TiU to-morrow. And I shall be very happy
to shake hands with you. Yours faithfuUy,
Comte de Clary.
Conversation with the Prince Imperial.
mi x, . .j , March 9, 1873.
The Prince said to me :
" I know what great confidence the Emperor
placed in you, and I know how fond he was of you. I
know how devoted you were to him. Not every
body here likes you ; but, as for me, do not forget
that I feel for you the same attachment that my
father did, and I hope that you wUl often come to
see me and speak to me of my poor father."
Then we went on to discuss the situation. The
Prince confided to me certain secrets regarding the
organization of the party ; then he asked me what
the intentions of his father might have been on this
or that point.

318 THE SECOND EMPIRE
I answered.
" Well, then," he said, " I shall act in the same
way when the opportunity occurs, and, as regards
what is now going on, I intend to make a complete
change in a year's time, and to take the initiative
myself, which is my due."
After having given an account to the Prince of the
plans of my friends, finances, and the elections, he
repeated that he depended on me . . . and I was to
come and see him often.
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.
Letter from Emile Zola to the Comte de La
Chapelle. Med an,
Dear Sir, July 15, 1892.
I thank you heartily for your kindness in
sending me the reply which you were good enough
to send to the question of the " Figaro."
It is calculated to make me feel very proud, and
I assure you that I am greatly touched because of
the solid support which it gives to the historical
portion of my work.* I shall always be extremely
grateful to you.
Believe me, Sir,
Very truly and cordially yours,
(Signed) Emile Zola.
* The Comte de La Chapelle had supported Zola in the Press
respecting one of the historical passages in "La Debacle."

^tv

-z-vT\

*prr

THE EMPEROR'S LETTER TO M. ROUHER.*
Chislehurst,
le 12 J., 1871.
Mon cher Monsieur Rouher,
Je vous ecris pour vous faire faire la connaissance
de Mr- de La Chapelle, litterateur distingue, qui a publie
un recit tres bien fait de la campagne de 1870, et qui
m'a donne des preuves de devouement dont je suis fort
touche. Recevez la nouvelle assurance de ma sincere amitie,
Napoleon.

Translation. Chislbhttest, June 12, 1871.
My dear Mr. Rouher,
I am writing in order that you may make the
acquaintance of M. de La Chapelle, a distinguished
litterateur, who has published a very admirable account
of the campaign of 1870, and who has given me proofs
of devotion which have greatly touched me.
Receive this new assurance of my sincere friendship.
Napoleon.
* See the faosimile on the previous page.

CHAPTER XXII
THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING
M. Pietri's Lettres Revelatrices.
The Man was Colonel Baron Stoffel.
And Colonel Stoffel was the French Mihtary
Attache at Berhn from 1866 until 1870.
This clear-headed artiUery officer, ever on the
alert, saw what would inevitably happen sooner or
later, and he bombarded his Government with warn
ing reports, which were either pigeon-holed by
Ministers, after a perfunctory glance at their con
tents, or perused and treated as waste-paper.
Those who assume (which I do not, and never shall)
that Napoleon III. was, as a Ruler, as black as his
detractors have painted, and continue to paint,
him, wiU now learn for the first time that, while in
the highest mihtary circles Stoffel's repeated warn
ings of Prussia's preparations for war were scoffed
at, and he himself regarded by many at the Tuileries
as a bird of ill omen, the Emperor attached the
utmost importance to his Mihtary Attache's reports,*
insisted, through M. Pietri, upon being kept fully
informed of what was being done by Prussia, and
did his best to prepare his forces for the struggle
* Colonel Stoffel's Reports were published in 1871 under the
title, " Rapports Militaires Ecrits de Berlin : 1866-1870." Paris :
Garnier. 321 21

322 THE SECOND EMPIRE
which he, like Stoffel, foresaw in the near future.
We know all this now, and how we know it I will
presently show. As, however, Stoffel* is the hero
of this chapter, his personality must not be neglected.
His career was a remarkable one. From 1862
until 1865 he was prosaically employed in super
intending the excavations at Alise, which had been
begun in 1861 by that enthusiastic archaeologist,
Napoleon III. In 1860 Stoffel, then an artiUery
Captain in garrison at Auxonne, saw for the first
time Mont Auxois. He went over the ground,
Ceesar's " Commentaries " in hand, and noticed how
closely the locality tallied with the description given
of it by the conqueror of Gaul. Shortly afterwards
Stoffel published in the " Moniteur " (August 6 and 7,
1860) " Une Etude sur l'Emplacement d'Alesia,"
which attracted the attention of the Emperor, who
was then working upon his " Histoire de Jules
Cesar," a work of which he himself said, one day,
he wrote very little, owing to his somewhat slight
knowledge of Latin.
Stoffel was rewarded by being made Chef d'Esca-
drons and Officier d'Ordonnance to the Emperor.
In 1862 the Commission de la Topographie des Gaules
published Stoffel's " Etude " through the medium
of the imperial printing-office. Stoffel showed that
Caesar's statements were absolutely accurate, and
that the whole army of Vercingetorix might weU
have been located on Mont Auxois and not have
lacked a water-supply. In 1866 Stoffel became
Military Attache at Berlin.
At the Tuileries, one morning, the Emperor,
accosting Stoffel, said : " General Bourbaki assures
* The Colonel died in 1907, aged eighty-eight.

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 323
me that you take an exaggerated view of the quali
ties of the Prussian General Staff, and that you do
not sufficiently recognize the abilities of our own
Staff." Stoffel, a very outspoken man, replied :
" Sire, the General is deceived. In order to form
a correct opinion of the Prussian and the French
Staffs, one must have seen both of them. . . .
Supposing there were two pictures of Rubens, one
measuring six feet and the other eight feet  "
Here he was stopped by the Empress, who, seeing
that he was warming to his subject, began talking
to him, so that Stoffel had to break off what he
was saying to the Emperor in order to Usten to the
Empress ! And nothing more was said about the
respective merits of the Prussian and French
General Staffs.
General Bourbaki was as optimistic as Stoffel,
fortified by his knowledge of facts and his prescience,
was the reverse. Two years before the war the
General, as Chef de Mission, foUowed the Prussian
army manoeuvres along the Rhine. He could not
help noticing the rapid fire of the Prussian infantry,
but his only official comment was this very inept
one : " The needle-gun (fusU a aiguiUe) is certainly
a formidable weapon, but in other matters we have
nothing to learn from the Prussians !" Bourbaki
was a brave soldier, but a corporal of the Scots
Guards could have taught him much that would
have been very useful to him.
One day, after the war, when the wounds of
France were still open, as Stoffel was lunching at a
Paris restaurant, Bourbaki entered, saw Stoffel, and,
with tears in his eyes, said : " Ah, Colonel, I de
ceived the Emperor, but unintentionally. Had we

324 THE SECOND EMPIRE
listened to you we should have escaped our misfor
tunes. As a loyal soldier, I ask you to forgive me!"
This showed a noble heart, certainly ; but all the
mischief had been done.
Not long after the death of the Emperor, Marshal
Leboeuf, who, I remember, had been present at the
imperial obsequies, again made his way to Chisle
hurst, mainly, it would seem, to perform an act of
duty, for Colonel Stoffel (who chanced to be visiting
England at the time) saw the Marshal* kneeling
at the Emperor's tomb, contritely murmuring,
" Pardon, Sire !"
While the war was still raging, the "Times" printed
some extracts from Stoffel's reports, and in its
editorial columns expressed the opinion — which all
military experts must have endorsed — that it was
a puzzle how anyone who had read those documents
could ever have dreamt of plunging France into a
conflict with Prussia.
Had Colonel Stoffel's warnings been acted upon
by the Ministers of Napoleon III., France, in aU
likelihood, would have been saved from her disasters,
and the Prince Imperial have been the reigning Em
peror to-day. After all his great services, how was
Stoffel treated ? Thiers dismissed him from the
army on some frivolous pretext !
* M. Emile Ollivier, writing in the "Revue des Deux Mondes "
(December 1, 1910), proves that Leboeuf was absolutely accurate
when, in July, 1870, he said emphaticaUy, "Nous sommes prets,
archi-prets " (We are ready — more than ready).

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 325
M. Pietri' s Letters to Stoffel*
I. Biarritz,
MY DEAR STOFFEL, September 27, 1866.
The Emperor has read the report which you
sent to the Ministry of War. He waited for it two
or three days, and was obUged to send for it. You
did well to tell me about it. His Majesty, before
receiving it, dictated to me the foUowing questions,
in all of which the Emperor is particularly interested :
1. How are the officers of the [German] Landwehr
selected and named ?
2. Where do they come from ?
3. How many of them are there in each battalion
of infantry and in each squadron ?
4. Where are the horses for the squadrons of the
Landwehr obtained ?
5. Is the uniform of the Landwehr the same as
that of the army ? Or in what respects do the
uniforms differ ?
6. How much does the knapsack of the infantry
weigh ?
7. How many hospital-men per battahon follow
into the battle-field ?
8. How are the parks of artiUery organized ?
9. How are the requisite horses obtained ?
The Emperor dictated to me all these questions
for you somewhat hurriedly, and I think he will
have others connected with them which you will
* M. Pietri's deeply -interesting and historically-important
letters appeared in the influential and deservedly popular maga
zine, the " Revue de Paris," on June 15 and July 1, 1911. I am
greatly indebted to the Editor of the " Revue de Paris " for very
kindly allowing me to print some extracts from these valuable
documents, which are "revelations" in the best sense of the
word.

326 THE SECOND EMPIRE
be able to put and decide yourself, principaUy con
cerning the organization of the Landwehr. You
have doubtless heard that His Majesty is greatly
occupied with the question of increasing our military
forces by the formation in France of a Landwehr
system. All the information which you can send
on these points will be welcomed [by the Emperor].

II. Compiegne,
My DEAR FRIEND, November 21, 1866.
I thank you for the interesting details which
you have sent me. I perused them with much
pleasure, and read them to the Emperor, for whom
they arrived very a propos. The Commission for
the Reorganization of the Army has begun its
labours, and His Majesty has found in your letter
ideas and appreciations upon certain members of
this Commission which could not easily have been
given to him viva voce ; whilst, coming from afar,
in a private letter, these opinions contained nothing
disagreeable ; moreover, it was not possible to
question their sincerity. Several meetings [of the
Commission] have already been held, at which there
was more or less verbiage — many ridiculous ideas,
and especially an immense quantity of blagues on
the part of a misunderstood General T  ,* and of
our Cousin, f. The Emperor made them all come
to Compiegne and work hard. At last they left
yesterday, and will meet again a week hence. In
* General Trochu, the valiant soldier who deserted the
Empress in her great extremity (September, 1870).
f Prince Napoleon, father of the Bonapartist Pretender of
to-day.

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 327
the interval they will study the Emperor's plan
[which was ultimately adopted].
* * * * *
That, in general, is the scheme which is about to
be studied in detail. I wished to send it to you,
but only thirty copies were printed, and the Em
peror is very niggardly over them. Before closing
my letter I will ask him if he will send you a copy,
and if he consents you will find it enclosed.
And now I have to communicate two matters to
you by the Emperor's order.
1. To send you the enclosed packet containing
papers relating to the war budgets of Prussia and of
France. The Emperor has been struck by the
relatively small amount of the Prussian war budget
as compared with that of France, and also by the
figures for the maintenance of two armies almost
equal in number. His Majesty wishes you to com
pare the figures now sent to you with the amounts
which in Prussia are aUocated to the same object
as with us, in order to see what economic ameliora
tions may be made in our administrative system.
Your report upon this subject will be of the greatest
use to His Majesty, who has appointed a sub-
commission, formed of members of the Commission,
and charged with the study of the administrative
and economic details, discipUne, etc., etc.
2. Could you procure the new rifle which has been
submitted to the King of Prussia ?* The Emperor
wishes you to do all that is possible to get one.
Let me know if you have need of means for that
purpose. I am not directed to mention this to you ;
* The needle-gun (Zundnadelgewehr), first used by the Prus
sians in warfare that year (1866) in the Austrian campaign.

328 THE SECOND EMPIRE
but should you require any [funds], I will set about
getting you some.
We have been at Compiegne a week. We had
one essentially military evening, which was attended
by twenty-four members of the Commission, yet
was very gay and pleasant. If you want to know
the names of some of the ladies, les voici : the sweet
and beautiful Mme. de Chasseloup-Laubat * ; Mme.
Lejeune ; the little Palikaos,f the eldest of whom is
charming ; the little Bruats,J etc., etc. ; and MUe.
de Lagrenee, to whose memory I recaUed you,
thinking that it would be agreeable to you. . . .
I have become a sportsman enrage, and I am going
to ask to be admitted into the venerie.§ . . . The
Emperor continues very well, better than ever. . . .
Your offer to send some books is accepted [by the
Emperor]. Select the most interesting, and send
them to me — with your bill. Duperre|| sends you
a thousand remembrances. III. Paris,
January 3, 1867.
M. le Lieutenant-Colonel !
(That looks exceedingly well.)
... I am sending this letter through the
Foreign Office. It will reach you slower than by
the ordinary post, but more surely, ^j " Chi va
* Wife of the Minister of Marine in 1851, and again from
March, 1859, until January, 1867.
¦f Daughters of General Cousin-Montauban, Comte de Palikao.
j Daughters of Admiral Bruat (who died at sea on returning
from the Crimea to France).
§ The Imperial Hunt.
|| A devoted ally of the Empress Eugenie. He survives in
1911. IT M. Pietri hints that the Prussian postal officials were " tres
indiscrets."

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 329
piano, va sano ; chi va sano, va lontano."* This
is a proverb, and proverbs are the wisdom of
nations. You asked me in your last letter to tell you
exactly the kind of rifle the Emperor wanted a
specimen of. His Majesty has no choice. He wants
a specimen of a rifle which might be adopted by the
Prussian army ; or to know the state of perfection
to which the old rifle has been brought — supposing
that steps have been taken to modify it. In a
word, His Majesty wishes to be au courant of the
armament of the Prussian army. You need not,
then, concern yourself with the various specimens
which may be offered [to the military authorities],
but only with the rifle which might be adopted. . . .
*****
The cost of the army wiU be diminished rather
than increased, but you wiU find that the patriotism
of our speakers wiU consider the expense stiU too
heavy, and that they wiU do their best to create the
behef that the French people are governed by
buveurs de sang.f What fun the Prussians will
make of us and the esprit mihtaire of the vahant
French nation !
. . . The Emperor continues in exceUent health.
. . . His Majesty directs me to put the four fol
lowing questions to you :
1. What is the weight of the Prussian knapsack ?
What does it contain ?
2. What is the weight of the Prussian cavalry
saddle, and what weight does the horse carry beyond
the weight of the rider ?
* " Who goes slowly, goes well. Who goes well, goes far."
t Literally, "drinkers of blood" ; figuratively, "bloodthirsty."

330 THE SECOND EMPIRE
3. How is the Prussian soldier shod ? Does he
wear boots, or shoes and gaiters ?
4. Is the uniform of the Landwehr provided by
the State, or paid for by the man who wears it ?
IV. Paris,
My DEAR STOFFEL, December 27, 1867.
Your two letters greatly interested me. What
you tell me of the state of opinion and the ideas of
the Prussians does not surprise me. I have always
been among those who think that we are detested
on the other side of the Rhine, and it has not been
necessary for me to read the journals and pamphlets
published in Germany. Although the German pam
phlets are . . . little read in France, we hear a
long, dull buzz much resembling hostile clamours.
... I beheve we shaU not seek vain pretexts to
make war ; but if we are obUged to make it, we shall
not have a moment's hesitation. . . .
I read to the Emperor the greater part of your
opinions on the feelings of the Prussians towards
us. . . . V. Paris,
My DEAR STOFFEL, January 8, 1868.
You should have received through the
Foreign Office my last letter, containing twelve
hundred francs [£48], and informing you that another
sum is being sent from the same source.* You will
find in this envelope the bank-note [for 1,000
francs = £40] referred to, which will be, I beheve, the
* It may be safely assumed that these amounts came from the
Emperor's purse.

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 331
last you wiU receive. The prodigahty of Cesar
Romain* will stop there, and if we had not any other
resources there would be nothing for us to do but to
ask M. Plon to give us a bed in the hospital which
he intends to build in memory of the conqueror of
the Gauls and of his historian [Napoleon III.] ....
I urged you in my last letter to send all the
information which you can obtain, and not to omit
using for that purpose the " crowns " you will be
able to get the Embassy to advance. His Majesty
would hke to have to-day a complete report upon
a new system of mobilization adopted by Prussia, by
which she will be able to put all her troops on a war
footing in nine days. Possibly you have already
sent such a report ; send another in more detafl. . . .

VI. Paris,
My dear Stoffel, March 22- 1868-
. . . What you told me in your last letter is
quite just, as far as Germany is concerned, but I do
not, Uke you, expect to see the Emperor reconcile
himself easily to events which might happen, as he
has done, or been forced to do, up to now. The
conditions have changed, and if we have submitted
to events against which it was impossible to oppose
any obstacles, to-day we are ready to face, with
calmness and confidence, those [events] which may
be produced, and we have only to act in regard to
our interests. . . . We must be in a state of con
stant observation, and work indefatigably to make
ourselves the strongest. * The Emperor.

332 THE SECOND EMPIRE
It is necessary, in this connection, to render
justice to Marshal Niel. Since he has been at the
[War] Ministry he has accompUshed veritable tours
de force, and from this time, by the admissions of
the most difficult, of the most prudent, and even of
the timorous [or " scrupulous "], we can say that we
are ready for all events.
... I have read to the  [? Emperor] several
extracts from your letters. VII. Paris,
My dear Stoffel, May28' lm-
I have read, and caused to be read — and that
with the greatest interest on my part and also on
the part of the persons to whom I communicated
them — the letters which you have sent me for some
time past, and which I have not yet answered. . . .
You appear to be highly thought of at the Ministry
of War, where your Reports are appreciated in a
manner very flattering to you. ... I have seen one
or two of these reports when with the Emperor, who
always follows with the greatest attention the
questions treated in your Reports. . . . AU the
details which you give upon the [Prussian] army,
and everything connected with it — armaments,
fortifications, etc. — are a very useful thermometer
to consult, indicating very clearly the degree of
temperature in which we find ourselves.
Your private letters are of an equaUy appreciable
interest. Your relations with the B  family*
place you in a magnificent position, and you have a
hundred times more advantages than the most wary
* The Bismarcks.

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 333
diplomatist to observe and seize, in the family life,
a crowd of tints which should enable you to judge
soundly of the hopes which they form for the future,
and of the degree of confidence or of fear which they
have of the success of their plans. In my opinion,
they [the Prussians] have taken a step in advance by
the meeting of the Custom-house Parhament [Parle
ment douanier]. M. de B  * has tried to restore
the prestige of Prussia, which had begun to weaken,
by remounting his war-horse, in order to repel the
foreigner who wished to mix himself up in their
affairs, and by appeahng to German patriotism. . . .
*****
I am happy to teU you to-day that our mihtary
situation is superb. Never have we had so many
resources — never a finer army. If you receive the
" Moniteur," you wiU have been able to read Marshal
Niel's report upon our armament and the quahty of
our rifles. This has been pubhshed in the official
journal in answer to the reports circulated in
Germany, and noted by you, which tended to create
the behef that we had not obtained the results
which we had expected from our rifles. At Chalons
they are practising assiduously with the new rifle, f
and as the men are much pleased with it, they apply
themselves thoroughly to practising with and taking
care of it.
. . . AU these mUitary exercises, joined to the
other summer deplacements, do the Emperor much
good. . . .
*****
I have given to the Emperor the various maps
which you sent me. They are very acceptable to
* Bismarck. t ^^e chassepot.

334 THE SECOND EMPIRE
His Majesty, who desires you to continue to forward
everything new which you may find, and which is
worth the trouble of sending. It is understood that
you keep an account of all your expenses. The
small atlases which you have sent for the Prince
are exceUent for teaching him geography, and the
Emperor has given them to General Frossard.* If
there are any others, you can buy them.
VIII. Fontainebleau,
My dear Stoffel, ^^ 17> 1868'
I send you with this letter a memorandum
which was dictated to me, and which requests you
to explain some things mentioned therein. I pre--
ferred to send it in the shape of a memorandum
rather than to copy it and add it to my letter, as the
E. [the Emperor] told me to do. . . .
[M. Pietri notes the Emperor's satisfaction with
Colonel Stoffel's last two letters, and with his last
reports to the War Minister, which His Majesty
said were " tres bien faits." The writer proceeds :]
I must tell you, on my own account, that I should
think your admiration of the Prussian army and of
the country itself was exaggerated if I did not know
that you intentionaUy exaggerated your views of
both a little, with an object which I understand —
viz., to give France a good idea of the strength and
vitality of those who may one day become our
enemies, as to-day they are our adversaries. I
believe everybody is in accord upon this point. . . .
It has made us feel the necessity of making great
* Divisional-General Frossard, aide-de-camp of the Emperor,
member of the Committee of Fortifications. Governor and chief
of the Military Household of the Prince Imperial from 1868.

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 335
efforts in order not to be outdistanced. These
efforts have been made, and are being made every
day. . . . We are ready for every event, big as it
might be. That we have committed faulty, no one,
I think, will deny ; that we have lacked foresight
is not to be doubted ; but from all that we have
learnt a good lesson, and it is not to be believed that
in future we shall leave even the smallest things to
chance. If our diplomacy has not always been
skifful, we must do it the justice of saying that for
some time past it has not done badly by remaining
tranquil and by giving way, whUe not losing sight of
things, but observing them attentively. We have
been out of luck up to now, and we must hope that
fortune wiU not delay to turn, and that it will bring
us some good coups, of which we shall have to take
clever advantage. *****
In the first week of December, 1868, the Court
was at Compiegne. M. Pietri writes to Colonel
Stoffel to say that at Compiegne everything was
proceeding on traditional lines : hunting, shooting,
rides and walks to Pierrefonds, and in the evening
" monster dinners and dances." One improvement
had been made : the barrel-organ, which the Em
peror sometimes " ground," was replaced by a live
pianist, M. Waldteuffel.
Writing from Paris on May 27, 1869, M. Pietri
reproaches Stoffel for having left Paris without
hearing Rossini's Mass. " I like it less than the
Stabat, but that did not prevent me from going to
hear it three times."
On December 10, in the same year, M. Pietri
wrote to tell the Colonel that Paris was going through

336 THE SECOND EMPIRE
a crisis, and that men's minds were unsettled.
Matters had not improved at the date of the next
letter (February 4, 1870). Victor Noir had been
shot by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, and on the next
day Rochefort published in the " MarseiUaise " an
appeal to the people. Thus what was destined to
be the " Terrible Year " began most unfortunately.
I am told (writes M. Pietri) that the Enghsh
Government will insist upon Prussia disarming. It
is thought that nothing would come from such a
step, and that it would be un coup d'epee dans
l'eau. . . . What do you think of it ? Do you
think that it would be sufficient to say to the
Federal Chancellor, "You must disarm," to cause
him to disarm ? I should be curious to know what
answer he would make to anybody who made such
a proposition to him, and what he would really
think and express privately. I am certain that he
would make many promises without intending to
keep one of them. No doubt you think as I do, and
if you can find time (try to find it) tell me if I deceive
myself. In April, 1870, Colonel Stoffel was in Paris, and
M. Pietri wrote on the 9th : " The Emperor wishes
to see you to-morrow morning at ten. Be punctual,
and come and breakfast with us."
After that date there is a gap in the correspon
dence. In a long letter, dated March 5, 1871,
M. Pietri says : " What sorrows since we parted !
More than once I thought I should go mad, and that
my heart would be unable to withstand so many
troubles. To look on powerlessly at the cutting
of the throat of one's own country ; to see all that
one holds dearest ruined, destroyed ; and, after the
disasters caused by the foreigners, to foresee others

H.H. PRINCE ROLAND BONAPARTE.
President of the Geographical Society of France. Father of H.K.II. I'riiicc.
George of Greece.

Photographed by Boissonas et Tapouier. Parts.
and lent for this teorlc by the renter.

Tuftit-e p. 336

THE MAN WHO GAVE THE WARNING 337
caused by the madness of our citizens — are not
these things sufficient to fill with despair the heart
of every Frenchman who sincerely loves his
country ? . . ."
A week later M. Pietri writes to tell Stoffel that
all the news coming from France is very sad. He
despairs of the future. Then comes a most remark
able passage, which I take upon myself to emphasize,
for it shows, as I have always argued — years before
this book was written — that Colonel Stoffel, if his
warnings had been taken, might, and probably
would, have saved France. M. Pietri himself admits
it, and there is no more trustworthy surviving
authority than the Empress Eugenie's devoted
Secretary and valued friend. M. Pietri writes to
Stoffel : "I have always done you justice, and
to-day more than ever / recognize that you were right,
and that if you had been listened to we should not have
been where we are ; but all were blind — Ministers,
statesmen, the Deputies who were in the majority and
those who formed the Opposition. Everybody worked
against the country. The Emperor alone, perhaps,
saw correctly, but, blocked every moment by the remarks
of some and by the ill-will of others, he was carried away
[by the current] and unable to carry out many of the
plans which he had formed. I admit that he must bear
the responsibility, for in this world there must always
be a scapegoat ; but [pubhc] opinion will calm down,
and by degrees will better appreciate the responsibility
of each [individual]. The Emperor's responsibility
will then be lessened." These are noble words, ringing
with patriotism and a desire to render justice to
The Man who gave the Warning. And I rejoice
that the Editor of the "Revue de Paris" has so
22

338 THE SECOND EMPIRE
generously afforded me an opportunity of making
the English peoples acquainted with the fact that
France had in Colonel Stoffel the most devoted and
most prescient of servants, who made it as clear as
dayhght, not once, but again and again, that Bis
marck meant to have war and meant to goad France
into beginning it. At Grenoble most of us have
gazed admiringly at the statue of Bayard, the preux
Chevalier, who was " sans peur et sans reproche."
When will Paris " do the right thing " by Stoffel ?
When ?

CHAPTER XXIII
PRINCE NAPOLEON
The Empress in 1910-11.
[*% These Political Views of H.I.H. Prince
Napoleon now appear for the First Time
in concrete Form. Questioned in London,
in June, 1911, as to his "Programme," the
Prince replied : " The Name of Bonaparte
is a Programme."]

It has been recently said that I adhere to the Re
public, the actual Government. That is an exaggera
tion. In the actual Government there are states
men, men of order, and, without mentioning names,
I may add that there are talented chiefs. I am,
above aU, a man of my epoch, a lover of progress.
The time has gone for coups d'etat and for proscrip
tions in France. I could, to-morrow, work with
some past Ministers, or with some who are retiring.
I should have considered it an honour to have voted
for the social laws enacted by the Government. I
339

340 THE SECOND EMPIRE
think only that the laws ought to be prepared
more juridicaUy. A Council of State should give
a legal shape to the informal opinions of legis
lators not thoroughly versed in the laws. That
could be done without injury to Parhamentary
initiative. AU regimes have some good in them. Take, for
instance, the family of Louis PhiUppe. WeU, Louis
Philippe did some excellent things. He prepared
the way for the Empire admirably. If I am not with
the Extreme Left, I am stiU less with the Right. I
have none of the ideas, none of the illusions, cherished
by the Parliamentary party of the Right. I am in
the Centre, with legality. I put my country above
dynastic questions ; I would not disturb order. I
crave for the Revolution, the mother of aU of us —
the Revolution, from which modern France has
sprung. It has been said that yesterday I asked that
the " Marseillaise " should be played. At my mar
riage, which was celebrated privately, no national
air was played ; but in the evening a local band of
musicians serenaded us. I was asked if I should like
to hear the " Marseillaise," with the "Brabanconne"*
and the Italian Hymn, and I heard it with a feeling
of respect. Did it not precede the Eagles across
Europe ? The " Marseillaise " is the only French
[national] hymn the Moncalieri bandsmen know. I
was pleased with it. The words of the " Marseil
laise " have now only an historic sense, and it was
with that air that my great-uncle led his armies
across the world.
I note with the deepest interest all that happens
in France — everything that is done and everything
* The Belgian National Anthem.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 341
that is said. I admit with pleasure that some excel
lent things are often done there. The longer we —
nous autres Francais — five abroad, the more we love
our France. For me the word " Republic " always
preserves its Latin sense, res publica (the "public
thing "), but there were, and there still are, in
France men who have regarded, and continue to
regard, it in that sense, and I do not hesitate to say
that I approve from the bottom of my heart their
actions. ExceUent things have been done for the
army, for the mihtary service ; but more attention
ought to have been paid to the cadres, in order to
have assured the re-engagement of the bons sous-
officers ; more especiaUy should anti-militarism not
have been encouraged.
France has especiaUy need of order. I am often
accused of not concerning myseU sufficiently with
pohtics ; but there they make a mistake. I think
I should concern myseU ^ith poUtics stiU less. That
Ministers of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs should
be pohtical Ministers is perfectly natural ; but Com
merce, Pubhc Works, and Agriculture ought to be
only administrations.* That a pension should be
given to every Frenchman upon attaining a certain
age is an idea which I entirely approve ; but how
many miUions of francs would that cost, and where
would they come from ? No Government which
increases the taxes would be popular.
The Empire ! Do you reaUy believe that France
could still exist under aU the laws of the First, and
even of the Second, Empire ? The times have pro-
* It was pointed out to the Prince that " la Republique a
bien du monde k caser ; elle a fait beaucoup d'enfants qui veulent
etre nourris et pensionnes."

342 THE SECOND EMPIRE
gressed. We have railways, telephones, newspapers.
The conditions of the peoples have changed. A good
Government, you see, is one which, above all other
things, sees to the needs of the epoch in which we
live. To be unable to visit our museums in France is one
of the most painful phases of my exile. So much has
been done for the museums : they have been so
greatly enriched. My deep love of art suffers from
my inabihty to inspect their treasures. What emo
tion I should feel at seeing again Fontainebleau and
the Malmaison, where there are so many souvenirs
of my family ! And VersaiUes !
It seems to me that my exile, in proportion as it is
prolonged, exalts the national sentiment in me. I
love France as a good Frenchman, with a particular
and disinterested affection. I am with all those who
contribute to its greatness and prosperity, wherever
they come from, and to whatever party they belong.
They know me very imperfectly, and many errors
have been spread about me. I am of my time ; I
am a man of progress. I do not live in the past, with
old-fashioned sentiments. I desire above everything
the well-being of my country. Narrow political
formulas embarrass me only very shghtly.
In all camps I see those who work to realize the
greatness of France, and I am their unknown friend.
I have never abandoned my own projects. Whether
it is this one or that one who secures the happiness
and greatness of France matters httle to me — that,
for me, is a secondary question. I am with all who
coUaborate for that purpose. France first ! I am,
beside, un sage. I do not believe in adventures. In
a modern country the army alone is powerless to

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 343
bring about a change of regime, if it has not behind it
the assent and the wilhngness of the country.
One must know how to await opportunities, and
never attempt to precipitate events.

M. Jules Delafosse, the eminent Deputy for Cal
vados, and a zealous member of H.I.H. Prince Napo
leon's party, has defined " Bonapartism " as being,
" not a doctrine," but " an absolutism " :
It is the regime which Napoleon I. inaugurated,
and which Napoleon III. adopted, that is represented
to-day by their dynastic heir [the Pretender]. At
present no one occupies himself with Bonapartism,
and the Prince does nothing to direct attention to
himself. For the indifferent and the satisfied the
Bonapartist programme is only a purely speculative
indication, which is of no more value in their eyes
than a prospectus ; it will have no value until the
Repubhc expires, and the Republic will not die until
it has lost the right to hve. That may come sooner
than one imagines. The accidental causes which
may any day sweep away the regime include the
increasing dissatisfaction caused by the horrible un
popularity of Parliament, which is the visible figure
and the hidden soul of the Republic. The spectacles
which it daily gives us reproduce the prophetic
features which mark the " agony," generally dis
gusting, of dying regimes. That, perhaps, is not a
reason why the Empire should necessarily succeed
it ; but it is a reason for thinking of it. One may
think of it in all ranks of society, and even in all
camps, because the Empire is not a party, but a
refuge. It is not impossible that the heir of the
Napoleons may attain to power by the political
paths that anarchy fatally opens to the predestined
man. It is by the Consulate or the Presidency that

344 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the elect of his race were conducted to the throne.
There is no worse servitude than that of oligarchies,
those especiaUy which have the appetites and pas
sions of negroes. It is to this miserable condition of
affairs — in which the germs of revolution are already,
thank God ! apparent — that Republican Parliamen
tarism has led us ; and that is why from aU hearts
there rises the same cry of desire and of hope —
" Exoriare ali quis !"
The years 1896 and 1898 were marked by excep
tional exultation in the Bonapartist camp. In 1896
there were serious differences amongst the rival
Orleanist faction. Some of the younger and more
ardent Royalists, recalling the debut in pohtical fife
of Napoleon III., were desirous of putting forward
the Due d'Orleans as a Parliamentary candidate. The
managing committee of the party, however, decided
that " a son of France should not parody a Bona
parte." The Due d'Audiffret Pasquier communi
cated this decision to the Due d'Orleans, who curtly
replied that the committee should have consulted
him upon the subject before expressing an opinion.
Pasquier repelled this snub by resigning his member
ship of the committee, which, guided by Buffet, De
Broglie, and d'Hausson ville, was accused by the
stalwarts of lack of energy in the propaganda. A
cleavage seemed imminent among the Royalist
sections, for many Catholics abandoned the party,
and the Pope repudiated it.
Taking advantage of the misfortunes of others, the
Bonapartists became more of a mihtant party. On
August 15, 1898 (the old Napoleonic fete-day), they
mustered in force at a banquet, made speeches ridi
culing the Republic, and cheered to the echo a letter
from the Pretender containing a promise to " appear

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 345
at the proper moment," which he declared to be "at
hand." In the intervening thirteen years the Royal
ists have done most of the " shouting," or, rather, it
has been done by the " Camelots du Roy," led by the
two sons of the late Paul de Cassagnac, M. Leon
Daudet, and even M. Henri Rochefort !
The Marriage at Moncalieri.
The marriage contract of Prince Napoleon and
Princesse Clementine was signed at Brussels on
November 7, 1910.
The banns of marriage were pubhshed on Octo
ber 9, on which day the subjoined official announce
ment was affixed to the notice-board of the Hotel de
ViUe at Brussels, where it remained for ten days, in
compliance with the law :
A marriage is to take place at Moncalieri (Italy)
between his Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon
Victor Gerome Frederick, domiciled in Paris, 8th
Arrondissement (Seine, France), hving at Brussels,
No. 241, Avenue Louise, eldest son of his late Imperial
Highness Prince Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul and of
Her Imperial and Royal Highness the Dowager Prin
cess Marie Clotilde Napoleon, Princess of Savoy, domi
ciled and residing at the Royal Castle of Moncalieri,
near Turin (Italy), and Her Royal Highness Princess
Clementine Albertine Marie Leopoldine, Princess of
Belgium, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, domiciled
at Brussels, No. 1, Place des Palais, eldest* daughter
of his late Majesty Leopold Louis Philippe Marie
Victor, Leopold II. , King of the Belgians, Duke of
Saxe, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and of her late
Majesty Marie Henriette Anne, Queen of the Belgians,
Archduchess of Austria.
* By inadvertence the Princess was described in the " banns "
as the " eldest," instead of the "youngest," daughter of the late
King and Queen !

346 THE SECOND EMPIRE
English people of all creeds wiU learn with sur
prise and amusement that the Government of the
French Repubhc will not aUow Prince Napoleon
to be described in official documents pubhshed
in France as " Imperial " ; nor may his father
(the late Prince "Jerome") or his mother (Prin
cesse Clotilde, daughter of the renowned Victor
Emmanuel II.) be so designated, even in banns
of marriage.
Prince Napoleon was described in the " banns "
published at Brussels and at Moncalieri as having a
" domicile " in the 8th Arrondissement, Paris
— as, in fact, he always has had, although the law
prevents him from entering his native country.
The document containing an announcement of the
marriage was affixed to the waU of the Mairie of
the 8th Arrondissement, Paris, but the words
"Imperial" and "domiciled in Paris" were sup
pressed by the " Parquet " (otherwise the Public
Prosecutor). Many who read the banns of marriage were prob
ably surprised at finding that neither in that docu
ment nor in other official papers does Prince Napo
leon use the historic name of " Bonaparte." I may,
therefore, explain that under the Second Empire it
was decreed by a FamUy Statute that henceforward
" Napoleon " should be the designation of those
branches of the Imperial Family who might be caUed
upon to reign. The other members of the family
preserved the name of " Bonaparte," but constituted
the " civil " family of the Emperor Napoleon III., and
were not included in the " Imperial " Family. This
distinction is noted in the " Almanach de Gotha "
without explanation — an omission which should be

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 347
rectified in future editions of the world's libro
d'oro.* In the Times of November 26, 1909, it was noted
that "Prince Victor Napoleon Bonaparte, after a
week's stay at the Savoy Hotel, left yesterday for
Brussels." Our official Court Circular of the same date de
scribed the Pretender as " His Imperial Highness
Prince Napoleon Bonaparte."
Both those designations are incorrect. Upon the
death of his father (1891), Victor, as eldest son,
became " Prince Napoleon " ; and it will be observed
that in the original banns of marriage he is so styled,
plus his Christian names, " Victor Gerome [cor
rectly " Jerome "] Frederick."
For the solemnization of these princely imperial
and royal nuptials on November 14, 1910, the old
chateau of Moncaheri shook off the dust of centuries ;
the chevahers, in their suits of mail, who sleep their
last long sleep under the tombstones ; the more
modern heroes, whose great deeds are narrated in
the war-pictures adorning the immense and melan
choly corridors — all these reawoke for some days.
Momentarily they saw once more the venerable cita
del, perched, like a great eagle's nest, on the flank of
the picturesque hiUs leaning over the River Po, a
few miles from Turin, in which, for so many lustres,
Princesse Clotilde has unrolled the autumnal stages
of her saintly existence, divided between penance and
charity. At the jubilant strains of the " AUeluia ''
the old home of the Princes of Piedmont, which re-
* Napoleon I. always objected to the use of the surname
" Bonaparte " ; consequently, the three stones (now to be seen
at the Invalides) on his tomb at St. Helena bore, and bear, no
inscription.

348 THE SECOND EMPIRE
sembles a fortress charged to watch over the mauso
leum of the Superga,* saw itself resuscitated.
After these rapid souvenirs we ascend the slopes
of the park, arrest our steps on the terrace to admire
the magnificent panorama of the immense valley of
the Po ; then enter this moyen-age chateau, with its
interminable galleries and great salles, ordinarily so
soUtary and indescribably sombre, but to-day re
juvenated, made comfortable, bedecked with sump
tuous stuffs, with carpets and with flowers, luxuri
ously furnished by royal command — by the orders of
the King of Italy. And it is the Administration of
the Royal Domains which has sent to Moncalieri the
beautiful services of plate for the wedding repast —
something between a State dejeuner and a State
banquet. King Victor Emmanuel III. had indeed,
with kindly and generous tyranny, decreed that,
although celebrated with the strictest princely
privacy, there should be lacking no noble and digni
fied elements in the solemnization of the marriage of
his cousin-german — great-nephew of Napoleon I.,
Emperor of the French, King of Italy — and Princesse
Clementine of Belgium, daughter and granddaughter
of two great monarchs, and great-granddaughter of
Louis Philippe I., King of the French.
If Prince Napoleon was married at his mother's
residence, and in the midst of his nearest relatives,
it was far otherwise with Princesse Clementine, who,
for political reasons, had to make a long journey to
obtain the fulfilment of a happiness which she had so
long awaited. She had, however, even before the
marriage, been received in Italy, not only as a Prin
cess, but as a relative. The daughter of Queen
* The Royal Basilica, near Turin.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 349
Henrietta, Archduchess of Austria, the Princesse is,
in fact, distantly related to the ItaUan royal family,
and, previous to her aUiance with Prince Napoleon,
" dispensations " had to be obtained from Rome.
By yet another delicate attention of the King of
Italy, Princesse Clementine and her aunt, the
widowed Comtesse de Flandre, mother of the King
of the Belgians, who accompanied her to the altar,
were not obliged, before the wedding, to face the
ennui — in such circumstances — mseparable from the
occupation of apartments at an hotel. The left wing
of the Royal Palace at Turin was, for the special
gratification of these two royal ladies, decorated as it
is on great fete-days ; and it was through a forest of
chrysanthemums, adorning even the portraits of their
ancestors, that they entered the old palace of the
Kings of Sardinia. The Dowager Duchesse d'Aoste
(Princesse Lcatitia) presided, with her wonted taste
and grace, over the instaUation of the apartments
reserved for the two Princesses and their suite ; and
it was Princesse Lcetitia who, earher in the year, had
chaperoned the fiancee on her first visit to her future
mother-in-law at Moncafieri, the scene of the
fiangaiUes. H.I.H. Prince Napoleon arrived at the chateau of
Moncafieri three days before the wedding, attended
by M. Thouvenel, the senior member of the Prince's
service d'honneur, and by the Marquis de Girardin
(who had accompanied the Prince from Brussels).
The other members of the suite were lodged at Turin.
Princesse Lcetitia and her son and General Prince
Louis Napoleon stayed at the chateau of Moncalieri.
At half-past ten on the morning of the wedding
the Princes, Princesses, and their suites assembled in

350 THE SECOND EMPIRE
the large salon des Suisses, in which the Mayor of
Moncalieri (M. Protti) celebrated the civil marriage
of the imperial and royal couple. The witnesses at
this function were the Comte de Salemi (son of
H.I.H. Princesse Lcetitia), the Marquis Ferreri di
Cambiano (Deputy for Moncalieri), Comte Balbo
Bertone di Sambuy, and Comte Negri di Lamporo,
the two latter being selected as residing at Moncalieri
(the Italian law requiring that two of the witnesses
at the civil union are residents of the place of the
marriage). After the brief ceremony, the Mayor ex
pressed his hopes that the future of the imperial
couple would be of the happiest ; then, on behalf of
the Municipality of Moncafieri, he gave Prince Napo
leon the gold pen with which the act of marriage had
been signed ; and to the Princesse the Mayor pre
sented a bouquet of orchids. The proces-verbal of
the civil marriage was afterwards registered at the
French Consulate at Turin.
The rehgious marriage was solemnized in the
chapel (which is decorated with frescoes) of the
chateau. Green plants and white chrysanthemums
covered the altar.
Prince Napoleon (who escorted his mother, Prin
cesse Marie Clotilde Napoleon) was in plain evening
dress, over which appeared the riband of the Order
of Leopold, which had been sent to him through
Prince Ernest de Ligne on the previous day by King
Albert. (Some saw in the sombre garb of the bride
groom the symbol of exile.)
Princesse Clementine, radiant in beauty and
charm, looking equally majestic and amiable, came
next, on the arm of her brother-in-law, Prince
Philippe de Saxe-Coburg (who married, and sepa-

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 351
rated from, Princesse Louise of Belgium). The
bride's magnificent robe was of embroidered white
satin, covered with lace ; her veil and corsage, of
exquisite lace, were the gift of a number of Belgian
ladies — in fact, the subscribers were the " ladies of
all Belgium."
Following the bride came —
H.R.H. the Due d'Aoste and the Queen-Mother
Marguerite (mother of the present King of Italy) ;
Prince Ernest de Ligne and H.R.H. the Comtesse
de Flandre ;
H.I.H. Prince Louis Napoleon and his sister,
H.I.H. Princesse Lcetitia, Duchesse Douairiere
d'Aoste ;
H.R.H. the Comte de Turin and H.R.H. the
Duchesse de Genes ;
H.R.H. the Due de Genes ;
H.R.H. the Due de Abruzzes ;
Comte de Salemi (son of Princesse Lcetitia and
nephew of the bridegroom) ;
Prince d'Udine ;
Due de Pistoie ;
Due de Bergame (son of the Due de Genes) ; and
M. de Borchgrave (Belgian Charge d' Affaires at
Rome). The witnesses at the rehgious ceremony were
Prince Philippe de Saxe-Coburg and Prince Ernest de
Ligne — representing the King of the Belgians ;
Prince Louis Napoleon, and the Due d'Aoste (the
former representing his brother, and the last attend
ing as proxy for the King of Italy).
Other witnesses were —
For Prince Napoleon : M. Thouvenel, Marquis
de Girardin, Baron de Serlay, Prince Aymon de

352 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Lucinge, Lieutenant-Colonel Nitot, Baron Antoine de
Brimont, and Monsieur H. Beneyton (His Imperial
Highness's Private Secretary).
For Princesse Clementine : Comtesse d'Ursel,
Baronne d'Hoogworst, MUe. de Bassompierre (all
three Belgian ladies), General Daelman (Belgian
chevalier d'honneur), and Mile, de Bassano (a French
lady).* The dames d'honneur of Queen Marguerite and of
Princesse Lcetitia were also witnesses.
H.R.H. the Comtesse de Flandre was attended by
the Vicomte de Beughem, grand-maitre of Her Royal
Highness's household ; and by the Comtesse de
Borchgrave, dame d'honneur.
Mass was said by Monsignor Masera, Bishop of
Biella, who used the historical chalice presented to
Princesse Clotilde on the day of her marriage by King
Jerome, who for a while reigned in Westphalia. Two
of Princesse Clotilde' s chaplains assisted the Bishop,
who delivered a very inspiring address, recalling the
great deeds of the ancestors of the bridal pair.
The music was exclusively Beethoven's and Men
delssohn's, and included the latter's celebrated
" Wedding March."
There were no street or any other decorations in
the little town. This accorded with the wishes of
Princesse Clotilde, who took the greatest pains to
avoid all possibility of political embarrassments. In
this laudable task she was seconded by Prince Napo
leon, who, ever since the death of the Prince Im-
* This lady, one of Princesse Napoleon's dames d'honneur, is a
daughter of that Due de Bassano who was the Grand Cham
berlain of Napoleon III. He was at Chislehurst with the Imperial
Family, and, later, was often to be seen at the Empress Eugenie's
residence, Farnborough Hill. The author has occasion to re
member him with gratitude.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 353
perial and his consequent succession to the role of
Pretender to the throne, has evinced the most com
mendable desire to remain outside the pale of polit ics.
Princesse Napoleon's wedding-presents were artist
ically arranged in one of the large salons. They
were of the estimated value of 2,500,000 francs
(£100,000). The Empress Eugenie sent Her Imperial
and Royal Highness a diamond tiara ; the King of
Italy a diamond diadem. A group of French ladies
presented the Princesse with a very handsome
toilette-service (table coiffeuse is the technical name
for it).* This artistic gift consists of a magnificent
toUette, Empire style, in mahogany, on which stand
the various items of a magnificent necessaire in silver
gilt, also in the purest " Empire," executed, from
several famous models of the art of the First Empire,
by MM. Falize, of Paris. Accompanying this " all-
French " gift was a livre d'or, containing the names
of aU the donors. Several of the subscribers were
persons in the humblest walks of life, and their names
were read by the Prince and Princesse with much
emotion. When the " ladies of Belgium " asked the Princess
what form she would like their wedding-gift to take,
she expressed her patriotic preference for lace,
because she would be stimulating a national industry.
Her Royal Highness's choice highly gratified the
presentation committee, at the head of which were
Her Highness Princesse Ernest de Ligne and the
Comtesse de Smet de Naeyer, two of the most popular
leaders of Brussels society. This beautiful gift (veil
* This was presented to Princesse Napol6on on April 6, 1911,
by the Duchesse d'Albufera, who was begged by the imperial
couple to convey their grateful thanks to the dames Francaisos
for their superb gift.

354 THE SECOND EMPIRE
and corsage) was presented to Princesse Clementine
at the Palais BeUe-Vue, accompanied by a splendidly-
bound album containing the names of aU the sub
scribers. The Princess's intimate friends greatly admired
the Empress Eugenie's wedding - gift— a tiara of
brilliants — the stones being speciaUy selected and
set in the most artistic manner. Her Imperial
Majesty is a connaisseuse in precious stones of every
description, especially diamonds and emeralds, of
which, as well as pearls, she stiU possesses a large col
lection. The wearing of gems she has discarded for
forty years, with the exception of one occasion — that
of the visit to Farnborough Hill of the King and
Queen of Spain — when, at the State dinner and the
" At Home " the same evening, one smaU jewel was
observable, relieving her invariable black costume.
Princesse Clementine received a number of smaller
jewels, in the shape of pendants, earrings, finger-
rings, and hatpins, some of which came from H.I.H.
Princesse Clotilde, the Dowager Duchesse and the
Duchesse d'Aoste, the Comtesse de Flandre, and the
Queens of Italy, and others from her friends in
Belgium. The Empress's wedding-present to Prince Napo
leon was fully appreciated by His Imperial High
ness, whose collection of historical souvenirs has
been increased from time to time by gifts from the
august lady. The Prince's father was a cousin of the
Emperor Napoleon III., so that the " relationship "
of the Pretender and the Empress is of the slightest.
As a result of the injunctions contained in the Prince
Imperial's wiU, however, the imperial lady has dis
played in the fortunes of Prince Napoleon as much
kindly interest as if he were her second son. From

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 355
his men friends the Prince received a number of
presents, these including souvenirs from the Sover
eigns of Austria-Hungary, Roumania, Bulgaria, and
Servia, whom he visited in 1908, when he was
also the guest for several days of the ex-Sultan of
Turkey. The honeymoon was passed in Italy. From Mon
calieri the newly-married couple went to Rome,
where they were the guests for a few days of the King
and Queen of Italy at the Quirinal. The fact that
they did not visit the Pope during their stay in the
Eternal City gave umbrage to a section of the Belgian
Catholics, one of their organs asserting that the Pre
tender dehberately kept out of the way of His Holi
ness. " The declarations made by the Prince on the
day after the wedding at Moncalieri, the incident of
his recent visit to the King and Queen of Italy, and
his affected ignoring of the Vatican, have," it was
stated, " definitely ahenated from Prince and Prin
cess Napoleon the sympathies of the Belgian Cath
olics, who would, as a matter of course, have been
friendly to them by reason of the blind hatred
evinced by the Catholics towards the French Re
publicans." Not since 1870, it was asserted, " has
there been witnessed the spectacle of a member of a
Catholic royal family visiting Rome without paying
his respects to the Pope."*
The Belgian Liberal papers expressed their grati
fication at the omission of the Pretender to call upon
" the prisoner of the Vatican." " Let the Prince
become a real Liberal, and he will not have to com
plain of a lack of sympathy."
The sojourn of Prince and Princess Napoleon at
* This was nonsensical. Etiquette precludes the King's
guests from visiting the Pope.

356 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Vienna was made additionaUy pleasant owing to the
very friendly reception given to the former by the
Emperor Francis Joseph when the Prince was enter
tained by His Majesty at the Hofburg in 1908, the
Pretender's " great year " of visits to foreign Sover
eigns, including the ex-Sultan of Turkey. On that
occasion the Emperor wore, as his only decorations,
the insignia of the Legion of Honour, presented to
him by Napoleon III.
The anniversary of the election of Prince Louis
Napoleon (afterwards Emperor) to the Presidency of
the Republic was celebrated in 1910 by a banquet at
St. Mande, at which there were present numerous
prominent members of the Bonapartist party. The
Marquis de Dion, who presided, expressed the hope
that they would see France, " which had been struck
in its beliefs and in its dreams of social fraternity,"
rally to the cause which his party defended. During
the banquet an address expressing devotion to " the
cause " was telegraphed to the Prince ; and another
was sent to the Princess, congratulating her upon
" bringing to the defenders of the plebiscitary doc
trine the support of her great charm and her tenacious
energy to secure the triumph of the great name of
Napoleon." Italy — both in the official world and in the Press —
was somewhat genee by Prince Napoleon's marriage.
From aU that was said and printed it appeared clear
that neither the Court, nor the Government, nor the
more influential journals had ventured to give to
the wedding of the grandson of Victor Emmanuel II.
and cousin of the reigning King the importance and
the eclat with which they would have surrounded the
nuptial fetes of any Prince who was not, like Victor

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 357
Napoleon, the issue, through his mother, of the
stock of the Savoys. M. Jean Carrere told in the
Temps, in November, 1910, that a very influential
Itahan politician had said to him at the period of tho
nuptials at Moncalieri : " Do you not think that all
the noise made in the Press will disturb your [French]
compatriots, and wiU make them believe that Italy
supports the dynastic claims of the heir of the
Napoleons ?"
How many others in Italy (asked M. Carrere) still
believe that contemporary France is vaguely sus
ceptible in aU matters relating to the Pretenders ?
But times have greatly changed since the expulsion
of the Orleanist and Bonapartist Princes, " and I
beheve that amongst aU Frenchmen under the age
of thirty the song of MacNab is as remote in history
as are the refrains of former days upon Soubise or
Marlborough. However this may be, one can only
thank Italy, and especiaUy those who govern the
country, for their extreme discretion in this event.
If they have exaggerated their scruples, it only
proves how very correctly the Court and the people
have acted in respect of the French Republic."
This intention to be agreeable to France was said
to be the more meritorious on the part of the Italians
because in reality the Bonapartes — or, if the word be
preferred, the Napoleons — have remained very popu
lar in Italy, more particularly the Jerome branch.
The battles of SoUerino, Magenta, and Palestro,
which covered the Napoleonic name with so much
lustre, are legendary. It is, however, true that
Mentana and the mistakes made towards the end of
the Second Empire have slightly tarnished the
memory of Napoleon III. The souvenirs still pre-

358 THE SECOND EMPIRE
served in Italy prove that Prince Jerome — cousin of
Napoleon III. and father of Prince Victor — did not
lessen the prestige attached to the name of Napoleon ;
he was, in fact, always very popular in Italy. Prin
cesse Loetitia, Duchesse d'Aoste Douairiere, who
resides at Turin, is among the Princesses of the House
of Savoy who are most loved by the people, and she
is much cheered whenever she appears at theatres or
fetes. It is not betraying a secret to recaU the deep
personal affection always displayed by King Victor
Emmanuel III. for his two cousins, the Princes
Victor and Louis, whose cultivated minds and serious
characters he so much appreciates.
At Moncaheri, where Princesse Clotilde's infancy
was passed, and where her daughter, Princesse
Lcetitia, was married to her uncle, the Due d'Aoste,
the widowed consort of the Emperor Napoleon's
cousin Jerome (whom the Emperor always addressed
as " Napoleon ") saw her dearest wishes gratified by
the union of her eldest son, Prince Napoleon, with a
Princess who is exceptionally accomplished, beauti
ful, spiritueUe, cultivated, endowed with a taste for
the arts, and a fervent Catholic, with whom the Holy
Father evidenced his great sympathy by sending her
a magnificent gift, accompanied by a much-prized
autograph letter of congratulation.
If, as in a vision, Princesse-mere, the august chate
laine of Moncalieri, evoked the briUiant, or the sad,
events which furrowed her hfe, clouded by melan
choly episodes which her ardent faith in Providence
helped her to face courageously, she saw again the
fetes celebrated for her own marriage at Turin — the
prelude to the union of her beloved Savoy with
France ; the cradle of her House offered in exchange

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 359
for an independence which France — the France of
the Pale Emperor — assisted the Italians to obtain ;
she saw again the struggle between the newly-born
Italy and the Holy See ; and she saw herself, the
patient and devoted wife, bien Francaise in the
moment of danger, refusing, in a charming letter,
the asylum offered to her by her father, King Victor
Emmanuel, when France was bleeding from the
wounds inflicted upon her in the year of disaster.
" At this moment," wrote Princesse Clotilde to her
father, " I cannot accept your advice, because, if I
fled from France, my sons would blush for me, and
you know that the House of Savoy and fear have
never met. You would not wish them to meet in me."
Similarly noble sentiments were contained in a
memorable letter written by Queen Catherine to the
King of Wiirtemburg, when, urged by her father in
1814 to forsake King Jerome and take refuge at
Stuttgart, she loftUy refused, resolved to share the
fate of her proscribed husband.
If, in 1870, events proved to be stronger than the
firm wiU of Princesse ClotUde, and if she was com
pelled to quit France, then in the throes of revolu
tion as weU as war, we remember how calmly and
with what dignity, on September 5,* she drove en
daumont to the Lyons railway-station, traversing the
quarters where the revolutionary danger was
greatest, and stiU saluted on aU sides by a populace
disarmed by this noble woman's courage. The
Princess, looking back through the years — through
forty years ! — saw herseU once more at Prangins, by
* The day following the Empress Eugenie's flight from the
Tuileries, and the same day on which Her Imperial Majesty
actually left Paris for the coast.

360 THE SECOND EMPIRE
her husband's side ; saw her sons en pension at
Vevey ; then, her consort having returned to France
after the chute of Thiers, she would have recalled her
arrival at Moncaheri, her home ever since.
At Moncaheri, then, the Princesse Clotilde has
voluntarily lived her cloistered life. Not, however,
that she has ever failed to discharge her family
duties. Twice she journeyed to Rome — the first
time in January, 1878. Her father, King Victor
Emmanuel, was dying, and, despite her repugnance
to enter a Rome which had become the capital, she
wished, as a devoted daughter, to receive the King's
last words. Learning en route, however, that her
father had expired, she abandoned her intention of
going to Rome, and returned to Moncalieri. Early
in March, 1891, her consort, Prince (Jerome) Napo
leon, who had resided in Rome aU the winter, was
struck down by an attack of nephritis, complicated
by pneumonia. The Princesse, accompanied by her
daughter, the Duchesse d'Aoste, set out once more
for Rome. Only a very few persons are acquainted
with the incidents of the Prince's last iUness, and I
wiU not recall those painful episodes. One detail
may, however, be recorded here, as it shows how the
perseverance of Princesse Clotilde triumphed on that
melancholy occasion. Twice had Cardinal Mermillod
knelt by the bedside of the dying Prince, who was
stiU fully conscious. When the Bishop of Geneva
left the sick-room the second time, he seemed relieved
of a great weight, and the face of Princesse Clotilde
evidenced her gratitude at the " good end " made
by her husband.* With her children she watched,
* It would be idle to suppress a fact which everybody knew,
and knows, that the Prince had been a Freethinker all his life.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 361
praying — always praying — by the side of the dead.
After the interment at the Superga (March 30) the
widowed Princesse took the hands of her children,
jo:ied them in hers, and said : " Promise to remain
united." They promised, and they have kept their
word. Princesse ClotUde was last seen in Paris
during the iUness and at the death of Princesse
MathUde, the cousin of Napoleon III. On that
occasion she fulfilled once again the role of a soeur
de charite.*

The Home.
Perhaps — I do not assert it — secret party meetings
have been, and are, held now and again at No. 241,
Avenue Louise, in those beautiful salons, so rich in
relics, or in the garden of the imperial residence, now
more than ever an object of pubhc curiosity, with its
modest blue stone f acade and its oak door with carved
eagles, guarded only by those tall chestnut - trees
which serve as a curtain to many a demeure bour-
geoise of more ambitious aspect. The Prince's par
tisans, the associates of his hopes, evidently come and
go very unobtrusively, for no one at Brussels hears or
sees anything of them. The Prince's voice is raised
at long intervals — whenever he thinks it desirable to
formulate the Imperialist idea — in succinct and frank
letters addressed, now to the Bonapartist Com-
* Princesse Clotilde died at Moncalieri on June 25, 1911.

362 THE SECOND EMPIRE
mittees of the Seine, anon to personalities like
M. Malbert. But this is done so discreetly, these
letters are written in so dignified a style, without any
reference to the question of personal banishment
from France, that the sharpest-sighted critic is unable
to trace in them the faintest infraction of the duty
which an exile owes to a country which shelters him.
Prince Napoleon returns to Brussels from his rare
visits to the Empress Eugenie at Farnborough Hill,
and to his sister, the Duchesse d'Aoste Douairiere, at
Turin, without getting himself talked about ; for on no
accountwould he say or do anything which might com
promise the country in which he has found an agreeable
asylum for half his hfe. When he comes to England
two lines in the "Times," "Telegraph," or "Post"
sometimes announce the fact, either on his arrival or
departure. His " movements " at the Carlton or the
Savoy (the hotels of his predilection) are not watched
and reported upon ; the names of his visitors are not
publicly, or even privately, mentioned. His friendly
visit to King Manoel at Buckingham Palace in
November, 1909, was recorded in the Court Circular
(which scrupulously noted his rank of " Imperial "
Highness) and mentioned in the " Times " — that was
all. And perhaps it was enough ; for the Prince it was
certainly ample. Let him alone, and he is grateful.
It was amusingly said of him by a Brussels critic :
" Prince Napoleon is a Pretender who seems to have
no pretensions." Probably the author of the mot
was unaware of the homage which he was paying to
the Prince's correct interpretation of a role so difficult
to sustain.
The daily life of the Prince has never ceased to be
governed, in aU its details, by the same prudent and

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 363
admirable reserve. His existence is that of a grand
seigneur, too distinguished to " make an exhibition
of himseU " for the entertainment of the crowd, too
cultivated not to know how to vary the preoccupa
tions of an exile by useful toil. In the morning one
may often catch a flying glimpse of his tall, robust,
dominating figure among the riders galloping in the
beautiful Bois de la Cambre, or at the " meets " of
M. Saint-Pol de Sincay and of the Prince de Chimay.
But he is seldom to be seen in the afternoon. He is
then at home, studying some work on political
economy or some scientific volume, or, to assist his
memory concerning some historical point, turning the
leaves of one or other of the 6,000 books composing
his " Napoleonic " hbrary — those 6,000 volumes of
the prodigious annals of the Revolution, the Con
sulate, and the Empire. The Prince's library is, of
its special kind, unique. Of his coUection of books
and reUcs he has said :* " I hve my darkest hours in
the midst of souvenirs of the First Emperor. Each
one of these, in recalling a period of his hfe, teaches
me a lesson. Force has driven me from the cradle
and from the tomb of the great Emperor. I take
refuge in his thoughts. To him alone I go to ask for
inspirations." If you have been granted an audience of the Prince
— a favour not accorded to more than a very few of
those who seek it, unless an apphcation is well backed
— you wait your turn in one of the rooms on the left
of the entrance-haU, into which you have been shown
by a footman in a hght-coloured hvery. Here you
may find a few of the Prince's friends who have come
from Paris to spend the day with him, and who will
* In a letter to Theophile Gautier.

364 THE SECOND EMPIRE
leave in these rooms some " good mouthfuls " of the
air of France.
When the moment arrives for your interview with
the Prince, you pass through a vestibule gleaming
with white marble, and your gaze faUs upon a bronze
statuette of Bonaparte, at the age of twelve, reading
a book. You proceed through a vast corridor, paved,
like the vestibule, with white marble. Before enter
ing the cabinet in which Prince Napoleon receives
his visitors, you cast an admiring coup d'ceil upon a
spacious landing where portraits and statues of the
imperial family form an incomparable museum, seem
ing to mount guard on the threshold of this last repre
sentative of the Bonapartes. They are all here — the
grandfathers and the grandmothers. Here Lcetitia,
robust and bonne, in her ample senaro of a Roman
matron, regards reposefully her peaceable husband.
Neither this Corsican — a humble deputy of the
island, not long become French — nor this Florentine,
by origin and temperament, seems to divine, around
the head of the pale infant before them, the un-
perishable aureole that awaits him. There Bona
parte, at all the ages of his life, and at all the stages
of his apotheosis, glances, with his cold eye, at
the Kings his brothers and the Queens his sisters.
Here is Joseph of Spain, whose handsome and open
countenance is less that of a King than of a dilet
tante, epris of beUes-lettres. Here is Louis of Holland,
with the cunning eye, observing, not without melan
choly, Hortense de Beauharnais, who seems to turn
her head from him. Here is Jerome of Westphalia,
sanguine, ready-witted, adventurous, regretting that
Napoleon had not aUowed him to conquer the crown
by his own daring. He avenged himseU, however,

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 365
many times — among others, on the day when, not
yet having a hair upon his face, he bought, for
12,000 francs (£480), at the Emperor's expense (!),
at the sign of the " Singe Violet," the famous travel
ling " necessary," with its ivory-handled razors and
silver-plated wash-hand basins.
Then, in this marvellous gallery, come the women.
Here is Pauhne Borghese, an ideal Diane ehasseresse
— Canova's. You remember this marvellous crea
ture's reply to someone who had reproached her for
posing for this statue in her splendid nudity, " Oh,
il y avait un poele !" (But there was a fire !). You
finger a moment to gaze upon Josephine de Beauhar
nais, like the lava of a sleeping volcano under the
calm envelope of this warm beauty of the isles of the
West — this mortal who, as someone has said, " had
the audacity to love a god." And here is the Arch-
duchesse Louise, in the midst of her parrots and her
dogs, indifferent and dreamy as an Austrian woman,
and also as far from Napoleon as from the Schon
brunn, which she prefers even to the Tuileries.
Napoleon III., fearing lest you should surprise him
in the midst of his dreams, flies from you, his eyes
almost effaced, as if lost in a mist. Here is Eugenie,
reigning as much by her blonde beauty as by that
imperial crown whose gold seems to be expiring in
her glowing hair. Her eyes, in particular, strike you
as strange — tranquil eyes, with their far-off, melan
choly look ; eyes like two tears ; eyes which are about
to weep, whose too large eyelids resemble inexhaust
ible wells, from which sorrow has nothing more to
do but to draw the water. Last of all, there is
Napoleon IV., with the eyes, the look, and aU the
sweet resignation of his mother : the " little Prince,"

366 THE SECOND EMPIRE
in the bearskin of the Imperial Guard ; the Prince,
grown taller, as the Woolwich cadet ; the Prince —
having attained his majority — in a British soldier's
cap, mournfuUy posed upon that languid head,
already enveloped by the night of Death.
But you have arrived at the door of the Prince's
cabinet, an immense room ; and here is the Prince
himself, giving you a hearty and hospitable shake of
the hand. The Prince's broad chest, strong head,
wide shoulders, and firm pressure of the hand which
clasps yours indicate frankness and sympathy.
" Victor or Napoleon ? Say, rather, a Savoyard !"
exclaimed one of his opponents, who, however, could
not more aptly have described or more pleased the
Prince. Prince Victor is a Napoleon through his
father, a Savoyard through his mother, whose
saintly virtues do honour to the upright, proud
character of her son. A little habit of the Prince
amuses you : when he speaks he takes the large triple
ring from the finger on his right hand and transfers it
mechanicaUy to his left hand. You note also that
his deep, strong voice is well fitted to utter words of
command — like that of all the Napoleons. The
Republic of which he is so fond of talking is neither
Liberal nor Conservative, but an " authoritative "
Republic, with its hierarchical chief at its head.
His words, energetically hammered out, resound
through the large salon, full of cases containing the
spolia opima of nearly a century of imperial
grandeurs. Here are sabres, there swords ; else
where crosses and medals ; hats, browned by powder ;
redingotes, no longer grey, but faded, colourless.
Ah ! that Napoleon — what rays of light he leaves
behind him in his hats, his greatcoats, and his

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 367
swords, the latter stiU gleaming, and all forming a
noble cradle for the heir, born to preserve the im
mortal memory of the great Emperor ! These bullets,
mortars, swords, guns, banners, hats, greatcoats,
spurs — all the conqueror's battle paraphernalia,
sorted and classified — must perturb the mind of even
the most stoical and unsympathetic ; and the chances
are that you wiU leave No. 241 without having
studied the Napoleon of to-day as calmly and as
thoroughly as you had intended to. In that domi
nating head there is a mixture of the Carignan
Savoyards and the Napoleon Bonapartes. The
convex forehead, arched, low, stubborn, is that of
Clotilde, his mother. The moustache, long and
seche, is that of King Humbert, his uncle ; but it is
in the chin, prominent and handsome as that in a
Greek statue ; it is in the black eyes, sphinx-like in
their penetration, and as steel-bright as an eagle's
(as is said of the Bonapartes), that Prince Napoleon
so strongly resembles his father, as that father re
sembled Napoleon I. Summing up, you feel that you
have seen a Prince robust ahke in body and mind —
mens sana in oorpore sano. France, without distinc
tion of party, may be proud of this scion of a glorious
race. And who knows if the Repubhc is not damaged
by depriving itseff of the services of this citizen ?
Some of the privileged few who are received by
this descendant of Napoleon I., in the midst of those
rare prints which faithfully reproduce the episodes
of that dazzling career, have dined or supped off the
selfsame campaign plate on which were served the
hasty repasts of the conqueror of Austerlitz or of
Jena before or after the victory. " The privileged
ones of whom I speak," says the most amiable and

368 THE SECOND EMPIRE
gifted of confreres, M. Gerard Harry, " are numeri
cally few, mais de choix. By his admirable fulfilment
of the role of a silent and studious exile, by the
charm of his conversation — the talk of an erudit and
an artist — and by his sportsmanlike qualities, Prince
Napoleon has made, in the royal family and in the
' high society ' of Belgium, friends whose circle he
has restricted only from a sentiment of proud reserve,
and the better to preserve himself from the bothers
inseparable from ' fashionable ' existence. One
seldom sees him at the theatre, concealed in the
semi-obscurity of a box, except when some chef-
d'oeuvre of French dramatic art is produced; or at
the Cercle Artistique et Litteraire ; or at ' Waux-
hall,' when the attraction is some literary piece
brought from his natal land. On such occasions
he is accompanied only by one or other of the Bona
partist notabilities who come in turn from Paris,
like the ' relief ' of a guard of honour."
I recall an audience granted by the Prince to the
" Figaro " in 1910, at which the heir of the Napoleons
expressed his initiation in the art of aviation, and his
pride that Frenchmen of to-day — Frenchmen of the
Republic — have been the heroes and the conquerors
of so many aerial contests.
That so many merits should have attracted Prin
cesse Clementine is not more surprising than the
attachment of the Prince to a King's daughter so
morally royal. This youngest of the daughters of
Leopold II. has the same tastes as her consort — a
heart as French as his own. It was her affection for
France which led her for so many years to make one of
the Mediterranean plages — St. Raphael — her winter
home. She is the only one of the daughters of King

The Empress. Comto Prlmoll. M. Pietri.
H.I.M. THE EMPRESS EUCEN'IE IN THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE'S
BEDROOM AT LA MALMAISON', 1'JlO.
The Empress Josephine died in this room on June 1, 1811.

Cottrteuuslg lent bg the Propeu lors of lit , ¦ usfrutt-,1 Puri.-, jottntu.l, " Feuiu
The Photograph by " Catti-ni-Phot,,;- Puns.

Ttlfurr p. rjijK.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 369
Leopold who did not trouble his last years ; and she
set a good example to others by submitting to her
father's rigorous will, and by delaying an alliance
which she so long desired. Her artistic education
and her penchant for " glory " make her the ideal
companion of an exiled Prince.
From the outset of her acquaintance with (lie
Prince, Princesse Clementine has been a fervent up
holder of the Napoleonic legend, and has made a
close study of the works of M. Frederic Masson,
M. Emile Ollivier, and other historians of the First
and Second Empires. She, at all events, does not
regard the imperial cause as a lost one ; and her
friends laughingly assert that she is really plus
Bonapartiste que le Prince. In her new home she
is surrounded by many historical emblems of her
culte — precious souvenirs of the First and Third
Emperors and of the Ul-fated " Napoleon Quatre,"
these latter including presents from the Empress and
others bequeathed to the present Head of the House
of Bonaparte by the " httle Prince " himself.
From her birth Princesse Clementine was linked
in relationship — very slightly, only in the seventh
degree — to Prince Napoleon ; for the youngest
daughter of Leopold II. had for her maternal grand-
uncle the Archduke Regnier of Austria, great-grand
father of the Prince-Pretender. But " the elans of
two hearts are of more avail as a means of bringing
two persons together than the drooping boughs of
two genealogical trees."*
* M. Gerard Harry, the celebrated Belgian publicist, author of
a very pungent, detailed, and erudite criticism, in "La Grande
Revue" (Paris), of the volume "The Empress Eugenie : 1870—
1910." London : Harper and Brothers ; New York : Charles
Scribner's Sons. 1910. 24

370 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Prince Napoleon's exile dates from a quarter of a
century ago ; and some ten years have elapsed since
there was an entente cordiale between His Imperial
Highness and Princesse Clementine. There was one
obstacle (and, let it be emphatically said here, only
one) in the way of a realization of their hopes — the
fatal raison d'etat ! King Leopold was, or professed
to be, haunted by the fear that such an alliance might
possibly place Belgium in a delicate position vis-a
vis the French Republic. Has that apprehension
vanished ? Anyway, " Leopold the Builder " has
gone to his last account, and Princesse Napoleon is
not the daughter, but simply the cousin, of the
reigning Sovereign.
Machiavelli outlined the line of conduct to be fol
lowed by Princes who reign or who wiU surely reign.
He would, perhaps, have found it difficult to formu
late the troublesome rules of existence of a Pretender
in exile, who is obliged to firmly maintain his his
torical rights to the government of a neighbouring
country, and to keep them sufficiently in the back
ground, so that they may not compromise the nation
which shelters him and whose hospitahty he enjoys.
How many banished Princes have known how to
comply with two such contradictory conditions ?
The Comte de Chambord, Victor Hugo, and General
Boulanger failed to grasp this essential point, and
had to leave Belgian territory. It is by having
known, since June, 1886, by his consummate tact,
how to scrupulously respect +he laws of hospitahty,
without in the slightest degree abdicating his dynastic
claims, that Prince Napoleon has secured the respect
and esteem of all Belgians, whether Conservatives or
Liberals. They thank their guest because he has
never been the cause of the least friction between
Belgium and the French Republic ; and they have

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 371
admired him because, without going back upon his
principles, he has never troubled the friendly rela
tions which exist between Belgium and France.*
By the civil law of Belgium, Princesse Clementine
was under no obligation (her father being dead) to
request permission to marry. When the Constitu
tion was revised in 1893 a clause was inserted pro
viding that any " Prince " who married without the
consent of the King would lose all rights to the
Crown. No mention was made of " Princesses." If
Prince Napoleon had married the Princesse and
created difficulties of an international character
during her father's lifetime, the Government, by
virtue of Article 1 of the Law of February 12, 1897,
could have expeUed him from Belgium. King Leo
pold's death changed the situation.
By her marriage Princesse Napoleon became con
nected with a reigning King (Victor Emmanuel), a
former Queen (Maria Pia of Portugal), and a former
Empress (Eugenie). One of her aunts (the Comtesse
de Flandre) is the mother of a King (Belgium), and
another aunt is an ex-Empress (of Mexico). The
latter was deprived of her reason when on her fruit
less mission to Napoleon III. and to Pope Pius IX.
to crave their support for her consort, and was thus
spared all knowledge of the execution by the insur
gents at Queretaro, in June, 1867, of the Emperor
Maximihan, brother of the present Emperor of
Austria-Hungary. For forty-four years the Empress
Charlotte has lived in complete seclusion in the resi
dences provided for her by her brother, the late
King of the Belgians — first, at the chateau of Ter-
vueren, which was destroyed by fire in 1874 ; and
* M. Harry Gerard.

372 THE SECOND EMPIRE
then at the chateau of Bouchout, a few miles from
the Royal Palace at Laeken. The veuve tragique (as
the Empress of Austria patheticaUy described her)
wore her imperial crown for only three years — a
period of continuous anxiety, trouble, and bitter
humihations. She had a devoted friend in the late
Queen of the Belgians, and she found another in
Princesse Clementine.
Princesse Napoleon's arrival at and departure from
the church at which she hears Mass on Sundays is
witnessed by an eager and admiring crowd of " the
faithful " — and others ; and she herseU related this
little episode to the eminent Belgian sculptor, M.
Lucien Pallez, one day, when she was sitting for the
bust which was completed in April, 1911. As Her
Imperial Highness was leaving the church she heard
a young girl of the people say to a companion : " How
happy our Princesse looks !" This tribute, said the
sculptor to a friend, touched her more than all her
wedding-presents. The impression of supreme ele
gance which one derives from a glance at the bust —
a chef-d'oeuvre of Pallez — results from the harmony
of the lines and the graceful curve of the neck and
shoulders. The general allure of the bust recaUs the
Dianes chasseresses of the Renaissance. " I had only
to look at my model to get my inspiration," said the
sculptor. On the imperial lady's head (coiffee in
Empire style) is a diamond and pearl diadem ; the
delicate ears and the supple neck are unadorned.
M. Pallez has previously exhibited at the Paris Salon
busts of the young Queen of Spain and the Queen-
Mother, Pope Pius X., and Cardinal Rampolla.
The German Emperor and Empress met H.I.H.
Princesse Clementine for the first time during their

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 373
visit to Brussels in the autumn of 1910. Prince
Napoleon had a long conversation with the Emperor
William, whom the Bonapartist Prince had not pre
viously met. The Kaiser had, however, made the
acquaintance of the Empress Eugenie in July, 1907,
when Her Imperial Majesty received him one Sunday
on board her yacht Thistle off Bergen. It was a
memorable meeting, but not a single detail of the
interview has ever been pubhshed, and never will be
during the Empress's lifetime.

The Idyll.
Some two months prior to the marriage the illus
trious fiances visited Farnborough HiU, where, in the
Empress's Oratory, the nuptials would have been
solemnized but for the weak health of the Prince's
mother, Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princesse
Clotilde. Prince Napoleon's consort was no stranger to the
august lady who entertained her in Hampshire in
September, 1910 ; for the Princesse, her sister Steph
anie, and their father were the Empress Eugenie's
guests at Cap Martin some few seasons ago. To her
unfeigned gratification, the Empress witnessed, the
enactment, chez elle, of an idyU the consequences of
which may ultimately prove to be of high import to
Europe. " The legends woven by the peoples around

374 THE SECOND EMPIRE
their Sovereigns must not be destroyed," said the
Empress one day. Prince Napoleon's prospects of
ruling France may not be very apparent at the
moment ; nor, in June, 1870, was the downfall of the
Second Empire deemed within the region of possi
bility. But one September morning that terrible
" shout from Paris " went up, and the imperial crown
" flew off " with a suddenness which startled and
thrilled the world. In France, more surely than in
any other country, it is " the unexpected " which
happens oftenest ; and it may be that one day there
may be another plebiscite, and that another Bona
parte may be invested with the imperial purple.
It needs a Ruskin or a Matthew Arnold to depict
the Nature-glories of Farnborough Hill, the scene of
this idyll. The rustic gabled mansion, the terraced
slopes, the bosky lanes and dells, the " forest " which
skirts the imperial domain, and the smiling Arcadian
landscape provide all the materials for a great
painter's canvas, a poet's tuneful lay. " How many
walks," says one of the venerable chatelaine's French
guests, " I recall in the alleys of the park at Farn
borough Hill in the evenings of glorious days ; or in
winter, when the great trees were powdered with
frosty rime, giving to the English landscape the
semblance of some phantom picture ; or in the early
morning, in the second park, which has been christ
ened ' Compiegne,' planted with rhododendrons and
young pine-trees. The black dogs gambol round us,
now racing off like mad things, then returning at the
call of their mistress. The Empress's firm voice
mounts higher and higher in the pure invigorating
air, as, leaning on her cane, with which she taps the
sandy path, she gazes around, drinking in the fresh-

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 375
ness of the morning which she loves. Her features
are more than usually animated. ' Compiegne ' has
revived memories of the past."*
In " Compiegne," those glorious autumn days, the
story which is never old was once more told, to the
accompaniment of the birds' music and the rustle of
the falling leaves, with, for spectator, an Empress,
dethroned, 't is true, but perhaps greater in her fall
than in her elevation. Amid these beautiful sur
roundings, gladdened by the sympathy of one who
has seen the world at her feet, the lovers' days flew
on lightning wing. For the Princesse, whose charm
exercised a speU over aU, those September days were
of the nature of an imperial fete. The " auto "
in which she and the Prince sped through the Hamp
shire and Berkshire lanes was not, certainly, preceded
by piqueurs in the green-and-gold livery of the
venerie of the other Compiegne ; but, to compensate
for the absence of such luxe, the imperial guests
revelled in that bUssful solitude which is the one
thing needful for the complete enjoyment of " love's
young dream."
An excursion to Windsor awakened memories of
happy days which the Princesse had spent at the
royal chateau with her father as guests of the
beloved " Great Queen," whose good graces King
Leopold's youngest daughter enjoyed to the full.
And, further, she was befriended at Sandringham
by the then " Prince " and " Princess." In Vic
torian days, too, Prince Victor had received hospit
able entertainment at Windsor. His father had
* " The Empress Eugenie : 1870— 1910." London : Harper and
Brothers ; New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. This volume
contains the only " intimate " account of the Empress's English
home ever published.

376 THE SECOND EMPIRE
presented him to the Queen at Camden Place,
Chislehurst, after the obsequies of the young Prince
who had willed Prince Jerome's eldest son as his
successor to the headship of the House of Bona
parte. Prince Victor could recaU to his fiancee how,
a score of years ago, he was taken along those same
roads to Windsor, and how, at Queen Victoria's
dinner-table, he had met the Tsar of to-day, who
later had also his idyU on the marge of the Thames.
Accompanied by M. Franceschini Pietri, the Prin
cesse and the Prince paid their homage to the Em
press's beloved dead. They bore with them two
crosses of violets, which with reverent hands they
laid on the tombs of the Emperor and his son, the
young victim of the assegais, who, as Monsignor
Goddard said of him, had " the soul of a Sidney and
the heart of a Bayard." The then newly -erected
arched tomb — the " arcosolium "* — for the sur
viving member of the illustrious trio was gazed upon
by the Princesse with moistened eyes ; the beautiful
vestments in the sacristy — some made by the Em
press and by the widowed Duchesse de Mouchy,
the devoted friend of nearly half a century — were
unfolded, to the royal lady's inexpressible admira
tion ; and she was shown the Sultan's humeral veil ;
the illuminated altar-cards, whereon is traced a
passage from the Prince Imperial's " Prayer " (said
by Cardinal Manning to be one of the most beautiful
outpourings of a pure, devout soul he had ever read) ;
the priestly purple vestments made from the Em
peror's pall, and the ecclesiastical apparel fashioned
* Constructed and erected in 1910, a few months before the
visit of Prince Napoleon and Princesse Clementine to the Empress
at Farnborough Hill.

H.R.H. PRINCESS fJEORCE OF fiREECE
(nee princesse marie Bonaparte, only iiaiohteu or ii.ii. i'iiinck
ROLAND I'.ONAPAKTI.).
Princess George and her Consort wen; tlie guests of the King and Ouren al tin,
Coronation of their Majesties. The Princess is the only iih-ihIht of tin! House uf
Bonaparte who ever attended the Coronation of an English Sovereign, liilmv
leaving England, Prince and Princess George were the guests of Hit Majesty
Queen Alexandra at Sandringham.

Specially photographed ly Boissonas et Tuponier, Purls, t
lent for this work by EM. Prince lloluwl Bonuparle.

To face p. :i 70.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 377
out of the Empress's wedding-robe. There were no
spectators of this pious pilgrimage of (ho Princesse
and the Prince, or they would have witnessed the
pathetic figure of the royal pair kneeling side by side
at the foot of the high altar, and imploring the
Divine blessing upon their union. Warm thanks for
his genial courtesy were bestowed upon the Lord
Abbot, Dom Cabrol, who had su minor ed all the
members of the Benedictine communit , to witness
the arrival and departure of the visitors, and to be
presented to the Princesse.
Princesse Napoleon's intimate friendship with the
members of the Royal FamUy dates from as far back
as 1895. Queen Victoria had expressed a wish to
make the acquaintance of the youngest daughter,
and on December 3 King Leopold and Princesse
Clementine proceeded to Windsor Castle, where they
spent three days. Prince Christian and Princess
(and the late Prince) Henry of Battenberg met the
visitors at the railway-station, and escorted them to
the Castle. Queen Victoria's guests at the royal
dinner-party that evening included the Belgian
Minister and the Marquis and Marchioness of Lans
downe. While at Windsor Princesse Clementine was
taken to the cavalry barracks at Spittal, where she
saw a " double ride " by non-commissioned officers
and men of the 2nd Life Guards. From Windsor
King Leopold and the Princesse went to Sandringham
on a visit, from Saturday until Monday, to the then
Prince and Princess of Wales, the former accompany
ing them to St. Pancras on the conclusion of their
visit. Princesse Napoleon has two sisters : o ne, Stephanie,
married, as her first husband, the Austrian Archduke

378 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Rudolf, and, secondly, Comte Lonyay ; the other,
Louise, became the wife of Prince Philip of Saxe-
Coburg, a son of the celebrated Princesse Clementine
(daughter of Louis Philippe, King of the French
until his abdication in 1848), and consequently
brother of Ferdinand, King and Tsar of the Bul
garians. Princesse Stephanie's widowhood was
brought about by the Archduke's tragic death in his
hunting-box at Meyerhng — a mysterious drama of
which there are many versions, aU of them unsatis
factory. The story of Princesse Louise's wedded hfe is only
a shade less poignant than that of her sister Steph
anie. It has been told, in aU its harrowing details,
by a young Austrian officer, Count Mattachich, in a
volume which had a sale of more than 30,000 before
it was seized and its further circulation in the
Austrian Empire prohibited by the Government. It
is a narrative of dissensions between Princesse Louise
and her husband, of biUs of exchange bearing the
signatures of herself and her sister, the widowed
Archduchess, of a charge of falsification brought
against the Lieutenant, of his imprisonment, of the
placing of Princesse Louise under surveiUance as
being of weak mind, and of a discussion on aU these
circumstances in the Reichsrath. The death of
King Leopold led to the opening of another chapter
of family quarrels relating to the manner in which he
had disposed of much of his large fortune by gifts to
the lady whom he had made Baroness Vaughan, and
to whom, it was publicly asserted by 'an ecclesiastical
dignitary, he had been married. Princesse Louise
displayed no indications of feeble-mindedness when,
in May, 1911, she contested her father's wUl. The

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 379
little ironies of royal lives, as well as those of humbler
rank, are iUustrated by the fact that Prince Philip
of Saxe-Coburg was among the wedding-guests
bidden to Moncaheri.

The Family.
Before ending this narrative of the most important
event in the history of Bonapartism since the martyr
dom in Zululand of the only chUd of Napoleon III.
and the Empress Eugenie — that tragedy which made
Prince Victor, in accordance with the explicit terms
of the Prince Imperial's wiU, Head of the House — a
few lines may be fittingly devoted to the Pretender's
brother and sister and their father.
At the period of the Prince Imperial's death, in
1879, the Bonapartist Pretender of to-day and his
only brother, Louis, now a General in the Russian
army, were being educated in Paris. Their tutor was
M. Blanchet, one of the most eminent scholars in
France. He lived at No. 13, Rue de la Cerisaie, and
the two sons of Prince Jerome Napoleon were his
only boarders. One of my friends asked M. Blanchet
if Prince Victor was clever. " Very," was the reply.
' His early education was neglected, and it is won
derful how he holds his own with others who began
the race long before him. [Prince Victor was then
going through a year's course at the Lycee Charle-

380 THE SECOND EMPIRE
magne, under his tutor's supervision.] Before he
came to me he was at a school at Vevey, and then at
Vanves. He is, perhaps, best in physical sciences,
history, and French. His mathematics might be
better, but they were neglected in early youth. He
excels in all field sports and aU physical exercises.
His great ambition is to be a distinguished soldier.
[Later he studied at St. Cyr, the French Sandhurst.]
Everything relating to military matters interests
him, and he takes special pleasure in his fencing
lessons, which are given him once a week. He is
brought up very strictly. His father desired me to
train him in the most liberal ideas, and keep him
away from the many temptations which beset a
youth in Paris. He hardly ever goes to theatres and
races." Both Prince (Victor) Napoleon and his brother
have worn the uniform of the French army. They
entered the ranks as volontaires, and served for the
regulation period, one year — Victor in the artillery,
and Louis in the infantry. In 1908 Prince Napoleon
made his " grand tour." Accompanied by Prince
Aymon de Lucinge and Colonel Nicot, he visited the
Emperor of Austria-Hungary (who wore the Cross of
the Legion of Honour given him by his young friend's
relative, Napoleon III.), the ex-Sultan of Turkey,
and the Sovereigns of Bulgaria, Roumania, and
Servia. In November, 1909, he was to be seen at
Buckingham Palace, in friendly converse with one
who, like himself, was to become an exile — King
Manoel. Princesse Loetitia's marriage with her uncle, the
Due d'Aoste, aroused intense interest in Italy in
September, 1888, owing to the high position of the

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 381
bridegroom and bride and to their close relationship.
The Due's daughters were not over-pleased at the
prospect of having a stepmother of only fwo-and-
twenty, who was also their cousin. Their two
brothers showed their good-feeling by desiring their
father to continue to reside at the castle of Cisterna,
which had come to him by his first wife. The bride
groom (a one-time King of Spain) was double the
age of the Princesse, who had the ripened inteihgence
of much older women, and exercised great influence
in the family councils, more especially over her
father. No one could manage Prince Jerome better
than Princesse Lcetitia. Sometimes he rebeUed, but
only to yield with the protest, " Where did you get
that strong httle head ?" In consenting to the
marriage, she made it a condition that she should be
aUowed to see her brother, Prince Victor, as often as
she chose.
Princesse Lcetitia was only four when, in 1870, the
day after the flight of the Empress from the
Tuileries, she left Paris with her mother for Prangins,
on the Lake of Geneva. Five years later she accom
panied her mother, Princesse Clotilde, to the chateau
of Mqjicalieri, an immense square edifice, then almost
uninhabitable, situated on the hiUs above Turin.
Owls and bats had made their homes in the castle ;
the vast rooms contain the portraits of many un
distinguished members of the House of Savoy. Here
the young Princesse spent her girlhood, going daily
to a school at Turin, and, later, entering the convent
school of the Sacre Cceur at Lyons, where the Sisters
of the Adoration supervised her education. Thirst
ing for more knowledge after her return to Monca
lieri, she received instruction from tutors of both

382 THE SECOND EMPIRE
sexes, the present King's father (the iU-fated Hum
bert, who was assassinated at Monza) placing at her
disposal rooms in the Royal Palace at Turin. Her
principal studies were drawing, painting, music, and
languages. She speaks with equal ease French,
Italian, German, and English, has still a fine voice,
and sings with taste and feehng. Turin society
thought that a more suitable consort for the Prin
cesse would have been her cousin, the Duca deUe
Puglie, then nineteen, the present head of the ducal
house of Aoste, who married the Princesse Helene
d'Orleans in 1895.
Princesse Loetitia's wedding was not lacking in
incidents. There was an evident coolness between
the members of the House of Savoy and the Bona
partes. When the bride's father and his youngest
son, Prince Louis (now a General in the Russian
army), arrived at Turin nobody awaited them at the
station. The Court officials had been instructed to
attend, but at the last moment the order was can
celled, and Prince (Jerome) Napoleon and his son
drove to the Hotel de l'Europe, aU the other wedding-
guests staying at the Royal Palace. Even Princesse
Clotilde abstained from meeting her consort oji his
arrival, and Princesse Lcetitia sided with her mother.
Prince Jerome carried his resentment so far as to
refuse to meet his eldest son, the Pretender, who was
consequently, to the general regret, not present at
his sister's wedding. These family differences,
arising out of the nomination by the Prince Imperial
of Prince Victor as his successor, had their effect
upon the Empress Eugenie, who did not attend the
wedding, although she had given a qualified promise
to be present if Prince Jerome " made it up " with

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 383
his eldest son. But even Princesse Lcetitia never
succeeded in bringing about a reconciliation between
her father and her brother.
Prince Jerome Napoleon (as it has been usual,
although incorrectly, to style him) never recovered
from the blow to his pride inflicted by the Prince
Imperial. He died in Rome in 1891, refusing to be
reconciled to his eldest son, and on his death-bed
nominating his other son, Prince Louis, as Head
of the House of Bonaparte. That position Louis
declined to accept, and "recognized" his brother
forthwith. Prince Jerome's death was described by
M. Duruy, son of one of the most distinguished of
Napoleon IH.'s Ministers, as " the end of a dream."
Princesse Mathilde, Jerome's sister, died thirteen
years after her brother, and with her passed away the
last niece of the " Great " Emperor.
One act of Prince Victor's father wUl always be
remembered to his credit. He condemned the de
claration of war in 1870 from the first. When the
fatal missive went forth, he foresaw what would, and
did, happen, and said to the Emperor : " Tout est
fini, et nous avec." It was at Chalons, in the " blood
month," August, that Prince Jerome next saw his
imperial cousin. At a councU held on the 17th the
Prince, in angry mood, shouted to the Emperor,
racked with pain and in the deepest despair : " To
take part in this war you abdicated by leaving Paris,
and now, by leaving Metz, you have abdicated the
command of the army. Unless you cross over to
Belgium, you must do one of two things — either re-
assume the command, which is impossible ; or go
back to Paris, which will be difficult and dangerous.
But, damn it ! if we must fall, let us fall like men !"

384 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Prince Jerome Napoleon disinherited his eldest son
and his only daughter, and left all he possessed to his
second son, Prince Louis, who has long held the rank
of General in the Russian army. Prince Louis' in
heritance amounted to about £100,000 ; and his aunt,
Princesse Mathilde, Jerome's only sister, made
further provision for him under her wiU, leaving him
also many valuable jewels and objets d'art. Scarcely
anything was left by the Prince to his wife. As a
Princess of the House of Savoy, the Italian Govern
ment aUowed her £4,000 a year, a sum which, as she
had lived a very retired and simple hfe since her
husband's death, sufficed for her wants. Princesse
Lcetitia was adequately provided for by her consort,
or she would have been practicaUy sans le sou, and
this despite the fact that her mother brought Prince
Jerome a very handsome dot. Jerome dissipated
many thousands in wild speculations, and lost
heavUy by maintaining three newspapers — the
"Peuple," the " Ordre," and the "Napoleon."
The number of Bonapartist marriages since Napo
leon III. ascended the throne is very hmited. They
include the wedding of the Emperor to " the beauti
ful Spaniard," MUe. Eugenie de Montijo, " Grandee
of Spain of the first class," in 1853; the late Prince
Jerome Napoleon (father of the present Pretender)
and Princesse ClotUde, daughter of King Victor
Emmanuel II. ; the late Princesse Mathilde (sister of
Prince Jerome, and consequently aunt of Prince
Victor and General Prince Louis Napoleon), who
made an iU-starred marriage with the Russian Prince
Anatole Demidoff, Prince of San Donato ; Prince
Pierre Bonaparte, who, although a first cousin of
Napoleon III., made the reverse of a " great " mar-

f>

¦¦¦«,

THE LATE MARQUISE DE VIEEENEKVE
(ne'e princesse jeanne bonakarte, only sister of pkinok rolani
AND AUNT OF H.R.H. PRINCESS UEORGE OK UREECK).

Photographed "for her friends " by Rrutltnger, Puns, uu,l
lent for litis woil; by H.H. Prince Roland Bonaparte.

To face p. 881

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 385
riage ; Prince Roland Bonaparte (only son of Prince
Pierre), who espoused a daughter of the late M. Fran
cois Blanc, of Homburg and Monte Carlo fame ; the
recently deceased Princesse Jeanne Bonaparte
(Prince Pierre's only daughter), who married the
Marquis de VUleneuve ; Princesse Loetitia (sister of
the Pretender), the widowed Dowager Duchesse
d'Aoste, who married as her second husband her uncle,
the late Due d'Aoste, the sometime King Amadous
of Spain ; and Princesse Marie Bonaparte, the only
child of Prince Roland, the consort of H.R.H. Prince
George of Greece, a nephew of Queen Alexandra.
On April 2, 1910, at St. Pauls, Grove Park, Chis-
wick, Miss Gertrude Crowther married Mr. Napoleon
Gerald Bonaparte-Wjse, youngest son of the late
Mr. C. W. Bonaparte-Wyse, of the manor of St.
John's, Waterford, and grandson of the late Right
Hon. Sir W. T. Wyse, K.C.B., and Princesse Lcetitia
Bonaparte, daughter of Prince Lucien, brother of
Napoleon I. There is a species of relationship — very
remote, it is true — between Madame Sarah Bern
hardt and one branch of the Bonaparte famUy.
Prince Lucien, brother of Napoleon I., married as his
second wife a MUe. de Bleschamp, mother of Prince
Pierre Bonaparte, Prince Roland's father. Her
daughter, by her marriage with a M. Maurice Jablon-
owski (her second husband), had a son, who, in 1860,
married an American lady, Miss Mohr. The
daughter of that union, Marie Terka Virginie Clotilde,
married in 1887 M. Maurice Bernhardt, son of the
famous actress, one of whose most successful parts
is that of the " Aiglon " (the Due de Reichstadt).
The marriage at Moncalieri revived general interest
in the period of the Second Empire. The " great
25

386 THE SECOND EMPIRE
year " of the regime was that of 1867, when the
Emperor and Empress of the French entertained
foreign Sovereigns, Heirs-Apparent, Princes and
Princesses, Generals, diplomatists, and the fine fleur
of European society.
In 1911 there are still surviving several distin
guished personages who were among the imperial
guests in the summer and autumn of the most bril
liant days of the Napoleonic reign. These include
the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, whom the Empress
Eugenie visited at Ischl in 1906 ; the King of Den
mark ; the King of the HeUenes ; the King of Monte
negro ; the ex-Sultan of Turkey ; Duke of Con-
naught ; Comtesse de Flandre, Princesse Clemen
tine's aunt ; Prince Murat ; the Duchesse de
Mouchy (nee Princesse Anna Murat), the most
cherished friend of the Empress ; the Princesse de
Metternich, who in 1910 was relating her recoUections
of Second Empire days to a select audience in her
salon at Vienna ; and the Comtesse Edmond de Pour
tales, who hastened to Chislehurst in 1870 to assist
the Empress in a very practical way, and in 1911 is
the valued friend of Prince Napoleon and his consort.
To this hst must be added the familiar names of
Mrs. Ronalds and Mme. De Arcos, both of whom
have been for many years popular members of
English society, and both residing in London. The
last-mentioned lady and her sister, Mrs. Vaughan,
are among the Empress's most attached surviving
friends ; and Miss Vaughan has accompanied Her
Majesty on some of her recent tours. M. Frances
chini Pietri remains the most invaluable and devoted
of secretaries.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 387
IUustrious disparus include King Edward and his
brother, the Duke of Edinburgh ; the Kmg and
Queen of the Belgians and the Comte de Flandre ;
the King of Denmark, Queen Alexandra's father ;
the King of Holland, father of Queen Wilhelmina ;
Queen Sophia of HoUand ; the King of Sweden,
father of his present Majesty ; the Kmg of Portugal,
DomManoel's grandfather ; the Emperor WiUiam I. ;
the Emperors Alexander II. and Alexander III. ;
Ismail Pasha ; Abdul Aziz. Sultan of Turkey from
1861 until 1876 ; Prince Jerome Napoleon, father of
the Bonapartist Pretender ; Prince Pierre Bonaparte,
fatheT of Prince Roland and grandfather of Princess
George of Greece ; Princesse Mathilde, cousin of
Napoleon III. and aunt of the Princes Victor and
Louis ; the Prince Imperial of France ; the Prince of
Monaco, father of the present ruler of the Princi
pality ; that Prince of the Netherlands popularly
known as " Citron," Bismarck, the great Moltke,
Princesse ClotUde, and Queen Maria Pia.
The Empress Eugenie: 1910-11.
Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Eugenie, who is
deeply interested in the future of Prince and Princesse
Napoleon, celebrated her eighty-fifth birthday on
May 5, 1911. The unexpected and tragic death
of King Edward, on May 6, 1910, came as a great
shock to the Empress, who had known our beloved
Sovereign from his boyhood — in fact, since 1855,
when, some six months before he had attained his
thirteenth year, he and his eldest sister (the Princess
Royal, afterwards Crown Princess of Prussia, and
later Empress Frederick) accompanied their august
parents on their memorable return visit to the

388 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Emperor and Empress of the French. As Prince
of Wales, King Edward had been present, earlier in
that year, at the installation, at Windsor, of the
Emperor Napoleon III. as a Knight of the Order of
the Garter, and heard from his royal mother that,
after the ceremony, the Emperor had expressed his
gratitude for the honour conferred upon him, and,
in a moment of rare expansiveness, had said to the
Queen, " Now, at last, I feel I am a gentleman !" — a
frank admission which much pleased, and probably
amused, our beloved sovereign lady.
A week after the King's death I learnt (although
no mention of the fact had been made pubhc) that
early on the mornmg of May 7 (His Majesty passed
away at a quarter before midnight on the 6th) — the
Empress Eugenie had telegraphed " heart-felt con
dolences " to Queen Alexandra, Princess Henry of
Battenberg, and Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll.
It was also confided to me that, immediately after
telegraphing, the Empress, although momentarUy
" stupefied " by the calamity which plunged our
Empire into mourning, had written what were de
scribed to me as " very beautiful and most pathetic
letters " to the three royal ladies. I was privileged
to see other letters written by the Empress in May,
1910, and I do not hesitate to say that they were
truly remarkable productions, revealing Her Im
perial Majesty (as the Emperor once wrote of her)
" in her true colours."
I have a word to add. The Empress commissioned
a Paris art firm to execute a very beautiful souvenir
of King Edward. This she sent to Queen Alexandra,
and in the autumn it was placed near the King's
tomb in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. The Empress

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 389
lunched (for the last time) with King Edward
and Queen Alexandra, at Buckingham Palace, on
December 16, 1907, when the imperial lady was
accompanied by Mrs. Vaughan (whose sister. Mme.
De Arcos, represented the Empress at the funeral
of Queen Victoria) and M. Pietri.
In the summer of 1910 the Empress cruised in the
Thistle for more than two months, visiting, besides
Itahan ports, Corfu, Athens, the Dalmatian coast,
Smyrna, and Constantinople, which she first saw in
1869, when she went to Egypt to inaugurate the
Suez Canal. The Sultan of those distant days and
the Sultan of these entertained her. In the August
of 1910 the Empress was in the Solent, and witnessed
the launch of the Orion at Portsmouth. Later
in the year she lunched, for the first time, with the
King and Queen at Marlborough House, M. Pietri
accompanying her.
The Empress signahzed her eighty-fifth birthday
(May 5, 1911) by a very pleasant cruise in the Mediter
ranean, as the guest of Sir Thomas Lipton, Bart.,
on board his yacht Erin, and on June 24 she
witnessed the review of the fleet.
In my previous volume* I dwelt upon the soficitude
of Queen Victoria and other members of our Royal
Family — notably King Edward and Queen Alexandra
— for the Empress Eugenie and the fatherless Prince
Imperial. I note the fact here because I am delighted
to find that the details which I gave of that more
than cordial — that affectionate — relationship are
supplemented by M. Xavier Paoh in his volume of
Souvenirs, entitled "Leurs Majestes. . . ."| Some
* "The Empress Eugenie: 1870-1910." London: Harper
and Brothers. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 1910.
t Paris : Ollendorff. 1911.

390 THE SECOND EMPIRE
two years ago, in the " Pall MaU Gazette," I announced
M. Paoli' s intention to produce his reminiscences,
and I emphasized the opinion that his work would
contain some entertaining and piquant " indiscre
tions " concerning Queen Victoria and the Empress
Eugenie. That my anticipations have been fuUy
realized will be seen by what follows.
When Queen Victoria was at Nice a grave responsi
bility fell upon those who, like M. Paoli, the " Pro
tector of Sovereigns,"* were charged with the
onerous duty of guarding the royal residence without
any great display of force, almost without any
indication of it. The small body of infantry in
stalled near the Queen's abode had merely to present
arms when the august lady appeared, and when
French official personages called upon her.
One afternoon there was a " piquante adventure,"
and all on account of " the " Empress. M. Paoli' s
amazed gaze fell upon the little infantry force drawn
up in the court, and he asked the officer in command
" the cause of this mobilization, which was not in the
day's programme." The officer replied that he had
turned out the guard at the request of the Queen's
Courier, M. Dosse, who explained that Her Majesty
was expecting the visit of " a crowned head." Some
what annoyed at his ignorance of what was about to
happen, M. Paoli further questioned M. Dosse, who
remarked : " Then you know nothing about it ?"
" Ma foi, non." " Well, we are expecting the
Empress Eugenie." Paoli jumped. " What !" he
exclaimed, " you want soldiers of the Repubhc to
* His official title was " Commissaire Special, attache aux
Souverains etrangers en France," a post which he resigned
nearly two years ago.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 391
render honours to the former Empress of the French!"
" I admit," answered M. Dosse, " that I did not look
at it from that point of view." " But," said M.
Paoli, " I do look at it from that point of view ;" and
he requested the officer to march his men off
immediately. A few days later M. Paoli related the incident to
the Empress, who said : " Oh, how pleased I am
that you have told me about it ! Certain papers
would have made me responsible for what happened,
and my very delicate position would not have been
improved." When the Empress attends a church in England
other than St. Michael's, Farnborough, it is an event.
On Sunday, August 14, 1910, Her Majesty, accom
panied by M. Pietri and Miss Vaughan, landed at
Cowes and heard Mass at the church of St. Thomas
of Canterbury. The celebrant was the Rev. John
O'Hanlon, who told me he was born and brought up
at Dumfries, less than a dozen miles from Closeburn,
the home of the Kirkpatricks, from whom, through
her mother, the imperial lady descends. The
Empress walked up the steep road leading from
Cowes Pier to St. Thomas's Church. An observant
spectator wrote of her : " Except for a shght lame
ness, the Empress has the activity and vigour of a
weU-preserved woman of sixty. The glorious
chestnut hair, though now iron-grey, is still abun
dant, the eyes are bright, the features finely chiselled.
The Empress, who once led fashions for all Europe,
is now content to follow far in their wake, for the
skirt of her simple costume was much ampler than
those lately seen on the Royal Yacht Squadron's
lawns, while her coat had sleeves of a bygone

392 THE SECOND EMPIRE
fashion." In the afternoon the Empress visited
Princess Henry of Battenberg, at Osborne Cottage.
On the following day (August 15, the date of the
great fete in the Empire period) Princess Henry and
Princess Christian took tea with the Empress on the
Thistle, which remained in the Solent for several
days. The Queen of Spain and Princess Victoria of
Schleswig-Holstein were other visitors. The Em
press was seen walking on the parade at Cowes, but
no one noticed the " slight lameness " referred to,
which, in fact, is non-existent.
On February 4, 1911, the daily papers announced
the death of John Brown, of Southwold, aged
seventy - four, " a pensioner of the Empress
Eugenie " ; and it was added that Brown " brought
the Prince Imperial's body home." This was in
correct. Colonel Pemberton had charge of the
remains from the Cape to Woolwich. The body
was brought to England by the Orontes, and
transhipped at Portsmouth to the Enchantress,
which conveyed it to Woolwich. On board those
vessels, besides Colonel Pemberton, were the Abbe
Rooney, the Prince's valet (Uhlmann, who died
some four years ago), and two grooms (Lomas and
Brown). In January, 1911, the Empress's friends read in
the Paris papers the somewhat disquieting announce
ment that MM. Andre de Lorde and A. Binet had
written a play called " Napoleon III.," in which
both the Emperor and the Empress Eugenie will
figure. French dramatists have hitherto, I think,
refrained from presenting the august lady on the
stage, and it is only within the last five years that
the Emperor was impersonated in a piece entitled

___¦_¦______¦

TIIE LATE COMTESSE HE MERCY-ARGENTEAU
(lib- C<.MT.>M_ CAKAMAN-l'III.MAY).
From a private and unpublished photograph, i-ourtroiisly prrsenli'd lo
the Author in 1911 by the Comte de Pimodan, the well-known author ol'
a recently-issued valuable work on the Comte F. C. de Morcy-Argi-iitciui,
counsellor and confidant of Marie Antoinette.

To face p. _!i'-\

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 393
" La Savelli," by M. Max Maurey, produced by TMme.
Rejane at her new theatre, Rue Blanche, in De
cember, 1906. In the part of the Emperor i\f.
Buguet acted with much distinction. His " make
up " was surprisingly good.
Very different was the treatment of the Emperor
on the German stage, as recently narrated by
M. Jules Claretie : "I was disgusted at seeing, at a
Berlin theatre, in an adaptation of an old French
feerie, Napoleon III., caricatured by a low come
dian, dancing a cancan, his breast adorned with the
grand cordon of the Legion d'Honneur."
In December, 1907, MM. Juhen and Marcel
PrioUet selected " Napoleon III. "asa title for their
piece, produced at the Comedie de 1' Epoque, " amidst
the bra vos of the pubhc."
The Prince Imperial was dragged on the stage as a
consequence of the " romantic " story first told to
his detriment in 1879.* So persistently was the
rumour spread that the Prince Imperial had lost his
heart to an Enghsh girl that a German play was
written on the subject and produced at the theatre
at Kreuznach within a month of the Prince's death
in Zululand. In this amazing piece, which the
German Government aUowed to be performed at the
fashionable watering - place (where the Empress
Eugenie had " made a cure " some time after the
war of 1870, and by whose inhabitants she was
consequently well known), the Prince Imperial was
portrayed in love with a gamekeeper's daughter,
"Miss Mary." A rival tried to shoot the Prince,
* When this monstrous tale of an alleged liaison was widely
published eight years later — in January, 1887 — I denied it in the
Pall Mall Gazette, on the authority of Monsignor Goddard. In
1911 it was again revived.

394 THE SECOND EMPIRE

who escaped by the aid of a German servant,
" Reinecke." The story, as unfolded on the stage,
showed that, when the Prince had made up his mind
to go to the Cape, the Empress offered a bracelet to
" Miss Mary," who, regarding it as an attempted
bribe, refused it, declaring melodramatically that
woman's love was " not to be bought with gold."
The dramatist made the most of the Zulus' " sur
prise " of the reconnoitring party, numbering nine
all told, led — or assumed to be led — by Lieutenant
Carey, 98th Regiment ; and the attack, the abandon
ment of the Prince by his comrades, and his cruel
slaying by the savages were all enacted. The scene
of the last act was described as " the crypt of the
Catholic Church, Chislehurst," and the Empress
Eugenie was seen giving her dead son's last letter to
" Miss Mary," who revealed to the imperial lady
that she had been really married to the " little
Prince " before he left for the Cape.
Not long after the tragedy of the First of June
some Zulus were exhibited in Paris, and for four-
pence, in a booth, illumined by oil lamps, M.
Proudhon saw " how the Prince Imperial was
killed " !
These fragments are pieced together for the sole
purpose of completing the record of the history of
the Empress given in my first volume. Such a
record, imperfect as it may be, wiU not be found
elsewhere. To be able to infuse into the narrative
a note of gaiety is most agreeable to me, as I hope it
will be to my readers at home and abroad.
One glorious summer afternoon* I roamed through
rhododendron land. Oh the beauty of it ! — the joy
* June 7 and 8, 1911.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 395
of living in so fair a world, a Paradise terrestrial !
Through leafy mazes I wandered into gardens,
where the air was laden with the perfume of loses
and honeysuckles. For miles, and miles, and miles
all was forest — dense, impenetrable forest. Un
wilUngly I left this scene of enchantment and entered
a park. My brief midsummer day's dream was
over. I was invited to mount one of quite a
" stable " of prancing steeds, galloping in a circle —
" patronized by the Royal Family and the Enghsh
aristocracy." I was urged to " try my skiU " in the
art — say, rather, the science— of casting wooden rings
over clocks, vases, and Lowther Arcade prettinesses
in general. I was tempted by roundabouts, swings,
" hooplas," cocoanut shies, Aunt SaUy, and
" numerous side-shows." " Zara," the " celebrated
Palmiste," offered me " peeps into the future — the
past laid bare " — " Zara," whose " remarkable
character readings " were guaranteed to " astonish
you " (I felt sure of it). " Afternoon, 2s. 6d. ;
evening, Is." I could not, unfortunately, stay
until the evening, or perhaps I might have made
" Zara's " acquaintance — at the reduced fee.
And what else ? A Pastoral Play — scenes from
" As You Like it," presented by the " Marlboro'
Players " ; a Venetian play, " The Honour of the
Joscelyns " ; a Vaudeville entertainment, by " The
Bluebirds," an " amateur association of ladies
formed for the purpose of providing entertainments
for the poor in winter, and also assisting deserving
organizations " ; a concert ; Morris dances ; a
" display " by 100 boy scouts ; daylight and evening
fireworks. It was a two days' Coronation Fete, given at

396 THE SECOND EMPIRE
Farnborough Hill, " by kind permission of H.I.M.
the Empress Eugenie," in aid of the funds of the
county branch of the National Service League.
Farnborough had never seen the hke, and rose to the
occasion. I imagine that this garden festival " at
the Empress's " will be, as it deserves to be, writ
large in Hampshire history.
Since the appearance of my first volume,* " the
Empress's Church " — St. Michael's, Farnborough —
has received an addition. While the Empress was
on her unwontedly long cruise in the Thistle during
part of May and the whole of June and July, 1910,
a striking scene was being enacted within the walls
of St. Michael's. For some months the quiet which
ordinarily reigns in the Mausoleum was disturbed.
Sculptors and masons — French and Enghsh —
appeared, masses of stone were hauled into the
church, and the sound of mallets and chisels rever
berated through the great crypt, which extends
beneath the choir and transepts. Entering the
crypt, I gazed at the transformation which had been
effected. I saw a third tomb ! It is a graceful arch,
rising from the back of and surmounting the high
altar. All who have visited the Catacombs at Rome
will recall the " table " tomb and the " arched "
tomb, and will not need to be told that the latter,
from its shape, is the arcosohum. These tombs
differ only in the form of the surmounting recess.
In the " table " tomb the recess above, essential for
the reception of the entombed body, is square. In
the arcosohum, a form of later date, the recess for
the tomb is semicircular, as at Farnborough. These
* " The Empress Eugenie, 1870-1910." London : Harper and
Brothers ; New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 1910.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 397
modes of interment were adopted by the early
Christians. I leave it to the archaeologists to tell us
whether or no the Empress Eugenie's arcosohum
is unique in this country. I cannot recall anything
resembling it. A space behind the altar is occupied
by a massive block of masonry, with a flat surface
flush with the side waUs from which the arch springs,
and upon this the Empress's sarcophagus (assuming
it should take that form, and so harmonize with the
granite tombs of the Emperor and the Prince
Imperial) will rest.
Here, then, " In God's own time, but not before,"
Eugenie de Montijo, Empress, wih sleep her last
long sleep with her beloved Dead — Exiles aU.
The historian who comes after us wiU find in this
place of Napoleonic sepulture ample materials for a
moving chapter. He wiU have to re-narrate, with
the assistance of my modest records, the amazing
rise and the more astounding downfaU of an Emperor
and the deplorable end of a Prince. But he will
" use his best ink " in the endeavour to limn a
faithful portrait of her who held the world in thrall
by her beauty, who has endured her martyrdom with
a resignation and fortitude so admirable as to have
compeUed the affectionate sohcitude of the nation
whose honoured guest she has been for forty-one
sorrowful, yet not whoUy gloomy, years.
As I write these closing lines the air is full of
processional melody, the Town gay with colour. I
think, not of the Empress, when she, hke our own
beloved Albert Edward and Alexandra, was the
centre of adulation, but of the Woman, in the not

398 THE SECOND EMPIRE
unkindly winter of her life, kneehng before a tomb
— her own. It is AU Saints' Day — the Jour des
Morts* — and in the crypt she mingles her prayers
with the Benedictines' " pour tous les fideles defunts."
So I had seen her aforetime, and some words I heard
then wiU not be kept back when the sluices of
memory are opened :
. . . And now, as in a strain of music, the theme
comes back again, and we end with the first notes
with which we began, so, if our thoughts have for a
while run in another channel, they f aU back into the
great deep of sweet sorrow, and, I wUl say, of thanks
giving, for that noble, princely youth who has
passed before our eyes with the brightness of a ray
of hght, and from this world has disappeared for
ever. . . . What a morning in hfe it was when that
beautiful youth entered into this world ! What a
mother's joy ! If ever son was worthy of a mother's
love, it was he. And if ever mother loved a son as
an only son can be loved, it was she. What a
desolation now ! The sohtary home. AU alone.
Yet not alone ; for they who beheve are never
lonely. They have come unto " Mount Sion, and
to the City of the Living God ; to the company of
many thousands of angels ; to the Church of the
first-born, who are written in the heavens ; to God,
the Judge of aU ; to the spirits of the just made
perfect "; to the great cloud of witnesses ever about
them. And as the Mother, who, when her Divine
Son was in the grave, looked on with certain con
fidence to the glory of the Resurrection, to the
future recognition in personal identity, and in the
restored bonds of Mother and of Son in all the
perfection of maternal and filial love glorified in
eternity, so is it now. And this wiU be her consola-
* November 2, 1910 : St. Michael's, Farnborough.

PRINCE NAPOLEON AND THE EMPRESS 399
tion. . . . And what is the longest hfe of waiting
but a Uttle while at last ?*
The light beats down, the gates of pearl arc wide :
And she is passing to the floor of peace.
And Mary of the seven times wounded heart
Has kissed her lips . . . the Light of Lights
Looks always on the motive, not the deed,
The Shadow of Shadows on the deed alone.

* "In Memory of the Prince Imperial." Sermon at St. Mary's,
Chislehurst, on Sunday, July 13, 1879, by Hen*y Edward,
Cardinal Archbishop.

The time will come when we shall be able
TO UNVEIL the whole truth to the world.
I shall continue to hope for a future of
truth and of justice. The Emfuess Eugenie.

THE PRINCE IMPERIAL
(THE POET LAUREATE'S SONNET)
Helix Opporttjnitate Mortis.
Exile or Cmsar ? Death hath solved thy doubt,
And made thee certain of thy changeless fate ;
And thou no more hast wearily to wait,
Straining to catch the people's tarrying shout
That from unrestful rest would drag thee out,
And push thee to those pinnacles of State
Round which throng courtly loves, uncourted hate,
Servility's applause, and envy's flout.
Twice happy boy ! though cut off in thy flower,
The timeliest doom of all thy race is thine :
Saved from the sad alternative, to pine
For heights unreached, or icily to tower,
Like Alpine crests that only specious shine,
And glitter on the lonely peak of Power.
Alfred Austin.
June, 1879.

INDEX

A
Abdul-Aziz, 387
Aguado, Mme., 63, 153
Albany, Duchess of, 83
Albe, Duo d\ 4, 47
Duchesse d', 57, 62, 107, 153
Miles, d', 293
Albuffeb, Mar6chale d', 47
Duchesse d\ 353
Alcanises, Marquis d', 60
Aldama, Mme. de, 153
Alexander II., Emperor, 297
Alexandra, Queen, 388, 389
AUsop, Mr. (Orsini), 83
Alten, Count von, 206
Alvensleben, General von, 208
Ambte, Baron d\ 24, 270
Andri., M., 269, 270
Angely, Marshal Regnault de Saint
Jean d', 78
Aoste, Dowager Duchesse d', 349
351, 354, 358
(late), Due d\ 380
Due d', 382
Duchesse d', 382
Arcos, Mme. de, 73, 153, 386, 389
Argyll, Duchess of, 388
Arnaud, Mme. St., 37
Auber, M., 79
Augusta, Queen of Prussia, 291
Aumale, Due d', 201
Austin, Alfred (Poet-Laureate), 400
Austria, Empress of, 148
Emperor of, 168, 356, 371
Autemarre, General d\ 192, 193
Auvergne, Prince de La Tour d', 194
Azeglio, Marquis d', 230
B
Bacciochi, Comte, 100, 269
Baden, Grand Duchess of, 31
Bapst, M. Germain, 168, 184, 186
190
Baroche, M., 271
Barron, Mrs., 155
Barrot, M., 271
Bartholini, Mme., 133, 134
Bassano, Due de, 300
Mile, de, 352

I Bassano, Duohesso de, 40
Battenborg, Princess Honry of, 377.
388. 392
Prince Henry of, 377
Bazaino, Marshal, 181. 183, 192, 193.
196. 199, 201. 202, 203, 210, 294.
304. 305
Beaumont, Comtesse de, 149
Beokwith, Hiss, 155
Bedmar, Marquis de, 45
Bolgiojoso, Prinoeese, 154
Marquise de, 60
Benedetti. Comte, 2S2, 291
Beneyton, Monsieur H., 352
Bernhardt, Mme. Sarah, 385
Berryer, M. , 26
Bertrand, M., 306
Beust, Count, 166, 298
M. and Mme. Maurice, 385
Bigelow, Mr. John, 108
Billault, M., 271
Bischoffsheim, Mme. Ferdinand, 155
Bismarck, Count von, 69, 75, 125,
208, 218, 220, 221, 275, 278, 291,
292, 332, 333
Blanchet, M., 379
Blessington, Lady, 19, 22, 28
Bojano, Duchesse de, 104
Bonaparte, Louis, King of Holland,
8, 9, 28, 29
Prince Pierre, 21, 336
Prince Roland, 385
Princesse Jeanne, 385
Princesse Marie (Princess George
of Greece), 385
Princesse Lootitia, 385
Prince Lucien, 385
Princess Lucien, 385
Boulanger, General, 370
BourbaKi, General, 291
Bourgoing, Baron de, 75, } 33
Brown, Mr. John, 392
Bruat, Admiral, 328
Miles., 328
Brunswick, Duke of, 80
Buguet, M., 393
Burdett-Coutts, Miss, 31
Burgoyne, Lieut. -Colonel Sir John,
231, 233, 234, 235
Lady, 231, 233
401 26

402

THE SECOND EMPIRE

c
Cabanel, M., 135
Cabrol, Dom, Lord Abbot of St.
Michael's, Farnborough, 377
Calderon, M., 153
Calmette, M. Gaston, 278
Canisy, Mme. de, 149, 155
Canrobert, Marshal, 74, 78, 182, 192,
193, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200
Mme., 169
Carette, Mme., 57
Carey, Lieutenant, 306
Carrere, M. Jean, 357
Carroll, Mrs., 155
Cassagnac, MM. de, 345
Paul de, 217, 303
Castelbajac, Comte de, 153
Castellane, Marquis de, 274
Castelnau, General, 213
Castiglione, Comtesse de, 137, 141, 154
Cavour, Count, 229, 230
Chaband-Latour, General, 178
Chambord, Comte de, 370
Chambrier, M. James de, 88
Changarnier, General, 271
Chapelle, Comte de La, 301, 320
Vicomte de La, 301, 308
Chaplin, Mr., 72
Charette, General Baron de, 155,
Chasseloup-Laubat, Marquise de, 155,
328
Chazal, General, 190, 222
Chigi, Mgr., 143
Chimay, Prince de, 363
Christian, Princess, 392
Circourt, Comtesse de, 229
Clarendon, Lord, 97, 111
Claretie, M. Jules, 393
Clary, Comte, 316, 317
Conegliano, Due de, 236
Conneau, Dr., 23, 24, 103, 105, 228,
301
Mme., 72
M., jun., 133
Constantine, Grand Duke, 120
Contades, Marquise de, 42
Conti, M., 276
Cornu, Mme., 27, 275
Corvisart, Baron, 211
Courson, General de, 213
Courtval, Mme. de, 163, 164
Coventry, Lord, 72
Cowley, Lord, 100
Lady, 101 D
Daru, Comte, 284
David, M. JerSme, 184, 185, 190, 286
DaviUiers, Comte, 211
Delafosse, M. Jules, 343, 344

Delessert, Mme., 2
M. Edouard, 100
Demidoff, Prince Anatole, 32, 41,
384
Denmark, King of, 386
Diego, M., 153
Dino, Duchesse de, 45, 47
Dion, Marquis de, 356
Dosse, M., 390, 391
Douay, General, 169
Ducrot, General, 211
Dumas, Alexandre, 163
Dumont, General, 192
Dumoulin, M. Maurice, 227
Duperre, Charles, 180, 185, 192, 193,
194, 195
Durangel, M., 185
Duruy, M., 383
Duvernois, M. Clement, 286

E
Edinburgh, Duke of, 387
Edward VII., King, 387, 388, 389
Edwards, H. Sutherland, 206
EUrichshausen, Colonel von, 220
Espinasse, M., 271
Eugenie, the Empress : sees her future
Consort for the first time, 1 ; her
Paris education, her friends, depar
ture from Paris for Spain, 2 ; the
school at Clifton, in her teens, at
the bull-fights, the " elegants," 3 ;
" Ugenia " and the Spanish Dukes,
the Comtesse de Montijo's salon
and her "polios," 4; a variegated
life, travels, Eugenie at Bucking
ham Palace, 5 ; at the Palmerstons
(London), in the Pyrenees, 6 ;
Eugenie at Compiegne, the court
ing, the Fortoul incident, 33 , the
Emperor's offer of marriage, 34 ;
the Court divided on the question,
35 ; the gipsy fortune-teller, 36 ;
the lovelorn Dukes, snubbing the
fiancee, the hasty Empress, 37 ;
" a delicate question," 38 ; the
Emperor's real opinion of Eugenie,
" only my husband shall kiss me,"
39 ; discomfited Ministers, 40 ;
M. Thiers' sarcasm, Princesse
Mathilde's appeal to the Emperor,
41 ; Eugenie at Princesse Mathilde's
ball, she is " the actual rising sun,"
at the Opera, 42 ; she makes splen
did " copy " for the papers, some
unflattering people, 43 ; the Com
tesse de Montijo's parsimony, en
thusiasm of the Madrid Press, 44 ;
the Duchesse de Dino's amusing
letters, jokes made about the Em-

INDEX

403

press, 45, 46, 47 ; the Heralds' Col
lege, Paris, explains the genealogy
of the Montijo-Guzmans, 48 ; por-
trait-in-words of the Empress, 49-
69 ; at Biarritz, 70, 71 ; the Empress
and the Grand Prix, 72 ; quality
of the Tuileries' wine oritieized,
"not so good as Pinard's," a
military review, 73 ; Eugenie " in
all the radiance of her beauty," 74 ;
the " Bal des Souverains," 75 ;
other ffites to the Foreign Sover
eigns and Princes, the Empress's
success as hostess, 70 ; the Empress
and Isabelle, the flower-girl, 70 ;
some distinguished people, 80 ;
the Orsini attempt," the Em
press's courage, 83-87 ; as the result
of "scenes," the Empress goes to
Scotland, 89 ; the Empress Eugenie
and the Empress of Mexico, a scono
at St. Cloud, the weeping Eugenie.
93 ; the Empress at Windsor Castle.
the " Garter " conferred upon the
Emperor in the Empress's presence,
94, 95 ; the Empress with Queen
Victoria at Osborne, 97 ; her happy
days in the Isle of Wight, 98 ; tlie
Empress's " great " and " little "
balls, 99 ; the Empress seldom
dances, 100 ; she tells a story at
one of the "Mondays," 101, 1 1 ?__> ;
the Duchess of Sutherland and the
Empress, 105, 106; Lord Ronald
Sutherland-Gower describes the
Empress at the Tuileries and at
Windsor, 106, 107; visit of the
Empress to Stafford House, 107 ;
an American diplomatist describes
the Empress " without a country,"
108 ; the Empress's letter on
cricket, 111, 112; the Empress at
Fontainebleau, the Imporial Hunt,
115 ; Eugenie's apartments at Fon
tainebleau formerly occupied by
Marie Antoinette, the boudoir,
"she would have liked to milk a
cow and to make butter," the pro
cession to the imperial bedrooms,
117 ; the Empress improvises open-
air dinners, her " turlututus, " she
is a " romantic," 119; Pierrefonds,
the chateau which gave the Em
press a travelling-name, she ad
mires the eighteenth century, at
Fontainebleau she is happiest, 120 ;
the splendours of Fontainebleau,
the ladies' stories, 121 ; " talk to
the Empress about her crinolines "
(De Morny), 122; the Empress
speaks loudly, her drives, luncheons,

and exoursions, 123 ; sho enjoys
horsolf whon wet through, and
pays a fino for being lato at dinnor,
124 ; a dramatio incident, at Fon
tainebleau, the Empress in tears
at a Ministerial Counoil, 126; the
lirst of " t lie Compiognas," attended
by Eugenie ami lier mother, both
ardent sportswomen, I'J'.t; family
gathering on the Empress's fete-
day, life at Compiegne. tho Empress
acts in a pieeo by Kouillot, 132;
Her Majesty in high spirits, ro-
joieing at tlie coming struggle in
Me\ieo. 13.">, 136; the lCmpross
blamed for countenancing tho
'• Exotics," 137 ; she is thrown
1 among cosmopolitan society. 138 ;
the Empress, Princesse do Mottor-
nich, and the Comtesse de Castig
lione, enthusiasm of tho Austrian
I Ambassador for the Empress. 141 ;
, influence of the Princesso over
Eugenie. 143 ; what she said about
Her Majesty, 148 ; the beautiful
Duchesse d'Albe, the Empress's
j sister. 153 ; the Empress welcomes
the Spanish ladies, 154 ; a great
favourite of the Empress, 160 ; the
I Comtesse E. de Pourtales and the
Empress, 161 ; the Empress's war
telegrams to the Emperor, her
, courage and hopefulness, indefati
gable exertions, and ability as
Regent, 165-201 ; new versions of
the Empress's flight from the
Tuileries and escape from Paris,
223-228 ; story of Chevalier Nigra
and the Empress, 230-231 ; Sir
John Burgoyne's narrative of the
Empress and the voyage from
Deauville to Ryde, 231-234 ; what
the Empress told Lord Ronald
Sutherland-Gower at Chislehurst,
the bust of Mario Antoinette swept
off the table, 235, 236 ; tho exact
hour of the Empress's departure
from the Tuilerias, September 4,
1870, 237 ; " the Empress's crown
of thorns," her horoio conduct after
Sedan, 237, 238 ; plot to defraud
the Empress described by M. Pietri,
238, 239 ; list of objects left at tho
Tuileries in 1870 by tho Empress,
the Emperor, and the Prince Im
perial, 240-244 ; the Empress's com
plaints to Queen Victoria of Eng
fish newspaper attacks upon the
Emperor, Bismarck a favourite of
the Empress, 275; M. Emile Ol
livier and the Empress, 277 ; the

404

THE SECOND EMPIRE

" Case " for the Empress, published
in the volume, " The Empress
Eugenie: 1870-1910," her own
statement, 278 ; what the Empress
said upon reading that the Hohen
zollern candidature was withdrawn,
291 : " Do your duty, Louis !" 293 ;
M. Emile OUivier's courageous de
fence of the Empress, and confirma
tion of her statements in the ' ' Case, ' '
295 ; the Author's remarks on the
" Case," 296 ; the critics, Comte de
La Chapelle, and the Empress, 301 ;
Marshal Bazaine and the Empress,
304 ; the Vicomte de La Chapelle
confirms statements published in
" The Empress Eugenie : 1870-
1910," 305 ; the Empress and the
Comte de La Chapelle, 316, 317 ;
the Empress and Colonel Stoffel,
323 ; the Empress's presents to
Prince and Princess Napoleon on
their marriage, 353, 354 ; a portrait
of the Empress chez Prince Napo
leon, 365 ; Prince Napoleon and
Princesse Clementine visit the Em
press at Farnborough Hill, 373 ;
King Leopold, Princesse Clemen
tine, and Princesse Stephanie visit
the Empress at Cap Martin, ibid. ;
the Empress at her Hampshire
home, 374, 375 ; the Empress at
eighty-five, her letters of condo
lence to Queen Alexandra, Princess
Henry of Batten tierg, and Princess
Louise, Duchess of Argyll, on the
death of King Edward, and her
Imperial Majesty's beautiful sou
venir of the King, 388, 389 ; the
Empress's last visit to King Ed
ward and Queen Alexandra at
Buckingham Palace, her long cruise
in 1910, her visit to the Sultan,
she witnesses the launch of the
Orion and lunches with King
George and Queen Mary at "Marl
borough House, a cruise in the
Erin as the guest of Sir Thomas
Lipton, she is present at the King's
Coronation Review of the Fleet,
389 ; M. Paoli narrates an adven
ture at Nice concerning the Em
press, 390, 391 ; the Empress hears
Mass at the Church of St. Thomas
of Canterbury, Cowes, 391 ; she
visits and is visited by English
Princesses, and walks on the Parade
at Cowes, 392 ; death of one of her
pensioners, ibid. ; a new French
play, " Napoleon III.," with the
Empress and the Emperor as char

acters, other Napoleonic plays, 392-
394 ; a garden festival in the park
and grounds of the imperial resi
dence, Farnborough Hill, 395 ; the
Empress's tomb at St. Michael's
Abbey Church, 396; Cardinal
Manning's eulogy of the Empress
and the Prince Imperial, 398, 399 ;
the words of the Empress, 399
Evans, Mr. T. W., 223, 226, 227, 231,
232 F
Falize, MM., 353
Farnborough Hill, idyll of, 373
Farquhar, Mr., 25
Fave, General, 75
Favre, Jules, 26, 288
Flandre, Comtesse de, 351, 352, 354,
371
Comte de, 387
Fleury, Comte, 21, 60, 68, 78, 271, 276
Comtesse, 78
Flowers, Miss, 3
Forest, Baron de, 158
Fortoul, M. and Mme., 33, 37, 128
M., 271
Fould, M. Achille, 35, 47, 48, 61, 149,
271
Frederick Charles, Prince, 219
Frias, Duchesse de, 153
Frossard, General, 171, 172, 173, 180,
181, 182, 293, 334 G
GaUiera, Duchesse de, 142
Galliffet, Marquise de, 73, 106, 133,
155, 159, 160, 161
Marquis de, 79, 160, 161
MUe. Diane de, 159
Gamble, Mr., 217
Gautier, Theophile, 79, 363
Geneva, Bishop of, 360
Gerlach, General von, 273
German Emperor and Empress, 372,
373
Glenesk, Lord (Mr. A. Borthwick),
110, 300
Goddard, Monsignor, 393
Goltz, Baron, 71'
Major-General Count von, 75
Gordon, Mrs. (ne'e Bruault), 20
Gounod, M., 135
Goze, General, 212
Grammont-Caderousse, Due de, 79,
151, 152, 160
Gramont, Due de, 282, 291, 292,
293, 295, 296, 297, 298
Greece, King of, 386
H.R.H. Prince George of, 385

INDEX

405

Gricourt, Marquis de, 21, 281, 282
Guadalcazar, Marquis de, 153
Guadalmina, Marquise de, 153
"Gyp," 37 H
Halevy, M.. 154
Hamilton, Duchess of, 73
Harry, M. Gerard, 349, 368
Hastings, Marquis of, 72. 73
Hatzfeldt, Count, 155
Haussmann, Baron, 75, 177. 178, IH4
Heriot and Chauchart, MM., 150
Herisson, Comte d', 231 , 259
Hertford, Marquis of, 152
Hilliers, Marshal Baraguay d', 176.
186, 189, 190, 191
Hirsoh, Baron, 158, 159
HohenzoUern, Princess Adelaide of, 31
Prince of, 285
Prince Leopold of, 31
Holland, King of, 80, 81. 82, 387
Prince of, 387
Hope, Mr., 156
Hortense, Queen, 7, 8, 9. 10, 11, 13,
17,19,21,28,32
Houssaye, Arsene, 79
Hugo, Victor, 370 I
Isabelle, 79, 153
Ismail Pasha, 387
Italy, King of, 168, 348, 349, 353. 355
Queens of, 354

Jablonowski, M. Maurice, 385
James, Sir Henry (Lord Jamos of
Hereford), 221
Jersey, Lord and Lady, 31
Josephine, Empress, 19
Juarez, President, 136

K

Keratry, M. de, 286

Laborde, Comtesse de, 2, 38
Lafitte, M. Charles, 79
Lagrange, Comte de, 79
Lambert, Baron, 133, 162
Lano, Pierre de, 137, 140, 141, 143,259
Lansdowne, Marquis and Marchioness
of, 377
Leboeuf, Marshal, 75, 107, 170, 177,
181, 187, 188, 189, 192, 193, 195,
199, 201, 204

Lebreton-Bourbaki, Mme., 223, 224,
225, 226. 227
Lobrun, General, 183, 189, 1!!!), 201,
212,213,214
Logge, Edward. 206. 222
Legouve. M., 132
Lejeune. Mme.. 328
Leopold II., 345, 370, 371
Lhuys, Droti \n. de, 35, 30, 37. 1 1 1 , 271
Mme.. 128
Lieven. Princesse ile. lf.3
Ligne, Pi ineesse E. do, 353
Lipton, Sir Thomas. 381)
Lomas. Mr., 392
Lonyay. Comtosse (Princesse Ste
phanie), 373. 377
Lorde. M. Andre de, 392
Louise (of Belgium), Princesse, 378
Louis XVIII., King, 234, 235
Lyons. Lord, 71, 73 M
Mackau. Baron de, 279. 280. 295
MacMahon. Marshal, 169, 170, 174,
176, 182. 195. 210, 211, 214, 215
Magnan, Marshal, 115, 271
Magne, M., 197. 271
Mafllard. M. J., 236, 237
Molbert. M.. 362
Malmesburj-, Lord, 6, 31
Manchester, Duke and Duchess of, 206
Manning, Cardinal, 398, 399
Manoel, King of Portugal, 362. 380
Manzoni, Signor, 230
MarceUo, Comtesse, 154
Maria Pia (the late), Queen,
Marie Henriette Anne (the late), Queen
of the Belgians, 345
Marrast, M„ 268
Marx, Adrien, 73, 76, 77
Masera, Monsignor, 352
Massa, Marquis de, 79, 119, 132, 145,
162
Masson, M. Frederic, 236, 369
Mathilde, Princesse, 32, 36, 41, 42, 62,
72, 128, 174, 218, 361, 383, 384
Mattachich, Count, 378
Mauget, M. Iren6e, 43, 44, 61
Maupas, M., 270, 271
Maurey, M. Max, 393
Meilhac, M., 154
Meissonier, 135
Mentschikoff, Prince, 152
Mercy-Argenteau, Comtesse do, 245-
258
Merimee, Prosper, 1, 3, 61, 66, 230
MermiUod, Cardinal, 360
Metternich, Princesse de, 73, 106, 133,
134, 137, 141, 142, 143, 144 149,
155, 173, 227, 297, 386

406

THE SECOND EMPIRE

Metternich, Prince de, 79, 133, 141,
142, 173, 175, 197,' 227, 228, 229,
297, 298
Mexico, Empress Charlotte of, 90-94,
371
Mitchell, M. Robert, 218
Mocquard, M., 103
Moltke, General von, 208, 387
Montmorency, Due and Duchesse,
173
Monts, General Count von, 281, 282
Monaco, the late Prince of, 387
Moncalieri, the Mayor of, 350
Montijo, Comtesse de, 1, 4, 32, 42, 43,
48, 61, 129
Morny, Due de, 35, 36, 79, 122, 153,
271, 276
Duchesse de, 72
Mouchy, Due de, 80
Duchesse de, 376
Moulton, Mrs., 73, 155
Murat, Prince, 386
Murat, Princes Achille and Lucien, 21
Prince Joachim, 31
Musard, Mme., 81
Musset, Paul de, 135

N
Napoleon III., the Emperor : arrives
in Paris under arrest, and is seen
for the first time by MUe. Eugenie
de Montijo, 1 ; boyhood and youth,
7 ; his father and mother, 9 ; travels
in Italy, the prophecy of a negress,
Louis Napoleon imbued with his
mother's superstitious ideas, " What
would you do to obtain a liveli
hood ?" 10, 11 ; at the age of seven,
he implores Napoleon I. " not to
leave for the war," a curious con
versation with the Emperor, 12, 13 ;
the boy's character, " a type of
German dreaminess," 14 ; the
" doux entetc_," a prediction of the
"Grand Albert," the boy's one
quality, 15 ; George Sand's remark,
the Prince's education vitiated, his
docility, effects of changes of scene,
drawbacks to study, some of his
writings, 16, 17 ; Louis Napoleon's
life in London, 18 ; his drawing-
rooms full of souvenirs and relics,
his rides and drives, he makes
numerous friends, Lady Blessing
ton, he publishes his " Id<_es Na
poleoniennes," 19 ; De Persigny and
the Prince, Louis Napoleon's failure
at Strasburg, Mrs. Gordon, 20 ;
Fleury, De Persigny, and the Mar
quis de Gricourt, the Prince de

ported to America, he meets the
Murats and Prince Pierre Bona
parte, returns to London, goes to
Arenenberg, and is present at hia
mother's death, his proclamations
posted at Boulogne, 21 ; how
Boulogne took the announcements,
22 ; the expedition to France, a
fiasco, the conspirators fly, the
Prince and others jump into the
sea, some are drowned, arrest of
the Prince and most of his ad
herents, 24 ; letter from Thelin, the
Prince's valet, dated from a Paris
prison, 25, 26 ; the Prince and
others are tried at the Luxembourg,
26 ; the sentences — the Prince to
be perpetuaUy imprisoned in a
fortress, his six years at Ham, he
is assisted by Mme. Cornu, his
foster-sister, 27 ; escape of the
Prince from Ham, his arrival in
London, death of his father, the
Prince becomes comparatively rich,
and buys a house for Miss Howard,
28 ; Louis Napoleon's letter to his
father on the subject of marriage,
29, 30 ; he denies that he is a pre
tender to the hand of Queen Dona
Maria, 30 ; the Prince's matrimonial
advances, 31 ; Mile. Eugenie de
Montijo and her mother, 32; the
Montijos at Compiegne, card-play
ing, Eugenie has a very good
hand," the courtship, Eugenie is
insulted, 33, 34; the sympathetic
Emperor, he offers, marriage, and
announces his intention in a speech
from the throne, 34 ; objections to
the marriage, 35 ; M. Drouyn de
Lhuys and MUe. de Montijo, De
Moray's saying, 36; ladies oppose
the marriage, Eugenie is persecuted
at Compifegne, 37 ; analysis of her
temperament, 38 ; MUe. de Montijo
will not allow anyone to kiss her
but her husband, 39 ; criticism of
the Emperor's fiancee, Princesse
Mathilde begs the Emperor to
abandon his intention, 41 ; Lamar
tine supports the Emperor, " every
body courts MUe. de Montijo," 42 ;
the Comtesse de Montijo and the
generous Emperor, 44 ; " what a
responsibility to have a youDg
wife, beautiful, and southern !" a
story of the Emperor and Eugenie,
46 ; after the marriage, " tho Em
press submits everything to the
Emperor," 47 ; the Empress and
her diamonds, 48 ; the Emperor

INDEX

407

deplores his Consort's wayward
ness, "scenes," some "distraction
for the poor Emperor," who is to
be "shown some pretty women,"
the Emperor cautions the Empress
against "people who are no better
than spies," 54; a letter from tho
wife to the husband, 55 ; the Em
peror and Empress much discussed
in Paris and London, sidelights
upon their lives, 57 ; the Emperor
induces the Empress to travel in
Scotland, 58 ; the Emperor pro
vides an unknown poet with a
wife, 58-60 ; the Emperor insists
upon strict etiquette. 60 ; the Em
peror and his wife's letters,
"scenes" between the Imperial
couple, 61 ; the Emperor orders
the Empress's mother to leave
Paris, the Empress's playfulness
with the Emperor in the garden.
the Emperor refuses to allow the
Comtesse de Montijo to return to
Paris, 62 ; the Emperor " is sus
picious and severe to excess," he
gives Mme. Aguado her conge, the
Empress " chaffs " her Consort,
63 ; » charming letter from the
Empress to Napoleon III., her
Majesty's letters to the Emperor
before their marriage, 66 ; the
Empress " knows how to deUver
the Emperor from General Fleury
and M. Emile OUivier," 68 ; the
Emperor's mispronunciation of
some French words, Bismarck's
sarcasm. Napoleon " only looked
a real Emperor when he was
mounted," 69 ; the Emperor and
Biarritz, 70 ; the wife of His
Majesty's doctor, 72 ; the Emperor
honours Alexander II., the Tsare-
vitch, the King of Prussia, and the
Crown Prince, 74, 75 ; the Emperor
shows his Royal guests his stables
and his twelve saddle-horses, 76,
77; the story of "Mr. Allsop "
(Orsini) and the attempted assas
sination of Napoleon III. and his
wife, 83-87 ; the Emperor as the
" Sire de Framboisy," 87, 88 ; the
Emperor's " political successes and
military glories," 88 ; reconciliation
of the French Sovereigns, 89 ; the
Empress of Mexico at St. Cloud, a
dramatic episode, Napoleon " be
wildered," " tears were in all eyes,
even the Emperor's," the official
account of the Empress Charlotte's
visit, 92-94 ; Queen Victoria invests

Napoleon with (lie On ler of Hie
Garter, " Enlin, jo suis genlil-
hommo," 95-97; tho Emperor ami
Empress visit Quoen Victoria and
the Prince Consort at (Wen, the
Emperor's mot,, 97. 98 ; ut a ball
at the Tuileries, before the mar
riage, the Emperor dances with
Lady Cowley and with Mile, dc
Montijo. 101 ; I lie Kmperor's loilol,
an amusing scene. 102105; Lord
Ronald Sutherland-Gower describes
the Emperor at a Tuileries ball, 106,
107 ; an American Minister's opinion
of Napoleon HI., 108; Ixird Glen-
esk's comical story of the Emperor
who " did not want to be snubbed
again," 110. Ill ; tho Emperor's
liking for Fontainebleau, his curious
Louis XV. hunting-dross, English
friends welcomed, 113, 114; torch
light " curees " and gay " shoots,"
116; Napoleon III. sleeps in the
room of Napoleon I., the forest the
great attraction at Fontainebleau,
118 ; the Emperor and Empress are
"romantics." 119; when their
Majesties arrive — " how different
to the Tuileries !" 121 ; the Theatre
Imperial, Fontainebleau, Alberic
Second's amusing "saynete" and
De Moray's witty impromptu, 121,
122 ; the Emperor's unconventional
garb, 122 ; music at dinner, " the
Emperor had no ear," his favourite
tunes, 123 ; at Fontainebleau the
Emperor smokes and talks with
Bismarck, they have a " political
walk" through the grounds, 125;
an incident at a Council at Fon
tainebleau, " the Empress burst
into tears, and left the Council
Chamber," 126 ; the Emperor at
Compiegne, the Imperial " but
tons," a " final act of diplomacy,"
129 ; Christmas theatricals, a big
"meet" on Christmas Day, guests at
the "series," a misceUaneous com
pany, 130 ; good dinners and ex
cellent music, 131 ; various games,
amateur play-acting, the Emperor
" plays " a piano-organ, the Mar
quis de Massa'B "skit" on the
Emperor's " Commentairos de
Cesar," 132 ; enemies and intrigues,
the Emperor " using himself up,"
143 ; the Emperor promises tho
PrincessedeMetternich that "Tann
hauser " shall be produced, 145,
146 ; the Emperor gives Liszt the
Cross of the Legion d'Honneur,

408

THE SECOND EMPIRE

147 ; the Emperor and the Mar
quise de Galliffet, 160 ; the Com
tesse Edmond de Pourtales, a warm
friend of the Emperor and Empress,
warns them of Prussia's intentions,
161 ; the Emperor's war telegrams
to the Empress, 166-196; Napo
leon III. at Metz " seemed to be
dreaming," " he had become an
embarrassment," 199 ; the Em
peror, Canrobert, Leboeuf, and
Bazaine together at the Prefecture,
Metz, Napoleon hands over the
command to Bazaine, 201 ; the
Emperor's Aide-de-Camp, General
Pajol, describes the battle of Sedan
and the splendid courage of His
Majesty, 210-216; was the Em
peror rouged at Sedan ? 216-218 ;
interviews of Napoleon with Bis
marck, the King of Prussia, and
the Crown Prince, 218-221 : the
Emperor en route to Wilhelmshohe,
he writes a full explanation of the
causes which led to his defeat, 221-
222 ; a list of the property left at
the Tuileries in 1870 by the Em
peror, the Empress, and their son,
240-244 ; the Emperor's letters to
the Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau,
248-258 ; the Emperor's other corre
spondence, 259-267 ; Napoleon as
Citizen, President, and Emperor,
his extraordinary letter concern
ing Miss Howard, 269, 270; the
history of the coup d'etat, 270-272 ;
his four years' Presidency of the
Republic, 273; tributes of M.
Emile Ollivier and Baron de Mac
kau to Napoleon III., 276-281 ;
the Emperor, at Wilhelmshohe,
writes a detailed statement of his
policy as regards Germany, 281-
291 ; what the King of Prussia was
asked to write to Napoleon III.,
291-292 ; the people who forced
the Emperor to deolare war, 292 ;
last words of Napoleon to M. Ol
livier, 293 ; Napoleon III. is left
without allieB and goes to war
single-handed, 298, 299 ; the Em
peror and his collaborator, the
Comte de La ChapeUe, 301-304;
how the Emperor and " the Cause "
were financed, the Comte de La
Chapelle's letters to the Emperor,
308-318 ; letter of Napoleon III. to
M. Rouher, 319, 320 ; in letters to
Colonel Stoffel M. Franceschini
Pietri speaks for the Emperor, 321-
337

Napoleon, General Prince Louis, 379
Prince (the late), 41, 72, 128, 294,
297, 298, 326, 345, 358, 383,
384
Princesse (the late Clotilde), 100,
345, 347, 350, 352, 354, 358,
359-361, 381, 382, 384
Prince (the Pretender), 339-384
Princesse (Clementine), 345, 348,
349, 350, 352, 353, 354, 355,
369-378
Emperor (I.), 8, 9, 12, 13. 16, 19,
347
Naeyer, Comtesse de Smet de, 353
Ney, Edgar, 35, 115
Niel, Marshal, 181, 200, 279, 280, 323,
333
Nieuwerkerque, Comte de, 41, 79
Nigra, Chevalier, 124, 227, 228, 229,
230, 298
Noir, Victor, 336

O
Offenbach, Jacques, 79, 151
O'Hanlon, Rev. John, 391
Ollivier, M. Emile, 68, 168, 178, 180,
276, 277, 281, 282, 283, 284, 287,
292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 301,
303, 324, 369
Orleans, Due d', 344
Princesse Helene (Duchesse
d'Aoste)', 382
Ossuna, Due d', 4, 36, 45
Owl, The, and some of its writers, 110

Padoue, MUe. de, 29
Padwick, Mr., 72
Pajol, General, 209, 211, 213, 215,
216
Palikao, General, 89, 186, 187, 188,
190, 192, 194, 201, 296
MUes., 328
Pallez, M. Lucien, 372
Palmerston, Viscount and Viscount
ess, 6
Viscount, 97
Panizzi, Dr., 1
Paoli, M. Xavier, 389, 390, 391
Parieu, M. de, 271
Pasquier, M., 26
Due d'Audriffet, 344
Patti, Adelina, 72
Paule, Don Francis de, 31
Payne, Mrs., 155
Pearl, Cora, 152
PeUe, General, 214
Pemberton, Colonel, 392

INDEX

409

Pepa, 197
Perrin, M„ 133
Persigny, Duo de, 20, 21, 24, 27, 35,
63, 276, 281
Duchesse de, 128, 151
Pestel, Captain von, 208
Philippe, King Louis, 18, 348
Pietri, M. Fronoesohini, 170, 183, 228,
238, 239, 276, 300, 321, 325-338,
376, 386, 389, 391
Pilie, Mrs., 155
Pinard, M„ 73
Pius IX., Pope, 371
Plon, M., 331
Podbielski, Count von, 205, 207, 208
Poet Laureate (sonnet, "Tho Prince
Imperial"), 400
Polk, Miss, 155
Poily, Mme. de, 133
Poniatowski, Prince, 174, 175
Pope, the, 355
Portugal, Queen (Dona Maria) of. 30
King of, and Infant Don Fer
nando, 135
Post, Mrs. and the Misses, 155
Pourtales, Comtesse Edmond de, 73,
133, 134, 149, 155, 161, 162. 386
Prim, Marshal, 31
Prince Imperial, 71, 74, 78, 293, 294,
298, 304, 306, 307, 315-317, 379,
383, 393, 394, 398, 400
Priollet, MM. JuUen and Marcel, 393
Proudhon, M., 394
Prussia, Crown Prince of, 77
Prussia, Frederick WiUiam, King of,
273
Crown Princess of, 107
Crown Prince, 170, 218
R
Regnier, Archduke, 369
Rejane, Mme., 393
Riaro-Storza, Duchesse, 154
Richard, M Maurice, 187
Richter, Captain von, 208
Ridgway, Miss, 154
Ripon, Lord, 25
Rivas, Duchesse de, 153
Rochefort, M. Henri, 80, 284, 336,
345
Romieu, M„ 271
Ronalds, Mrs., 155, 386
Rooney, the Abbe, 392
Rose, J. H., 277
Rostopchine, Comte, 152
Rothschild, Baron and Baronne Al
phonse de, 162
Rouher, M., 271, 311-314, 320
Rowles, Miss, 31
Royer, M. de, 271

Rudolph, Arohduke, 378
Russell, Lord John, 88

S
Sagan, Prinoessedo, 73, 149, 155, 156,
157, 158, 159, 160, 164
Princo de, 158, 159, 160
Saint-Amand, Baron Imbort do. 101,
237
Saint-Arnaud, Marshal, 270, 271
Saint-Genest, M., 303
Salemi, Comte do. 350
Sandeau. Jules. 135
Sardou. M. Viotorien. SO
"Savelli, La," 393
Saxe-Coburg, Prince Philip of. 350,
379
Saxony, King (Albert) of, 208
Crown Prince of, 219
Schneider, Hortonse, 151
Schneider, M., 193. 271
Scholer, General von, 210
| SchoU, Aurelien, 144, 145
I Schouvaloff, Count, 75
Seckendorff, Count von, 220
! SeiUiere, Baron, 156
I M. Frank, 159
! Sesto, Duo de, 4, 37, 60
Seymour, Lord H., 152
Sheridan, General, 206
i SUberer, Victor, 206
Sincay, M. Saint-Pol de, 363
Sophia, Queen of Holland, 387
" Sornette," 160, 161
Soubeyran, M., 149, 150
Soumain, General, 186
Spain, Queen of, 392
Stiegler, M. Gaston, 102-105
Stoffel, Colonel, 162, 279, 321-338
Sutherland, Duchess of, 105-107
Sutherland-Gower, Lord Ronald, 105-
107, 235, 236
Sweden, King of, 387
Swetchine, Mme., 153

Taisey-Chatenoy, Marquise de, 43
Talhouet, M., 281
Thelin, Charles, 24, 25, 26, 102
Theresa, 142, 149
Thiers, M., 22, 41, 181, 286
Thompson, Sir H., 300, 301
Thouvenel, M., 125, 126
Toledo, M. de, 153
Torre, Duchesse de la, 153
Toulongeon, Colonel do, 33, 35
Trecesson, General do, 213
Trochu, General, 176, 177, 179, 193,
194, 224, 326

410

THE SECOND EMPIRE

Tuileries, list of objects found at the,
240-244
Turkey, the Sultan of, 389

U
Uhlmann, M., 392

VaiUant, Marshal, 126
Valencay, Due de, 156
Vambery, Arminius, 275
Vassoigne, General, 211
Vaughan, Baroness, 378
Vaughan, Mrs., 73, 386, 389
Miss, 386, 391
Veron, M., 271
Victor Emmanuel II. , 296, 359
Victor Emmanuel III., 348, 371
Victoria, Princess of Schleswig-Hol
stein, 392
Victoria, Queen, 5, 6, 94-98, 125,
127, 273, 275, 375, 376, 377, 389,
390
Vieil-Castel, M., 41
ViUeneuve, Marquis de, 385
Villiers, Lady Clementina, 31
Vimercati, Count, 168, 298

Visconti-Venosta, Marquis, 166
Vitzthum, Count, 297

W
Wagner, Richard, 145, 146, 147
Wagram, Prince de (and daughter),
31, 45
Waldteuffel, M., 335
Wales, Prince and Princess, 128, 377
Prince of, 157, 163, 164
Wedding of Prince Napoleon and
Princesse Clementine, 345-357
Welschinger, M. H., 291, 292
Westphalia, ex-King of, 33,35,272,281
Whitehurst, Felix, 70, 71, 72, 73
WUliam, King (of Prussia), 74, 76, 126,
204, 205, 206, 208, 215, 218, 219,
220, 281, 291, 296, 327
Wimpffen, General de, 210, 212, 213,
214, 215
Wolff, Sir Henry Drummond, 221
Worth, M., 144
Wiirtemberg, King of, 359
Wyse, Mr. Napoleon Gerald Bona
parte, 385
Mr. C. W. Bonaparte, 385

Zola, iWle, 216, 217, 218, 318

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EMPRESSEUGENIE
1870—1910; HER MAJESTY'S LIFE SINCE "THE TERRI
BLE YEAR," TOGETHER WITH THE STATEMENT OF
HER CASE— THE EMPEROR'S OWN STORY OF SEDAN—
AN ACCOUNT OF HIS EXILE AND LAST DAYS— AND
REMINISCENCES OF THE PRINCE IMPERIAL. FROM
AUTHENTIC SOURCES
By EDWARD LEGGE
Author of" The Comedy and Tragedy of the Second Empire."
Demy Svo. Illustrated. 2nd Impression. 7s. 6d. net.
"The Empress was regarded as the most beautiful woman in
Europe. She had been raised from the position of a subject to the
dizzy heights of an Imperial throne. She had made history, and
was looked upon as the centre of pohtical mystery, and by some as
the prime cause of the Franco- Prussian War. She hves on stiU, a
woman active in mind and body, who, in spite of her great age, has
traveUed within the last four years in France, Italy, Austria, Norway,
Spain, and even as far as Ceylon. As it seems certain that we are
never to have her own reminiscences, Mr. Legge has been diligent
in coUecting material, and has forestalled the unauthenticated bio
graphies which will be poured out on the death of the Empress." Daily Mail.
" The author has done his work remarkably weU, and his pages
are marked by tact and discretion as well as by freshness, vigour and
interest. The narrative, though not strictly speaking an authorized
one, is based upon documents and first-hand information, and its
tone, wMle thoroughly sympathetic, is refreshingly free from the
defect of undue bias." — Morning Post.
" The author, besides his former connection with a great news
paper, has various qualifications, among others, an ever-present
delicacy, that fit him for his undertaking." — Chicago Post.
HARPER & BROTHERS, 45, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON, W.

ISABELLA OF MILAN
By CHRISTOPHER HARE
Author of "The Most Illustrious Ladies of the Italian Renaissance,"
"The Life of Louis XL," "A Queen of Queens and the making of
Spain," "Marguerite of Austria," &c.
Demy 8vo., cloth extra, gilt tops, 10s. 6d. Profusely Illustrated.
" The writer has contrived to get in a great deal that was notable in
that eventful decade which closed the fifteenth century. Some
beautiful illustrations are admirably reproduced, and the letterpress
is pleasant to the eye." — Afhencewm.
" Told with vividness and freshness, which bring before the
reader a wonderful picture of life at an Italian ducal Court during
the splendid time of the Renaissance, the time when the arts were
at their highest, when wars and sieges foUowed one another with
such startling rapidity." — Daily Telegraph.
QUEEN MARGOT
WIFE OF HENRY OF NAVARRE (HENRY
IV. OF FRANCE)
By H. NOEL WILLIAMS
Demy 8vo., gilt tops, Photogravure Portrait, New and Cheaper
Edition, 7s. 6d.
Uniform with other standard historical monographs by the same
Author :
MADAME RECAMIER MADAME DU POMPADOUR
MADAME DE MONTESPAN MADAME DU BARRY
"A stirring period of French history which cannot fail to be
thrilling. Mr. Williams makes his pages as. readable as any
romance — he never had a better subject to his hand than this.
In its cheaper form, with exceUent print, the book should be
widely read." — Daily Telegraph.
" An extremely interesting book. Marguerite de Valois was one
of the most distinguished women in France at an era when women
played a more important part in social and political life than has
ever been the case before or since. The book has been weU done."
Morning Post.
HARPER & BROTHERS, 45, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON, W.

8542