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Notes have been added +by the translator, and illustrations by the publishers, which, it is +believed, will enhance the interest of the original work by Constant. + +"To paint Caesar in undress is not to paint Caesar," some one has said. +Yet men will always like to see the great 'en deshabille'. In these +volumes the hero is painted in undress. His foibles, his peculiarities, +his vices, are here depicted without reserve. But so also are his +kindness of heart, his vast intellect, his knowledge of men, his +extraordinary energy, his public spirit. The shutters are taken down, +and the workings of the mighty machinery are laid bare. + +The late Prince Napoleon (who was more truly "the nephew of his uncle" +than was Napoleon III.), in his Napoleon and His Detractors, bitterly +assails this work of Constants attacking both its authenticity and the +correctness of its statements. But there appears no good reason to doubt +its genuineness, and the truthfulness of many of its details is amply +supported by other authorities. Notwithstanding its excesses and +follies, the great French Revolution will ever have an absorbing interest +for mankind, because it began as a struggle for the advancement of the +cause of manhood, liberty, and equal rights. It was a terribly earnest +movement; and, after the lapse of a century, interest continues unabated +in the great soldier who restored order, and organized and preserved the +new ideas by means of his Civil Code and a firm government. + +Countless memoirs have been published by those who lived in those heroic +times. Yet everything which will cast new light upon the chief actors in +that great drama of humanity is still seized upon with avidity, +especially whatever concerns the Emperor. + +This is not merely because he was a great conqueror; for such were, after +their fashion, Genghis Khan and Timour, and hundreds of others. But it +is because of the human interest which attaches to the wonderful career +of Napoleon and the events of which he was the central figure. + +Never did poet or novelist imagine scenes so improbable. The son of an +obscure lawyer in an unimportant island becomes Emperor of the French and +King of Italy. His brothers and sisters become kings and queens. The +sons of innkeepers, notaries; lawyers, and peasants become marshals of +the empire. The Emperor, first making a West India Creole his wife and +Empress, puts her away, and marries a daughter of the haughtiest and +oldest royal house in Europe, the niece of a queen whom the people of +France had beheaded a few years before. Their son is born a king--King +of Rome. Then suddenly the pageantry dissolves, and Emperor, kings, and +queens become subjects again. Has imagination ever dreamed anything +wilder than this? The dramatic interest of this story will always +attract, but there is a deeper one. The secret spring of all those rapid +changes, and the real cause of the great interest humanity will always +feel in the story of those eventful times, is to be found in Napoleon's +own explanation--"A career open to talents, without distinction of +birth." Till that day the accident of birth was the key to every honor +and every position. No man could hold even a lieutenancy in the army who +could not show four quarterings on his coat of arms. + +It was as the "armed apostle of democracy" that Napoleon went forth +conquering and to conquer. He declared at St. Helena that he "had always +marched supported by the opinions of six millions of men." + +The old woman who met him incognito climbing the hill of Tarare, and +replying to his assertion that "Napoleon was only a tyrant like the +rest," exclaimed, "It may be so, but the others are the kings of the +nobility, while he is one of us, and we have chosen him ourselves," +expressed a great truth. As long as Napoleon represented popular +sovereignty he was invincible; but when, deeming himself strong enough to +stand alone, he endeavored to conciliate the old order of things, and, +divorcing the daughter of the people, took for a bride the daughter of +kings and allied himself with them--at that moment, like another Samson, +"his strength departed from him." Disasters came as they had come to him +before, but this time the heart of the people was no longer with him. He +fell. + +This man has been studied as a soldier, a statesman, an organizer, a +politician. In all he was undeniably great. But men will always like to +know something about him as a man. Can he stand that ordeal? These +volumes will answer that question. They are written by one who joined +the First Consul at the Hospice on Mt. St. Bernard, on his way to +Marengo, in June, 1800, and who was with him as his chief personal +attendant, day and night, never leaving him "any more than his shadow" +(eight days only) excepted until that eventful day, fourteen years later, +when, laying aside the sceptre of the greatest empire the world had known +for seventeen centuries, he walked down the horseshoe steps at +Fontainebleau in the presence of the soldiers whom he had led to victory +from Madrid to Moscow, once more a private citizen. + +That men of Anglo-Saxon speech may have an opportunity to see and judge +the Emperor from "close at hand," and view him as he appeared in the eyes +of his personal attendants, these volumes have been translated, and are +now submitted to the public. Though the remark of Frederick the Great +that "No man is a hero to his valet" is not altogether borne out in this +instance, still it will be seen that there is here nothing of that +"divinity which doth hedge a king." In these volumes Napoleon appears as +a man, a very great man, still a mere man, not, a demigod. Their perusal +will doubtless lead to a truer conception of his character, as manifested +both in his good and in his evil traits. The former were natural to him; +the latter were often produced by the exceptional circumstances which +surrounded him, and the extraordinary temptations to which he was +subjected. + +Certainly a truer and fuller light is cast by these volumes, upon the +colossal figure which will always remain one of the most interesting +studies in all human history. + +THE TRANSLATOR. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +By Constant. + +The career of a man compelled to make his own way, who is not an artisan +or in some trade, does not usually begin till he is about twenty years of +age. Till then he vegetates, uncertain of his future, neither having, +nor being able to have, any well-defined purpose. It is only when he has +arrived at the full development of his powers, and his character and bent +of mind are shown, that he can determine his profession or calling. Not +till then does he know himself, and see his way open before him. In +fact, it is only then that he begins to live. + +Reasoning in this manner, my life from my twentieth year has been thirty +years, which can be divided into equal parts, so far as days and months +are counted, but very unequal parts, considering the events which +transpired in each of those two periods of my life. + +Attached to the person of the Emperor Napoleon for fifteen years, I have +seen all the men, and witnessed all the important events, which centered +around him. I have seen far more than that; for I have had under my eyes +all the circumstances of his life, the least as well as the greatest, the +most secret as well as those which are known to history,--I have had, I +repeat, incessantly under my eyes the man whose name, solitary and alone, +fills the most glorious pages of our history. Fifteen years I followed +him in his travels and his campaigns, was at his court, and saw him in +the privacy of his family. Whatever step he wished to take, whatever +order he gave, it was necessarily very difficult for the Emperor not to +admit me, even though involuntarily, into his confidence; so that without +desiring it, I have more than once found myself in the possession of +secrets I should have preferred not to know. What wonderful things +happened during those fifteen years! Those near the Emperor lived as if +in the center of a whirlwind; and so quick was the succession of +overwhelming events, that one felt dazed, as it were, and if he wished to +pause and fix his attention for a moment, there instantly came, like +another flood, a succession of events which carried him along with them +without giving him time to fix his thoughts. + +Succeeding these times of activity which made one's brain whirl, there +came to me the most absolute repose in an isolated retreat where I passed +another interval of fifteen years after leaving the Emperor. But what a +contrast! To those who have lived, like myself, amid the conquests and +wonders of the Empire, what is left to-day? If the strength of our +manhood was passed amid the bustle of years so short, yet so fully +occupied, our careers were sufficiently long and fruitful, and it is time +to give ourselves up to repose. We can withdraw from the world, and +close our eyes. Can it be possible to see anything equal to what we have +seen? Such scenes do not come twice in the lifetime of any man; and +having seen them, they suffice to occupy his memory through all his +remaining years, and in retirement he can find nothing better to occupy +his leisure moments than the recollections of what he has witnessed. + +Thus it has been with me. The reader will readily believe that I have +had no greater pleasure than that of recalling the memories of the years +passed in the service of the Emperor. As far as possible, I have kept +myself informed as to everything that has been written of my former +master, his family, and his court; and while listening to these +narrations read by my wife and sister at our fireside, the long evenings +have passed like an instant! When I found in these books, some of which +are truly only miserable rhapsodies, statements which were incorrect, +false, or slanderous, I, took pleasure in correcting such statements, or +in showing their absurdity. My wife, who lived, as I did, in the midst +of these events, also made her corrections, and, without other object +than our own satisfaction, made notes of our joint observations. + +All who came to see us in our retreat, and took pleasure in having me +narrate what I had seen, were astonished and often indignant at the +falsehoods with which ignorance or malevolence had calumniated the +Emperor and the Empire, and expressing their gratitude for the correct +information I was able to give them, advised me also to furnish it to the +public. But I attached no importance to the suggestion, and was far from +dreaming that some day I should be the author of a book, until M. +Ladvocat came to our hermitage, and urged me earnestly to publish my +memoirs, offering himself to become the publisher. + +At the very time my wife and I received this unexpected visit, we were +reading together the Memoirs of Bourrienne, which the Ladvocat +publishing-house had just issued; and we had remarked more than once how +exempt these Memoirs were from both that spirit of disparagement and of +adulation which we had noticed with disgust in other books on the same +subject. M. Ladvocat advised me to complete the sketch of the Emperor, +which, owing to his elevated position and habitual occupations, +Bourrienne had been able to make only from a political point of view; and +in accordance with his advice, I shall relate in simple words, and in a +manner suited to my relations with the Emperor, those things which +Bourrienne has necessarily omitted, and which no one could know so well +as I. + +I candidly admit that my objections to M. Ladvocat's advice were entirely +overcome when he called my attention to this passage in the introduction +to Bourrienne's memoirs: "If every one who had any relations with +Napoleon, whatever the time and place, will accurately and without +prejudice record what he saw and heard, the future historian of his life +will be rich in materials. I hope that whoever undertakes that difficult +task will find in my notes some information which may be useful in +perfecting his work." + +Having re-read these lines attentively, I said to myself that I could +furnish memoranda and information which would refute errors, brand +falsehoods, and bring to light what I knew to be the truth. In a word, I +felt that I could give in my testimony, and that it was my duty to do so, +in the long trial which has been held ever since the overthrow of the +Emperor; for I had been an eye-witness, had seen everything, and could +say, "I was there." Others also have been close to the Emperor and his +court, and I may often repeat what they have said, for the feats which +they describe I had the same opportunity of witnessing; but, on the other +hand, whatever I know of private matters, and whatever I may reveal which +was secret and unknown, no one till this time could possibly have known, +or consequently have related. + +From the departure of the First Consul for the campaign of Marengo, +whither I went with him, until the departure from Fontainebleau, when I +was compelled to leave him, I was absent only twice, once for three days +and once for seven or eight days. Excepting these short leaves of +absence, the latter of which was on account of my health, I quitted the +Emperor no more than his shadow. + +It has been said that no one is a hero to his valet de chambre. I beg +leave to dissent from this. The Emperor, as near as I was to him, was +always a hero; and it was a great advantage also to see the man as he +was. At a distance you were sensible only of the prestige of his glory +and his power; but on getting closer to him you enjoyed, besides, the +surprising charm of his conversation, the entire simplicity of his family +life, and I do not hesitate to say, the habitual kindliness of his +character. + +The reader, if curious to learn beforehand in what spirit these Memoirs +are written, will perhaps read with interest this passage of a letter +that I wrote to my publisher: + + "Bourrienne had, perhaps, reason for treating Napoleon, as a public + man, with severity. But we view him from different standpoints, and + I speak only of the hero in undress. He was then almost always + kind, patient, and rarely unjust. He was much attached to those + about him, and received with kindness and good nature the services + of those whom he liked. He was a man of habit. It is as a devoted + servant that I wish to speak of the Emperor, and in no wise as a + critic. It is not, however, an apotheosis in several volumes that I + wish to write: for I am on this point somewhat like fathers who + recognize the faults of their children, and reprove them earnestly, + while at the same time they are ready to make excuses for their + errors." + +I trust that I shall be pardoned the familiarity, or, if you will, the +inappropriateness of this comparison, for the sake of the feeling which +dictates it. Besides, I do not propose either to praise or blame, but +simply to relate that which fell within my knowledge, without trying to +prejudice the opinion of any one. + +I cannot close this introduction without a few words as to myself, in +reply to the calumnies which have not spared, even in his retirement, a +man who should have no enemies, if, to be protected from malice, it were +sufficient to have done a little good, and no harm to any one. I am +reproached with having abandoned my master after his fall, and not having +shared his exile. I will show that, if I did not follow the Emperor, it +was because I lacked not the will but the power to do so. God knows that +I do not wish to undervalue the devotion of the faithful servants who +followed the fortunes of the Emperor to the end. However, it is not +improper to say that, however terrible the fall of the Emperor was for +him, the situation (I speak here only of the personal advantages), in the +island of Elba, of those who remained in his service, and who were not +detained in France by an inexorable necessity, was still not without its +advantages; and it was not, therefore, my personal interests which caused +me to leave him. I shall explain hereafter my reasons for quitting his +service. + +I shall also give the truth as to the alleged abuse of confidence, of +which, according to others, I was guilty in respect to the Emperor. +A simple statement of the mistake which gave rise to this falsehood, +I trust, will clear me of every suspicion of indelicacy; but if it is +necessary to add other proofs, I could obtain them from those who lived +nearest to the Emperor, and who were in a condition to both know and +understand what passed between us; and lastly, I invoke fifty years of a +blameless life, and I can say: "When I was in a situation to render great +services, I did so; but I never sold them. I could have derived +advantages from the petitions that I made for people, who, in consequence +of my solicitations, have acquired immense fortunes; but I refused even +the proper acknowledgment which in, their gratitude (very deep at that +time) they felt compelled to offer me, by proposing an interest in their +enterprises. I did not seek to take advantage, for my own benefit, of +the generosity with which the Emperor so long deigned to honor me, in +order to enrich or secure places for my relatives; and I retired poor +after fifteen years passed in the personal service of the richest and +most powerful monarch of Europe." + +Having made these statements, I shall await with confidence the judgment +of my readers. + + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON + +CHAPTER I. + +I shall refer to myself very little in these memoirs, for I am aware the +public will examine them only for details concerning the great man to +whom fortune attached me for sixteen years, and whom I scarcely quitted +during the whole of that time. Notwithstanding, I ask permission to say +a few words as to my childhood, and the circumstances which made me valet +de chambre of the Emperor. + +I was born Dec. 2, 1778, at Peruelz, a town which became French on the +annexation of Belgium to the Republic, and which then belonged to the +Department of Jemmapes. Soon after my birth at the baths of Saint Amand, +my father took charge of a small establishment called the Little Chateau, +at which visitors to the waters were boarding, being aided in this +enterprise by the Prince de Croi, in whose house he had been steward. +Business prospered beyond my father's hopes, for a great number of +invalids of rank came to his house. When I attained my eleventh year, +the Count de Lure, head of one of the chief families of Valenciennes, +happened to be one of the boarders at the Little Chateau; and as that +excellent man had taken a great fancy to me, he asked my parents +permission that I should become a companion to his son, who was about. +the same age. My family had intended me for the church, to gratify one +of my uncles, who was Dean of Lessine, a man of great wisdom and rigid +virtue; and thinking that the offer of the Count de Lure would not affect +my intended destination, my father accepted it, judging that some years +passed in a family so distinguished would give me a taste for the more +serious studies necessary to fit me for the priesthood. I set out, +therefore, with the Count de Lure, much grieved at leaving my parents, +but pleased also at the same time, as is usual with one at my age, with +new scenes. The count took me to one of his estates near Tours, where I +was received with the greatest kindness by the countess and her children, +with whom I was placed on a footing of perfect equality. + +Unfortunately I did not profit very long by the kindness of the count and +the lessons. I was taught at his house, for hardly a year had passed at +the chateau when we learned of the arrest of the king at Varennes. The +count and his family were in despair; and child as I was, I remember that +I was deeply pained at the news, without knowing why, but doubtless +because it is natural to share the sentiments of those with whom you +live, when they treat you with as much kindness as the count and countess +had treated me. However, I continued to enjoy the happy freedom from +care natural to youth, till one morning I was awakened by a loud noise, +and was immediately surrounded by a great number of people, none of whom +I knew, and who asked me countless questions which I could not answer. +I then learned that the count and his family had emigrated. I was +carried to the town hall, where the same questions were renewed, with the +same fruitless result; for I knew nothing of the intentions of my late +protectors, and could only reply by a flood of tears when I saw myself +abandoned and left to my own resources, at a great distance from my +family. + +I was too young then to reflect on the conduct of the count; but I have +since thought that his abandonment of me was an act of delicacy on his +part, as he did not wish to make me an emigre without the consent of my +parents. I have always believed that, before his departure, the count +had committed me to the care of some one, who subsequently did not dare +to claim me, lest he should compromise himself, which was then, as is +well known, exceedingly dangerous. Behold me, then, at twelve years of +age, left without a guide, without means of support, without any one to +advise me, and without money, more than a hundred leagues from my home, +and already accustomed to the comforts of a luxurious life. It is hardly +credible that in this state of affairs I was regarded almost as a +suspect, and was required each day to present myself before the city +authorities for the greater safety of the Republic. I remember well that +whenever the Emperor was pleased to make me relate these tribulations of +my childhood, he never failed to repeat several times, "the fools," +referring to these same city authorities. However that may be, the +authorities of Tours, coming to the conclusion, at last, that a child of +twelve was incapable of overthrowing the Republic, gave me a passport, +with the injunction to leave the city within twenty-four hours, which I +proceeded to do with a hearty good-will, but not without deep grief also +at seeing myself alone, and on foot, with a long journey before me. +After much privation and many hardships I arrived at last in the +neighborhood of Saint-Amand, which I found in the possession of the +Austrians, and that it was impossible for me to reach the town, as the +French surrounded it. In my despair I seated myself on the side of a +ditch and was weeping bitterly, when I was noticed by the chief of +squadron, Michau, + + [I afterwards had the happiness of obtaining for him, from the + Emperor, a position he wished, as a place of retirement, having lost + the use of his right arm.--CONSTANT.] + +who afterwards became colonel and aide-de-camp to General Loison. Michau +approached me, questioned me with great interest, and made me relate my +sad adventures, which touched him deeply, while he did not conceal his +inability to send me back to my family. He had just obtained leave of +absence, which he was going to spend with his family at Chinon, and +proposed to me to accompany him, which invitation I accepted with +gratitude. I cannot say too much of the kindness and consideration shown +me by his household during the three or four months I spent with them. +At the end of that time he took me to Paris, where I was soon after +placed in the house of M. Gobert, a rich merchant, who treated me with +the greatest, kindness. + +I lately visited M. Gobert; and he recalled to me that, when we traveled +together, he gave up to me one of the seats of his carriage, upon which I +was permitted to stretch myself out and sleep. I mention this +circumstance, otherwise unimportant, to show the kindness he always +showed me. + +Some years later I made the acquaintance of Carrat, who was in the +service of Madame Bonaparte while the general was absent on the Egyptian +expedition. Before relating how I came to enter her household, it is +proper to mention how Carrat himself came into her service, and at the +same time narrate some anecdotes in regard to him, which will show what +were the pastimes of the inhabitants of Malmaison at that date. + +Carrat happened to be at Plombieres when Madame Bonaparte + + [Madame Bonaparte, nee Marie Joseph Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, + was born in Martinique, 1763; became the widow of Viscount Alexander + de Beauharnais, 1794; married Napoleon Bonaparte March, 1796; became + Empress May 18, 1804; was divorced Dec. 16, 1809; died at Malmaison, + May 20, 1814.--TRANS.] + +went there to take the waters. Every day he brought her bouquets, and +addressed to her little complimentary speeches, so singular and so droll, +that Josephine was much diverted, as were also the ladies who accompanied +her, among whom were Mesdames de Cambis and de Criguy, and especially +her own daughter Hortense, who was convulsed at his oddities. The truth +is, he was exceedingly amusing, by reason of a certain simplicity and +originality of character, which, however, did not prevent him from being +a person of intelligence; and his eccentricities did not displease Madame +Bonaparte. A sentimental scene took place when this excellent lady left +the springs. Carrat wept, bemoaned himself, and expressed his lasting +grief at not being able to see Madame Bonaparte daily, as he had been +accustomed; and Madame Bonaparte was so kind-hearted that she at once +decided to carry him to Paris with her. She taught him to dress hair, +and finally appointed him her hair-dresser and valet, at least such were +the duties he had to perform when I made his acquaintance. He was +permitted a most astonishing freedom of speech, sometimes even scolding +her; and when Madame Bonaparte, who was extremely generous and always +gracious towards every one, made presents to her women, or chatted +familiarly with them, Carrat would reproach her. "Why give that?" he +would say, adding, "See how you do, Madame; you allow yourself to jest +with your domestics. Some day they will show you a want of respect." +But if he thus endeavored to restrain the generosity of his mistress +towards those around her, he did not hesitate to stimulate her generosity +towards himself; and whenever he took a fancy to anything, would simply +say, "You ought to give me that." + +Bravery is not always the inseparable companion of wit, and Carrat gave +more than once proof of this. Being endowed with a kind of simple and +uncontrollable poltroonery, which never fails in comedies to excite the +laughter of the spectators, it was a great pleasure to Madame Bonaparte +to play on him such pranks as would bring out his singular want of +courage. + +It should be stated, first of all, that one of the greatest pleasures of +Madame Bonaparte, at Malmaison, was to take walks on the road just +outside the walls of the park; and she always preferred this outside +road, in spite of the clouds of dust which were constantly rising there, +to the delightful walks inside the park. One day, accompanied by her +daughter Hortense, she told Carrat to follow her in her walk; and he was +delighted to be thus honored until he saw rise suddenly out of a ditch; a +great figure covered with a white sheet, in fact, a genuine ghost, such +as I have seen described in the translations of some old English +romances. + +It is unnecessary to say, that the ghost was some one placed there by +order of these ladies, in order to frighten Carrat; and certainly the +comedy succeeded marvelously well, for as soon as Carrat perceived the +ghost, he was very much frightened, and clutching Madame Bonaparte, said +to her in a tremor, "Madame, Madame, do you see that ghost? It is the +spirit of the lady who died lately at Plombieres."--"Be quiet, Carrat, +you are a coward."--"Ah, but indeed it is her spirit which has come +back." As Carrat thus spoke, the man in the white sheet advanced toward +him, shaking it; and poor Carrat, overcome with terror, fell backwards in +a faint, and it required all the attentions which were bestowed upon him +to restore him to consciousness. + +Another day, while the general was still in Egypt, and consequently +before I was in the service of any member of his family, Madame Bonaparte +wished to give some of her ladies an exhibition of Carrat's cowardice; +and for this purpose there was concerted among the ladies of Malmaison +a plot, in which Mademoiselle Hortense + + [Hortense Beauharnais, born at Paris, 1783, was then just sixteen + years of age. Married Louis Bonaparte and became Queen of Holland, + 1806. Died 1837. She was the mother of Napoleon III. --TRANS.] + +was chief conspirator. This incident has been so often narrated in my +presence by Madame Bonaparte, that I am familiar with the ludicrous +details. Carrat slept in a room adjoining which there was a closet. +A hole was made in the wall between these rooms, and a string passed +through, at the end of which was tied a can filled with water, this +cooling element being suspended exactly over the head of the patient's +bed. This was not all, for they had also taken the precaution to remove +the slats which supported the mattress; and as Carrat was in the habit of +going to sleep without a light, he saw neither the preparations for his +downfall, nor the can of water provided for his new baptism. All the +members of the plot had been waiting for some moments in the adjoining +closet; when he threw himself heavily upon his bed, it crashed in, and at +the same instant the play of the string made the can of water do its +effective work. The victim at the same time of a fall, and of a +nocturnal shower-bath, Carrat cried out against his double misfortune. +"This is horrible," he yelled at the top of his voice; while Hortense +maliciously said aloud to her mother, Madame de Crigny (afterwards Madame +Denon), Madame Charvet, and to several others in the room, "Oh, Mamma, +those toads and frogs in the water will get on him." These words, joined +to the utter darkness, served only to increase the terror of Carrat, who, +becoming seriously frightened, cried out, "It is horrible, Madame, it is +horrible, to amuse yourself thus at the expense of your servants." + +I do not say that the complaints of Carrat were entirely wrong, but they. +served only to increase the gayety of the ladies who had taken him for +the object of their pleasantries. + +However that may be, such was the character and position of Carrat, whom +I had known for some time, when General Bonaparte returned from his +expedition into Egypt, and Carrat said to me that Eugene de Beauharnais +had applied to him for a confidential valet, his own having been detained +in Cairo by severe illness at the time of his departure. He was named +Lefebvre, and was an old servant entirely devoted to his master, as was +every one who knew Prince Eugene; for I do not believe that there has +ever lived a better man, or one more polite, more considerate, or indeed +more attentive, to those who served him. + +Carrat having told me that Eugene de Beauharnais + + [Born 1781, viceroy of Italy 1805. In 1806 married the daughter + of the King of Bavaria. Died 1824. Among his descendants are the + present King of Sweden and the late Emperor of Brazil.--TRANS.] + +desired a young man to replace Lefebvre, and having recommended me for +the place, I had the good fortune to be presented to Eugene, and to give +satisfaction; indeed, he was so kind as to say to me that my appearance +pleased him, and he wished me to enter upon my duties immediately. I was +delighted with this situation, which, I know not why, painted itself to +my imagination in the brightest colors, and without loss of time, went to +find my modest baggage, and behold me valet de chambre, ad interim, of M. +de Beauharnais, not dreaming that I should one day be admitted to the +personal service of General Bonaparte, and still less that I should +become the chief valet of an Emperor. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +It was on Oct. 16, 1799, that Eugene de Beauharnais arrived in Paris on +his return from Egypt; and almost immediately thereafter I had the good +fortune to be taken into his service, M. Eugene being then twenty-one +years of age. I soon after learned a few particulars, which I think are +little known, relative to his former life, and the marriage of his mother +with General Bonaparte. + +His father, as is well known, was one of the victims of the Revolution; +and when the Marquis de Beauharnais had perished on the scaffold, his +widow, whose property had been confiscated, fearing that her son, +although still very young, might also be in danger on account of his +belonging to the nobility, placed him in the home of a carpenter on the +rue de l'Echelle where, a lady of my acquaintance, who lived on that +street, has often seen him passing, carrying a plank on his shoulder. It +seems a long distance from this position to the colonelcy of a regiment +of the Consular guards, and the vice-royalty of Italy. + +I learned, from hearing Eugene himself relate it, by what a singular +circumstance he had been the cause of the first meeting between his +mother and his step-father. Eugene, being then not more than fourteen or +fifteen years of age, having been informed that General Bonaparte had +become possessor of the sword of the Marquis de Beauharnais, took a step +which seemed hazardous, but was crowned with success. The general having +received him graciously, Eugene explained that he came to beg of him the +restoration of his father's sword. His face, his bearing, his frank +request, all made such a pleasant impression on Bonaparte, that he +immediately presented him with the sword which he requested. As soon as +this sword was in his hands he covered it with kisses and tears; and the +whole was done in so artless a manner, that Bonaparte was delighted with +him. + +Madame de Beauharnais, being informed of the welcome the general had +given her son, thought it her duty to make him a visit of gratitude. +Bonaparte, being much pleased with Josephine in this first interview, +returned her visit. They met again frequently; and as is well known, one +event led to another, until she became the first Empress of the French; +and I can assert from the numerous proofs that I have had of this fact, +that Bonaparte never ceased to love Eugene as well as if he, had been his +own son. + +The qualities of Eugene were both attractive and solid. His features +were not regular, and yet his countenance prepossessed every one in his +favor. He had a well-proportioned figure, but did not make a +distinguished appearance, on account of the habit he had of swinging +himself as he walked. He was about five feet three or four inches +[About five feet six or seven inches in English measurement.--TRANS.] +in height. He was kind, gay, amiable, full of wit, intelligent, +generous; and it might well be said that his frank and open countenance +was the mirror of his soul. How many services he has rendered others +during the course of his life, and at the very period when in order to do +so he had often to impose privations on himself. + +It will soon be seen how it happened that I passed only a month with +Eugene; but during this short space of time, I recall that, while +fulfilling scrupulously his duties to his mother and his step-father, he +was much addicted to the pleasures so natural to his age and position. +One of his greatest pleasures was entertaining his friends at breakfast; +which he did very often. This amused me much on account of the comical +scenes of which I was often a witness. Besides the young officers of +Bonaparte's staff, his most frequent guests, he had also frequently at +his table the ventriloquist Thiemet, Dugazon, Dazincourt, and Michau of +the Theatre Francais, and a few other persons, whose names escape me at +this moment. As may be imagined, these reunions were extremely gay; +these young officers especially, who had returned like Eugene from the +expedition to Egypt, seemed trying to indemnify themselves for the recent +privations they had had to suffer. At this time ventriloquists, among +whom Thiemet held a very distinguished position, were the fashion in +Paris, and were invited to private gatherings. I remember on one +occasion, at one of these breakfasts of Eugene's, Thiemet called by their +names several persons present, imitating the voices of their servants, as +if they were just outside the door, while he remained quietly in his +seat, appearing to be using his lips only to eat and drink, two duties' +which he performed admirably. Each of the officers called in this manner +went out, and found no one; and then Thiemet went out with them, under +the pretext of assisting them in the search, and increased their +perplexity by continuing to make them hear some well-known voice. Most +of them laughed heartily at the joke of which they had just been the +victims; but there was one who, having himself less under control than +his comrades, took the thing seriously, and became very angry, whereupon +Eugene had to avow that he was the author of the conspiracy. + +I recall still another amusing scene, the two heroes of which were this +same Thiemet, of whom I have just spoken, and Dugazon. Several +foreigners were present at a breakfast given by Eugene, the parts having +been assigned, and learned in advance, and the two victims selected. +When each had taken his place at table, Dugazon, pretending to stammer, +addressed a remark to Thiemet, who, playing the same role, replied to +him, stammering likewise; then each of them pretended to believe that the +other was making fun of him, and there followed a stuttering quarrel +between the two parties, each one finding it more and more difficult to +express himself as his anger rose. Thiemet, who besides his role of +stammering was also playing that of deafness, addressed his neighbor, his +trumpet in his ear: + +"Wha-wha-what-do-does he say?"--"Nothing," replied the officious +neighbor, wishing to prevent a quarrel, and to supply facts while +defending the other stammerer.--"So-so-he-he-he-he's mamaking fun of me!" +Then the quarrel became more violent still; they were about to come to +blows, when each of the two stammerers seizing a carafe of water, hurled +it at the head of his antagonist, and a copious deluge of water from the +bottles taught the officious neighbors the great danger of acting as +peacemakers. The two stammerers continued to scream as is the custom of +deaf persons, until the last drop of water was spilt; and I remember that +Eugene, the originator of this practical joke, laughed immoderately the +whole time this scene lasted. The water was wiped off; and all were soon +reconciled, glass in hand. Eugene, when he had perpetrated a joke of +this sort, never failed to relate it to his mother, and sometimes to his +stepfather, who were much amused thereby, Josephine especially. + +I had led for one month a very pleasant life with Eugene, when Lefebvre, +the valet de chambre whom he had left sick at Cairo, returned in restored +health, and asked to resume his place. Eugene, whom I suited better on +account of my age and activity, proposed to him to enter his mother's +service, suggesting to him that he would there have an easier time than +with himself; but Lefebvre, who was extremely attached to his master, +sought Madame Bonaparte, and confided to her his chagrin at this +decision. + +Josephine promised to assist him; and consoled him by assurances that she +would suggest to her son that Lefebvre should reassume his former +position, and that she would take me into her own service. This was done +according to promise; and one morning Eugene announced to me, in the most +gratifying manner, my change of abode. "Constant," he said to me, +"I regret very much that circumstances require us to part; but you know +Lefebvre followed me to Egypt, he is an old servant, and I feel compelled +to give him his former position. Besides, you will not be far removed, +as you will enter my mother's service, where you will be well treated, +and we will see each other often. Go to her this morning; I have spoken +to her of you. The matter is already arranged, and she expects you." + +As may be believed, I lost no time in presenting myself to Madame +Bonaparte. Knowing that she was at Malmaison, I went there immediately, +and was received by her with a kindness which overwhelmed me with +gratitude, as I was not then aware that she manifested this same +graciousness to every one, and that it was as inseparable from her +character as was grace from her person. The duties required of me, in +her service, were altogether nominal; and nearly all my time was at my +own disposal, of which I took advantage to visit Paris frequently. The +life that I led at this time was very pleasant to a young man like +myself, who could not foresee that in a short while he would be as much +under subjection as he was then at liberty. + +Before bidding adieu to a service in which I had found so much that was +agreeable, I will relate some incidents which belong to that period, and +which my situation with the stepson of General Bonaparte gave me the +opportunity of learning. + +M. de Bourrienne has related circumstantially in his memoirs the events +of the 18th Brumaire; [The 18th Brumaire, Nov. 9, 1799, was the day +Napoleon overthrew the Directory and made himself First Consul.--TRANS.] +and the account which he has given of that famous day is as correct as it +is interesting, so that any one curious to know the secret causes which +led to these political changes will find them faithfully pointed out in +the narration of that minister of state. I am very far from intending to +excite an interest of this, kind, but reading the work of M. Bourrienne +put me again on the track of my own recollections. These memoirs relate +to circumstances of which he was ignorant, or possibly may have omitted +purposely as being of little importance; and whatever he has let fall on +his road I think myself fortunate in being permitted to glean. + +I was still with Eugene de Beauharnais when General Bonaparte overthrew +the Directory; but I found myself in as favorable a situation to know all +that was passing as if I had been in the service of Madame Bonaparte, or +of the general himself, for my master, although he was very young, had +the entire confidence of his stepfather, and, to an even greater degree, +that of his mother, who consulted him on every occasion. + +A few days before the 18th Brumaire, Eugene ordered me to make +preparations for a breakfast he wished to give on that day to his +friends, the number of the guests, all military men, being much larger +than usual. This bachelor repast was made very gay by an officer, who +amused the company by imitating in turn the manners and appearance of the +directors and a few of their friends. To represent the Director Barras, +he draped himself 'a la grecque' with the tablecloth, took off his black +cravat, turned down his shirt-collar, and advanced in an affected manner, +resting his left arm on the shoulder of the youngest of his comrades, +while with his right he pretended to caress his chin. Each person of the +company understood the meaning of that kind of charade; and there were +uncontrollable bursts of laughter. + +He undertook then to represent the Abbe Sieyes, by placing an enormous +band of paper inside of his neckcloth, and lengthening thus indefinitely +a long, pale face. He made a few turns around the room, astraddle of his +chair, and ended by a grand somersault, as if his steed had dismounted +him. It is necessary to know, in order to understand the significance of +this pantomime, that the Abbe Sieges had been recently taking lessons in +horseback, riding in the garden of the Luxembourg, to the great amusement +of the pedestrians, who gathered in crowds to enjoy the awkward and +ungraceful exhibition made by this new master of horse. + +The breakfast ended, Eugene reported for duty to General Bonaparte, whose +aide-de-camp he was, and his friends rejoined the various commands to +which they belonged. + +I went out immediately behind them; for from a few words that had just +been dropped at my young master's, I suspected that something grave and +interesting was about to take place. M. Eugene had appointed a +rendezvous with his comrades at Pont-Tournant; so I repaired to that +spot, and found a considerable gathering of officers in uniform and on +horseback, assembled in readiness to escort General Bonaparte to Saint- +Cloud. + +The commandant of each part of the army had been requested by General +Bonaparte to give a breakfast to their corps of officers; and they had +done so like my young master. Nevertheless, the officers, even the +generals, were not all in the secret; and General Murat himself, who +rushed into the Hall of the Five Hundred at the head of the grenadiers, +believed that it was only a question of exemption, on account of age, +that General Bonaparte intended to propose, in order that he might obtain +the place of director. + +I have learned from an authoritative source, that when General Jube, who +was devoted to General Bonaparte, assembled in the court of the +Luxembourg, the guard of the directors of which he was commander, the +honest M. Gohier, president of the Directory, put his head out of the +window, and cried to Jube: "Citizen General, what are you doing down +there?"--"Citizen President, you can see for yourself I am mustering the +guard."--"Certainly, I see that very plainly, Citizen General; but why +are you mustering them?"--"Citizen President, I am going to make an +inspection of them, and order a grand maneuver. Forward--march!" And +the citizen general filed out at the head of his troop to rejoin General +Bonaparte at Saint-Cloud; while the latter was awaited at the house of +the citizen president, and the breakfast delayed to which General +Bonaparte had been invited for that very morning. + +General Marmont had also entertained at breakfast the officers of the +division of the army which he commanded (it was, I think, the artillery). +At the end of the repast he addressed a few words to them, urging them +not to alienate their cause from that of the conqueror of Italy, and to +accompany him to Saint-Cloud. "But how can we follow him?" cried one of +his guests. "We have no horses."--"If that alone deters you, you will +find horses in the court of this hotel. I have seized all those of the +national riding-school. Let us go below and mount." All the officers +present responded to the invitation except General Allix, who declared he +would take no part in all this disturbance. + +I was at Saint-Cloud on the two days, 18th and 19th Brumaire. I saw +General Bonaparte harangue the soldiers, and read to them the decree by +which he had been made commander-in-chief of all the troops at Paris, and +of the whole of the Seventeenth Military Division. I saw him come out +much agitated first from the Council of the Ancients, and afterwards from +the Assembly of the Five Hundred. I saw Lucien Bonaparte brought out of +the hall, where the latter assembly was sitting, by some grenadiers, sent +in to protect him from the violence of his colleagues. Pale and furious, +he threw himself on his horse and galloped straight to the troops to +address them; and when he pointed his sword at his brother's breast, +saying he would be the first to slay him if he dared to strike at +liberty, cries of "Vive Bonaparte! down with the lawyers!" burst forth +on all sides; and the soldiers, led by General Murat, rushed into the +Hall of the Five Hundred. Everybody knows what then occurred, and I will +not enter into details which have been so often related. + +The general, now made First Consul, installed himself at the Luxembourg, +though at this time he resided also at Malmaison. But he was often on +the road, as was also Josephine; for their trips to Paris when they +occupied this residence were very frequent, not only on Government +business, which often required the presence of the First Consul, but also +for the purpose of attending the theater, of whose performances General +Bonaparte, was very fond, giving the preference always to the Theatre +Francais and the Italian Opera. This observation I make in passing, +preferring to give hereafter the information I have obtained as to the +tastes and habits of the emperor. + +Malmaison, at the period of which I speak, was a place of unalloyed +happiness, where all who came expressed their satisfaction with the state +of affairs; everywhere also I heard blessings invoked upon the First +Consul and Madame Bonaparte. There was not yet the shadow of that strict +etiquette which it was necessary afterwards to observe at Saint-Cloud, at +the Tuileries, and in all the palaces in which the Emperor held his +court. The consular court was as yet distinguished by a simple elegance, +equally removed from republican rudeness and the luxuriousness of the +Empire. Talleyrand was, at this period, one of those who came most +frequently to Malmaison. He sometimes dined there, but arrived generally +in the evening between eight and nine o'clock, and returned at one, two, +and sometimes three in the morning. + +All were admitted at Madame Bonaparte's on a footing of equality, which +was most gratifying. There came familiarly Murat, Duroc, Berthier, and +all those who have since figured as great dignitaries, and some even as +sovereigns, in the annals of the empire. + +The family of General Bonaparte were assiduous in their attentions; but +it was known among us that they had no love for Madame Bonaparte, of +which fact I had many proofs. Mademoiselle Hortense never left her +mother, and they were devotedly attached to each other. + +Besides men distinguished by their posts under the government or in the +army, there gathered others also who were not less distinguished by +personal merit, or the position which their birth had given them before +the Revolution. It was a veritable panorama, in which we saw the persons +themselves pass before our eyes. The scene itself, even exclusive of the +gayety which always attended the dinings of Eugene, had its attractions. +Among those whom we saw most frequently were Volney, Denon, Lemercier, +the Prince of Poix, de Laigle, Charles Baudin, General Beurnonville, +Isabey, and a number of others, celebrated in science, literature, and +art; in short, the greater part of those who composed the society of +Madame de Montesson. + +Madame Bonaparte and Mademoiselle Hortense often took excursions on +horseback into the country. On these occasions her most constant escorts +were the Prince de Poix and M. de Laigle. One day, as this party was +reentering the court-yard at Malmaison, the horse which Hortense rode +became frightened, and dashed off. She was an accomplished rider, and +very active, so she attempted to spring off on the grass by the roadside; +but the band which fastened the end of her riding-skirt under her foot +prevented her freeing herself quickly, and she was thrown, and dragged by +her horse for several yards. Fortunately the gentlemen of the party, +seeing her fall, sprang from their horses in time to rescue her; and, by +extraordinary good fortune, she was not even bruised, and was the first +to laugh at her misadventure. + +During the first part of my stay at Malmaison, the First Consul always +slept with his wife, like an ordinary citizen of the middle classes in +Paris; and I heard no rumor of any intrigue in the chateau. The persons +of this society, most of whom were young, and who were often very +numerous, frequently took part in sports which recalled college days. +In fact, one of the greatest diversions of the inhabitants of Malmaison +was to play "prisoners' base." It was usually after dinner; and +Bonaparte, Lauriston, Didelot, de Lucay, de Bourrienne, Eugene, Rapp, +Isabey, Madame Bonaparte, and Mademoiselle Hortense would divide +themselves into two camps, in which the prisoners taken, or exchanged, +would recall to the First Consul the greater game, which he so much +preferred. In these games the most active runners were Eugene, Isabey, +and Hortense. As to General Bonaparte, he often fell, but rose laughing +boisterously. + +General Bonaparte and his family seemed to enjoy almost unexampled +happiness, especially when at Malmaison, which residence, though +agreeable at that time, was far from being what it has since become. +This estate consisted of the chateau, which Bonaparte found in bad +condition on his return from Egypt, a park already somewhat improved, and +a farm, the income of which did not with any certainty exceed twelve +thousand francs a year. Josephine directed in person all the +improvements made there, and no woman ever possessed better taste. + +From the first, they played amateur comedy at Malmaison, which was a +relaxation the First Consul enjoyed greatly, but in which he took no part +himself except that of looker-on. Every one in the house attended these +representations; and I must confess we felt perhaps even more pleasure +than others in seeing thus travestied on the stage those in whose service +we were. + +The Malmaison Troupe, if I may thus style actors of such exalted social +rank, consisted principally of Eugene, Jerome, Lauriston, de Bourrienne, +Isabey, de Leroy, Didelot, Mademoiselle Hortense, Madame Caroline Murat, +and the two Mademoiselles Auguie, one of whom afterwards married Marshal +Ney, + + [Michel Ney, Styled by Napoleon the "bravest of the brave," was + born 1769, at Sarre-Louis (now in Prussia), son of a cooper. + Entered the army as a private 1787, adjutant-general 1794, general + of brigade 1796, general of division 1799, marshal 1804, Duke of + Elchingen 1805, Prince of Moskwa 1812, and commanded the rear-guard + in the famous retreat from Russia. On the return from Elba he went + over to Napoleon; was at Waterloo. Was afterwards taken, and in + spite of the terms of the surrender of Paris was tried for treason, + and shot in the gardens of the Luxembourg, Dec. 8, 1815.--TRANS.] + +and the other M. de Broc. All four were very young and charming, and few +theaters in Paris could show four actresses as pretty. In addition to +which, they showed much grace in their acting, and played their parts +with real talent; and were as natural on the stage as in the saloon, +where they bore themselves with exquisite grace and refinement. At first +the repertoire contained little variety, though the pieces were generally +well selected. The first representation which I attended was the "Barber +of Seville "in which Isabey played the role of Figaro, and Mademoiselle +Hortense that of Rosine--and the "Spiteful Lover." Another time I saw +played the "Unexpected Wager," and "False Consultations." Hortense and +Eugene played this last piece perfectly; and I still recall that, in the +role of Madame le Blanc, Hortense appeared prettier than ever in the +character of an old woman, Eugene representing Le Noir, and Lauriston the +charlatan. The First Consul, as I have said, confined himself to the +role of spectator; but he seemed to take in these fireside plays, so to +speak, the greatest pleasure, laughed and applauded heartily, though +sometimes he also criticised. + +Madame Bonaparte was also highly entertained; and even if she could not +always boast of the successful acting of her children, "the chiefs of the +troupe," it sufficed her that it was an agreeable relaxation to her +husband, and seemed to give him pleasure; for her constant study was to +contribute to the happiness of the great man who had united her destiny +with his own. + +When the day for the presentation of a play had been appointed, there was +never any postponement, but often a change of the play; not because of +the indisposition, or fit of the blues, of an actress (as often happens +in the theaters of Paris), but for more serious reasons. It sometimes +happened that M. d'Etieulette received orders to rejoin his regiment, or +an important mission was confided to Count Almaviva, though Figaro and +Rosine always remained at their posts; and the desire of pleasing the +First Consul was, besides, so general among all those who surrounded him, +that the substitutes did their best in the absence of the principals, and +the play never failed for want of an actor. + + [Michau, of the Comedie Francaise, was the instructor of the + troupe. Wherever it happened that an actor was wanting in + animation, Michau would exclaim. "Warmth! Warmth! Warmth!" + --Note by CONSTANT.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I had been only a very short time in the service of Madame Bonaparte when +I made the acquaintance of Charvet, the concierge of Malmaison, and in +connection with this estimable man became each day more and more +intimate, till at last he gave me one of his daughters in marriage. +I was eager to learn from him all that he could tell me concerning Madame +Bonaparte and the First Consul prior to my entrance into the house; and +in our frequent conversations he took the greatest pleasure in satisfying +my curiosity. It is to him I owe the following details as to the mother +and daughter. + +When General Bonaparte set out for Egypt, Madame Bonaparte accompanied +him as far as Toulon, and was extremely anxious to go with him to Egypt. +When the general made objections, she observed that having been born a +Creole, the heat of the climate would be more favorable than dangerous to +her. By a singular coincidence it was on 'La Pomone' that she wished to +make the journey; that is to say, on the very same vessel which in her +early youth had brought her from Martinique to France. General +Bonaparte, finally yielding to the wishes of his wife, promised to send +'La Pomone' for her, and bade her go in the meantime to take the waters +at Plombieres. The matter being arranged between husband and wife, +Madame Bonaparte was delighted to go to the springs of Plombieres which +she had desired to visit for a long time, knowing, like every one else, +the reputation these waters enjoyed for curing barrenness in women. + +Madame Bonaparte had been only a short time at Plombieres, when one +morning, while occupied in hemming a turban and chatting with the ladies +present, Madame de Cambis, who was on the balcony, called to her to come +and see a pretty little dog passing along the street. All the company +hastened with Madame Bonaparte to the balcony, which caused it to fall +with a frightful crash. By a most fortunate chance, no one was killed; +though Madame de Cambis had her leg broken, and Madame Bonaparte was most +painfully bruised, without, however, receiving any fracture. Charvet, +who was in a room behind the saloon, heard the noise, and at once had a +sheep killed and skinned, and Madame Bonaparte wrapped in the skin. It +was a long while before she regained her health, her arms and her hands +especially being so bruised that she was for a long time unable to use +them; and it was necessary to cut up her food, feed her, and, in fact, +perform the same offices for her as for an infant. + +I related above that Josephine thought she was to rejoin her husband in +Egypt, and consequently that her stay at the springs of Plombieres would +be of short duration but her accident led her to think that it would be +prolonged indefinitely; she therefore desired, while waiting for her +complete recovery, to have with her her daughter Hortense, then about +fifteen years of age, who was being educated in the boarding-school of +Madame Campan. She sent for her a mulatto woman to whom she was much +attached, named Euphemie, who was the foster-sister of Madame Bonaparte, +and passed (I do not know if the supposition was correct) as her natural +sister. Euphemie, accompanied by Charvet, made the journey in one of +Madame Bonaparte's carriages. Mademoiselle Hortense, on their arrival, +was delighted with the journey she was about to make, and above all with +the idea of being near her mother, for whom she felt the tenderest +affection. Mademoiselle Hortense was, I would not say, greedy, but she +was exceedingly fond of sweets; and Charvet, in relating these details, +said to me, that at each town of any size through which they passed the +carriage was filled with bonbons and dainties, of which mademoiselle +consumed a great quantity. One day, while Euphemie and Charvet were +sound asleep, they were suddenly awakened by a report, which sounded +frightful to them, and caused them intense anxiety, as they found when +they awoke that they were passing through a thick forest. This ludicrous +incident threw Hortense into fits of laughter; for hardly had they +expressed their alarm when they found themselves deluged with an +odoriferous froth, which explained the cause of the explosion. A bottle +of champagne, placed in one of the pockets of the carriage, had been +uncorked; and the heat, added to the motion of the carriage, or rather +the malice of the young traveler, had made it explode with a loud report. + +When mademoiselle arrived at Plombieres, her mother's health was almost +restored; so that the pupil of Madame Campan found there all the +distractions which please and delight at the age which the daughter of +Madame Bonaparte had then attained. + +There is truth in the saying that in all evil there is good, for had this +accident not happened to Madame Bonaparte, it is very probable she would +have become a prisoner of the English; in fact, she learned that +'La Pomone', the vessel on which she wished to make the voyage, had +fallen into the power of the enemies of France. General Bonaparte, in +all his letters, still dissuaded his wife from the plan she had of +rejoining him; and, consequently, she returned to Paris. + +On her arrival Josephine devoted her attention to executing a wish +General Bonaparte had expressed to her before leaving. He had remarked +to her that he should like, on his return, to have a country seat; and he +charged his brother to attend to this, which Joseph, however, failed to +do. Madame Bonaparte, who, on the contrary, was always in search of what +might please her husband, charged several persons to make excursions in +the environs of Paris, in order to ascertain whether a suitable dwelling +could be found. After having vacillated long between Ris and Malmaison, +she decided on the latter, which she bought from M. Lecoulteux-Dumoley, +for, I think, four hundred thousand francs. Such were the particulars +which Charvet was kind enough to give me when I first entered the service +of Madame Bonaparte. Every one in the house loved to speak of her; and +it was certainly not to speak evil, for never was woman more beloved by +all who surrounded her, and never has one deserved it more. General +Bonaparte was also an excellent man in the retirement of private life. + +After the return of the First Consul from his campaign in Egypt, several +attempts against his life had been made; and the police had warned him +many times to be on his guard, and not to risk himself alone in the +environs of Malmaison. The First Consul had been very careless up to +this period; but the discovery of the snares which were laid for him, +even in the privacy of his family circle, forced him to use precautions +and prudence. It has been stated since, that these pretended plots were +only fabrications of the police to render themselves necessary to the +First Consul, or, perhaps, of the First Consul himself, to redouble the +interest which attached to his person, through fear of the perils which +menaced his life; and the absurdity of these attempts is alleged as proof +of this. I could not pretend to elucidate such mysteries; but it seems +to me that in such matters absurdity proves nothing, or, at least, it +does not prove that such plots did not exist. The conspirators of that +period set no bounds to their extravagance; for what could be more +absurd, and at the same time more real, than the atrocious folly of the +infernal machine? + +Be that as it may, I shall relate what passed under my own eyes during +the first month of my stay at Malmaison. No one there, or, at least, no +one in my presence, showed the least doubt of the reality of these +attempts. + +In order to get rid of the First Consul, all means appeared good to his +enemies: they noted everything in their calculations, even his absence of +mind. The following occurrence is proof of this: + +There were repairs and ornamentations to be made to the mantel in the +rooms of the First Consul at Malmaison. The contractor in charge of this +work had sent marblecutters, amongst whom had slipped in, it seems, a few +miserable wretches employed by the conspirators. The persons attached to +the First Consul were incessantly on the alert, and exercised the +greatest watchfulness; and it was observed that among these workmen there +were men who pretended to work, but whose air and manner contrasted +strongly with their occupation. These suspicions were unfortunately only +too well founded; for when the apartments had been made ready to receive +the First Consul, and just as he was on the eve of occupying them, some +one making a final inspection found on the desk at which he would first +seat himself, a snuff-box, in every respect like one of those which he +constantly used. It was thought at first that this box really belonged +to him, and that it had been forgotten and left there by his valet; but +doubts inspired by the suspicious manner of a few of the marble-cutters, +leading to further investigation, the tobacco was examined and analyzed. +It was found to be poisoned. + +The authors of this perfidy had, it is said, at this time, communication +with other conspirators, who engaged to attempt another means of ridding +themselves of the First Consul. They promised to attack the guard of the +chateau (Malmaison), and to carry off by force the chief of the +government. With this intention, they had uniforms made like those of +the consular guards, who then stood sentinel, day and night, over the +First Consul, and followed him on horseback in his excursions. In this +costume, and by the aid of signals, with their accomplices (the pretended +marble-cutters) on the inside, they could easily have approached and +mingled with the guard, who were fed and quartered at the chateau. They +could even have reached the First Consul, and carried him off. However, +this first project was abandoned as too uncertain; and the conspirators +flattered themselves that they would succeed in their undertaking more +surely, and with less danger, by taking advantage of the frequent +journeys of the First Consul to Paris. By means of their disguise they +planned to distribute themselves on the road, among the guides of the +escort, and massacre them, their rallying-point being the quarries of +Nanterre; but their plots were for the second time foiled. There was in +the park at Malmaison a deep quarry; and fears being entertained that +they would profit by it to conceal themselves therein, and exercise some +violence against the First Consul on one of his solitary walks, it was +decided to secure it with an iron door. + +On the 19th of February, at one in the afternoon, the First Consul went +in state to the Tuileries, which was then called the Government palace, +to install himself there with all his household. With him were his two +colleagues; one of whom, the third consul, was to occupy the same +residence, and be located in the Pavilion de Flore. The carriage of the +consuls was drawn by six white horses, which the Emperor of Germany had +presented to the conqueror of Italy after the signature of the treaty of +peace of Campo-Formio. The saber that the First Consul wore at this +ceremony was magnificent, and had also been presented to him by this +monarch on the same occasion. + +A remarkable thing in this formal change of residence was that the +acclamations and enthusiasm of the crowd, and even of the most +distinguished spectators, who filled the windows of rue Thionville and of +the quai Voltaire, were addressed only to the First Consul, and to the +young warriors of his brilliant staff, who were yet bronzed by the sun of +the Pyramids or of Italy. At their head rode General Lannes and Murat; +the first easy to recognize by his bold bearing and soldierly manners; +the second by the same qualities, and further by a striking elegance, +both of costume and equipments. His new title of brother-in-law of the +First Consul contributed, also, greatly to fix upon him the attention of +all. As for myself, all my attention was absorbed by the principal +personage of the cortege, whom, like every one around me, I regarded with +something like a religious reverence; and by his stepson, the son of my +excellent mistress, himself once my master,--the brave, modest, good +Prince Eugene, who at that time, however, was not yet a prince. On his +arrival at the Tuileries, the First Consul took possession at once of the +apartments which he afterwards occupied, and which were formerly part of +the royal apartments. These apartments consisted of a bed-chamber, a +bathroom, a cabinet, and a saloon, in which he gave audience in the +forenoon; of a second saloon, in which were stationed his aides-de-camp +on duty, and which he used as a dining-room; and also a very large +antechamber. Madame Bonaparte had her separate apartments on the ground +floor, the same which she afterwards occupied as Empress. Beneath the +suite of rooms occupied by the First Consul was the room of Bourrienne, +his private secretary, which communicated with the apartments of the +First Consul by means of a private staircase. + +Although at this period there were already courtiers, there was not, +however, yet a court, and the etiquette was exceedingly simple. The +First Consul, as I believe I have already said, slept in the same bed +with his wife; and they lived together, sometimes at the Tuileries, +sometimes at Malmaison. As yet there were neither grand marshal, nor +chamberlains, nor prefects of the palace, nor ladies of honor, nor lady +ushers, nor ladies of the wardrobe, nor pages. The household of the +First Consul was composed only of M. Pfister, steward; Venard, chief +cook; Galliot, and Dauger, head servants; Colin, butler. Ripeau was +librarian; Vigogne, senior, in charge of the stables. Those attached to +his personal service were Hambard, head valet; Herbert, ordinary valet; +and Roustan, mameluke of the First Consul. There were, beside these, +fifteen persons to discharge the ordinary duties of the household. De +Bourrienne superintended everything, and regulated expenses, and, +although very strict, won the esteem and affection of every one. + +He was kind, obliging, and above all very just; and consequently at the +time of his disgrace the whole household was much distressed. As for +myself, I retain a sincerely respectful recollection of him; and I +believe that, though he has had the misfortune to find enemies among the +great, he found among his inferiors only grateful hearts and sincere +regrets. + +Some days after this installation, there was at the chateau a reception +of the diplomatic corps. It will be seen from the details, which I shall +give, how very simple at that time was the etiquette of what they already +called the Court. + +At eight o'clock in the evening, the apartments of Madame Bonaparte, +situated, as I have just said, on the ground floor adjoining the garden, +were crowded with people. There was an incredible wealth of plumes, +diamonds, and dazzling toilets. The crowd was so great that it was found +necessary to throw open the bedroom of Madame Bonaparte, as the two +saloons were so full there was not room to move. + +When, after much embarrassment and difficulty, every one had found a +place as they could, Madame Bonaparte was announced, and entered, leaning +on the arm of Talleyrand. She wore a dress of white muslin with short +sleeves, and a necklace of pearls. Her head was uncovered; and the +beautiful braids of her hair, arranged with charming negligence, were +held in place by a tortoise-shell comb. The flattering murmur which +greeted her appearance was most grateful to her; and never, I believe, +did she display more grace and majesty. + +Talleyrand, + + [Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, born at Paris, 1754, was + descended from the counts of Perigord. Rendered lame by an + accident, he entered the clergy, and in 1788 became Bishop of Autun. + In the States-General he sided with the Revolution. During the + Reign of Terror he visited England and the United States. Recalled + in 1796, he became minister of foreign affairs under the Directory, + which post he retained under the Consulate. In 1806 he was made + Prince of Benevento. He soon fell into disgrace. Sided with the + Bourbons in 1814, and was minister at the congress of Vienna, + president of the council, and minister under the king. Died 1838. + --TRANS.] + +giving his hand to Madame Bonaparte, had the honor of presenting to her, +one after another, the members of the Diplomatic Corps, not according to +their names, but that of the courts they represented. He then made with +her the tour of the two saloons, and the circuit of the second was only +half finished when the First Consul entered without being announced. He +was dressed in a very plain uniform, with a tricolored silk scarf, with +fringes of the same around his waist. He wore close-fitting pantaloons +of white cassimere, and top-boots, and held his hat in his hand. This +plain dress, in the midst of the embroidered coats loaded with cordons +and orders worn by the ambassadors and foreign dignitaries, presented a +contrast as striking as the toilette of Madame Bonaparte compared with +that of the other ladies present. + +Before relating how I exchanged the service of Madame Bonaparte for that +of the chief of state, and a sojourn at Malmaison for the second campaign +of Italy, I think I should pause to recall one or two incidents which +belong to the time spent in the service of Madame Bonaparte. She loved +to sit up late, and, when almost everybody else had retired, to play a +game of billiards, or more often of backgammon. It happened on one +occasion that, having dismissed every one else, and not yet being sleepy, +she asked if I knew how to play billiards, and upon my replying in the +affirmative, requested me with charming grace to play with her; and I had +often afterwards the honor of doing so. Although I had some skill, I +always managed to let her beat me, which pleased her exceedingly. If +this was flattery, I must admit it; but I would have done the same +towards any other woman, whatever her rank and her relation to me, had +she been even half as lovely as was Madame Bonaparte. + +The concierge of Malmaison, who possessed the entire confidence of his +employers, among other means of precaution and watchfulness conceived by +him in order to protect the residence and person of the First Consul from +any sudden attack, had trained for the chateau several large dogs, among +which were two very handsome Newfoundlands. Work on the improvements of +Malmaison went on incessantly, and a large number of workmen lodged there +at night, who were carefully warned not to venture out alone; but one +night as some of the watchdogs were with the workmen in their lodgings, +and allowed themselves to be caressed, their apparent docility encouraged +one of these men to attempt the imprudence of venturing out. Believing +that the surest way to avoid danger was to put himself under the +protection of one of those powerful animals, he took one of them with +him, and in a very friendly manner they passed out of the door together; +but no sooner had they reached the outside, than the dog sprang upon his +unfortunate companion and threw him down. The cries of the poor workman +brought some of the guard, who ran to his aid. Just in time; for the dog +was holding him fast to the ground, and had seized him by the throat. He +was rescued, badly wounded. Madame Bonaparte, when she was informed of +this accident, had him nursed till perfectly cured, and gave him a +handsome gratuity, but recommended him to be more prudent in the future. + +Every moment that the First Consul could snatch from affairs of state he +passed at Malmaison. The evening of each decadii + + [Under the Republic, Sunday was abolished. A decade of ten days + was substituted for the week; and the decadi, or tenth day, took the + place of the Sabbath.--TRANS.] + +was a time of expectation and joy at the chateau. Madame Bonaparte sent +domestics on horseback and on foot to meet her husband, and often went +herself, accompanied by her daughter and her Malmaison friends. When not +on duty, I went myself and alone: for everybody felt for the First +Consul the same affection, and experienced in regard to him the same +anxiety; and such was the bitterness and boldness of his enemies that the +road, though short, between Paris and Malmaison was full of dangers and +snares. We knew that many plans had been laid to kidnap him on this +road, and that these attempts might be renewed. The most dangerous spot +was the quarries of Nanterre, of which I have already spoken; so they +were carefully examined, and guarded by his followers each day on which +the First Consul was to pass, and finally the depressions nearest the +road were filled up. The First Consul was gratified by our devotion to +him, and gave us proofs of his satisfaction, though he himself seemed +always free from fear or uneasiness. Very often, indeed, he mildly +ridiculed our anxiety, and would relate very seriously to the good +Josephine what a narrow escape he had on the road; how men of a sinister +appearance had shown themselves many times on his way; how one of them +had had the boldness to aim at him, etc. And when he saw her well +frightened, he would burst out laughing, give her some taps or kisses on +her cheek and neck, saying to her, "Have no fear, little goose; they +would not dare." On these "days of furlough," as he called them, he was +occupied more with his private affairs than with those of state; but +never could he remain idle. He would make them pull down, put up again, +build, enlarge, set out, prune, incessantly, both in the chateau and in +the park, while he examined the bills of expenses, estimated receipts, +and ordered economies. Time passed quickly in all these occupations; and +the moment soon came when it was necessary to return, and, as he +expressed it, put on again the yoke of misery. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Towards the end of March, 1800, five or six months after my entrance into +the service of Madame. Bonaparte, the First Consul while at dinner one +day regarded me intently; and having carefully scrutinized and measured +me from head to foot, "Young man," said he, "would you like to go with me +on the campaign?" I replied, with much emotion, that I would ask nothing +better. "Very well, then, you shall go with me!" and on rising from the +table, he ordered Pfister, the steward, to place my name on the list of +the persons of his household who would accompany him. My preparations +did not require much time; for I was delighted with the idea of being +attached to the personal service of so great a man, and in imagination +saw myself already beyond the Alps. But the First Consul set out without +me. Pfister, by a defect of memory, perhaps intentional, had forgotten +to place my name on the list. I was in despair, and went to relate, with +tears, my misfortune to my excellent mistress, who was good enough to +endeavor to console me, saying, "Well, Constant, everything is not lost; +you will stay with me. You can hunt in the park to pass the time; and +perhaps the First Consul may yet send for you." However, Madame +Bonaparte did not really believe this; for she thought, as I did, +although out of kindness she did not wish to say this to me, that the +First Consul having changed his mind, and no longer wishing my services +on the campaign, had himself given the counter orders. However, I soon +had proof to the contrary. In passing through Dijon, on his way to Mt. +St. Bernard, the First Consul asked for me, and learning that they had +forgotten me, expressed his dissatisfaction, and directed Bourrienne to +write immediately to Madame Bonaparte, requesting her to send me on +without delay. + +One morning, when my chagrin was more acute than ever, Madame Bonaparte +sent for me, and said, holding Bourrienne's letter in her hand, +"Constant, since you have determined to quit us to make the campaign, you +may rejoice, for you are now about to leave. The First Consul has sent +for you. Go to the office of Maret, and ascertain if he will not soon +send a courier. You will accompany him." I was inexpressibly delighted +at this good news, and did not try to conceal my pleasure. "You are very +well satisfied to leave us," said Madame Bonaparte with a kind smile. +"It is not leaving Madame, but joining the First Consul, which delights +me."--"I hope so," replied she. "Go, Constant; and take good care of +him." If any incentive had been needed, this injunction of my noble +mistress would have added to the zeal and fidelity with which I had +determined to discharge my new duties. I hurried without delay to the +office of Maret, secretary of state, who already knew me, and had shown +his good-will for me. "Get ready at once," said he; "a courier will set +out this evening or to-morrow morning." I returned in all haste to +Malmaison, and announced to Madame Bonaparte my immediate departure. She +immediately had a good post-chaise made ready for me, and Thibaut (for +that was the name of the courier I was to accompany) was directed to +obtain horses for me along the route. Maret gave me eight hundred francs +for the expenses of my trip, which sum, entirely unexpected by me, filled +me with wonder, for I had never been so rich. At four o'clock in the +morning, having heard from Thibaut that everything was ready, I went to +his house, where the post-chaise awaited me, and we set out. + +I traveled very comfortably, sometimes in the postchaise, sometimes on +horseback; I taking Thibaut's place, and he mine. I expected to overtake +the First Consul at Martigny; but his traveling had been so rapid, that I +caught up with him only at the convent of Mt. St. Bernard. Upon our +route we constantly passed regiments on the march, composed of officers +and soldiers who were hastening to rejoin their different corps. Their +enthusiasm was irrepressible,--those who had made the campaign of Italy +rejoiced at returning to so fine a country; those who had not yet done so +were burning with impatience to see the battlefields immortalized by +French valor, and by the genius of the hero who still marched at their +head. All went as if to a festival, and singing songs they climbed the +mountains of Valais. It was eight o'clock in the morning when I arrived +at headquarters. Pfister announced me; and I found the general-in-chief +in the great hall, in the basement of the Hospice. He was taking +breakfast, standing, with his staff. As soon as he saw me, he said, +"Here you are, you queer fellow! why didn't you come with me?" I excused +myself by saying that to my great regret I had received a counter order, +or, at least, they had left me behind at the moment of departure. "Lose +no time, my friend; eat quickly; we are about to start." From this +moment I was attached to the personal service of the First Consul, in the +quality of ordinary valet; that is to say, in my turn. This duty gave me +little to do; Hambard, the head valet of the First Consul, being in the +habit of dressing him from head to foot. + +Immediately after breakfast we began to descend the mountain, many +sliding down on the snow, very much as they coast at the garden Beaujon, +from top to bottom of the Montagnes Russes, and I followed their example. +This they called "sledding." The general-in-chief also descended in this +manner an almost perpendicular glacier. His guide was a young +countryman, active and courageous, to whom the First Consul promised a +sufficiency for the rest of his days. Some young soldiers who had +wandered off into the snow were found, almost dead with cold, by the +dogs sent out by the monks, and carried to the Hospice, where they +received every possible attention, and their lives were saved. The First +Consul gave substantial proof of his gratitude to the good fathers for a +charity so useful and generous. Before leaving the Hospice, where he had +found tables loaded with food already prepared awaiting the soldiers as +soon as they reached the summit of the mountain, he gave to the good +monks a considerable sum of money, in reward for the hospitality he and +his companions in arms had received, and an order on the treasury for an +annuity in support of the convent. + +The same day we climbed Mount Albaredo; but as this passage was +impracticable for cavalry and artillery, he ordered them to pass outside +the town of Bard, under the batteries of the fort. The First Consul had +ordered that they should pass it at night, and on a gallop; and he had +straw tied around the wheels of the caissons and on the feet of the +horses, but even these precautions were not altogether sufficient to +prevent the Austrians hearing our troops. The cannon of the fort rained +grape-shot incessantly; but fortunately the houses of the town sheltered +our soldiers from the enemy's guns, and more than half the army passed +without much loss. I was with the household of the First Consul, which +under the care of General Gardanne flanked the fort. + +The 23d of May we forded a torrent which flowed between the town and the +fort, with the First Consul at our head, and then, followed by General +Berthier and some other officers, took the path over the Albaredo, which +overlooked the fort and the town of Bard. Directing his field-glass +towards the hostile batteries, from the fire of which he was protected +only by a few bushes, he criticised the dispositions which had been made +by the officer in charge of the siege of the fort, and ordered changes, +which he said would cause the place to fall into our hands in a short +time. Freed now from the anxiety which this fort had caused him, and +which he said had prevented his sleeping the two days he had passed in +the convent of Maurice, he stretched himself at the foot of a fir-tree +and took a refreshing nap, while the army was making good its passage. +Rising from this brief interval of repose, he descended the mountain and +continued his march to Ivree, where we passed the night. + +The brave General Lannes, who commanded the advance guard, acted somewhat +in the capacity of quartermaster, taking possession of all the places +which barred the road. Only a few hours before we entered he had forced +the passage of Ivree. + +Such was this miraculous passage of St. Bernard. Horses, cannon, +caissons, and an immense quantity of army stores of all kinds, +everything, in fact, was drawn or carried over glaciers which appeared +inaccessible, and by paths which seemed impracticable even for a single +man. The Austrian cannon were not more successful than the snow in +stopping the French army. So true is it that the genius and perseverance +of the First Consul were communicated, so to speak, to the humblest of +his soldiers, and inspired them with a courage and a strength, the +results of which will appear fabulous to posterity. + +On the 2d of June, which was the day after the passage of the Ticino, and +the day of our entrance into Milan, the First Consul learned that the +fort of Bard had been taken the evening before, showing that his +dispositions had led to a quick result, and the road of communication by +the St. Bernard was now free from all obstructions. The First Consul +entered Milan without having met much resistance, the whole population +turned out on his entrance, and he was received with a thousand +acclamations. The confidence of the Milanese redoubled when they learned +that he had promised the members of the assembled clergy to maintain the +catholic worship and clergy as already established, and had compelled +them to take the oath of fidelity to the cisalpine republic. + +The First Consul remained several days in this capital; and I had time to +form a more intimate acquaintance with my colleagues, who were, as I have +said, Hambard, Roustan, and Hebert. We relieved each other every twenty- +four hours, at noon precisely. As has always been my rule when thrown +into association with strangers, I observed, as closely as circumstances +permitted, the character and temper of my comrades, so that I could +regulate my conduct in regard to them, and know in advance what I might +have to fear or hope from association with them. + +Hambard had an unbounded devotion for the First Consul, whom he had +followed to Egypt, but unfortunately his temper was gloomy and +misanthropic, which made him extremely sullen and disagreeable; and the +favor which Roustan enjoyed perhaps contributed to increase this gloomy +disposition. In a kind of mania he imagined himself to be the object of +a special espionage; and when his hours of service were over, he would +shut himself up in his room, and pass in mournful solitude the whole time +he was not on duty. The First Consul, when in good humor, would joke +with him upon this savage disposition, calling him Mademoiselle Hambard. +"Ah, well, what were you doing there in your room all by yourself? +Doubtless you were reading some poor romances, or some old books about +princesses carried off and kept under guard by a barbarous giant." To +which Hambard would sullenly reply, "General, you no doubt know better +than I what I was doing," referring in this way to the spies by which he +believed himself to be always surrounded. Notwithstanding this +unfortunate disposition, the First Consul felt very kindly to him. When +the Emperor went to camp at Boulogne, Hambard refused to accompany him; +and the Emperor gave him, as a place of retreat, the charge of the palace +of Meudon. There he showed unmistakable symptoms of insanity, and his +end was lamentable. During the Hundred Days, after a conversation with +the Emperor, he threw himself against a carving-knife with such violence +that the blade came out two inches behind his back. As it was believed +at this time that I had incurred the anger of the Emperor, the rumor went +abroad that it was I who had committed suicide, and this tragic death was +announced in several papers as mine. + +Hebert, ordinary valet, was a very agreeable young fellow, but very +timid, and was, like all the rest of the household, devotedly attached to +the First Consul. It happened one day in Egypt that the latter, who had +never been able to shave himself (it was I who taught him how to shave +himself, as I shall relate elsewhere at length), called Hebert to shave +him, in the absence of Hambard, who ordinarily discharged that duty. As +it had sometimes happened that Hebert, on account of his great timidity, +had cut his master's chin, on that day the latter, who held a pair of +scissors in his hand, when Hebert approached him, holding his razor, +said, "Take care, you scamp; if you cut me, I will stick my scissors into +your stomach." This threat, made with an air of pretended seriousness, +but which was in fact only a jest, such as I have seen the Emperor +indulge in a hundred times, produced such an impression on Hebert, that +it was impossible for him to finish his work. He was seized with a +convulsive trembling, the razor fell from his hand, and the general-in- +chief in vain bent his neck, and said to him many times, laughing "Come, +finish, you scamp." Not only was Hebert unable to complete his task that +day, but from that time he had to renounce the duty of barber. The +Emperor did not like this excessive timidity in the servants of his +household; but this did not prevent him, when he restored the castle of +Rambouillet, from giving to Hebert the place of concierge which he +requested. + +Roustan, so well known under the name of Mameluke, belonged to a good +family of Georgia; carried off at the age of six or seven, and taken to +Cairo, he was there brought up among the young slaves who attended upon +the mamelukes, until he should be of sufficient age to enter this warlike +militia. The Sheik of Cairo, in making a present to General Bonaparte of +a magnificent Arab horse, had given him at the same time Roustan and +Ibrahim, another mameluke, who was afterwards attached to the service of +Madame Bonaparte, under the name of Ali. It is well known that Roustan +became an indispensable accompaniment on all occasions when the Emperor +appeared in public. He was with him in all his expeditions, in all +processions, and, which was especially to his honor, in all his battles. +In the brilliant staff which followed the Emperor he shone more than all +others by the richness of his Oriental costume; and his appearance made a +decided impression, especially upon the common people and in the +provinces. He was believed to have great influence with the Emperor; +because, as credulous people said, Roustan had saved his master's life by +throwing himself between him and the saber of an enemy who was about to +strike him. I think that this belief was unfounded, and that the +especial favor he enjoyed was due to the habitual kindness of his Majesty +towards every one in his service. Besides, this favor affected in no +wise his domestic relations; for when Roustan, who had married a young +and pretty French girl, a certain Mademoiselle Douville, whose father was +valet to the Empress Josephine, was reproached by certain journals in +1814 and 1815 with not having followed to the end of his fortunes the man +for whom he had always expressed such intense devotion, Roustan replied +that the family ties which he had formed prevented his leaving France, +and that he could not destroy the happiness of his own household. + +Ibrahim took the name of Ali when he passed into the service of Madame +Bonaparte. He was of more than Arabic ugliness, and had a wicked look. +I recall in this connection a little incident which took place at +Malmaison, which will give an idea of his character. One day, while +playing on the lawn of the chateau, I unintentionally threw him down +while running; and furious at his fall, he rose up, drew his poniard, +which he always wore, and dashed after me to strike me. I laughed at +first, like every one else, at the accident, and amused myself by making +him run; but warned by the cries of my comrades, and looking back to see +how close he was, I perceived at the same time his dagger and his rage. +I stopped at once, and planted my foot, with my eye fixed upon his +poniard, and was fortunate enough to avoid his blow, which, however, +grazed my breast. Furious in my turn, as may be imagined, I seized him +by his flowing pantaloons, and pitched him ten feet into the stream of +Malmaison, which was barely two feet deep. The plunge brought him at +once to his senses; and besides, his poniard had gone to the bottom, +which made him much less dangerous. But in his disappointment he yelled +so loudly that Madame Bonaparte heard him; and as she had quite a fancy +for her mameluke, I was sharply scolded. However, this poor Ali was of +such an unsocial temperament that he got into difficulties with almost +every one in the household, and at last was sent away to Fontainebleau, +to take the place of manservant there. + +I now return to our campaign. On the 13th of June the First Consul spent +the night at Torre-di-Galifolo, where he established his headquarters. +From the day of our entry into Milan the advance of the army had not +slackened; General Murat had passed the Po, and taken possession of +Piacenza; and General Lannes, still pushing forward with his brave +advance guard, had fought a bloody battle at Montebello, a name which he +afterwards rendered illustrious by bearing it. The recent arrival of +General Desaix, who had just returned from Egypt, completed the joy of +the general-in-chief, and also added much to the confidence of the +soldiers, by whom the good and modest Desaix was adored. The First +Consul received him with the frankest and most cordial friendship, and +they remained together three consecutive hours in private conversation. +At the end of this conference, an order of the day announced to the army +that General Desaix would take command of the division Boudet. I heard +some persons in the suite of General Desaix say that his patience and +evenness of temper were rudely tried during his voyage, by contrary +winds, forced delays, the ennui of quarantine, and above all by the bad +conduct of the English, who had kept him for some time a prisoner in +their fleet, in sight of the shores of France, although he bore a +passport, signed by the English authorities in Egypt, in consequence of +the capitulation which had been mutually agreed upon. Consequently his +resentment against them was very ardent; and he regretted much, he said, +that the enemy he was about to fight was not the English. + +In spite of the simplicity of his tastes and habits, no one was more +ambitious of glory than this brave general. All his rage against the +English was caused by the fear that he might not arrive in time to gather +new laurels. He did indeed arrive in time, but only to find a glorious +death, alas, so premature! + +It was on the fourteenth that the celebrated battle of Marengo took +place, which began early in the morning, and lasted throughout the day. +I remained at headquarters with all the household of the First Consul, +where we were almost within range of the cannon on the battlefield. +Contradictory news constantly came, one report declaring the battle +completely lost, the next giving us the victory. At one time the +increase in the number of our wounded, and the redoubled firing of the +Austrian cannon, made us believe that all was lost; and then suddenly +came the news that this apparent falling back was only a bold maneuver of +the First Consul, and that a charge of General Desaix had gained the +battle. But the victory was bought at a price dear to France and to the +heart of the First Consul. Desaix, struck by a bullet, fell dead on the +field; and the grief of his soldiers serving only to exasperate their +courage, they routed, by a bayonet charge, the enemy, who were already +shaken by the brilliant cavalry charge of General Kellermann. The First +Consul slept upon the field of battle, and notwithstanding the decisive +victory that he had gained, was very sad, and said that evening, in the +presence of Hambard and myself, many things which showed the profound +grief he experienced in the death of General Desaix. He said, "France +has lost one of her bravest defenders, and I one of my best friends; no +one knew how much courage there was in the heart of Desaix, nor how much +genius in his head." He thus solaced his grief by making to each and all +a eulogy on the hero who had died on the field of honor. + +"My brave Desaix," he further said, "always wished to die thus;" and then +added, almost with tears in his eyes, "but ought death to have been so +prompt to grant his wish?" + +There was not a soldier in our victorious army who did not share so just +a sorrow. Rapp and Savary, the aides-de-camp of Desaix, remained plunged +in the most despairing grief beside the body of their chief, whom they +called their father, rather to express his unfailing kindness to them +than the dignity of his character. Out of respect to the memory of his +friend, the general-in-chief, although his staff was full, added these +two young officers in the quality of aides-de-camp. + +Commandant Rapp (for such only was his rank at that time) was then, as he +has ever been, good, full of courage, and universally beloved. His +frankness, which sometimes bordered on brusqueness, pleased the Emperor; +and I have many times heard him speak in praise of his aide-de-camp, whom +he always styled, "My brave Rapp." Rapp was not lucky in battle, for he +rarely escaped without a wound. While thus anticipating events, I will +mention that in Russia, on the eve of the battle of La Moskwa, the +Emperor said, in my presence, to General Rapp, who had just arrived from +Dantzic, "See here, my brave fellow, we will beat them to-morrow, but +take great care of yourself. You are not a favorite of fortune."--"That +is," said the general, "the premium to be paid on the business, but I +shall none the less on that account do my best." + +Savary manifested for the First Consul the same fervid zeal and unbounded +devotion which had attached him to General Desaix; and if he lacked any +of the qualities of General Rapp, it was certainly not bravery. Of all +the men who surrounded the Emperor, no one was more absolutely devoted to +his slightest wishes. In the course of these memoirs, I shall doubtless +have occasion to recall instances of this unparalleled enthusiasm, for +which the Duke de Rovigo I was magnificently rewarded; but it is just to +say that he did not bite the hand which rewarded him, and that he gave to +the end, and even after the end, of his old master (for thus he loved to +style the Emperor) an example of gratitude which has been imitated by +few. + +A government decree, in the month of June following, determined that the +body of Desaix should be carried to the Hospice of St. Bernard, and that +a tomb should be erected on that spot, in the country where he had +covered himself with immortal glory, as a testimonial to the grief of +France, and especially that of the First Consul. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +The victory of Marengo had rendered the conquest of Italy certain. +Therefore the First Consul, thinking his presence more necessary at Paris +than at the head of his army, gave the command in chief to General +Massena, and made preparations to repass the mountains. On our return to +Milan, the First Consul was received with even more enthusiasm than on +his first visit. + +The establishment of a republic was in accordance with the wishes of a +large number of the Milanese; and they called the First Consul their +Savior, since he had delivered them from the yoke of the Austrians. +There was, however, a party who detested equally these changes, the +French army which was the instrument of them, and the young chief who was +the author. In this party figured a celebrated artist, the singer +Marchesi. + +During our former visit, the First Consul had sent for him; and the +musician had waited to be entreated, acting as if he were much +inconvenienced, and at last presented himself with all the importance of +a man whose dignity had been offended. The very simple costume of the +First Consul, his short stature, thin visage, and poor figure were not +calculated to make much of an impression on the hero of the theater; and +after the general-in-chief had welcomed him cordially, and very politely +asked him to sing an air, he replied by this poor pun, uttered in a tone +the impertinence of which was aggravated by his Italian accent: "Signor +General, if it is a good air which you desire, you will find an excellent +one in making a little tour of the garden." The Signor Marchesi was for +this fine speech immediately put out of the door, and the same evening an +order was sent committing the singer to prison. On our return the First +Consul, whose resentment against Marchesi the cannon of Marengo had +doubtless assuaged, and who thought besides that the penance of the +musician for a poor joke had been sufficiently long, sent for him again, +and asked him once more to sing; Marchesi this time was modest and +polite, and sang in a charming manner. After the concert the First +Consul approached him, pressed his hand warmly, and complimented him in +the most affectionate manner; and from that moment peace was concluded +between the two powers, and Marchesi sang only praises of the First +Consul. + +At this same concert the First Consul was struck with the beauty of a +famous singer, Madame Grassini. He found her by no means cruel, and at +the end of a few hours the conqueror of Italy counted one conquest more. + +The following day she breakfasted with the First Consul and General +Berthier in the chamber of the First Consul. General Berthier was +ordered to provide for the journey of Madame Grassini, who was carried to +Paris, and attached to the concert-room of the court. + +The First Consul left Milan on the 24th; and we returned to France by the +route of Mont Cenis, traveling as rapidly as possible. Everywhere the +Consul was received with an enthusiasm difficult to describe. Arches of +triumph had been erected at the entrance of each town, and in each canton +a deputation of leading citizens came to make addresses to and compliment +him. Long ranks of young girls, dressed in white, crowned with flowers, +bearing flowers in their hands, and throwing flowers into the carriage of +the First Consul, made themselves his only escort, surrounded him, +followed him, and preceded him, until he had passed, or as soon as he set +foot on the ground wherever he stopped. + +The journey was thus, throughout the whole route, a perpetual fete; and +at Lyons it amounted to an ovation, in which the whole town turned out to +meet him. He entered, surrounded by an immense crowd, amid the most +noisy demonstrations, and alighted at the hotel of the Celestins. In the +Reign of Terror the Jacobins had spent their fury on the town of Lyons, +the destruction of which they had sworn; and the handsome buildings which +ornamented the Place Belcour had been leveled to the ground, the hideous +cripple Couthon, at the head of the vilest mob of the clubs, striking +the first blow with the hammer. The First Consul detested the Jacobins, +who, on their side, hated and feared him; and his constant care was to +destroy their work, or, in other words, to restore the ruins with which +they had covered France. He thought then, and justly too, that he could +not better respond to the affection of the people of Lyons, than by +promoting with all his power the rebuilding of the houses of the Place +Belcour; and before his departure he himself laid the first stone. The +town of Dijon gave the First Consul a reception equally as brilliant. + +Between Villeneuve-le-Roi and Sens, at the descent to the bridge of +Montereau, while the eight horses, lashed to a gallop, were bearing the +carriage rapidly along (the First Consul already traveled like a king), +the tap of one of the front wheels came off. The inhabitants who lined +the route, witnessing this accident, and foreseeing what would be the +result, used every effort to stop the postilions, but did not succeed, +and the carriage was violently upset. The First Consul received no +injury; General Berthier had his face slightly scratched by the windows, +which were broken; and the two footmen, who were on the steps, were +thrown, violently to a distance, and badly wounded. The First Consul got +out, or rather was pulled out, through one of the doors. This occurrence +made no delay in his journey; he took his seat in another carriage +immediately, and reached Paris with no other accident. The night of the +2d of July, he alighted at the Tuileries; and the next day, as soon as +the news of his return had been circulated in Paris, the entire +population filled the courts and the garden. They pressed around the +windows of the pavilion of Flora, in the hope of catching a glimpse of +the savior of France, the liberator of Italy. + +That evening there was no one, either rich or poor, who did not take +delight in illuminating his house or his garret. It was only a short +time after his arrival at Paris that the First Consul learned of the +death of General Kleber. The poniard of Suleyman had slain this great +captain the same day that the cannon of Marengo laid low another hero of +the army of Egypt. This assassination caused the First Consul the most +poignant grief, of which I was an eyewitness, and to which I can testify; +and, nevertheless, his calumniators have dared to say that he rejoiced at +an event, which, even considered apart from its political relations, +caused him to lose a conquest which had cost him so much, and France so +much blood and expense. Other miserable wretches, still more stupid and +more infamous, have even gone so far as to fabricate and spread abroad +the report that the First Consul had himself ordered the assassination of +his companion in arms, whom he had placed in his own position at the head +of the army in Egypt. To these I have only one answer to make, if it is +necessary to answer them at all; it is this, they never knew the Emperor. + +After his return, the First Consul went often with his wife to Malmaison, +where he remained sometimes for several days. At this time it was the +duty of the valet de chambre to follow the carriage on horseback. One +day the First Consul, while returning to Paris, ascertained a short +distance from the chateau that he had forgotten his snuff-box, and sent +me for it. I turned my bridle, set off at a gallop, and, having found +the snuff-box on his desk, retraced my steps to overtake him, but did not +succeed in doing so till he had reached Ruelle. Just as I drew near the +carriage my horse slipped on a stone, fell, and threw me some distance +into a ditch. The fall was very severe; and I remained stretched on the +ground, with one shoulder dislocated, and an arm badly bruised. The +First Consul ordered the horses stopped, himself gave orders to have me +taken up, and cautioned them to be very careful in moving me; and I was +borne, attended by-him, to the barracks of Ruelle, where he took pains +before continuing his journey to satisfy himself that I was in no danger. +The physician of his household was sent to Ruelle, my shoulder set, and +my arm dressed; and from there I was carried as gently as possible to +Malmaison, where, good Madame, Bonaparte had the kindness to come to see +me, and lavished on me every attention. + +The day I returned to service, after my recovery, I was in the +antechamber of the First Consul as he came out of his cabinet. He drew +near me, and inquired with great interest how I was. I replied that, +thanks to the care taken of me, according to the orders of my excellent +master and mistress, I was quite well again. "So much the better," said +the First Consul. "Constant, make haste, and get your strength back. +Continue to serve me well, and I will take care of you. Here," added he, +placing in my hand three little crumpled papers, "these are to replenish +your wardrobe;" and he passed on, without listening to the profuse thanks +which, with great emotion, I was attempting to express, much more for the +consideration and interest in me shown by him than for his present, for I +did not then know of what it consisted. After he passed on I unrolled my +papers: they were three bank-bills, each for a thousand francs! I was +moved to tears by so great a kindness. We must remember that at this +period the First Consul was not rich, although he was the first +magistrate of the republic. How deeply the remembrance of this generous +deed touches me, even to-day. I do not know if details so personal to me +will be found interesting; but they seem to me proper as evidence of the +true character of the Emperor, which has been so outrageously +misrepresented, and also as an instance of his ordinary conduct towards +the servants of his house; it shows too, at the same time, whether the +severe economy that he required in his domestic management, and of which +I will speak elsewhere, was the result, as has been stated, of sordid +avarice, or whether it was not rather a rule of prudence, from which he +departed willingly whenever his kindness of heart or his humanity urged +him thereto. + +I am not certain that my memory does not deceive me in leading me to put +in this place a circumstance which shows the esteem in which the First +Consul held the brave soldiers of his army, and how he loved to manifest +it on all occasions. I was one day in his sleeping-room, at the usual +hour for his toilet, and was performing that day the duties of chief +valet, Hambard being temporarily absent or indisposed, there being in the +room, besides the body servants, only the brave and modest Colonel +Gerard Lacuee, one of the aides-de-camp of the First Consul. Jerome +Bonaparte, then hardly seventeen years of age, was introduced. This +young man gave his family frequent cause of complaint, and feared no one +except his brother Napoleon, who reprimanded, lectured, and scolded him +as if he had been his own son. There was a question at the time of +making him a sailor, less with the object of giving him a career, than of +removing him from the seductive temptations which the high position of +his brother caused to spring up incessantly around his path, and which he +had little strength to resist. It may be imagined what it cost him to +renounce pleasures so accessible and so delightful to a young man. He +did not fail to protest, on all occasions, his unfitness for sea-service, +going so far, it is said, that he even caused himself to be rejected by +the examining board of the navy as incompetent, though he could easily +have prepared himself to answer the few questions asked. However, the +will of the First Consul must be obeyed, and Jerome was compelled to +embark. On the day of which I have spoken, after some moments of +conversation and scolding, still on the subject of the navy, Jerome said +to his brother, "Instead of sending me to perish of ennui at sea, you +ought to take me for an aide-de-camp."--"What, take you, greenhorn," +warmly replied the First Consul; "wait till a ball has furrowed your face +and then I will see about it," at the same time calling his attention to +Colonel Lacuee, who blushed, and dropped his eyes to the floor like a +young girl, for, as is well known, he bore on his face the scar made by a +bullet. This gallant colonel was killed in 1805 before Guntzbourg; and +the Emperor deeply regretted his loss, for he ways one of the bravest and +most skillful officers of the army. + +It was, I believe, about this time that the First Consul conceived a +strong passion for a very intelligent and handsome young woman, Madame D. +Madame Bonaparte, suspecting this intrigue, showed jealousy; and her +husband did all he could to allay her wifely suspicions. Before going to +the chamber of his mistress he would wait until every one was asleep in +the chateau; and he even carried his precautions so far as to go from his +room to hers in his night-dress, without shoes or slippers. Once I found +that day was about to break before his return; and fearing scandal, I +went, as the First Consul had ordered me to do in such a case, to notify +the chambermaid of Madame D. to go to her mistress and tell her the hour. +It was hardly five minutes after this timely notice had been given, when +I saw the First Consul returning, in great excitement, of which I soon +learned the cause. He had discovered, on his return, one of Madame +Bonaparte's women, lying in wait, and who had seen him through the window +of a closet opening upon the corridor. The First Consul, after a +vigorous outburst against the curiosity of the fair sex, sent me to the +young scout from the enemy's camp to intimate to her his orders to hold +her tongue, unless she wished to be discharged without hope of return. +I do not know whether I added a milder argument to these threats to buy +her silence; but, whether from fear or for compensation, she had the good +sense not to talk. Nevertheless, the successful lover, fearing another +surprise, directed me to rent in the Allee des Ireuves a little house +where he and Madame D. met from time to time. Such were, and continued +to be, the precautions of the First Consul towards his wife. He had the +highest regard for her, and took all imaginable care to prevent his +infidelities coming to her knowledge. Besides, these passing fancies did +not lessen the tenderness he felt for her; and although other women +inspired him with love, no other woman had his confidence and friendship +to the same extent as Madame Bonaparte. There have been a thousand and +one calumnies repeated of the harshness and brutality of the First Consul +towards women. He was not always gallant, but I have never seen him +rude; and, however singular it may seem after what I have just related, +he professed the greatest veneration for a wife of exemplary conduct, +speaking in admiring terms of happy households; and he did not admire +cynicism, either in morals or in language. When he had any liaisons he +kept them secret, and concealed them with great care. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +The 3d Nivose, year IX. (Dec. 21, 1800), + + [Under the Republican regime the years were counted from the + proclamation of the Republic, Sept. 22, 1792. The year was divided + into twelve months of thirty days each, re-named from some + peculiarity, as Brumaire (foggy); Nivose (snowy); Thermidor (hot); + Fructidor (fruit), etc.; besides five supplementary days of + festivals, called 'sans-culottides'. The months were divided into + three decades of ten days instead of weeks, the tenth day (decadi) + being in lieu of Sunday. The Republican calendar lasted till Jan. + 1, 1806, as to the years and months at least, though the Concordat + had restored the weeks and Sabbaths.--TRANS.] + +the Opera presented, by order, The Creation of Haydn; and the First +Consul had announced that he would be present, with all his household, at +this magnificent oratorio. He dined on that day with Madame Bonaparte, +her daughter, and Generals Rapp, Lauriston, Lannes, and Berthier. I was +on duty; but as the First Consul was going to the Opera, I knew that I +should not be needed at the chateau, and resolved, for my part, to go to +the Feydeau, occupying the box which Madame Bonaparte allowed us, and +which was situated under hers. After dinner, which the First Consul +bolted with his usual rapidity, he rose from the table, followed by his +officers, with the exception of General Rapp, who remained with Madame +Josephine and Hortense. About seven o'clock the First Consul entered his +carriage with Lannes, Berthier, and Lauriston, to go to the Opera. When +they arrived in the middle of Rue Sainte-Nicaise, the escort who preceded +the carriage found the road obstructed by a cart, which seemed to be +abandoned, and on which a cask was found fastened strongly with ropes. +The chief of the escort had this cart removed to the side of the street; +and the First Consul's coachman, whom this delay had made impatient, +urged on his horses vigorously, and they shot off like lightning. +Scarcely two seconds had passed when the barrel which was on the cart +burst with a frightful explosion. No one of the escort or of the +companions of the First Consul was slain, but several were wounded; and +the loss among the residents in the street and the passers-by near the +horrible machine was much greater. More than twenty of these were +killed, and more than sixty seriously wounded. Trepsat, the architect, +had his thigh broken. The First Consul afterwards decorated him, and +made him the architect of the Invalides, saying that he had long enough +been the most invalid of architects. All the panes of glass at the +Tuileries were broken, and many houses thrown down. All those of the +Rue Sainte-Nicaise, and even some in the adjacent streets, were badly +damaged, some fragments being blown into the house of the Consul +Cambaceres. The glass of the First Consul's carriage was shivered to +fragments. By a fortunate chance, the carriages of the suite, which +should have been immediately behind that of the First Consul, were some +distance in the rear, which happened in this way: Madame Bonaparte, after +dinner, had a shawl brought to wear to the opera; and when it came, +General Rapp jestingly criticised the color, and begged her to choose +another. Madame Bonaparte defended her shawl, and said to the general +that he knew as much about criticising a toilet as she did about +attacking a fort. This friendly banter continued for some moments; and +in the interval, the First Consul, who never waited, set out in advance, +and the miserable assassins and authors of the conspiracy set fire to the +infernal machine. Had the coachman of the First Consul driven less +rapidly, and thereby been two seconds later, it would have been all over +with his master; while, on the other hand, if Madame Bonaparte had +followed her husband promptly, it would have been certain death to her +and all her suite. + +It was, in fact, the delay of an instant which saved her life, as well as +that of her daughter, her sister-in-law, Madame Murat, and all who were +to accompany them, since the carriage of these ladies, instead of being +immediately behind that of the First Consul, was just leaving the Place +Carrousel, when the machine exploded. The glass was shivered; and though +Madame Bonaparte received no injury except the terrible fright, Hortense +was slightly wounded in the face by a piece of glass, and Madame Caroline +Murat, who was then far advanced in pregnancy, was so frightened that it +was necessary to carry her back to the Tuileries. This catastrophe had +its influence, even on the health of her child; for I have been told that +Prince Achille Muratz is subject, to this day, to frequent attacks of +epilepsy. As is well known, the First Consul went on to the opera, where +he was received with tumultuous acclamations, the immobility of his +countenance contrasting strongly with the pallor and agitation of Madame +Bonaparte's, who had feared not so much for herself as for him. The +coachman who had driven the First Consul with such good fortune was named +Germain. He had followed him in Egypt, and in a skirmish had killed an +Arab, with his own hand, under the eyes of the general-in-chief, who, +struck with his courage, had cried out, "Diable! that's a brave man, he +is a Caesar." The name had clung to him. It has been said that this +brave man was drunk at the time of this explosion; but this is a mistake, +which his conduct under the circumstances contradicts in the most +positive manner. When the First Consul, after he became Emperor, went +out, incognito, in Paris, it was Caesar who was his escort, without +livery. It is said in the Memorial de Sainte Helene that the Emperor, +in speaking of Caesar, stated that he was in a complete state of +intoxication, and took the noise of the explosion for an artillery +salute, nor did he know until the next day what had taken place. This is +entirely untrue, and the Emperor was incorrectly informed in regard to +his coachman. Caesar drove the First Consul very rapidly because he had +been ordered to do so, and because he considered his honor interested in +not allowing the obstacle which the infernal machine placed in his way +before the explosion to delay him. The evening of the event I saw +Caesar, who was perfectly sober, and he himself related to me part of the +details that I have just given. A few days after, four or five hundred +hackney-coachmen clubbed together to honor him, and gave him a +magnificent dinner at twenty-four francs per head. + +While the infernal plot was being executed, and costing the lies of many +innocent citizens, without attaining the object the assassins proposed, +I was, as I have said, at the Theatre Feydeau, where I had prepared +myself to enjoy at my leisure an entire evening of freedom, amid the +pleasures of the stage, for which I had all my life a great liking. +Scarcely had I seated myself comfortably, however, when the box-keeper +entered in the greatest excitement, crying out, "Monsieur Constant, it is +said that they have just blown up the First Consul; there has been a +terrible explosion, and it is asserted that he is dead." These terrible +words were like a thunderbolt-to me. Not knowing what I did, I plunged +down-stairs, and, forgetting my hat, ran like mad to the chateau. While +crossing Rue Vivienne and the Palais Royal, I saw no extraordinary +disturbance; but in Rue Sainte Honore there was a very great tumult, and +I saw, borne away on litters, many dead and wounded, who had been at +first carried into the neighboring houses of Rue Sainte Nicaise. Many +groups had formed, and with one voice all were cursing the still unknown +authors of this dastardly attempt. Some accused the Jacobins of this, +because three months before they had placed the poniard in the hands of +Cerrachi, of Arena, and of Topino Lebrun; whilst others, less numerous +perhaps, thought the aristocrats, the Royalists, could alone be guilty of +this atrocity. I could give no time to these various accusations, except +as I was detained in forcing my way through an immense and closely packed +crowd, and as rapidly as possible went on, and in two seconds was at the +Carrousel. I threw myself against the wicket, but the two sentinels +instantly crossed bayonets before my breast. It was useless to cry out +that I was valet de chambre of the First Consul; for my bare head, my +wild manner, the disorder, both of my dress and ideas, appeared to them +suspicious, and they refused energetically and very obstinately to allow +me to enter. I then begged them to send for the gatekeeper of the +chateau; and as soon as he came, I was admitted, or rather rushed into +the chateau, where I learned what had just happened. A short time after +the First Consul arrived, and was immediately surrounded by his officers, +and by all his household, every one present being in the greatest state +of anxiety. When the First Consul alighted from his carriage he appeared +calm and smiling; he even wore an air of gayety. On entering the +vestibule he said to his officers, rubbing his hands, "Well, sirs, we +made a fine escape! "They shuddered with indignation and anger. He then +entered the grand saloon on the ground floor, where a large number of +counselors of state and-dignitaries had already assembled; but hardly had +they begun to express their congratulations, when he interrupted them, +and in so vehement a manner that he was heard outside the saloon. We +were told that after this council he had a lively altercation with +Fouche, Minister of Police, whom he reproached with his ignorance of +this plot, openly accusing the Jacobins of being the authors. + +That evening, on retiring, the First Consul asked me laughingly if I was +afraid. "More than you were, my general," I replied; and I related to +him how I had heard the fatal news at the Feydeau, and had run without my +hat to the very wicket of the Carrousel, where the sentinels tried to +prevent my entering. He was amused at the oaths and abusive epithets +with which they had accompanied their defense of the gate, and at last +said to me, "After all, my dear Constant, you should not be angry with +them; they were only obeying orders. They are brave men, on whom I can +rely." The truth is, the Consular Guard was at this period no less +devoted than it has been since as the Imperial Guard. At the first rumor +of the great risk which the First Consul had run, all the soldiers of +that faithful band had gathered spontaneously in the court of the +Tuileries. + +After this melancholy catastrophe, which carried distress into all +France, and mourning into so many families, the entire police were +actively engaged in searching for the authors of the plot. The dwelling +of the First Consul was first put under surveillance, and we were +incessantly watched by spies, without suspecting it. All our walks, all +our visits, all our goings and comings, were known; and attention was +especially directed to our friends, and even our liaisons. But such was +the devotion of each and all to the person of the First Consul, such was +the affection that he so well knew how to inspire in those around him, +that not one of the persons attached to his service was for an instant +suspected of having a hand in this infamous attempt. Neither at this +time, nor in any other affair of this kind, were the members of his +household ever compromised; and never was the name of the lowest of his +servants ever found mixed up in criminal plots against a life so valued +and so glorious. + +The minister of police suspected the Royalists of this attempt; but the +First Consul attributed it to the Jacobins, because they were already +guilty, he said, of crimes as odious. One hundred and thirty of the most +noted men of this party were transported on pure suspicion, and without +any form of trial. It is now known that the discovery, trial, and +execution of Saint Regent and Carbon, the true criminals, proved that the +conjectures of the minister were more correct than those of the chief of +state. + +The 4th Nivose, at noon, the First Consul held a grand review in the +Place Carrousel, where an innumerable crowd of citizens were collected to +behold, and also to testify their affection for his person, and their +indignation against the enemies who dared attack him only by +assassination. Hardly had he turned his horse towards the first line of +grenadiers of the Consular Guard, when their innumerable acclamations +rose on all sides. He rode along the ranks, at a walk, very slowly, +showing his appreciation, and replying by a few simple and affectionate +words to this effusion of popular joy; and cries of "Vive Bonaparte! +Vive the First Consul!" did not cease till after he had re-entered his +apartments. + +The conspirators who obstinately persisted, with so much animosity, in +attacking the life of the First Consul, could not have chosen a period in +which circumstances would have been more adverse to their plans than in +1800 and 1801, for then the Consul was beloved not only for his military +deeds, but still more for the hope of peace that he gave to France, which +hope was soon realized. As soon as the first rumor spread abroad that +peace had been concluded with Austria, the greater part of the +inhabitants of Paris gathered under the windows of the Pavilion of Flora. +Blessings and cries of gratitude and joy were heard on all sides; then +musicians assembled to give a serenade to the chief of state, and +proceeded to form themselves into orchestras; and there was dancing the +whole night through. I have never seen a sight more striking or more +joyous than the bird's-eye view of this improvised jubilee. + +When in the month of October, the, peace of Amiens having been concluded +with England, France found herself delivered from all the wars that she +had maintained through so many years, and at the cost of so many +sacrifices, it would be impossible to form an idea of the joy which burst +forth on all sides. The decrees which ordered either the disarmament of +vessels of war, or the placing of the forts on a peace footing, were +welcomed as pledges of happiness and security. The day of the reception +of Lord Cornwallis, Ambassador of England, the First Consul ordered that +the greatest magnificence should be displayed. "It is necessary," he had +said the evening before, "to show these proud Britons that we are not +reduced to beggary." The fact is, the English, before setting foot on +the French continent, had expected to find only ruins, penury, and +misery. The whole of France had been described to them as being in the +most distressing condition, and they thought themselves on the point of +landing in a barbarous country. Their surprise was great when they saw +how many evils the First Consul had already repaired in so short a time, +and all the improvements that he still intended to carry out; and they +spread through their own country the report of what they themselves +called the prodigies of the First Consul, by which thousands of their +compatriots were influenced to come and judge with their own eyes. At +the moment that Lord Cornwallis entered the great hall of the Ambassadors +with his suite, the eyes of all the English must have been dazzled by the +sight of the First Consul, surrounded by his two colleagues, with all the +diplomatic corps, and with an already brilliant military court. + +In the midst of all these rich uniforms, his was remarkable for its +simplicity; but the diamond called the Regent, which had been put in pawn +under the Directory, and redeemed a few days since by the First Consul, +sparkled on the hilt of his sword. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Private Life of Napoleon, V1 +by Constant. + diff --git a/3568.zip b/3568.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3eb4a3f --- /dev/null +++ b/3568.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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