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THE COMEDY & TRAGEDY OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
THE COMEDY & TRAGEDY OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
LONDON AND NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS 45, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1911 I DEDICATE THIS VOLUME ON HIS EIGHTY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY TO THE EMINENT STATESMAN AND HISTORIAN OF L’EMPIRE LIBÉRAL ÉMILE OLLIVIER PRIME MINISTER IN 1870 LOYAL FRIEND OF NAPOLEON III. AND GRAND OLD MAN OF FRANCE ——— Ab honesto virum bonum nihil deterret....
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A NOTE.
A NOTE.
30 juin, 1911, Monsieur , Non-seulement j’accepte avec plaisir la dédicace dont vous voulez bien m’honorer, mais je vous remercie des termes beaucoup trop bienveillants dont vous vous servez à mon égard. Je vous remercie aussi de l’envoi de votre livre, que je me ferai lire, et dans lequel, je suis sûr, je trouverai beaucoup d’intérêt. Agreez, Monsieur, mes sentiments les plus cordialement sympathiques. Émile Ollivier. [ Translation. ] June 30, 1911 . Sir , Not only do I accept with pleasure the
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PREFACE
PREFACE
It is due to the readers of “The Empress Eugénie: 1870-1910,” that they should know how that volume was received by the British and American Press. Leading critics like Mr. Courtney, “Daily Telegraph”; Mr. Richard Whiteing, “Manchester Guardian”; and Mr. Tighe Hopkins, “Daily Chronicle,” devoted much space to their analyses of the volume, as did the able reviewers of the work in the “Morning Post,” “Daily Mail,” “Evening Standard,” “Scotsman,” “Illustrated London News,” “Observer,” “Athenæum,” “
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CHAPTER I THE EMPRESS’S GIRLHOOD
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, who 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 Préfet of Paris. The ladies on the ba
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CHAPTER II THE BOYHOOD AND YOUTH OF NAPOLEON III
CHAPTER II THE BOYHOOD AND YOUTH OF NAPOLEON III
Few English 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 line
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CHAPTER III FROM LONDON TO HAM VIÂ BOULOGNE
CHAPTER III FROM LONDON TO HAM VIÂ 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, [25] 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 Stree
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CHAPTER IV COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT
CHAPTER IV COURTSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT
When Prince Louis Napoleon was rather over twenty-six he wrote to his father, the Comte de Saint-Leu: [31] Arenenberg , June 5, 1834 . My dear Papa , Since I wrote to you, the death of Mlle. 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 advantages I
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CHAPTER V CÆSAR’S WIFE
CHAPTER V CÆSAR’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—liked people to occupy themselves about her, liked to be courted. “Although 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
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CHAPTER VI APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
CHAPTER VI APOGEE OF THE SECOND EMPIRE
The Empress has to her credit the creation of Biarritz, which developed from a little Basque village into the French Brighton, and became a seat of the imperial Court. The Villa Eugénie 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 b
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CHAPTER VII TWO EMPRESSES
CHAPTER VII TWO EMPRESSES
To the château of Bouchout, hard by Laecken, the thoughts of the châtelaine of Farnborough Hill 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 Eugénie has, indeed, reason to bear well 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 i
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CHAPTER VIII THE TUILERIES
CHAPTER VIII THE TUILERIES
The “great” balls at the Tuileries were given before Lent; the “little” balls, otherwise known as the Empress’s “Mondays,” after Easter. At the larger of these entertainments all 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 (clâque) was carried under the arm. One person only wore
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CHAPTER IX FONTAINEBLEAU
CHAPTER IX FONTAINEBLEAU
Napoleon III. had a great liking for Fontainebleau, the scene of his Uncle’s abdication. It may well have been that he desired to banish from the place all 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 newborn sovereignty in the very place which had witnessed the shipwreck of the victor of Austerlitz. This act pleased the nation by its audacity; people saw in it an evidence of disdain for the e
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CHAPTER X COMPIÈGNE
CHAPTER X COMPIÈGNE
The social history of the Second Empire was resumed in the Tuileries, St. Cloud, Fontainebleau, Biarritz, and Compiègne. The name of the latter lingered fondly on the lips of the fine fleur of English 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 flickered, and gave place to bad blood after the “attempt” of Orsini, Pierri, Rudio, and Gomez, wa
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CHAPTER XI THE FOREIGN LEGION; AND SOME GREAT LADIES
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 invaders came from all countries; the majority, perhaps, from the South American Republics, the lands then flowing in milk and honey, as typified by gold and silver. They were called “Exotics,” and Paris was swamped by “l’Exotisme.” For countenancing these parasites, these nobodies, with their riches and their low moral code, three ladies were blamed—the Em
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CHAPTER XII THE SOVEREIGNS’ WAR DESPATCHES
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 full of confidence as to the final issue. Everybody well. Eugénie. 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 Napoléon . The Empress to the Prince Imperial. St. Cloud , Same date . I hope thou art not over-fatigued, and that the emotions of
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CHAPTER XIII WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN
CHAPTER XIII WHAT OUR EYES HAVE SEEN
“Nous sommes prêts, archi-prêts. Il ne nous manque pas un bouton de guêtre.”— Marshal Lebœuf. In the dead of the night the springless waggon containing two doctors of a Sanitäts-Corps and myself rumbled through the streets of hilly Clermont, at that moment [96] the headquarters of King William, first German Emperor. I had made my way from Saarbrücken (escaping in a soldiers’ train) to Pont-à-Mousson, had seen something of the Bavarian bombardment of Toul, and had visited Commercy and Bar-le-Duc.
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CHAPTER XIV ON THE EVE OF EXILE
CHAPTER XIV ON THE EVE OF EXILE
Often as the story of the Empress’s escape from the Tuileries 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 important 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 L’Écho du Parlement Belge of January 28, 1871. The writer asserts that his informant was the
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CHAPTER XV “THESE THINGS ARE LITTLE; BUT, THEN, THEY’RE ALL”
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 Eugénie, and the Prince Imperial. The list was most carefully 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 ro
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CHAPTER XVI THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE DE MERCY-ARGENTEAU
CHAPTER XVI THE EMPEROR AND THE COMTESSE DE MERCY-ARGENTEAU
Although the name of the Comtesse de Mercy-Argenteau is a very familiar one, it seems desirable to put on record some details of her family history, if only in order to explain what might otherwise appear somewhat of a mystery—the selection by Napoleon III. of this beautiful and gifted woman as his secret political emissary, both during and, to a certain extent, after his six months’ captivity at Wilhelmshöhe. She is the daughter of that Prince de Chimay who was the head of the younger branch of
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CHAPTER XVII THE EMPEROR’S CORRESPONDENCE
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’Hérisson, M. Pierre de Lano, and other French authors. Those now for the first time translated for this work from Comte d’Hérisson’s “Le Prince Impérial” and M. Pierre de Lano’s “L’Impératrice” will be fresh to English readers, who will obtain from their perusal a better insight into the character of Napoleon III
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CHAPTER XVIII CITIZEN—PRESIDENT—EMPEROR.
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 Légion 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 milit
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CHAPTER XIX THE PALE EMPEROR
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 deliver 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, almo
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CHAPTER XX THE EMPEROR’S COLLABORATOR
CHAPTER XX THE EMPEROR’S COLLABORATOR
I have told, in “The Empress Eugénie: 1870-1910,” [139] 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. Borthwick), 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
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CHAPTER XXI FINANCING THE EMPEROR AND “THE CAUSE”
CHAPTER XXI FINANCING THE EMPEROR AND “THE CAUSE”
Comte de La Chapelle’s Letters to Napoleon III. [144] The “Subscription” Assured. To His Majesty the Emperor. Undated. Sire , I do not know how to express to your Majesty how grieved I am because of the 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 d
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I.
I.
Biarritz , September 27, 1866 . My dear Stoffel , The Emperor has read the report which you sent to the Ministry of War. He waited for it two or three days, and was obliged to send for it. You did well to tell me about it. His Majesty, before receiving it, dictated to me the following 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
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II.
II.
Compiègne , November 21, 1866 . My dear Friend , 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 à 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, the
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III.
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. [162] “Chi va piano, va sano; chi va sano, va lontano.” [163] 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 whi
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IV.
IV.
Paris , December 27, 1867 . My dear Stoffel, 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 pamphlets are ... little read in France, we hear a long, dull buzz much resembling hostile clamours.... I believe
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V.
V.
Paris , January 8, 1868 . My dear Stoffel , 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. [165] You will find in this envelope the bank-note [for 1,000 francs = £40] referred to, which will be, I believe, the last you will receive. The prodigality of César Romain [166] will stop there, and if we had not any other resources there would be nothing for us to do but to
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VI.
VI.
Paris , March 22, 1868 . My dear Stoffel , ... What you told me in your last letter is quite just, as far as Germany is concerned, but I do not, like 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 produce
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VII.
VII.
Paris , May 28, 1868 . My dear Stoffel , 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
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VIII.
VIII.
Fontainebleau , August 17, 1868 . My dear Stoffel , I send you with this letter a memorandum which was dictated to me, and which requests you to explain some things mentioned therein. I preferred 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 “très bien fai
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The Marriage at Moncalieri.
The Marriage at Moncalieri.
The marriage contract of Prince Napoleon and Princesse Clémentine was signed at Brussels on November 7, 1910. The banns of marriage were published on October 9, on which day the subjoined official announcement was affixed to the notice-board of the Hôtel de Ville 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 (Se
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The Home.
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 public curiosity, with its modest blue stone façade and its oak door with carved eagles, guarded only by those tall chestnut-trees which serve as a curtain to many a demeure bourgeoise of more ambitious aspect. The Prince’s partisans, the associates of his hopes,
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The Idyll.
The Idyll.
Some two months prior to the marriage the illustrious fiancés visited Farnborough Hill, 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 Napoléon’s consort was no stranger to the august lady who entertained her in Hampshire in September, 1910; for the Princesse, her sister Stéphanie, and their father were the Empress Eugénie’s guests at Cap Martin some few seasons ag
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The Family.
The Family.
Before ending this narrative of the most important event in the history of Bonapartism since the martyrdom in Zululand of the only child of Napoleon III. and the Empress Eugénie—that tragedy which made Prince Victor, in accordance with the explicit terms of the Prince Imperial’s will, 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
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The Empress Eugénie: 1910-11.
The Empress Eugénie: 1910-11.
Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Eugénie, 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 la
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THE PRINCE IMPERIAL (THE POET LAUREATE’S SONNET)
THE PRINCE IMPERIAL (THE POET LAUREATE’S SONNET)
Felix Opportunitate Mortis. A , B , C , D , E , F , G , H , I , J , K , L , M , N , O , P , R , S , T , U , V , W , Z...
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